During Milan Design Week in April 2026, AMO/OMA and Solidnature staged a surreal stone supermarket that replicated the mundane shopping experience with a humorous minimalist take. For one month only, you can order the pieces that stocked the playful installation.

A stone supermarket by OMA/AMO and Solidnature

Titled ‘Il Sonno’, the supermarket was conceived by architect Samir Bantal, AMO's director, and was based on the idea of celebrating the expressive potential of stone, which was the sole material for shelving units as well as groceries, offering an immersive experience within the space.

'Nobody thinks while shopping; it’s a reflex,' says Bantal. 'At Il Sonno Supermarket, this reflex is frozen in stone. Commodities have been transformed into desirable objects, stripped of function. The dream lies in the interval between recognising an object and realising that it has solidified. A supermarket with a fleeting stock, forever frozen in time. The experience of rushing through the supermarket is slowed down to wonder.'

For one month only, until 21 June 2026, you can pre-order 12 of the items from the supermarket shelves, which include onyx bananas, red marble steaks, sandwiches made of travertine with red marble and green onyx, and beautifully veined Flamingo Nebula marble milk bottles. Each piece from the limited edition is unique, as it will feature the chromatic and textural variations of the natural stone.

'Natural stone introduces a different sense of value, rooted in sustainability, durability and authenticity,' says Solidnature owner, David Mahyari. 'Unlike systems built on speed and disposability, it shifts consumption towards awareness, where everyday choices become part of a larger dream – shaping a more conscious and future-oriented world.'

Order now from solidnature.com, prices start at €90

A fresh crop of hardware companies has emerged in recent years with a simple question: can humble cabinet pulls and knobs be a new medium for bold aesthetic expression? The challenge: not to let form overpower function; wild, oversized shapes must not impede actual daily use. Ellis Works, recently founded by Alex Bellos, the former president of retail brand West Elm and CEO of lighting and lifestyle goods firm Schoolhouse, is attempting to bridge the gap between style and substance by turning art into product.

‘A lot of talents are creating beautiful sculptural forms, but when it comes down to it, these designs are being introduced into our kitchens and bathrooms,' Bellos says. ‘I want to push forward artistic exploration but also make sure that the results work.’

Ellis Works is based in a workshop in the Sunset Park neighbourhood of Brooklyn. From here, the company’s carefully curated selection of pulls, handles and knobs – mostly imagined by a tight roster of local artists – is produced. They’re made in different sizes and mounting styles and in ten materials, from contemporary finishes like brass and nickel, to patinas like verdigris and antique.

‘We’re trying to solve problems, help architects and interior designers have flexibility, all while maintaining our point of view,’ Bellos says. ‘Everyone loves edge pulls, but they’re hard to install, so what we did is develop a design that looks like this typology but doesn't have to be mortised-in.’ Designed in-house, the easy-to-mount ‘Throop’ collection, for example, is defined by a streamlined wave shape that allows it to function properly without having to be anchored on top of the mass of a cabinet door.

Though it might seem like Ellis Works is a career pivot for Bellos, he actually first forayed into the product category when taking over Rejuvenation Hardware 12 years ago. ‘What I was particularly drawn to was the brand’s history; going through its archive and pulling out a Sears catalogue from 1904 and seeing what could be brought back to life,’ he adds.

He spent 14 years at West Elm, where, on becoming president in 2017, he brought revenue up $2 billion. He moved to Food52 in 2022 but departed as company CEO in 2023 (Food52, the parent company of sister brands Dansk and Schoolhouse, filed for bankruptcy in December 2025).

Bellos remembers thinking, ‘I have almost 20 years of experience in the home furnishings industry; how can I take established traditions but also my own acquired knowledge and apply it in new ways that make sense?’

The potential of hardware had that special pull. ‘Since my time at Rejuvenation, I’ve loved the category,’ he says. ‘For one, it’s the real jewellery of the home. It’s also one of the only things you interact with constantly. The feeling of a brass knob in your kitchen or bathroom changes your perception of these environments.’

Bellos established Ellis Works at the end of 2025. Its name and ethos are an homage to his great-grandfather, an Austro-Hungarian immigrant who, like millions of people, came through Ellis Island to start a new life, eventually starting a butcher shop in Ridgewood, Queens.

Like his ancestors, Bellos sees value in old-world techniques; for him, there’s a special kind of magic intrinsic to hardware, that high-design can be distilled into small packages. Take a recent collaboration with the Brooklyn-based silversmith Heath Wagoner. For the ‘Tessuto Cabinet Knob’, the designer created jewellery-like pulls that resemble flowing fabrics straight from a Caravvagio painting. ‘[Heath] can do an experimental wax casting in his studio and we can bring that to market pretty much exactly as he’s done it,’ Bellos said.

Ellis Works is a lean operation for now – it’s just Bellos, a product technician and a skilled artisan. ‘We have the flexibility to test out new ideas, play and collaborate with great people,’ Bellos says. ‘There’s a spirit of partnership both on the back and front end of the process; with the talents we commission and the architects and interior designers that spec our products. I love the personal aspect; being able to talk to everyone involved.’

Wagoner isn’t the only collaborator. Artist and designer Jonathan Mergele has created ‘Ferrea’, a collection of hardware that resembles knots, the result of a trip to Portugal and observing how artisans created a cathedral grate. Kalen Kaminski, founder of multidisciplinary practice GONE, has contributed Portal, a series of mesmerising hand-blown glass knobs.

During New York Design Week, Ellis Works has teamed up with Canal Street lifestyle brand William White to stage an immersive installation that demonstrates how the hardware can be used to support different daily tasks. Also launching as part of the showcase is Scottish studio potter Joshua Williams’ all-ceramic ‘Cairnsmore’ cabinet knob.

This creative potential – that high design can be delivered in small packages – thrills Bellos. And he hints that there may even be more product categories in store for Ellis Works: ‘When starting the company, I was very specific about the idea of door and cabinet hardware being functional goods,’ he says. Now, he continues, the question has become, ‘what are other functional goods in the home?

‘What are other opportunities to experiment and play with almost any type of object that’s screwed into the wall?’

Elevate your everyday moments with ‘Prea’, a new collection from Mexican contemporary furniture brand Dórica. The collection was conceived by designer and brand founder Sebastián Ángeles, who wanted to focus on the beauty of daily rituals and how to enhance the experience.

Discover 'Prea', objects designed for intentional living

Ángeles focused on how to create a conscious relationship with the domestic environment with objects that balance form and function. ‘Prea’ consists of eight pieces, including candleholders, trays, containers, egg baskets and vessels, each crafted in stoneware and available in five colours: Forest Green, Wine Red, Butter Yellow, Electric Blue, and Peach.

The underlying theme is simplicity, as Ángeles wanted each piece to integrate easily into any space, in keeping with the brand’s minimalistic and contemporary aesthetic.

Ángeles founded Dórica as a project back in 2016, and it blossomed into one of Mexico’s most notable furniture brands. Each piece is designed and manufactured in Mexico, with a focus on the beauty of wood – adding contemporary lines and a minimalist touch.

The designer didn’t want the objects of his new collection to define a room, but instead to accompany a daily ritual, bringing small joy to the lighting of a candle or the cracking an egg.

Ángeles chose the name ‘Prea’ as a personal way to name ‘the everyday ritual’ – one which users should take a moment to savour and enjoy.

The collection is priced from MXN $599 to $1699 at dorica.com.mx

Do you have that one object you can’t stop thinking about – a piece you’ve coveted for years? Our editors certainly do. We’ve polled the team to gather the design objects with the most staying power – those which, year after year, retain their allure.

These iconic designs – or their most charming archival iterations – are often long out of circulation. That’s where our vintage-sourcing expertise comes in. Today the pre-loved design marketplace is thriving: not only as a way to track down these elusive gems, but because there’s something magical about objects that carry the patina of time. And of course, circularity matters more than ever amid the rise of fast furniture.

Below, we’ve gathered eight modernist and contemporary icons we can’t stop dreaming about. Read on for the objects that remain, perpetually, on our wish lists.

San Lorenzo is the silver world’s quiet creative innovator. Founded in 1970 by Ciro Cacchione, whose family had been producing traditional silver objects since the late 19th century, it established a design language that diverged from the classic decorative norm. Cacchione enlisted leading creatives to conjure up objects that were modern in aesthetic but created with the rigorous techniques his family had been championing for decades.

The San Lorenzo portfolio includes some pioneering names, including Afra and Tobia Scarpa, Franco Albini and Franca Helg, Antonio Piva, Maria Luisa Belgiojoso, and Lella and Massimo Vignelli. ‘My dad says he wanted to “imagine silver objects”, and he worked very closely with the designers he commissioned,’ says Giovanna Cacchione, Ciro’s daughter. ‘And there aren’t many drawings or sketches from these collaborations because they happened through conversations that went on between my dad, the designers and the artisans.’

Discover San Lorenzo's modern design excellence

A rare collection from the San Lorenzo archives will now be available exclusively from luxury e-tailer Abask. ‘Ciro’s business exemplified a paradigm shift in silversmithing, aligning with the principles of the Italian Radical Design movement by treating silver as a malleable canvas for architectural inquiry,’ observes Abask co-founder Tom Chapman, who first discovered San Lorenzo in the 1990s, drawn to the company’s blend of modernism and craftsmanship. ‘In an era dominated by mass production, San Lorenzo represents a bastion of thoughtful materiality, where each piece invites contemplation on the evolution of domestic objects from mere function to cultural artefacts.’

The 37-piece collection comprises key archival pieces produced between 1971 and 1992 but no longer in production: among them are the textured ‘Pannocchia’ bowls by Franco Albini and Franca Helg, a candelabra by Lella and Massimo Vignelli, and several pieces by Afra and Tobia Scarpa, including a tea set and a whisky flask. These are objects that reflect the company’s desire and ability to push the boundaries of the material.

A fitting example is a candelabra designed by the Scarpas in 1992 and made of pure 999 silver, a material that had never been used to produce an object (silver is generally used as an alloy). San Lorenzo worked closely with Milan’s Politecnico to establish a manufacturing protocol that allowed this material to be shaped into a precise, reflective plate onto which 15 bronze arms are placed in a way that they can be adjusted to direct the candlelight, creating a mesmerising interplay of light and reflection.

‘What San Lorenzo has achieved is convincing proof that a modernist aesthetic can be given valid artistic expression and yet at the same time meet the most exacting utilitarian requirements,’ notes Eric Turner, a former V&A curator who led the 1995 exhibition “The Work of the Silversmith’s Studio: San Lorenzo, Milano”. ‘The design world can learn from the San Lorenzo example that the highest aesthetic standards combined with a ruthless functionalist approach can produce objects of outstanding excellence,’ Turner continues. ‘All San Lorenzo products offer a seamless combination of form, technique and function.’

