Vegas: The Golden Mile.

In a city famed for its love of light, it’s no mean feat that Spanish lighting gurus LZF lamps have taken the city’s huge Hospitality and Design trade-show by storm, winning both the Best Stand Award and Excellence in Lighting Award for the second year running!

Showcasing for the first time, their new collections SPIRO and RAINDROP, Sandro and Marivi of LZF have once again demonstrated that the successful production of award winning lighting is to marry an in-depth, artisanal appreciation for your core material with a boundless, artistic motivation.

Working with Remedios Simon to design Spiro and Javier Herrero Studio to produce Raindrop, the outcome is a collection of new timber luminaires that are at once sculptural, engaging and entirely practical.

Spiro was given a sneak peek unveiling in Sydney last year when LZF held an exclusive workshop at the KE-ZU showroom, the concept is now in production and available in an array of amazing colours.

Raindrop is a family of suspension pendants ranging small to extremely large – this light has huge potential in atriums, voids and works wonderfully in clustered installations.

Adding to the excitement of these new releases as well as the recognition in Las Vegas is the news that LZF is also now fully FSC certified – 100% sustainable timbers are used in all their lights.  Great news that only reinforces the ‘looks good / feels good’ LZF ethos.

Apollo Restaurant - George Levissianis

“Chateau Marmont light” were the words BELLE’s Managing Editor Tanya Buchanan used to describe the luscious surrounds for the second BELLE Interior Design Awards in Sydney last night.

Interior Design Editor and super-stylist Steve Cordony created a brilliantly evocative space for the evening that upon entry whisked you from a cold night in Alexandria to a cosy night garden party, evoking an air of old Hollywood glamour with ferns, suspended candles, mirrors and dry-stone walls.

Only in its second year, the BELLE Interior Design Awards are already one of the most hotly contested design competitions in Australia reflected by the number of high-profile and talented guests at the venue and shortlisted for awards.

Smart Design - Tusculum Residence

Russell & George - Aesop, Claremont

Finalists across a number of categories included David Hicks, Jonathan Richards and Kirsten Stanisich at SJB Interiors,  Smart Design Studio and many more.

Winners were applauded for their experimentation, pushing of boundaries and evidence of sophisticated design decision making.  The 2012 judging panel was made up of Kelly Hoppen, Jean Wright, Neale Whitaker, Anthony Spon Smith, Margie Attard, Mitchell Oakley-Smith and Steve Cordony.

Winners:

• Commercial Interior:

Russell & George for Aesop, Claremont – Perth

• Hospitality Interior:

George Livissianis for Apollo Restaurant, Potts Point – Sydney

• Corporate Interior:

Russell & George for Paper Stone Scissors, Windsor – Melbourne

• Residential Interior:

Smart Design Studio for Tusculum Residence, Potts Point – Sydney

• Belle Interior Designer of The Year

Iain Halliday from BKH, Sydney & New York.

The Spaniards are well and truly out in force at this years Salone Mobile, with ENEA presenting the full extent of the Lievore, Altherr & Molina designed Lottus program.  Arguably the most chameleonic system of tables and chairs on the contract market, ENEA have managed to produce the definitive collection offering upholstery, timber, polyprop and metal finishes in what is a cohesive and visually refined product.

Well suited to sophisticated hospitality applications as it is to the sleek corporate world, the ability to customise the colour and features upon the basic Lottus frame lend this collection just as readily to the softer, more relaxed residential market.

Originally introduced as a basic table and seating collection, the Lottus program has evolved and improved to become an exciting and boundless offering that boasts the most competitive pricing, thanks in part to its modularity.

Click here to register interest in ENEA’s LOTTUS program.

French Architect Jean Nouvel has created for EMU of Italy, a comprehensive family of chairs, stools and tables that he hopes will form a collection of contemporary archetypal outdoor furniture pieces – as recognisable in time as 19th Century public garden furniture is in Europe, today

The aluminium extruded designs are a study in simplicity, engineering and practicality.

Available as a chair, armchair, low chair, stool and folding table, the collection is premeditated and delivered as the 21st Century answer to outdoor cafe and hospitality furnishings.   Currently MIA is offered in Red, Black, White and Grey.

Despite his immesurable experience across many design disciplines, Nouvel attributes this project as one of the most challenging he has ever faced!

Click the image above to see the launch video.

Share on Facebook ]]> http://blog.kezu.com.au/2012/04/19/milan2012-emu/feed/ 0 http://blog.kezu.com.au/2012/04/19/milan2012-andreu-world/ http://blog.kezu.com.au/2012/04/19/milan2012-andreu-world/#comments Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:30:02 +0000 O http://blog.kezu.com.au/?p=3640

Two years after we first met the Showtime Lounger at the Milan Furniture Fair, Jaime Hayon and BD Barcelona have used the same event to release the latest model in the collection.

Taking the colour selection beyond bold lacquers, this model introduces the option of walnut veneer paired with suede upholstery options, this addition takes the aesthetic beyond the block colour lacquers that were previously on offer.

