Product Picks

July 2008

Antonio Citterio’s urbane economy of scale for Axor
In a series of diary entries entitled “Precious Moments,” humorist David Sedaris recalls staying at London’s The Hempel Hotel, where Minimalist closets and an unergonomic toilet earned his disdain. Italian architect and designer Antonio Citterio may also have stayed at some Hempels. His new series of 50 bath fittings for Hansgrohe’s Axor brand, called Citterio M (for Milan), was designed with a scrutable hospitality experience in mind.

The project began in 2005, Citterio says, about the time he started accepting a spate of hotel commissions.

“I wanted to do something that was quick to understand,” he continues. “When you go into a hotel room, you have to know immediately how to use the bath. I started with this idea of simplicity.”

Citterio M is the designer’s second group for Axor. His first, an eponymous 2003 collection, is muscular, with broad surfaces and juxtapositions of orthogonal and curved corners. Citterio M is slender, attenuated, soft to the touch, and effortless to maneuver. Between them, Citterio says, “We cover all the needs of people in interior design and architecture: Sometimes you want an object to be seen, sometimes it must integrate.” And while Citterio M may be less a showstopper, the reduced dimensions of the single-lever faucet with its diagonally offset handle allowed the designer to achieve clarity without commonness. This faucet’s spout tapers so it seems almost impossible for water to flow through it—signifying the “fragility” of water—and the smallest-ever ceramic cartridge was developed for it. The showerhead features water-saving air-injection technology that mimics pouring rain and projects asymmetrically from its spout for delicate, two-finger adjustments. Axor brand manager Philippe Grohe summarizes these moves, saying that Citterio elevates water to preciousness. Yet, despite its treatment of water as liquid gold, Citterio M retails for approximately half the price of Axor Citterio. Hansgrohe, Alpharetta, Ga. www.axor-design.com

[Reader Service: July 2008 #207]

February 2008

Copper panels filter light while treading lightly
According to Uriah Bueller, owner/artist of the Boulder, Colorado–based metal-artwork studio UB Arts, the national launch of his company’s Parasoleil copper shade and privacy panels at last October’s ASLA conference in San Francisco not only received an overwhelming response from attendees but sparked ideas for new applications, such as replacement for glass in cabinet doors. Bueller, who has designed furniture, fountains, and custom architectural metalwork pieces for residential and commercial projects, started Parasoleil in 2006 after creating a copper sunshade canopy for a residence in Boulder. With a varied background in psychology, art, and world cultures/religions, Bueller finds inspiration for his designs from student trips he arranges (as a side business) to countries like Kenya, Thailand, and Fiji. Completely mined, milled, and manufactured in the U.S. to limit transportation energy waste, the shades and privacy panels, made from 90–95 percent recycled copper and 100 percent recyclable, do not require maintenance. Available in five standard patterns, the panels weigh 15–18 pounds each after they are cut. A waterjet cutting process allows all of the excess copper to be reused. The 36'' x 96'' finished panels currently list at $369 wholesale. Parasoleil, Boulder, Colo. www.parasoleil.com

[Reader Service: February 2008 #200]

January 2008

Office desk takes multitasking to the extreme
Five years ago, Details, a subsidiary of the office-furniture manufacturer Steelcase, introduced a height-adjustable desk that allows people to stand while they work. Taking the concept a step further, the company recently unveiled the Walkstation, a height-adjustable desk connected to a treadmill. Office employees can now conduct meetings or peck away on their keyboards while using a specially designed treadmill that tops out at 2 miles per hour. The goal, says Details president Bud Klipa, is not to replace a trip to the gym, but to promote movement in the sedentary office environment, in turn creating a healthier workforce.

The company developed the product in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic’s Dr. James Levine, who studies energy expended during routine daily activities. The curved desk comes in five different sizes, with a height-adjustment range of 241¼4'' to 52''. Priced at about $4,000, it is only available commercially. The treadmill plugs in to a standard 110-volt outlet and features a noise-reducing belt, a high-torque motor designed for low speeds over long durations, a safety key, and a console that displays pace, time, distance, and calories burned. Klipa says first-time users are often surprised they can work while walking. “People tend to look at it and scratch their heads at first,” he says. “There really isn’t anything else like it on the market.” Details, A Steelcase Company, Grand Rapids, Mich.
www.details-worktools.com

[Reader Service: January 2008 #200]

July 2007

Patterned fences make good neighborhoods
Without sacrificing function for ornament, Lace Fence is a refreshing take on the ubiquitous chain-link fence. Designed by the young Dutch firm Demakersvan and produced by IDFence in Bangalore, India, the craftily patterned fencing has sparked interest with art gallery owners, retailers, and architecture firms. Designer Joep Verhoeven was first inspired by a makeshift fence-mending job he noticed in his travels. “The question that followed became the source for the concept,” he says. “What if you would direct the wire into a more decorative pattern?” The patterns are produced by hand for indoor or outdoor use with the same wire as machine-made industrial chain-link mesh. Designs can be created to help discourage climbers, hide or enhance surroundings, deal with harsh weather, or create a custom look. The company currently produces a minimum of 2,700 square feet of fencing per month in costs ranging from $17 to $30 per square foot. Demakersvan, Rotterdam. www.demakersvan.com