By offering this collection, Chapman hopes to speak to an audience of future collectors. ‘In a contemporary market saturated with replicable goods, these pieces offer the promise of singularity as objects that accrue narrative value over generations, much like the Scarpas’ own intergenerational influence, from Carlo to Afra and Tobia,’ he says. ‘These design objects are not mere acquisitions but future heirlooms, embodying the timeless dialogue between innovation and tradition that defines exceptional design.’

Light isn’t only what you see; in a single shift, it can carry you from the quiet radiance of the midnight sun to the intimacy of winter days. And perhaps it is this very poetic idea that has sparked a new collaboration between Nordic design houses Iittala and Byredo, giving rise to Ljus (meaning ‘light’ in Swedish): a limited-edition collection of glass objects exploring light and scent.

While Byredo, the Swedish fragrance and beauty brand, has built its name on creativity and timeless objects that resonate deeply in people’s lives, the Finnish Iittala stands for functional, enduring glassmaking, rooted in material integrity and craft; together, their sensorial suite of pieces is making a conceptual debut at Matter and Shape in Paris.

Byredo meets Iittala: the Ljus collection

'The process was a true dialogue between the two brands,' shares Janni Vepsäläinen, creative director at Iittala. ‘For Byredo, scent creates atmosphere, something spatial and architectural. For us, glass is the medium through which light and concept take form.'

Glass is a particularly eloquent medium; one that translates the expressions and shifting qualities of light with quiet drama, almost embodying a tension between fire and ice. Adds Vepsäläinen: 'We began with the inherent duality of glass. It is born from fire – from extreme heat and constant movement – yet it often appears cool, fragile, almost like ice suspended in time. That transformation, from liquid intensity to frozen clarity, became the poetic foundation of Ljus. As two Nordic brands, we share the same northern sky; its shifting tones, its clarity, its quiet intensity. The unique quality of Nordic light, especially in winter, feels almost sculptural in itself. With Ljus, that light becomes material and experience.'

The exchange between Byredo and Iittala is also anchored in a shared respect for craftsmanship. Made at Iittala’s historic factory in Finland, every piece in the Ljus collection is formed by generations of skilled makers who coax molten glass into being through heat and human touch. Minute shifts in form and surface are inevitable, and it is precisely these delicate imperfections that become the collection’s quiet signatures.

Within these refined vessels, Byredo’s candles and incense read almost like small sculptures. ‘The two materials – scent and glass – complement one another through materiality, spatial layering, and emotional depth. It became a conversation between heat and solidity, diffusion and containment, lightness and weight.’

The detailed processes aside, there were practical constraints when bringing glass and flame together. 'Gravity, heat, the thickness of the glass – these are physical realities that shape the outcome,’ explains Vepsäläinen. ‘But rather than limiting the process, these constraints became poetic elements. There is a subtle sense of motion captured in a solid form. At the same time, the proportions and silhouette were influenced by the presence of the flame: how it diffuses, how it reflects, how it lives within the glass.'

For their presentation at Matter and Shape, the brands were keen to move beyond the familiar language of a product display. Instead, they have conceived a concept-led, multisensory study of light, glass, ritual and materiality – one that allows atmosphere to take the lead. 'The pieces are given space,' states Vepsäläinen. ‘We want the viewer not only to see the form, but to feel the interaction – how the glass reacts to the flame, how reflections move, how the atmosphere changes. The presentation is conversational, poetic, and experiential, inviting people into a moment shaped by light, material, and time.'

The full Ljus collection will launch globally in October 2026, available from Byredo as well as selected Iittala stores and e-commerce.

The umbrella stand – once a humble fixture of hallways, alongside hat racks and shoehorns – is now ripe for a comeback. It’s a nod to a time of analogue rituals and the thoughtful design details that came with them – small touches that made daily life a little more elegant. It’s practical, too, of course: keeping wet umbrellas tidy is essential during soggier months. Bring it back, we say – especially when your options are as chic as the design-led, Wallpaper*-editor-approved picks from our favourite brands, curated below.

13 design-led umbrella stands and holders, chosen by Wallpaper* editors

As a child growing up in São Paulo, Brazil during the 1970s and 1980s, interior designer Andre Mellone was surrounded by beautiful things. His father, Oswaldo, was a noted Brazilian industrial designer and, soon enough, the younger Mellone developed his own passion for creating expressive spaces — first as an architect, then as principal of the New York-based practice, Studio Mellone.

Since establishing the firm 14 years ago, Mellone has racked up an impressive client list, all drawn to his effortless mixture of midcentury and contemporary, including Lauren Santo Domingo, fashion brands like the Row and even Rockefeller Center. Still, despite having designed plenty of bespoke pieces, Mellone had never launched a product line. ‘I’d been thinking about doing a product for a long time, but I’ve been so careful about when to do it, how to do it and who to do it with,’ the designer tells Wallpaper*.

Then, one day, he got a call from Nordic Knots, a Stockholm-based rug company known for its design-conscious, high-quality collections. Would Mellone be interested in designing a collection with them? ‘It probably took me two seconds to say yes,’ he says.

‘I've been following Andre's work for such a long time. I love how confident Andre's interiors are,’ adds Nordic Knots co-founder Liza Laserow Berglund. ‘Andre just felt so right – it was pure logic.’

The result is a four-piece rug collection, which launched today in-store and on Nordic Knots’ website. While the collection is concise, each is the distillation of years-worth of Mellone’s ideas, ones that meld the vocabularies of Art Deco, Brazilian modernism and ‘70s and ‘80s design. ‘Ultimately, we were designing rugs that I wanted to use – I was designing rugs for myself,’ Mellone says.

There’s Pond, a plush rug made from New Zealand wool, which features concentric organic rings, to evoke the ripples on top of a body of water. Then there’s the warm, terra-cotta-hued Indore, inspired by the modernist palace of Yeshwant Rao Holkar II. The olive-hued Dots, carpet, with its soft variegated pile, feels plucked from either a vibrant Jazz Age or a sleek Brazilian pad.

‘I became kind of really interested in the process,’ Mellone explains. ‘Obviously you start designing rugs as a two-dimensional thing, but they’re actually 3D objects.’

The boldest design, Normandie, features a lively interplay of interlocking stripes. It was inspired by the SS Normandie, an opulent Art Deco ocean liner that first set sail in 1935. The ship was destroyed in a fire and broken for scrap in the 1940s, but its design has captivated Mellone. ‘I dream about it – I know every corner of that ship,’ he said.

One night, down a YouTube rabbit hole, Mellone discovered footage of a striped, plaid rug in one of the opulent rooms. ‘That then became the inspiration for this, so it was a little bit of an obsession that I finally made it into reality,’ he says.

The rugs are bold, but their colourways and patterns were designed to fit in with a variety of decor styles, whether anchoring a sparsely-furnished room as a bold gesture or layered with clusters of vintage furniture. Ultimately, it will be a way for consumers to bring a touch of Studio Mellone’s universe home with them.

‘When it comes to the design, we don't want to be involved, because why have we chosen to work with someone like Andre if we should dictate the way they look?’ Laserow Berglund explains. ‘That's how you create the best products: You create the world and then the product.’

As the Lunar New Year approaches, design is going equine. The horse, the animal of this year’s zodiac – and the values it embodies, from vitality and independence to creative momentum – has emerged as a defining symbol.

Embracing this spirit of movement and freedom, Italian furniture and design brand Giorgetti offers a charming interpretation of equine inspiration. Nuvola is a collection of horse-themed objects and furnishings designed and developed by artistic director Giancarlo Bosio, defined by the brand's signature artisanal precision.

The inspiration behind the accessories can be traced back to a 2022 exhibition at Beijing’s historic Summer Palace, where the famed bronze heads of the Chinese zodiac animals were displayed. Among them, the horse’s head – poised between art and cultural identity – stood out as a powerful image of strength and imagination. Seeking to echo this spirit, Bosio imagined Nuvola’s central motif: the Dreaming Horse.

This vision takes shape in three leather objects, each crafted with meticulous workmanship. The first is a small, versatile accessory, designed to be attached to a handbag, used as a keychain or displayed as a decorative ornament. The collection also includes a valet tray, conceived as a ritual object that receives what is set aside at the end of the day, and a vase holder, complete with a glass vase.

As Bosio explains, the Dreaming Horse ‘is not a horse thrown into the race to escape, but rather a horse that dreams, that creates inner worlds. Each piece is a fragment of this dream, a trace of that inner horse riding through a space where Giorgetti icons coexist, reinterpreted in a festive and symbolic vision.’

These are gifts in which aesthetics and function converge and where craftsmanship adopts meaning – resonating with the spirit of renewal, reflection and the welcoming of new energies ushered in by the Lunar New Year.

In an increasingly digital age, choosing to keep print is an act of quiet rebellion. While an artfully placed issue on a coffee table has its charm, it’s rarely a practical solution for the archives our erudite readers cherish. Our edit of design-led magazine racks and holders brings together striking aesthetics and smart storage, celebrating and safeguarding a medium that still matters.

Modern furniture retailer DWR has joined forces with Devin Wilde – one of Wallpaper's USA 400 – to debut a new collection of furniture and vessels, launching today both online and in DWR stores.

The ceramic artist is known for his sculptural approach (he was trained as an architect), as well as for creating objects that balance utility and ornament. The collection for DWR spans vessels, cocktail tables and tables alongside an entirely new design, 'Vessel No. IX', in four new glazes – 'Cobalt', 'Midnight', 'Garnet' and 'Metallic Satin'. These tableware pieces join ten existing designs, forming a collection defined by bold forms and richly saturated hues, all handcrafted in Wilde’s Brooklyn studio by a small team of artisans.

‘Glazes are like people,’ says the artist. ‘Each one has its own way it likes to be handled.’ His mastery of these nuances is evident throughout the collection, which features primary colours inspired by classic midcentury palettes with high-gloss finishes, while his architectural training ensures each piece remains grounded in function. ‘I think of these pieces as usable art,’ he says. ‘They’re meant to be part of daily life.’

‘Devin possesses an extraordinary creative vocabulary and a rare ability to bring together beauty, joy and inspiration,’ adds Omar Nobil, DWR’s creative director. ‘He embodies the kind of thoughtful, forward-looking design perspective that DWR has always championed.’

Wilde has been a fixture in the art scene since his debut vessel collection in 2023 garnered immediate acclaim. Over the past two years, he has been cementing his influence with his distinctive voice: a classicist with a postmodern sense of humour, he borrows from historical design movements while playfully subverting their rules, his work remaining rooted in a clear understanding of form, proportion and structural logic all the while.

Wilde is also inspired by the world beyond the walls of his Brooklyn studio – by long walks through New York City – whether that inspiration comes in the form of geometric brickwork, the curve of an arch or the interplay of light and shadow across architectural details. ‘I’m particularly drawn to the art deco façades of Manhattan’s skyscrapers and the classical revival townhouses of Brooklyn,’ says Wilde. ‘Some of my glazes are meant to recall oxidised metals – the kinds of finishes you’d see on Roman metalwares unearthed after centuries of aging.’