With a recent surge in interest for vanities and dressing tables, BD last year released The Narcissist with China’s design duo Neri & Hu in collaboration with Swarovski.  This year Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien have created the Chandlo dressing table, an almost post-modern offering which is designed to be viewed from every angle – in free space.  Incorporating storage, mirror, rotating stool and jewellery box, Chandlo means “moon shape” another word for “Bindi” the small dot worn on the foreheads of Hindu women, a feature which is referenced in the mirror element of the design.

In 2012 BD Barcelona celebrate 40 years since inception, a milestone that reminds us of the importance of the works produced under the BD Barcelona banner.  They boast an unrivalled collection that incorporates the works of Salvador Dali and Antoni Gaudi.

Alongside these eminent designers sits the work of the late Ettore Sottsass.  In 1972 his Mettsass Table was released by BD and in time earned its place in the annals of design history as a classic.

To celebrate the ongoing relevance of his work the Mettsass has been reissued.  The structure is made of flat sheets of steel, painted in red RAL 3001 or slick black. The glass table top is painted to match the selected colour as the structure.

Salone Internazionale del Mobile is proving to be a celebration of colour this year!

Sancal’s “FLASH!” collection is really no exception, how could it be with the likes of Karim Rashid onboard!?  That’s right, the pilot of the fluorescent pink pen has turned his hand to soft furnishings for Spain’s Sancal.

The result is “Float”: a collection of group seating options with a selection of high and low back rests.  Almost bench-like, the upholstered Float family revels in its eccentricities with coat hooks, headrests, tables and cushioning all integrated into the seats… but almost mischievously misplaced.

Luis Eslava Studio have also taken the “Flash!” brief by both horns and in full-colour created a collection suitably titled: “Party”.

A system of sofas and armchairs, the comfort in the deep upholstered seats is at once inviting and  the proportions give the pieces a whimsical appeal.

In both collections the ‘chaos’ of the various configurations is pulled back into line with the consistency in the curved and ‘cartoony’ detailing, with each series the timber elements play wonderfully alongside the contrasting upholstery and button details.

Also released were Rafa Garcia’s Copla Sofa System and Juan Ibáñez’ Nudo nesting tables, with images still to come.

Register your interest in the newest Sancal items here.

The team at RS Barcelona are all about fun. Their 2012 collection, debuting this week in Milan, is no exception.

As we mentioned last week, the much loved RS2 Foosball table now has a two new models that it sits alongside: the RS3 and the RS3-wood.

The Rs3 takes the sturdiness of the indoor/outdoor RS2 and lightens the load by shedding 20kgs from the full metal model and adding an array of playful colours to the mix.  Still available for indoor and outdoor use the RS3 is ’serious fun’.  Also of note is the smart addition of the RS3 with solid timber legs for those wanting something more substantial!

In 2009 RS released the charming little Eiffel stool.  Of cardboard construction, the appeal of this little perch was it’s simplicity, an air of playfulness and the added practicality of being stackable.

2012 sees the Eiffel Stool collection toughen up!

The RS team and Japanese designer Shigeki Fujishiro have released the Eiffel Aluminium collection, similarly to the Foosball family of tables, these stools are now available in a swag of bold colours, also offered for the first time in silver and chrome: fully suited to indoor and outdoor use.  We can see curb-side cafe’s pouncing on this exciting collection of stackable seats that just as easily double as low tables thanks to the addition of a new taller stool.

VONDOM of Spain have returned to some of their most successful collaborators in producing their 2012 Catalogue.  Building on the immense success of previous years collections these eminent designers have contributed additional pieces to existing families of furniture, lighting and planters as well as developing entirely brand new collections.

The likes of Javier Mariscal, Teresa Sapey, Ramon Esteve, Stefano Giavannoni and A-Cero have all returned to create unique and groundbreaking polymer molded designs for the luxury hospitality and residential markets.

This years Salone Mobile in Milan sees the Dutch manufacturer Artifort present a playful mix of contemporary, brand-new pieces alongside some re-released classics by the likes of Geoffrey Harcourt and Pierre Paulin.

First off the blocks is the cubic yet curvy Apps Collection from Richard Hutten, the first collaboration for Artifort and the Dutchman.  Available as a sofa and single seat lounge chair with the option of two tone upholstery.

A month ago we gave you a sneak peek at the exciting re-issuing of a Geoffrey Harcourt classic design: the F587, a button stud upholstered variant that sits in the F500 Series by Artifort.

Resplendent in leather and internally reinvigorated with improved upholstering techniques and advanced injection molded foams, this beauty is back in a big way.

Alongside it, sits the re-released Concorde Lounge.

Designed by Pierre Paulin in 1966, it was as the name suggests, created for Air France’s Concorde Lounge at Charles de Gaulle Airport.  With superior comfort and famed for its lack of armrests in a lounge chair design, this piece is as relevant in commercial applications as it is popular in the home.  The option of high or low back models also affords the Concorde collection great versatility.

All the above and many more pieces will be released this week in Milan with full details on pricing and lead times forthcoming.

To register interest in any of the products above to learn more about Artifort’s famous collections click here.