Cool Lighted Bars: From sophisticated and interactive to the wild "bubble bar"

Pasha Chair, by Pedrali. 

Italian designer Pedrali brings us the Pasha Chair by updating the wing chair, keeping the fluid lines, comfort and classic proportions, while forsaking any sense of fussiness or predictability.  The nod to the familiar, combined with the new use of materials, allows it to blend seamlessly into modern decor or to enliven a more traditional interior. The palate is clear, smoke or black. Seat cushions are available in black velvet, white or black-and-white hounds-tooth.  Also available: a neutral- colored  slip cover lightly piped with white, that still reveals the chairs narrower profile and cleaner silhouette.  

Also from Predali, the irresistibly graphic, undeniably Italian Woody Stool, available in plywood ,as suggested by the name, but also in chrome and leather.  The leather options are red or black with visible stitching.  The base is available chromed or in satin finish.

Metal finish Woody stool 

 Ferrari-sexy red leather Woody Stool 

with chrome base

Designs are available through dealers, however, proving that good design doesn't have to be prohibitively expensive, currently the Pasha Chair is deeply discounted through Fab.com to $395 (retail $630). The Pasha Cushion starts at $235 (retail starting at $375). Fab also carries the footstool at $185 (retail $299)

Glowing "Waterfall" curtain

inspired by nature

Designer Barbara Bonner, currently working in Switzerland with as an interior architect with RaboudGroup, created "Waterfall" a curtain, softly aglow from low energy-consuming LED lights. Elegant in its simplicity, original and effortlessly dramatic, Bonner exhibited the piece at the Salon Satellite in Milan.   At the Salon, which is part of the Milan Furniture Fair, young designers, students and recent graduates from all over the world present their work, hoping that the right people in the industry will notice them.

EuroMold 2011 - 3D Printed Concept Lamp

3-D Printed Designs by
Van Herpen at
Amsterdam Fashion week

3-D printing is a growing force in design. Without the time and the initial  expenses of creating molds or specialized machining, designers are free to make large quantities of prototypes to tweak before arriving at a final sublime design choice. This winner of the Euromold 2011 exhibit; a simultaneously modern and organic lamp, is an example of that ability to keep editing and re-editing, combined with the inherent properties of this new medium.   Although the majority of 3-D printing is currently in some form of plastic-like polymer, there will soon be printers more widely available to print in metals and other substances.  Recently there have been 3D-produced fabrics and more architectural elements appearing in high fashion runway collections.  As runway fashion is often an early indicator of trends that will soon mainstream in interior design, this bears keeping a close eye on. 

This is an interesting development for design in a broader sense.  With the home desktop 3-D printer market currently being tested for large scale distribution in Europe, can it be long before the average consumer will be able to design and print their own consumer goods? If so, this may point to a trend in customization on a scale that was unheard of in the past.  Perhaps in the not too distant future, brides will not only register for household, but expect to put their own design touches on them.

In an anther example of 3-D copying  applied to lighting, Freedom of Creation posted this press release on its web page: Freedom Of Creation has developed a custom version of the Palm Chandelier on request of the Staffan Tollgard Design Group. The prestigious interior design studio has commissioned this impressive chandelier to illuminate the spacious rooms of a London private house. Decorated stucco ceilings are perfectly harmonized with the near uncountable, delicate petals of Palm Chandelier, in a brilliant stylistic choice.

Equipped with 91 Palm shades and 5 Watt halogen bulbs, the chandelier is a real eye-catcher and is designed to light up large interior spaces. Light floods through and around every petal. Each shade, produced in polyamide with the latest 3D printing technology, recalls the beauty of nature’s foliage, and diffuses soft filtered light contributing to the exclusive atmosphere of the house. The metal frame has a special gunmetal finish. The Palm Chandelier outside diameter is 160 cm.

The bespoke Chandelier has a special gunmetal finish. Prices and technical details are available on request by sending an e-mail to bram@freedomofcreation.com

3D Effect on Stretch Ceiling Clipso with RGB LED light Installation

Friday, January 20, 2012

Zunava Company installs a Clipso ceiling to create a convincing 3-D effect in the residence of Alex Garin.

Also featured is AFO's (Advanced Fiber Optics Company) giant nebula fiber optics effect and techniques for installtion. AFO is based in Frankfurt, Germany and has a range of fiber optic products including glowing woven fiber optic fabric.

 Giant Nebula fiber optic effect

Installation technique for fiber optic star effects

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Sculpting with light and shadow

Courtesy Sydneycash.com

Ceiling vessel web

Sydney Cash is a sculptor, painter and jeweler. His work is in collections worldwide, including MoMA in NYC, and Le Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts. He is based in Marlboro, New York.

With his light sculptures, Sydney manipulates light as if it were a solid, using mirrored panels to create radiant designs of illumination and shadow. These panels can transform an ordinary beam of light and a blank wall into a composite of design. This results in design elements that can be both  broadly textural, as in the installation below at the Falcon Bar, or at once both substantially sculptural and ethereal  feeling. As they rely on projections on the planes of existing walls they inherently integrate naturally into existing color motifs, as well as potentially creating drama, sophistication and a sense of depth with minimal space.  

"Higher Density"Sydney Cash