Whether you consider these pieces sculptural objects or everyday tableware, the collection reinforces the notion that beauty and utility belong together.

The collection is now available online and in DWR stores across North America. Prices start at $1,050.

It's a season of gathering around the table, of family and friends getting together: and for some of us, it is also a peak time to dust off the board games of our youth and challenge guests to one of those never-ending tournaments that can lift the spirit of any holiday get-together.

Whether you're drawn to elevated takes on classics, like leather Monopoly or Bingo, or are looking for a more obscure entertainment to surprise your guests, here are ten imaginative and beautifully crafted games.

Discover classic board games with a twist

Bottega Veneta has unveiled Bottega for Bottegas 2025, the newest chapter of its annual tribute to the small-scale artisans who embody the house’s devotion to craft. Introduced in 2021, the initiative has become a powerful stage for independent workshops whose heritage, technique and creative spirit echo Bottega Veneta’s own.

'This year’s collection celebrates workshops in cities that have profoundly shaped our story – Venice, Milan and New York,' says Bottega Veneta CEO Leo Rongone. The brand invited an artisan from each location to reinterpret the unmistakably Italian ritual of the aperitivo. The resulting objects form an exquisite, modern still life: a pair of silverplate glasses from Milan’s Ganci Argenterie; sterling-silver cocktail sticks with a sculptural knot by Brooklyn silversmith Heath Wagoner; and a handbound journal by Venetian Paolo Olbi, imagined for cocktail recipes and evening reflections.

'[These] workshops represent, individually and together, a profound commitment to the preservation and innovation of artisanal and creative culture,' continues Rongone. Paolo Olbi is a masterful bookbinder whose works draw on Venetian, Byzantine and Islamic motifs. In New York, Heath Wagoner’s hybrid background in industrial and jewellery design translates into finely finished barware and tableware; and atelier Ganci Argenterie – founded in 1926 and now led by the third generation of the Morandino family – stands as one of Milan’s oldest silversmiths.

The project pays homage to the geographic and cultural lineage that has shaped Bottega Veneta for nearly six decades. Founded in Vicenza in 1966, the house grew up in close orbit to Venice, drawing on the city’s artisanal traditions and fluid landscapes. Venetian influence runs deep at the brand, from its iconic knot motif to the early production of fragrance flacons made from swirling glass. That said, Bottega Veneta also looks outward: in 1972, its first boutique opened not in Italy but on Madison Avenue in New York – although by the late 1990s, the house had relocated its design studio to Milan, where its headquarters and runways remain today.

With Bottega for Bottegas 2025, Bottega Veneta once again honours the artisans and cities that shaped its past – while reaffirming the relevance of the handmade in the present.

For more details of the artisans, view the collection at bottegaveneta.com

Whenever he was given free rein to create, Italian architect Gio Ponti would deliver a Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art), taking care of every element with a mix of rigour and humour that came to define his work. Using colour and geometry, he would tell a complete story that encompassed architecture, furniture and décor.

To celebrate his legacy, Molteni & C has launched a new collection of objects that honours Ponti’s small-scale work, and the way he was able to blend irony and history into his pieces.

Molteni&C unveils Gio Ponti Objects

Over the years, Molteni&C’s ongoing partnership with the Gio Ponti Archives has delivered some exquisite Ponti reissues, including armchairs and tables. Taking this collaboration down to a more intimate scale seemed like the next step, explains Francesca Molteni, who works with her family’s company as well as being an independent curator and filmmaker. ‘After more than ten years of collaboration with Ponti’s heirs on the reissue of his furniture, it seemed natural to continue the work of enhancing his design legacy, exploring an extraordinarily evocative part of his oeuvre: objects,’ she says.

The eight-piece collection, faithfully reproduced from the Gio Ponti Archives, features classic Ponti motifs: animals, hands and geometries in stainless steel and wood. These objects are ‘veritable microcosms of his architectural ideas, characterised by a profound artisanal and design value,’ says Molteni. ‘Each object, whether sculptural or functional, reflects the interplay of geometry and spatial reinterpretation that defined his work. These are objects capable of sparking the imagination, evoking memories, and bringing beauty to everyday gestures. They are poetic instruments that reflect Ponti’s belief that even the domestic dimension can become a theatre of fantasy.’

The ‘Gio Ponti Objects’ collection includes an origami-like horse and two doves, masterfully recreated in metal and reflecting Ponti’s ability to shape entire worlds from simple materials. Also made of stainless steel is ‘La Mano’, a hand motif that Ponti used throughout his career in drawings and sculptures. The starting point of its design is a freehand drawing made by the architect, in response to which silversmith Lino Sabattini sculpted an object that recreated the playful six-fingered hand.

‘The hand embodies the mimicry of error, an impossible hand in honour of fantasy, while remaining the symbol of human measure and expression, of concrete intervention and creation,’ says Molteni.

Among the collection’s functional objects are ‘7 Tubi’ (seven tubes) and ‘Pompei’, two stainless steel designs that can be used as vases or candleholders, and the ‘Architettura’ tray, based on the hexagonal module that often served as the starting point for Ponti’s architectural blueprints. It signals his mission to bring architecture into all facets of daily life, and this domestic object calls to mind Milan’s Pirelli skyscraper, one of Ponti’s most memorable and impactful designs.

The collection also veers towards the theatrical with a series of wooden bottle sculptures, originally created as part of a scenography and reproduced in ash and robinia. Completing the set is ‘Bucchero’, an Etruscan-inspired object made using a rare clay-firing technique. ‘The vessel, with its shiny black material, handcrafted using an ancient Etruscan technique, connects the ancient to the modern, representing Ponti’s ability to reinvent the past with a contemporary spirit,’ adds Molteni.

The collection was assembled with the help of Salvatore Licitra, Gio Ponti’s grandson and the keeper of his creative legacy. ‘As you journey through 60 years of Gio Ponti’s creativity, it may happen that the seemingly chaotic, kaleidoscopic wealth of his creative universe suddenly reveals itself as a balanced and clear whole, where every element responds to a single vision,’ he says.

‘It is a vast landscape, which embraces architecture, interiors, façades, materials, decor, colours, fabrics, ceramics, metals, wood, glass. Within this harmonious tableau, [...] we’ll find objects that promote a new way of life, vibrant domestic sentinels, tools to be kept close at hand, ready to set the stage for the theatre of imagination, across space and time. These are objects that are both beautiful and impossible.’

See molteni.it for your nearest store or shop online in the USA at shop.molteni.it

A version of this article appears in the December 2025 Entertaining Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News + from 6 November. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

Founded in 2015 by Louise Varre, Swedish homeware brand Eldvarm began with a simple observation. After years working in the fireplace industry, Varre realised there was almost nothing on the market that combined beauty, function and quality.

'I wanted something really pretty, very functional and extremely well made – and I couldn’t find that trifecta,' she recalls. The brand’s debut companion set, Emma, made with solid brass fittings and hand-blended natural bristles, quickly caught the attention of design-led retailers such as The Conran Shop and Skandium, establishing Eldvarm as the go-to name for contemporary and considered fireside objects.

Ten years on, and Varre has teamed with French designer Guillaume Delvigne to create a new, more minimalist series called Fumi which responds to a shifting landscape. With more people choosing compact stoves and fireplace inserts over traditional open hearths, the demand has grown for smaller, streamlined tools that don’t compromise on detail.

Working from his Paris studio, Delvigne saw the project as a chance to rethink the typology. A streamlined shovel and a brush developed organically into a full companion set, with the designer bringing his signature mix of precision and warmth – a design language honed during his time at the studios of George Sowden and Marc Newson and collaborations with Hermès, Ligne Roset, and Karakter.

Constructed from thin sheets of powder-coated steel joined by solid wood (ash or walnut) and visible brass screws, the design eliminates welding to simplify production without sacrificing quality. 'For me, the screws are a strength,' Delvigne adds. 'If something breaks over the years, you can replace a part. It’s not a throwaway object.'

The beauty of Fumi is that it has a sculptural presence in the room. 'The V-shaped silhouette came from Japanese brushes,' he explains. 'We wanted something very fluid, drawn in one continuous line. It’s not brutal – and the wood brings a little warmth.'

The handle loops into a hanging hook, while rounded wooden details soften the clean geometry and make it easier to clean. 'Guillaume manages to do what is so hard – minimal but not simplistic design,' notes Varre. 'It feels intentional and thoughtful.'

The matching Fumi Log Holder continues this language with its clean, folded-steel structure. Finished in subdued tones of off-white, dark charcoal and rust brown, both pieces sit comfortably within Eldvarm’s restrained palette of natural materials and muted colours. 'They feel natural and familiar, like iron when it’s rusted,' notes Delvigne of the palette.

Behind the deceptively simple forms lies a network of specialist makers. The brand’s brushes are still produced by a fourth-generation brush-maker outside Nantes, while the steel and woodwork are carried out by a family-run workshop in Poland. Every component is sourced directly, assembled and quality-checked by Eldvarm’s small team – a slow, deliberately hands-on approach that ensures longevity over volume. 'I’d rather take my time and get the right product,' says Varre.

For Varre, the appeal of the fireside goes beyond design. 'I'm a little bit obsessed with the topic,' she says. 'For the entire history of human race, meeting by the fire has been a way to build strong social connections – a place to tell stories, to connect and feel we belong.' Fumi extends that idea into contemporary life – an object that frames an ancient ritual with a new, modern vocabulary.

The Fumi Companion set retails for 355 € / £325 / US$ 525 while the log holder is 355 € / £325 / US$ 575

eldvarm.com

We have a primal urge to self-reflect. Mirrors are thought to be as old as humankind. Their material composition has evolved from watery surfaces via various hand-polished stones and metals to glass, but their function remains unchanged: to deliver the image of its onlooker.

The mirror is more than just a reflective surface, though. It is one of the more symbolically loaded objects that we use in daily life. From Narcissus and Snow White to the Candyman, we are raised to beware the tempting, darker powers that lurk behind our reflection. Mirrors are supernatural portals to other dimensions with dangerous consequences. In some folklore, if a baby happened upon its reflection, it would grow up to have a stutter, and if a woman looked into a mirror just after giving birth, she would see her child on its deathbed.

These sound like patriarchal ruses, designed for fear and control. Yet still today, it is not unknown for people to cover a mirror in the presence of a dying person, lest their soul get trapped within it. An afterlife spent in Ettore Sottsass’ ‘Gli Specchi di Dioniso’ for Glas Italia might be a pretty, pleasant purgatory. Why do we crave our reflections so?