[Reader Service: July 2007 #200]

June 2007

Translucent solid surfacing material comes to light
Two new translucent colors from DuPont Corian, Glacier Ice and Artic Ice, allow up to three times as much light to pass through than other Corian colors. The new materials were previewed at the AIA show held last month in San Antonio. Also on display at the show was Opale, a new lighting fixture from Ivalo Lighting that uses Glacier Ice for the body of the fixture. Designed by Ali Rahim and Hina Jamelle of Contemporary Architecture Practice in New York City [record, Design Vanguard, January 2004, page 136], Opale is illuminated by a single 39-watt HID lamp. “[Corian] employed a vacuum-form technique which allows the overall form to be continuous and read as completely seamless,” says Jamelle. “They were also fantastic in developing new techniques for the tooling of grooved thicknesses in a complex shape.” Glacier Ice, a solid, translucent color, will be available this Summer. Artic Ice, made with white particulates, will be available on a limited basis in the fall. DuPont Corian, Wilmington, Del. www.corian.com

[Reader Service: June 2007 #200]

May 2007

Mixing it up to keep an LED reading lamp slim
Milan-based engineer Alberto Meda and architect Paolo Rizzatto took a new approach to the traditional look of the electronic circuit board while designing the Mix reading lamp for Luceplan. “We tried to change the distribution of the components, as in urban planning,” says Meda, who is based in Milan along with Rizzatto. “In the end we had a circuit that looked like a garden city.” To get the minimum thickness required for the design, they moved condensers and memory files toward the back “as if they were skyscrapers,” leaving more space on the circuit board for logic-based devices, which appear “like single-family homes.” This new arrangement allows for an ultra-slim head that houses the LEDs, a control lens, a heat sink, and a rotating filter that regulates color temperature. A graceful base holds a rigid conical tube and an attached flexible neck without “breaking the continuity of the cable,” says Meda. Available in a table and wall version, Mix offers low energy consumption and a 50,000 hour life. When it’s off, the lamp continues to make a statement, as its head softly glows with blue light. Luceplan USA, New York City. www.luceplanusa.com

[Reader Service: May 2007 #200]

April 2007

A wall-mounted oven that offers counter service
With the touch of a button, Gaggenau’s 24-inch Lift Oven’s glass ceramic base lowers directly from the oven to the countertop, where meals can be loaded and then raised into the cooking cavity. According to the manufacturer, this new approach results in minimal energy loss as the heat remains in the upper cavity when it is opened. The design may also aid users who have limited strength or mobility as access from three sides eliminates the need to reach into a hot oven. The stainless-steel-tinted glass front oven can either be hung on a wall or built into hanging cabinetry. Features include halogen lighting, 11 heating methods, automatic temperature recommendation, and precise electronic temperature control. An added bonus for cooks: Items such as bread and pizza can be cooked directly on the glass ceramic base, and a pyrolytic self-cleaning program burns off any residues left behind. Gaggenau, Huntington Beach, Calif. www.gaggenau-usa.com

[Reader Service: April 2007 #200]

Back for an encore: The Morris Lapidus collection
While Morris Lapidus, Miami’s spectacular and much-criticized postwar architect, did not have the opportunity to put his furniture designs into large-scale production during his lifetime, a new collection based on archival photography of his projects debuted during the Art Basel Miami Beach art show held in December. Created in a partnership between Dennis Miller Associates and Lapidus collaborator and license-holder Deborah Desilets, the five designs are intended to evoke his spirit while remaining versatile enough for both residential and commercial interiors. The collection includes three chairs, an acrylic-armed sofa, and a sinuous bench based on pieces designed for the Eden Roc (1955) and Sans Souci (1949) hotels, a Fred Trump apartment building lobby (1948), and Lapidus’s own Miami Beach apartment (1963). Dennis Miller Associates, New York City. www.dennismiller.com

[Reader Service: February 2007 #200]

January 2007

Glowing theater seating sets the stage for drama
Poltrona Frau, known for leather-upholstered furnishings and car interiors, collaborated with Santiago Calatrava to develop an illuminated seating system designed exclusively for the four large theaters and small rehearsal space of his Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, the opera house in Valencia which officially launched its first season in October 2006. Working from sketches by the Valencia-born Calatrava, Poltrona Frau produced and installed 4,219 seats in four colors, with different inclinations, heights, and widths, according to a long visibility study carried out by the company. Made of wood, leather, and glazed crystal, each chair is illuminated by a thin, electroluminescent light source and controlled by a specially designed software program. Depending on the desired atmosphere for the production, the chairs can be illuminated from 50 to 150 volts, giving the audience a feeling of floating in the dark—a scenic effect strongly desired by the architect. Poltrona Frau, New York City. www.poltronafrau.com

[Reader Service: January 2007 #200]