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Bornrich: After revolutionizing the modern kitchen, Electrolux has shifted its attention toward bath spaces. In their new endeavor to keep the future bathrooms in tune with their design values of simplicity and purity, Electrolux has presented the Shine washing machine concept that integrates itself with bathroom furniture. Designed by Levente Szabo, the Shine concepts high gloss finishing blends itself nicely with the porcelain and ceramics of the bathroom environment to integrate function with form. Equipped with light guides around the door, the Shine concept creates a therapeutic atmosphere to relax you after a hard days work.
Babygadget: Oh, Mother Nature, how could you be so cruel? Just as I had found the perfect baby swing, you went all Nor’easter on our back yard and downed the perfect branch for it! The “Filzchaukel” was originally made by Austrian designer John Mohr for his daughter and has even won a design award. The colors for this beautiful lambswool felt swing nearly made me swoon after so many afternoons pushing our sturdy (but pretty unattractive) Fisher Price swing.
I’ll be at the LA Times Festival of Books on Saturday, participating on a panel with David Shields and Ander Monson called “Rebooting Culture: Narrative & Information in the New Age.” Shields is playing the nihilist, Monson is playing the anarchist, and I’m taking the role of the vigilante. Moderating is David Ulin, the Times’s book editor. Stop by if you’re in Los Angeles. More details and a bonus link….
Springwise: Over the past few years, we’ve seen nearly every major clothing brandfrom the Gap to Louis Vuittonset up one or more pop-up stores, drawing attention to their product lines and to their regular retail outlets. In contrast, a Munich-based brand isn’t attempting to supplement its fixed-store bread and butter; Clemens en August’s only offline sales are through temporary outlets, twice a year. Avoiding the pop-up moniker, the brand describes itself as being ‘on tour’.
Through planned scarcity, meanwhile, the strategy creates a new sense of exclusivity based on limited availability, not price. Together, those benefits have clearly helped the brand survive during these tough economic times, allowing it to win a cult following and to see a sales increase of 30 percent in 2009, according to a report in Time. While it also sells through its online store, Clemens en August maintains a sense of scarcity: the third floor of its webshop is reserved for customers who’ve visited the most recent tour.
Cool Hunting: It was just a question of time before someone came up with an iPad-ready chair, or we should say a “magical and revolutionary” chair. Vitra just introduced Chairless, a tool for sitting designed by Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena. A simple and witty idea, the textile strap joined into a loop measures 85 centimeters in length and five centimeter in width and wraps around the back and knees to stabilize the body and relieve tension while seated. Presented at Salone this week, the design incorporates an iPad perfectly, allowing the device to balance on the knees for comfort and ease.