Is it only a desire to see ourselves as others see us, to adjust ourselves as we’d like to be seen, and to check we don’t have anything in our teeth? In this regard, mirrors are our friends – that breed of blunt, empathetically challenged confidante who delivers only truths. Herein lies the only real magic of the mirror: it does not lie. It lays our faces, wrinkles, moods and emotions bare for us to contemplate and, if we have strength, to reflect more deeply upon. We see change, tiredness, decay, good skin days and bad haircuts. We show up for ourselves in a mirror. And while that might sound cute, consider the fright you get when your phone camera catches you unawares.

Have you ever spoken to your reflection and told it that you love it, warts and all? Look into your eyes, not around the eyes, and give it a go. The gods won’t smite you for your vanity, we’re fairly sure. It’s no replacement for therapy, but a little self-love direct to the soul is a nice way to spend a moment in the bathroom. And, over time, we may begin to slough-off the inherited mistruths of millennia that to look at and love oneself is something of which we should be ashamed. Remember to check over your shoulder for vampires first.

Tekla debuts a new collection of candles, marking the home textile brand's first foray into home scent. The collection is created in collaboration with Irish ceramicist Sara Flynn, whose hand-shaped, organic vessels have long inspired the Tekla founder and creative director Charlie Hedin

Tekla’s sculptural candles

The three scents, each with a distinctive ceramic vessel, are developed to explore the relationship between place and memory, and are also available as refills. The launch is an opportunity for Tekla to expand its reach beyond textiles and into a more intimate, yet deeper sphere of domestic comfort and luxury.

The candles feature three scents: Vasta, a dark and smoky scent dominated by fresh wood notes, reminiscent of being in a sauna; Kōdō, whose notes of cardamom, carrot and fig are combined to evoke the atmosphere of incense burning in a temple; and Flore, which as the name suggests is created to bring to mind a meadow in summer, with notes of citrus and bergamot

'Developing the scents for this collection was a deeply personal experience, as we tried to capture the essence of places and memories that have inspired the brand’s story,' says Hedin. 'I’m proud of the three distinct fragrances this has resulted in and what they evoke for us.'

Hedin worked closely with Flynn on the three vessels accompanying the launch. The Irish ceramicist's designs are an ideal match for Tekla, with their sinuous forms and precise artistry. The ceramic objects, with Flynn's distinctive pinched surfaces, form shapes that reflect a textile's folds and creases, a subtle nod to Tekla's collections.

The collaboration, adds Hedin, 'brings a new level of artisanal craft to the brand, inviting all to elevate their home comfort'.

'Collaborating with Tekla was an exciting challenge,' adds Flynn. 'Translating the intricate folds and contours of my one-off sculptural vessels into a functional object pushed me into new creative territory. Working so closely with Tekla and the production team was crucial to producing the final form; designed, made and finished with care.'

The Tekla candles are available from teklafabrics.com and in-store at Tekla Copenhagen from 29 September 2025, €250, with candle refills at €75

American interior designer Nicole Hollis launches her eponymous collection of objects, featuring a curated selection of pieces from international makers and creatives who embody her sophisticated approach to spaces.

The Nicole Hollis Collection comprises limited-edition and one-of-a-kind objects made by artisans hand-picked for their timeless aesthetic and rigorous approach.

The Nicole Hollis collection

During more than two decades at the helm of her studio, Hollis has cultivated meaningful creative relationships with makers, artisans and designers from all over the world, and has collaborated with many of them on a wide range of interior design projects.

Hollis’ inaugural collection of design objects for the home features more than 160 pieces, by 23 makers and artists, such as Rogan Gregory, David/Nicolas, Arno Declerq, Alexandra Llewellyn, Toyine Sellers and Michael Anastassiades. 'Each object, reads a note introducing the collection, 'reflects Nicole’s personal journey, built over decades of collaboration, travel, and creative exchange’.

Among the collection's highlights are brass grinders by Anastassiades, leather and goat-hair napkin rings by Peter Speliopoulos, woven horsehair pillows by sculptor Alexandra Kohl, minimalist stoneware by Samuel Sparrow and even a speaker made from a coconut, by Dutch company Cocobo, originally created for Hollis' Kona Village Resort in Hawaii.

The overall palette is restrained, favouring monochromatic tones and natural materials throughout.

'The collection is rooted in mindfulness,' says Hollis. 'Each piece has been built slowly, the culmination of over 25 years of working with some of the most gifted designers, artists, and craftspeople that I’ve been fortunate enough to know, or that I always wished to. Many of these pieces have been previously procured for private clients, and others have been designed specifically for our collection; I am honoured to make them available to a wider audience.'

Wedgwood and JW Anderson present an exclusive collection of designs by British studio potter Lucie Rie, dating back to a 1964 collaboration with the fine china brand, but never put into production.

Lucie Rie's pottery work

Born in Austria, Rie fled Nazi Austria in 1938 and established herself in London. Alongside her creative work, she was making ceramic objects, including buttons and jewellery for fashion houses, an experience that later informed her precise colourwork. She was also known for her ‘sgraffito’ technique, consisting of carefully scratching the surface of the material to reveal a different shade underneath. So many decades on, her work is defined by a language that still feels modern. ‘Lucie Rie is one of the greatest potters of the 20th century,’ says Jonathan Anderson, who for many years now has been a collector of her work.

‘Rie worked with incredible restraint and clarity, something that feels transcendent,’ says Emma Glynn, Wedgwood’s creative director. ‘Her refined silhouettes, experimental glazes, and graphic use of line challenged traditional notions of ceramics and paved the way for contemporary makers to explore this medium for both artistic and functional expression.’

Wedgwood and JW Anderson release Lucie Rie designs

Working closely with the Estate of Lucie Rie, Glynn and Anderson developed Rie’s original Wedgwood commission for the first time. Defined by Jasper blue surfaces with white graphic inlays, the collection includes two sets – a teacup and saucer, and a coffee cup and saucer – developed with a technique that makes them faithful to Rie’s designs.

‘The line is unmistakably Lucie Rie, and that’s what I love about these designs,’ continues Glynn. ‘It’s both decorative and structural, creating movement without ever overwhelming the form. It’s a quiet confidence that truly captures her signature style. Bringing that together with our iconic Jasper material, this becomes a remarkable meeting of minds – Wedgwood and Lucie Rie, two visionary forces in a collaboration that truly transcends time.’

The objects are made with a combination of machine and handwork. Once moulded, the pieces are fitted to the turning machine, where an artisan shapes them and ribs them by hand – a process similar to Rie’s own studio work.

‘[We used a] technique called “slip trailing inlay”, and to my knowledge, this is the only time we've used it,’ says Glynn. ‘It's an extremely difficult method – perhaps one of the reasons the design didn’t move forward initially. That said, it's a truly beautiful technique, and one I hope we continue to incorporate into our design language.’

The proceeds from the collaboration will support the newly formed Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation, working to grant the long-term accessibility, digitisation and preservation of archival material. As part of the initiative, a grant scheme will be established to promote academic and creative scholarships.

‘It’s a chance to honour a collaboration she always hoped would happen,’ says Anderson. ‘What’s truly remarkable is that Wedgwood has now realised these designs in the way Rie envisioned them. I think she would be thrilled to see these pieces finally brought to life, especially in this charitable context.’

The collaboration will be available from selected stores in China, Japan and the US, Harrods and Selfridges in the UK, wedgwood.com, JW Anderson Soho in London, JW Anderson Milan, JW Anderson Shibuya Parco Tokyo, and at jwanderson.com from 19 September 2025

Five giant fibreglass meatballs sat at the centre of a press conference in Seoul’s Hannam-dong today, where journalists gathered for the launch of Ikea’s latest designer collaboration. They rest on a huge elliptical plate – an outsized version of a new design by young Swedish designer Gustaf Westman, part of a 12-piece collection teased over the summer. The regular-sized porcelain tray, Westman notes, neatly fits 11 meatballs – his (and Ikea’s) favourite Swedish dish.

Alongside the tray, the debut includes a chunky teacup with a saucer designed to hold a generous portion of biscuits; a donut-like portable lantern with a rotating mechanism that allows it to be angled; a glass vase in a springy spiral frame that bounces at the lightest touch; and an LED candelabra, among other tactile tabletop pieces, such as curvy porcelain plates and candlesticks.

Shiny, cartoonish and brightly coloured in shades of red, green, bubblegum-pink and baby blue, the collection channels Westman’s playful design language – a style that has earned him a devoted following since he launched his Stockholm studio five years ago (fans can try for a stay at his apartment, recently listed on home-swapping app Kindred, or dip into his guide to Stockholm). This collaboration with Ikea now makes his work accessible to a much bigger global audience for the first time.

‘There's obviously a lot of pre requirements when you work with Ikea, and there's a lot of things you can't do but a lot of things you can do as well, and you just have to learn about that at the beginning of the process,’ Westman says. ‘For example, there’s one person whose job it is to tell you, like, “If we take away 3mm from this plate, you can fit 100 more in a pallet.”’

The collaboration began three years ago as a conversation between Westman and Ikea creative leader Maria O’Brian, and was initially imagined as a Christmas collection. But, as the designer recalls, this didn’t sit quite right: ‘It felt a bit scary for me because I didn't feel like Christmas was the best fit for my aesthetic,’ he says.

Instead, he proposed a more inclusive collection designed for celebrations across countries and cultures. It's also the reason why the launch is taking place in Seoul (it’s Ikea’s first product launch in Asia), a location rich with traditions and celebrations, and a bright, experimental design landscape where Westman’s work feels perfectly at home.

Since he exploded onto the scene five years ago, Westman’s sense of whimsy and irreverence has drawn comparisons to Ettore Sottsass and Jean Royère, designers who embraced colour, play and a touch of the surreal. But Westman insists his own influences come just as much from growing up in 1990s and 2000s Sweden.

‘One of the things that we really fell for and why we wanted to work with Gustaf was that he really creates humorous objects,’ says O’Brian, noting the creative synergy that Ikea believes will resonate across generations and geographies. ‘We don't expect everyone to bring everything home, although there will be some die-hard fans who buy everything – we tried to make a collection where you can find your own favourites.’

So why are people so drawn to Westman’s playful designs? ‘I don't know, honestly,’ he shrugs. ‘But I feel like this whole sphere – the design world and the architecture world – has been taking itself very seriously for a long time. Of course, there’s space for that, but my way of designing is to have fun. I don't take myself too seriously, because I am not doing anything serious. There are people who do serious stuff, and that's for them, but I don't think that's what I'm gonna bring to the world.’

In an industry that often leans towards rigour and restraint, Westman seems intent on serving up joy – one oversized teacup, wobbly vase and fibreglass meatball at a time.

Taking inspiration from the Mediterranean waters around the Spanish island of Mallorca, Ready To Hang, the New York-based furniture company, has released a new collection of sculptural mirrors. ‘We think of mirrors not as décor, but as punctuation – moments of pause, perspective, and intimacy,’ says Jeffrey Renz, founder of Ready To Hang (RTH). ‘They shape how we move through a space, how we see it, and how it sees us back.’

