Industrial buildings demonstrate a lot of flexibility and versatility. These buildings can be easily repurposed and reconfigured to provide contemporary living spaces. Today we travel to Central Eastern Europe and visit a striking loft and penthouse in Budapest that used to be a part of a big industrial warehouse. This huge living space was redecorated by IVANKA, a young and talented Hungarian design company.
One can find many enormous and impressive buildings along the river Danube. All these places talk about the rich history of this once glorious capital. No wonder that the latest and most interesting architecture projects are centred around the river banks as well. Riverloft is a massive conversion project whereas a 1914 industrial building was turned into a number of inspiring living spaces. Beside the amazing visual experience of the river views, the building features a fabulous mélange of old details and bold contemporary architectural solutions, too. The largest penthouse and loft that we take a look at today required imaginative and cutting-edge creations in order to highlight its beauty. IVANKA studio took up the challenge and did a great job: the loft became literally a showroom of their product collections and bright interior ideas. The design studio brought tailor-made concrete fireplace, chic stairs, window sills and window frames, concrete counter and cool kitchen island to the apartment. Other interesting design ideas are the Concrete Sound audiophile speakers, the Propeller table, the Applied Literature table and the FLASTER tiles.
The two talented interior and product designers, Katalin Ivanka and Andras Ivanka deserve our praise and applause. They are the catalysts of IVANKA Studio and Concrete Factory that is a Budapest-based company founded in 2003. Their works and projects are based on the versatile nature of concrete. Concrete is their main material chosen for creative expression through discovering unexplored attributes. The Ivankas are dreamers and doers living in the fabulous city of Budapest in the middle of Central Europe, where the 20-year old fragile democracy is now facing a most serious paradigm shift. Through their creations with concrete, their affinity for the material and a constant search for new technological solutions, their work speaks volumes about their country of origin, and also about their approach to design.
People that are not really into contemporary design can see things most of the time only in the conventional way. On the other side, you have quite some people – big fans of great and interesting international designs – following the traditional way is usually much too boring and they prefer to think out of the box and see something that is much more creative and unusual.
When it comes to coffee tables, there are plenty of amazing designs around that we can see every day if we keep our eyes open. Today we are going to present you a brilliant idea and a great furniture piece. This coffee table – named as VIC – was designed by Chilean studio, Elemento Diseño. The two designers, Emmanuel Gonzalez and Jaime Zuniga created the table by using one single plywood sheet. They wanted to minimize waste products and utilize the materials in a very creative way. VIC is made of a single plywood board that is pre-cut so that the whole table can be assembled effortlessly by anyone without using any glue. The legs of the table can be cut out from its corners and inserted in the cross shaped hole in the middle. This design talks about environmental consciousness and pure performance. During manufacturing there are not much losses and all pieces and parts are utilized to build a harmonious whole.
All in all, this white lacquered table embodies great innovation in furniture design that some of us are all looking for. If you, too, are looking for nice coffee table designs then can check out the Cymax coffee tables. Our favorite is the Eurostyle Abril Lightweight White Rectangular Wood Coffee Table.
There has always been something fascinating about the plasma globes and neon lights. The only trouble being that they have become a little, well, tacky. Thankfully, Wales based artist Jessica Lloyd-Jones has reinvented the aesthetic for us to enjoy these ethereal lights without having to hide our guilty pleasure.
Anatomical Neon is a series of blown glass lights inspired by flows on energy in the human body. Lloyd-Jones captures the beauty of bioelectricity and bioluminescence and displays it via inanimate glass sculptures. The series consists of neon lights shaped in the form of human organs and floating in glass domes. Lloyd-Jones created Anatomical Neon while collaborating with glass artists and neon specialists at Urban Glass in New York. This was after receiving a grant from the Arts Council Wales and Wales Arts International. The first in the series is “Brain Wave”, which pulsates with plasma like neurons zipping along synapses. In “Optic Nerve”, eerie trails of light move between the lens and the retina like smoke in a breezeless room. The third, “Heart,” glows warm red neon. The last in the series is the more complex “Electric Lungs.” Xenon gas lights up arctic blue in the bronchi of the sculpture.
The beauty of these pieces is in the way the organs seem suspended in their glass domes, pulsating as if brought to life by a scientist with Frankensteinian aspirations. Not only pleasing on the eye, Anatomical Neon makes us more conscious of the energy flowing through each of our bodies.
The majority of sofas out there are bulky and ungainly things that often overwhelm the spaces they are placed in. Odd, considering that they are meant to help users access space rather than restrict it. That’s why we’re so pleased with the new sofa created by French designer Arik Levy.
Called Stream, Levy designed this modular sofa system for the Dutch furniture manufacturer Palau. Stream consists of a rectangular base to which a back and armrests are attached. The customer can choose between a 1, 2 or 3 seater base and combine it with adjustable backrests of two heights. A tabletop can also be added instead of an upholstered seat, creating a storage space. By breaking up the sofa into its different components, users are able to customize the final product to suit their space and needs best. Colors and textures of the upholstery can also be chosen offering a wide range of possibilities for the sofa. Levy describes Steam as a platform to meet and connect. There is of course the connection to how people use waterways to connect with each other, but Stream can also be seen as a metaphoric stepping-stone around which life flows and invites users to sit down and engage with each other. The slight inward slope of the sides and rounded edges of Stream add to its aqueous aesthetics.
The simplicity and adaptability of Stream means it could easily flow into any space.
In these oh so trying times, what more can we ask from design than a little but of fun? In this collection from Rui Alves, we get just that and a little more.
The “Fiss Family” is a collection of furniture designed by the Portuguese designer Rui Alves. Alves has creating running in his blood as both his father and grandfather worked with wood. After finishing an Industrial Design course at IADE (Instituto de Artes Visuais, Design e Marketing) in Lisbon, he returned to his hometown of Paços de Ferreira to set up “My Own Super Studio.” The collection is a range of four different tables, of varying heights and sizes. The tables are finished off in natural wood on the outside, with a fluorescent pop of color on the inside. The same visual elements run through the four designs, rectangular tops with skinny legs sloping straight down from the surfaces, and angular cutouts on the profiles to reveal the insides. What sets them apart from regular tables their light fittings that shine brightly down from inside. The matching electric cords snake across the floor instead of shying away from view. The contrast between the bright colors and the natural wood finish make these pieces charming, and with the angular cutouts we seem to be a taking a cheeky peak underneath a skirt.
With natural finishes and quirky details, the Fiss Family is just what we need to bring a little fun into our world.