Discover the new mirrors by Ready To Hang in Munarq's Ca Na Pau residence

When establishing RTH, Renz was inspired by ready-to-wear fashion, imagining furniture as an extension of personal style – here, the mirrors are imaged almost as garments for the home.

The collection was designed in close collaboration with Munarq, a Mallorcan architecture and interior design studio, founded by Rafel and Pau Munar, and the mirrors' various forms span from the curvy to the more linear. Jelly-esque glass detailing in ruby reds and honey oranges frames some of the designs, while others have minimal touches with purse-like clasps, pearl spheres and puffy frames, in keeping with the fashion inspiration behind RTH.

The collection is seen here staged inside Ca Na Pau, a recently completed private residence in the Mallorcan village of Binissalem, designed by Munarq and defined by thick stone walls, carved voids and shifting shadows. The mirrors are dotted throughout the home, and placed in spaces where indoor and outdoor connect, from the extended patio to the poolside, their reflections making them seem like intriguing portals.

The mirrors are available to buy from ready-to-hang.com

When artist Diego Sánchez Barceló and art director Alex Robertson Dunlop launched Seven Studio, they both relocated – Sánchez Barceló from London and Robertson Dunlop from New York – to Mallorca. Not an established creative capital, perhaps, but a place rich in craft history, which informs the studio’s stripped-back, stone-hewn, quintessentially Mediterranean aesthetic, infused with a brutalist edge.

Their atelier is located in the duo's home, and serves as the birthplace of objects that range from sculptures and homeware to collectible stone furniture and large-scale artworks commissioned for public and private spaces. Each piece is hand-carved from locally sourced stone.

Seven Studio’s ‘Brutal’ stool, for example, is formed by chipping away at a solid block of stone, with visible dents and tool marks giving it an almost primal quality. Similarly, the ‘Stone Glass Moment’ glass series is crafted from sea stones and, as such, blends art and functionality. The ‘Lit Stone’, a lighter case, is also made from hand-carved limestone and sandstone.

The studio has been commissioned to create tables hewn from pink Portuguese marble as well as the stone signage for Hotel Corazón in Mallorca (whose terrace restaurant was recently reimagined by Tatjana von Stein) – both designs echoing the rugged contours of the surrounding Tramuntana mountains. Sánchez Barceló and Robertson Dunlop were also enlisted by von Stein’s Club Làlia in Palma, producing the ‘Emotional’ bench, crafted from Felanitx marés, a local Mallorcan sandstone.

The different backgrounds of the founders bring a unique synergy to Seven Studio: Robertson Dunlop, originally from Australia, honed her creative vision in the fashion world, working with US Vogue editor Camilla Nickerson and spending over a decade with Dries Van Noten, where she contributed to more than 40 runway shows. Her passion for print and physical media culminated in a self-published photo book featuring collaborations with artists like Trajal Harrell, an endeavour that ultimately inspired the formation of Seven Studio.

After 15 years’ working in digital visuals, Sánchez Barceló returned to Mallorca to reconnect with his roots and the hand-carving tradition passed down by his father. His ability to integrate precise digital design methods with the raw materiality of hand-carved stone is central to the modern-meets-traditional ethos of Seven Studio.

The tactile works represent a compelling fusion of heritage and contemporary creativity, rooted in Mallorca’s rich traditions and yet boldly pushing artistic boundaries.

Welcome to the third instalment of the new Wallpaper* video series, The Stuff That Surrounds You. Watch as we're invited into the intriguing and idiosyncratic homes of creatives and makers (such as our debut with Veronica Ditting and our second episode with Yasmin Sewell), catching a glimpse of their interior lives via the objects with which they surround themselves, all of which tell a story.

There's a tendency among writers to lean on confirmation bias when profiling successful individuals, suggesting that their path was predetermined. In Glenn Sestig’s case, however, the assertion feels apt. His love of architecture started as a child, when his parents would comment on homes that they passed in the car. His father aspired to be an architect, but was unable to afford the education. Sestig fulfilled that long-deferred dream.

By the age of 13, he had already designed rooms for his parents and grandparents. Even then, his work showed glimmers of what would become his signature style – functional and tactile, taking cues from the likes of Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright and Carlo Scarpa. ‘When I go back to see the designs… it's the same way of thinking and designing as I do today. They look like modernism,’ says Sestig.

That he would pursue architecture wasn’t a foregone conclusion, however. Sestig’s other passion was fashion, and, for a time, he stood at a crossroads. But he managed to find a way to integrate fashion into his practice, working with designers such as Raf Simons, Pieter Mulier and Olivier Theyskens. ‘You cannot really separate fashion, architecture, photography, music… they all need each other,’ he says.

Sestig's breakthrough came with the design of the now-iconic Soap hair salon in Antwerp, and he founded his practice, Glenn Sestig Architects, the following year (1999). Today, he is known for architecture that is not minimalist per se, but monumental, symmetrical and sophisticated, having worked on projects such as the Thirty Lane modernist villa, a rural retreat for the Pringiers family, and the La Réserve hotel in Knokke.

Sestig’s residence, which he shares with his husband, Bernard Tournemenne – an artist and creative director of Glenn Sestig Architects – was originally designed in the 1970s by Ivan Van Mossevelde for an art collector. ‘Visually, it's very brutalistic. It’s totally concrete, and the plan is very minimalistic,’ says Sestig. ‘So when I saw [it], it was something very close to me.’

The house first caught his eye during a walk 25 years ago. He asked the owner if he could have a tour, which they declined, but Sestig remembered the residence. Years later, in 2017, he acquired it. What followed was a restoration that carefully preserved the building’s shell: ‘I didn't want to change anything about that beautiful, strong architecture,' he says.

Sestig's home is filled with sculptures and sculptural forms, from a ceramic by Guy Bareff, to a structure from Pierre Caille of which there are only three in the world, and stone-hewn Italian street furniture from an unknown designer. Then there's the 'living sculpture': Sestig's cat, Tanit, named after the goddess of Ibiza, where he rescued her from.

Elsewhere: light fixtures from the ‘Tennessee’ collection that he designed for Ozone, a vast metal candelabra from Aether/Mass, and a chair for the Ostend Post Office designed by architect Gaston Eysselinck. Sestig's seating collection also comprises an Oscar Niemeyer ‘Marquesa’ bench, a Zaha Hadid ‘Moraine’ sofa, and the ‘Cornaro’ sofa from the ‘Ultrarazionale’ series, the only sofa collection that Carlo Scarpa ever designed.

Art is used sparingly. A portrait of Robert Mapplethorpe shot by Patrick Robyn, the husband of Belgian fashion designer Ann Demeulemeester, hangs on the wall. The only remaining piece from the home's original owner is a wall mural by Sol LeWitt.

Sestig chooses his objects based on a feeling rather than criteria – what matters most is that an object is well-crafted and resonates with him: ‘It's difficult to explain why I like an object, but it's important for me that it's really well done. You will find a lot of different objects in the house, but in the end, you will feel it's very me.’

This space is both the architect's sanctuary and muse – a lived-in archive of ideas and inspiration for projects to come. We hope you enjoy stepping inside.

DOP: Bas Van Hoof
Focus puller: Mathew Lau
Sound engineer: Laurens Desmet
Edit assistant: Giulia Bassanese
Architecture & environment director: Ellie Stathaki
Head of video: Sebastian Jordahn
Director of digital content: Charlotte Gunn
Editor-in-chief: Bill Prince

If you favour craft and quality over endless firmware updates, you’re not alone. For our first foray into the realm of longstanding designs that have survived the test of time thanks to their innate simplicity, we’ve scoured suppliers of the most enduring kitchen tools you can buy.

Big the Corkscrew

First up, an evergreen mechanical device with a difference. Campagnolo’s ‘Big the Corkscrew’ is a bit of a departure for a Vicenza-based company that’s best known for its high-performance bicycle gear. Uncorking wine isn’t really associated with (modern-day) bike racing, but this oversized winged corkscrew ensures you can do it in style, with a refined and updated version of a mechanism that’s been in use for nearly 150 years.

Kinu M47 Classic coffee grinder

The Kinu M47 Classic is a manual coffee grinder sold by specialist bean provider Assembly. The hefty stainless steel-barrelled device, which comes with its own carry case, can take up to 60g of beans (an espresso needs about 7-10g of beans, depending on strength). With an oversized handle and the ability to adjust the burr for precision grinding, it’s the manual machine of choice for the cognoscenti.

NECCST Series 1 coffee grinder

The NECCST Series 1 is a bit more of a wild card, like every crowdfunded piece of hardware. It's a manual coffee grinder that can’t resist squeezing in a bit of additional tech. This comes in the shape of a detachable touchscreen scale that slides into the base of the hefty device, which was designed by Munich-based studio Eckstein Design. Made from aluminium, stainless steel and titanium, the NECCST Series 1 is created to make a countertop statement.

NECCST Series 1 manual coffee grinder, €549, Get.NECCST.com

Chantry Classic knife sharpener

A longstanding kitchen staple, the Chantry Classic knife sharpener was originally created for the commercial food industry. Designed by the silversmith and industrial designer Robert Welch, who also worked with David Mellor, the compact metal device was first made back in the 1970s and earned a spot in MoMA’s permanent collection.

Ernst pestle and mortar

One of the oldest and earliest of all tools, this version of the timeless pestle and mortar is made by Swedish interiors brand Ernst. Made from black granite, it’s designed as a sculptural object that looks good even when not in use.

Zassenhaus bread slicer

German manufacturer Zassenhaus dates back to 1867. As part of its 150th anniversary, the company revived its classic mechanical bread slicer, with a blade made in the centuries-old heart of the country’s steel and cutting industry, Solingen. Produced from die cast and stainless steel, this hefty sideboard tool dates back to 1904.

Ernest Wright Kutrite scissors

In the UK, the heart of the steel industry has always been Sheffield. Local firm Ernest Wright (founded 1902) has recently revived its classic Kutrite kitchen scissors, a sleek design that debuted in the 1960s, designed by fourth-generation owner Philip Wright. After the company fell on hard times, the Wright and Kutrite names have now been revived, as has its Sheffield manufacturing base.

Peugeot Boreal salt and pepper mills

Jean-Pierre and Jean Frédéric Peugeot set up a company making saws in 1810 before branching out into bicycles in around 1880 and thence on to automobiles – Peugeot is the oldest car brand in the world. In 1874, a profitable sideline was established with the invention of the tabletop pepper grinder. Since 2014, Peugeot Saveurs has been divorced from its parent company, maintaining the same factory in Franche-Comté and turning out hand-operated and electric mills for sale around the world. The latest variant is the beech-bodied Boreal.

For Jack Mama and Nina Tolstrup, founders of London-based design studio Studiomama, joy and play are central to their work. ‘As we grow older, that sense of wonder often gets drummed out of us,’ says Mama. ‘Having children reawakened it – and brought back that instinct to make things just for the sake of it. No agenda, just joy. When I show something to Nina and she laughs or smiles, then I know we’ve found something.’

It’s an instinctive, often unconscious approach that has given rise to some of their most endearing projects, including ‘The Offcuts’, ‘Stone Animals’, and ‘Face Castings’ – the last of which began in 2019, when, in pockets of time between other work, Mama began creating a series of drawings – sketches that suggested faces. ‘The eyes were always a fixed distance apart,’ he recalls. ‘Since then, the forms have evolved to become more abstract, and visually informed by the industrial heritage of the foundry we’re working with.

Each piece is cast by hand at James Hoyle & Son, one of London’s last traditional iron foundries. Founded in 1880 and located near Broadway Market in Hackney, the third-generation workshop still uses processes largely unchanged for centuries. ‘You walk through an unassuming doorway and into the heart of the industrial revolution,’ says Mama. ‘It’s like stepping back in time. Our friend and book collaborator, graphic designer Marcia Mihotich, made a beautiful short film about the making of the castings – so you can see for yourself what I’m inadequately trying to describe in words.’

The resulting forms hover somewhere between relic and ready-made. Some viewers have likened them to Anglo-Saxon artefacts; others see them as found objects. That ambiguity is intentional. ‘We suggest what it could be, and the viewer completes the rest. That interaction enriches the narrative and makes each object personal in the eyes of the beholder.’

The ongoing series is also deeply influenced by Italian designer Bruno Munari – specifically his 1970 book Guardiamoci negli occhi (‘Look into My Eyes’), which invited readers to see through the eyes of another using cut-out portraits. ‘Munari’s poetic way of seeing really resonates with us,’ says Mama. ‘He worked freely across disciplines – painting, sculpture, film, children’s books, and industrially produced objects. What I love most is how he did all of this with such aplomb and a playful, inquisitive spirit. In our own practice, there’s a similar curiosity to work across many fields of design – from furniture, products, interiors and graphics to one-off commissions.’

Having already made books about the studio’s ‘Stone Animals’ and ‘Offcuts’ series (£25 each from the studio's online store), Mama and Tolstrup are now planning to publish Face Castings as the third title in that ongoing exploration (three of the sculptures are also available to buy online). In the end, it’s less about what the pieces are, and more about what you see – and what makes you smile.

studiomama.com

Kris Van Assche really loves flowers. A peek at the Belgian designer's Instagram will reveal a plethora of mirror selfies holding decadent, grand and colourful bouquets. Tulips, hydrangeas, lilies, anemones, often sourced from Parisian florist Louis-Géraud Castor, are photographed enveloped in their humble paper held by the designer on his doorstep, and then arranged back home into his collection of expressive vases by the likes of Pol Chambost and Brian Rochefort.

Van Assche is best known for his stints as creative director of Dior Homme and then at Berluti, which he left in 2021, and has since been focusing on personal projects such as the 55 Collections book, an overview of his collections at Dior Homme, Berluti and his eponymous label. But his interest in design has been emerging in the past few years, notably through a collection of home office objects with Berluti, and a collaboration between the French brand and Parisian gallery Francois Laffanour on a special edition of Pierre Jeanneret seating clad in Berluti leather.

His passions collide this summer as the designer launches the ‘Josephine’ collection of vases and glass vessels for Belgian brand Serax.

Kris Van Assche and Serax: ‘Josephine’ homeware collection

Comprising glass vases and bonbonnieres, the ‘Josephine’ collection for Serax is inspired by Van Assche's grandmother. 'It is she who instilled a love of fashion in me as well as an understanding of the importance of a beautifully laid out table,' he says. 'She used to say that making the effort to look good and preparing a nice table setting are just another way of being polite.'

Van Assche's passion for flowers can also be credited to her. 'It’s safe to say flowers are an important source of inspiration if you look at the 55 collections I created in the past 20 years, Van Assche adds. 'Flowers are like fashion: they are not an absolute necessity but make life more beautiful.'

The collection features vases in somewhat nostalgic silhouettes, but is in the material curation that Van Assche's modern elegance emerges. The vessels are made, variously, of mouth-blown glass, concrete, marble and silver-plated porcelain, and each comes with a glass tube to create a composition using individual stems. A series of glass flowers completes the collection

This sense of composition references Robert Mapplethorpe's photographs, often featuring single-stem flowers: 'the flower acts like a disruptor, triggering emotion. In a sense, it’s like fashion when you add an unexpected element or tension to an elegant outfit,' Van Assche comments.

Similarly, the designer offers a novel take on the old-fashioned bonbonniere, available in the same palette of materials.

The ‘Josephine’ collection by Kris Van Assche for Serax is available exclusively from serax.com

Welcome to the second instalment of the new Wallpaper* video series, The Stuff That Surrounds You. Watch as we're invited into the intriguing and idiosyncratic homes of creatives and makers (such as our debut with Veronica Ditting), catching a glimpse of their interior lives via the objects with which they surround themselves, all of which tell a story.

Yasmin Sewell began her career in fashion at luxury retailers such as Browns and Liberty. But she has always been drawn to holistic practices; she is certified in reiki and trained in Ayurveda and flower essences.

When she started her wellbeing brand Vyrao in 2021, she sought to combine her expertise and, with her genderless, natural and vegan eau de parfums, incense and candles, ‘fuse energetic healing with master perfumery’. Vyrao aims to enhance spiritual wellbeing through scent – or ‘[bottle] joy’ – even claiming to use neuroscience principles in the creation of its fragrances to activate emotional and memory centres in the brain.

Sewell’s ‘take on wellness’, which she defines as ‘our energetic, spiritual emotional wellbeing’, continues in her home, which is filled with objects that make her happy. ‘I always choose things that make me feel great when I see them,’ she says. ‘I fall for them in some way, for whatever reason that I can't totally explain.’

Among the objects that contribute to Sewell’s haven of positivity: a Varier ‘Ekstrem’ chair, a 1980s lamp bought from Vincenzo Caffarella, a dealer at Alfie's Antique Market in Marylebone, and a pendant light from Kempton market in Sunbury. She treasures the light not because of any label attached to it, but because, when she looks into her house from outside, and her children are in there, she ‘always thinks it looks really magic’.

Curios and gifts serve as mementos of people and moments throughout. ‘My house is full of things that have either sentimental meaning or were made by people that I love,’ Sewell says: wax statues bought in Puglia, for example, or a hummingbird pendant given to her by Vyrao’s art director, and a photograph of her grandmother, Georgette (after whom Sewell named one of her fragrances), taken for a magazine shoot.

There’s a note from her ten-year-old, terrariums containing frogs and spiders, and a crystal collection – although Sewell isn’t ‘a big crystal girl’, they were all gifted to her by friends or family. Her art was gifted, too, from an artist with whom she forged a connection, her best friend, her cousin’s husband... ‘If you can fill your space with things that you genuinely love, these things, they do hold a vibration,’ says the founder.

And, of course, Sewell’s house smells divine: ‘I'll maybe spray two or three different scents throughout the day depending on my mood,’ she says.

One of the most striking things about Sewell’s home is its colour: it is, overwhelmingly, green. ‘This voice just kept saying to me, everything has to be green,’ she says. As she was painting, the idea for Vyrao – derived from the Latin ‘vireo’, meaning ‘I am green’ or ‘verdant’ – materialised. Green is associated with balance and healing, which is what Sewell, at home and at work, strives for.

We hope you take as much joy in Sewell’s soothing space as she does.

Featuring: Yasmin Sewell. Video: Studio Soeur. Head of Video: Sebastian Jordahn.

Objets Mito, the design in initiative from London-based sculptor and designer Abid Javed (who was one of Wallpaper’s Material Alchemists at our Milan Design Week 2025 exhibition), has presented a new collection of ceramic vessels. ‘Cargo’ draws inspiration from the concept of cargo in biology, which refers to molecules carried within vesicles; Javed’s ‘vesicles’ carry scented wax.

Specifically, the sculptural collection nods to the transportation of cargo within plants. Javed’s background is in plant biology, having studied the impact of pathogens on plants. In his making, he is influenced by biomorphism, the art and design concept that takes inspiration from natural forms and patterns, especially those resembling living organisms, employed by the likes of Jean Arp, Henry Moore and Antoni Gaudi. The Cargo designs incorporate shapes from plant forms and are adorned with biomorphic and anthropomorphic motifs, emphasising the theme of the connection between humans and nature.

The vessels, which are hand-made from red stoneware ceramic with clear glazed interiors, come in three designs: Vessel I, approximately 26-30cm tall, has a stem base inspired by branches, and is designed to either hold scented wax or be used as a drinking goblet. Vessel II, which is 14cm, incorporates biomorphic motifs and can also be used as drinking goblet or bowl after the wax is gone. Vessel III, roughly 12cm, has an asymmetric opening and is suitable for use as a bowl or vase.

Each vessel is paired with carefully-curated, natural-smelling scents from artisans. The first, created by London-based designer/maker Louie Eden Brown, features cedar, tobacco, bergamot, burnt wood, tanned leather and sandalwood. The second scent, by Ahare Space Project in Japan, has notes of hinoki, linden flower, laurel, horwood and kuromoji.

With Cargo, Javed brings together his background in molecular biology and his passion for ceramics to explore the intersection of science and design – and create something truly lovely.

Custom orders are available for all vessels, objetsmito.com

We’re letting design lovers into a little secret: leather goods collector Álvaro González, who occupies a shopfront in Marylebone, London, has opened a ‘by appointment’ antiques business. Álvaro by Appointment purveys midcentury accessories for those in the know.

You’ll find all manner of things, from forged metal candle holders and an enamelled centrepiece by Fantoni to a pair of figurines in colourful maiolica and a study attributed to Bruno Gambone and made by Vanni. From log boxes in exotic woods to wall-mountable plaques decorated with birds, this rich curation has been collected from markets, fairs and dealerships across Europe, principally in Italy, where González spends about half his time. They now sit in the curved window of his shop, arranged on pink Kvadrat flannel.

The Spanish-born collector and designer doesn’t select pieces based on their label; he’s driven by emotion and instinct, purchasing things that he ‘simply had to have’, sometimes ‘because they represented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have them’. ‘I always try to find things that are niche. They need to be very special,’ he says. ‘I don't go searching for specific pieces – they surprise me.’

Although these pieces have been selected specifically for Álvaro by Appointment, González has been collecting antiques for 30 years. He stored his findings in his 12th-century house in Florence until it was fit to burst. He also filled a 1970s London apartment. He then started to source vintage pieces for an online outlet, before taking the next logical step: selling some of his archive (‘the most important pieces are the pieces you need to see in person’).

The pieces are on sale by appointment to interior designers and clients, yes, but also to anyone with an appreciation for design. Although many of the items will only be familiar to those in the know, González hopes that people will use his appointments as a way to learn: ‘I want people to discover my service like they’d discover a new coffee shop or museum that becomes your new favourite place.’

His taste was honed though an impressive career in fashion, including roles at Valextra, Jimmy Choo, Loro Piana, Tod’s, Max Mara and Valentino. His Florentine archive also contains leather goods and accessories from his extraordinary collection of bags, shoes, jewellery and clothing dating from about 1930 onwards. These pieces represent a chronicle of the changing methods and materials through the ages, featuring techniques, leathers and exotics no longer in use today.

For a peek into the aesthetic world of Álvaro González, make an appointment.

Álvaro by Appointment is based at 6 Nottingham Place, London, W1U 5NA. Appointments via email, store@alvaro.ag, and WhatsApp (+393487805591)

Welcome to the first instalment of the new Wallpaper* video series, The Stuff That Surrounds You. Watch as we're invited into the intriguing and idiosyncratic homes of creatives and makers, catching a glimpse of their interior lives via the objects they surround themselves with, all of which tell a story.

In this episode, Wallpaper* visits creative director and graphic designer Veronica Ditting. Argentine-born, German-raised and London-based, Ditting collaborates with an international roster of fashion houses, artists and cultural institutions, from Hermès, The Row and Louis Vuitton to Pirelli, Somerset House and Het Nieuwe Instituut. She designs campaigns, branding, magazines and exhibitions with a distinctly editorial quality. Ditting wouldn’t necessarily call her work ‘artistic’, she says; it’s more about ‘communication and how something sits on a page’.

The creative director spent 12 years at The Gentlewoman magazine, overseeing its vision from its 2010 launch through 24 issues. From 2020-2021 she served as guest artistic director of Monde d’Hermès magazine. Her work has received numerous accolades, including from the Design Museum’s Design of the Year, D&AD and the Dutch Design Awards, while in 2024, the Kyoto exhibition ‘Folio Folio Folio: Print by Veronica Ditting’ looked back on her career so far.

Her London flat is a modernist treasure trove. ‘Physicality, tactility and object-like quality’ are a big part of the designer’s work, and you can feel this in the space. Different shapes and textures abound; a bright green Pirelli rubber floor, for instance, is laid throughout – the perfect contrast to the building’s greyscale.

Ditting rarely thinks about her home holistically. Instead, she collects individual objects that, somehow, work together. ‘I was very lucky that there were a lot of shelf systems. I do have a lot of things,’ she confesses. Among her favourite pieces is an odd, self-published book that she found in Milan. A selection of wobbly Juliette Teste vases also speak to her love of ‘imperfection’, as does a blanket embroidered by her grandmother.

In one corner is a collection of mis-matched silverware mixed with postcards from a show that Ditting did in Japan, as well as a bunch of Murano glass grapes that snap and crackle satisfyingly when you pick them up. ‘This is something that a lot of people, if they come to my place, gravitate towards,’ she says.

Ditting collects vintage publications, specifically the old art magazine Derriere le Miroir, and loves comparing ‘how they’re printed, how they’re edited, how they’re bound’. She also has stacks of iconic orange Hermès boxes (‘Maybe it’s a bit cliché to have, but they do inspire me’), from which she produces an invitation that she created for the launch of Hermès Beauty in 2020.

Ditting’s studio, nearby within the Barbican, is a continuation of her home, with shelves bursting with books and boxes. Here, graphic design materials from her Kyoto show, with DDD Gallery, are displayed in a three-dimensional way, mounted on stands to give them height and shape, alongside a miniature magazine she created for the ten-year anniversary of Gentlewoman.

We hope you enjoy getting lost in Veronica Ditting’s rich, vivid and multifarious ephemera as much as we did.

studioveronicaditting.com

Film credits: Featuring: Veronica Ditting. Director of Photography: Peter Butterworth. Camera assistant: Curtis Blair. Sound design and mix: Indústries Sòniques. Interviewer: Dal Chodha. Head of Video: Sebastian Jordahn

Our edit of contemporary Christmas decorations by leading designers and architects is the place to start for a contemporary spin to your festive décor. From restrained Bauhaus pendants to bright Christmas baubles, we bring you the minimalist and the colourful to add to your festive decorations. 

Fossora Christmas Glass Ornaments by M/M Paris for Björk

French design studio M/M Paris have created a Christmas ornament for their long-time collaborator, Icelandic singer Björk. Available from 6 December 2022 from Björk's shop, the mouth-blown glass ornament is inspired by the aesthetics of Fossora, her tenth studio album, for which the design studio developed 'a fully fungal-inspired typeface'. 

bjork.backstreetmerch.com

Christmas decorations by Hay

Hay's collection of festive decorations features whimsical, colourful and sparkling baubles inspired by Christmas traditions around the world. The eclectic collection features foods that are both traditionally festive and delightfully weird - think champagne, caviar, cheeses, garlic and oysters. 

hay.dk

 Snarkitecture Ornaments by Seletti

 Snarkitecture’s Daniel Arsham and Alex Mustonen have experimented with Christmas icons for their collection of festive ornaments for Seletti. The all-white Christmas decorations collection features a gingerbread man, stocking, candy cane, snowman and Christmas bauble, rendered in streamlines silhouettes and featuring unexpected details (a half-eaten head, a melting figure, an eroded ball), injecting each piece with a festive yet sculptural flair. 

seletti.it

Available from Selfridges

Bauhaus Christmas decorations

This set of original Bauhaus Christmas decorations is attributed to architect Johannes Gabriel, and was designed in 1929/30. First released by IC Design in 2019 on the occasion of the Bauhaus' 100th anniversary, the design nods to Oskar Schlemmer's costumes for the Triadic Ballet. The original set was found at the house of a collector and faithfully reproduced into a series of Christmas decorations fit for a modernist tree (but also great to hang around any time of the year).  

icdesign.ch
ameico.com 

Festive decorations by Luke Edward Hall for Svenkst Tenn 

Luke Edward Hall was inspired by the lost city of Atlantis for the collection of festive decorations he designed for Swedish brand Svenskt Tenn. 'This holiday season I am incredibly happy to be working with one of my all-time favourite makers, shops and institutions, the jewel in Stockholm's crown that is Svenskt Tenn,' announced Hall. This is the second collection he has created for the Swedish brand, comprising brass and glass Christmas ornaments.

svenskttenn.com

Christmas Stars by Snøhetta 

Snøhetta’s Christmas stars for the Norwegian Cancer Society mark the tenth anniversary of the charity’s Christmas Star Campaign. Two of the stars are made out of paper. The smallest one – meant to be accessible to everyone – is available in green, gold and silver, and needs to be assembled by the buyer. The star can be used to decorate a Christmas tree, but also doubles as a to-and-from note for Christmas presents. A larger ‘hospital star’, similar in form, material and construction, is intended for hospital windows, designed with the aim of connecting the patient to the outside world.

stjerneaksjonen.no
snohetta.com

Girard Ornaments by Vitra

This collection of Christmas decorations draws from Alexandre Girard's extensive output as an artist and designer. Vitra and the Girard family collaborated to select a series of recurring motifs from Girard's work, resulting in a series of ornaments that are both festive and universal, including a heart, sun, moon, dove and mouse.  

vitra.com

Available from Trouva

Le Palle Quadrate Christmas baubles by Alessi

Alessi's popular Christmas decorations return this year with a collection of cube baubles designed by Massimo Giacon and Marcello Jori that include classic Christmas motifs such as wrapped gifts, hearts and angels, as well as unexpected characters such as a tiger. 

alessi.com

Available from John Lewis

 Georg Jensen Christmas Collectibles 

Georg Jensen presents its Christmas Collectible 2022 collection, conceived by Sanne Lund Traberg. The starting point for the series of Christmas decorations in gold and silver is folded paper, which the designer fashioned into traditional festive ornaments that include hearts, bows and angels. The designs were extended into a bigger collection that adapts the origami-like motifs into candle holders and sculptural centrepieces.

georgjensen.com

Available from John Lewis

Magnus Wästberg founded lighting brand Wästberg in 2008, keen to explore mankind’s relationship with light through history. His aim was to create a ‘good, holistic lighting solution that truly provides wellbeing on both a physical and emotional level’, and he did so in collaboration with some of the world’s most notable creatives, including Ilse Crawford, Claesson Koivisto Rune, Nendo and Inga Sempé.

He outlined the company’s founding principles in a manifesto titled ‘Lamps for Neanderthal Man’. ‘I explored the idea that humans lived with fire as our only artificial light source for about a million years, and electric light has been around for little more than a century: a blink of an eye in comparison,’ he says. So in 2017, as the company was about to turn ten, he decided to commission the ‘Holocene’ collection of oil lamps and candleholders, as a celebration of fire and its role as a bringer of light.

Wästberg ‘Holocene’: new designs by Ilse Crawford, David Chipperfield and Ingegerd Råman

Now, Wästberg is extending the ‘Holocene’ collection with new designs by Ilse Crawford and David Chipperfield (both contributed to the original collection), and a piece by Swedish glass designer Ingegerd Råman.

For his piece, Chipperfield played with reflections, creating a steel candleholder coated in a deep shade of red oxide. While suited to the tabletop, the piece also comes with a wall bracket, so it can be hung in front of a high-polish mirror to create a striking reflection. Crawford returned to the concept of her previous ‘Holocene’ design (an oil lamp shaped like a solid brass disc), equipped with a spike to hold a candle, and defined by a high-gloss inside finish and a brushed exterior finish. Råman was inspired by her habit of keeping a flower on her bedside table, so her design doubles as a vase for a single stem, the graceful glass tube held in place by a steel base and top.

Although conceptually different from the brand’s technology-driven lighting designs, the ‘Holocene’ pieces are crafted with the same precision, careful approach to materials and ingenuity.

‘To me both the technology-driven and the “Holocene” parts of our collection are important,’ continues Wästberg. ‘I strongly believe that many of the lighting environments that we currently spend our time in, such as our homes, benefit immensely on an emotional level from an “atmospheric accent” in the form of a candle or an oil lamp. As Paul Klee elegantly put it: “One eye sees, the other feels”.’

‘Holocene No. 5’: David Chipperfield from Wästberg, starting from £78 excl. VAT
‘Holocene No. 6’: Ilse Crawford from Wästberg, £205 excl. VAT
‘Holocene No. 7’: Ingegerd Råman from Wästberg, £240 excl. VAT

wastberg.com

Over the years, the pouring vessel has become one of Aldo Bakker’s most distinctive design typologies. The ever growing collection of objects is now on display at Kunstmuseum Den Haag (until 7 May 2023), highlighting the Dutch designer’s experimental approach to the medium. 

Bakker calls these objects ‘schenkers’, a name he coined inspired by the Dutch word schenken, ambiguously meaning to gift, or to pour. ‘This double symbolic meaning is important, as there is more to Bakker’s schenkers than simply a carafe from which to serve water or wine,’ reads a note to accompany the exhibition. 

The designer’s work is largely based on form, the starting point of his at times obscure creations. The 40 or so vessels on display look like experimental ways of containing, declined in several materials that range from silver to Japanese lacquer – reflecting Bakker’s desire to explore his designs’ material possibilities through collaboration with some of the world’s most skilled craftspeople and manufacturing partners.

Examples on display include a 2010 jug made of copper for Thomas Eyck, defined by a tube carrying out all of the object’s functions, from containing to holding to pouring. Also for Thomas Eyck is a soy pourer featuring a dramatic beak that enhances the gesture.

Part of a tea and coffee set designed for Puiforcat and titled ‘Fluidité’ is the Horn creamer, almost abstract in its shiny forms and merging precise lines with flowing curves. 

The pieces in the exhibition demonstrate Bakker’s ability to translate his passion across several materials. The ‘Pot Variations’ collections for J Hill’s Standard feature variations of the same shape in different materials. The ‘HopStep’ containers, the designer explains, are ‘pots for holding precious liquids, be it wine, soy, sake or oil; or to use as an infusion chamber for teas and flowers’. The piece has been made by the designer in collaboration with the Irish company in blown glass, porcelain, crystal and stone. 

‘Although ultimately just functional objects that have to meet a variety of technical and functional criteria, Bakker’s designs also stimulate the sensorial and imaginative capacities of their users and beholders,’ reads an essay by historian Ernst van Alphen written for the exhibition. ‘That is how each newly designed pouring vessel embodies a new feeling, a new imagination.’

Aldo Bakker Pouring Vessels are on view until 7 May 2023
Stadhouderslaan 41, 2517 HV The Hague

kunstmuseum.nl
aldobakker.com

Conversing with Giulio Ridolfo is rather like joining the Italian colour maestro as he saunters around a city or the countryside, using all his senses to fuel his creative process. Ostensibly meeting to talk about three new textiles he has developed for Danish textile company Kvadrat, he meanders, pausing to note a yellow flower on a photo here, listen to a dissonant note there, or admire the layered colours of a Paul Klee painting on a postcard he picked up somewhere. Ridolfo, who trained as a fashion designer before becoming a colour adviser to many leading interiors and fashion companies, draws inspiration from his surroundings, always in analogue. ‘I have to touch things. I have to show you a postcard, I have boxes of them, look at this beautiful nymph from the archaeology museum in Napoli.’

He is such a bower bird, travelling with a seemingly bottomless suitcase to cart his haul home, that he calls himself Mario Poppins. And like the character from the children’s book, there is something magical or alchemical in how he translates mementoes into a realm of colour. ‘To me, work is like a travelogue. I learn by doing, I collect my souvenirs, which I can use or not, I blend stories, I can create mock-ups about a postcard or a piece of leather I bought in Australia. The system of colour to me is nothing, if not compared to other sources.’

Giulio Ridolfo and Kvadrat: the Kvadrat Steelcut collection

Ridolfo has worked with Kvadrat for 15 years. He likes to say that he used his southern European colour sensibility to ‘contaminate’ a company rooted in the design traditions of a region known for its cool Northern light. The relationship began with the first version of Steelcut, developed in 2004 by Dutch master weaver Frans Dijkmeijer, who invited Ridolfo to create the colour palette. The Italian is so embedded within Kvadrat that, when he conducted a workshop at the headquarters in Ebeltoft a few years ago, he timed it for summer solstice so he could weave inspirations from the Sankt Hans celebrations into a new colour range. He makes the point that he doesn’t design textiles, but rather creates colours in the context of the textiles. He believes that colour is nothing without a material, and vice versa.

An example of his impact came with Steelcut Trio, launched in 2007, a basketweave construction made up of three threads that has an almost faceted surface. Unlike the original Steelcut, which was piece-dyed (coloured as a whole), Steelcut Trio is yarn-dyed (the individual threads are dyed before weaving), which allowed Ridolfo to bring complex and sophisticated colour effects. His latest iteration, Steelcut Quartet, blends four colours. In musical terms, Trio is a minimal harmonic rhythm by [American minimalist composer] Steve Reich, whereas Quartet is more of a jazz standard, he says. ‘Quartet is the result of a beautiful blending of four yarns with a kind of vibration. The yarns are the same as Steelcut Trio. We only play with more. To me, Quartet is fired by [Canadian jazz composer] Oscar Peterson, a good standard, like a piece of jazz that you can play in different ways.’

To demonstrate his point, he takes a sample of Quartet with a weft (effectively a base note) of purple. It is the dominant tone, used also as a yarn in the warp combined with another thicker one made by twisting three colours into one yarn, creating more vibrancy and nuance. A deeper version with the same purple base is directly inspired by the layering of moody colours in Klee’s Angelus Militans (1940). ‘If you are an artist you can work with layering, you see the colour becomes deeper and deeper when you layer one, two, three, four colours.’

As well as updating the palette of Steelcut to an iteration called Steelcut 3, with 19 new colours, Ridolfo also developed a checked version made out of 100 per cent recycled polyester. Intentionally colouring it in bright, happy hues, Ridolfo called it Beat (to be launched in 2023). The fabric seems to have the effect of synaesthesia on him, he almost taps his feet to the tune he can see in the jaunty checks. ‘It’s like a beat, like a sound,’ he says before rattling off the fabric’s many references, ranging from cotton stripes in Sumatra, to colourful ski suits, the nymph from Naples, and a vintage Hermès foulard in emerald green with a hand-rolled border in chocolate brown. ‘This is only the beginning. There will be many, many colours, big checks, small checks,’ he says, with a faraway look in his eye.

kvadrat.dk

American interior stylist Colin King launches his collaboration of objects for the home with Danish design firm Menu. 

The Copenhagen-based brand has its own line of Scandinavian lighting, furniture and accessories, and additionally partners with creatives around the world to produce collections with a personal, local feel, available globally. 

King is the latest in that roster. The Danes sought out the Tribeca-based New Yorker for his sensibility with subdued, natural materials and the two collaborated on a line of functional yet sculptural objects.

Formally trained as a dancer, King’s natural inclination for interacting with space and bringing it to life through movement and objects evolved quite naturally into his second chapter as an interior stylist. While he has worked for editorial publications as well as household-name brands and in a role as artistic director of Beni Rugs (see our pick of colourful rugs), this is King’s first real foray into design collaboration. 

Every item manifests the feeling of time passing. The tall, narrow ‘Stance’ vase (ideal for single stems and branches) in bronzed brass has an intentionally raw finish to allow a patina to develop over time. The ‘Surround’ vase is crafted from a single piece of mango wood and weighs over 2kg. The elegant conical shape of the brass ‘Taper’ bowl seems to balance on its narrow end – improbable, yet it works. A paperweight shaped like a ‘late-autumn pear’, cast from a hand-moulded form in antiqued brass, is particularly charming. Stone bookends, acacia wood platters, a polished brass candle holder and a low-profile brass key tray round out the offering. 

The collection is available from menuspace.com

Tekla has been inspired by Le Corbusier’s colour theory for a new limited-edition collection of mohair blankets. Presented at the Studio-Apartment of Le Corbusier in Paris, in partnership with Les Couleurs Suisse, the new pieces are available in three distinctive hues (the collection comprises three single-colour bankets and one striped).

‘Le Corbusier’s legacy has always been an inspiration for Tekla – he’s one of the most influential architects, synonymous with modern architecture,’ says Charlie Hedin, founder and creative director at Tekla. ‘In our research for this project, we also realised his incredible contribution to colour.’

Le Corbusier’s interest was encapsulated in Architectural Polychromy, a collection of 63 hues across two palettes, created in 1931 and 1951. The colours were used to accentuate the designs of buildings’ façades or to bring life to interiors in a play on mood and atmosphere.

Now, Tekla has rethought these considered hues as mohair blankets in colours 32024 Outremer Gris, 4320K Bleu Outremer 59, and 4320C Rose Vif, bringing a contemporary mood to soft pieces finished with a flippant fringe. By working with Les Couleurs Suisse, Tekla was able to create textiles in these colours for the first time, with the blankets then hand-woven by artisans in Spain, and extra-brushed for ultimate softness.

The finished products will be showcased at Le Corbusier’s Studio-Apartment in Paris in a nod to the playful and practical essence that epitomised the architect’s work. Adds Christoffer Lundman, senior product designer at Tekla: ‘We were attracted to the colours in Le Corbusier’s creations, how they were so central to the design and how he used them in his own life.

‘As you move through his studio and home, colour almost acts as a guide, helping you to understand the space’s use. Many of his spaces have a tempo and a movement that feel quite joyful. We wanted to capture this approach to colour in blanket design.

INFORMATION

teklafabrics.com

Smeg has unveiled a special edition of the classic Piano Hob, launching 1,000 pieces of the design classic originally conceived with Italian architect Renzo Piano in 1995.

The new collection encompasses the slick fundamentals and industrial aesthetic of the original. The four or five burner kitchen hob is crafted entirely from polished stainless steel and comes coated with a plasma technology to prevent tarnishing, with faithful Italian design details including an absence of welding on the burner pan.

Renzo Piano built on both his Italian roots and fascination for technology in architecture, encapsulating his vision in buildings such as the Centre Pompidou (with Richard Rogers) in Paris and London’s the Shard. This high-tech aesthetic is carried through here, as 35 years since the original Piano Hob was released in Milan coincides with the tenth anniversary of the Shard, interlinking the industrial design codes both share.

‘Smeg is thrilled to have worked with the iconic Renzo Piano as part of our ever-growing portfolio,’ said Richard Mackey, product manager at Smeg UK. ‘We believe that all products found in the kitchen should not only perform perfectly, but they should be striking with a design story behind them too. Piano is an inspiring designer and visionary, and we are humbled to have his designs and legacy immortalised in our product.’

Two sizes of the hob – the Renzo Piano P705ES at 71cm wide, and the P64ES at 65cm wide – are both created from EverShine stainless steel across the pan stands and burners, making this a sharply modern piece of kitchen design. Piano was originally drawn to the reflection and the refraction the surface created, its polished coating reminiscent of a piece of glass – a vision which later took shape in the Shard. 

INFORMATION

smeg.com

The ephemerality of flowers can be part of their appeal – you know they'll be gone soon, so you treasure their presence while they are there. But these days, buying something only to throw it away in a few days can seem unnecessarily wasteful, no matter how beautiful it is. At least, that’s what Sara Rosa Oppermann and Alice Soro Cilliara were thinking when they launched their first collection of fake flowers in 2021.

On paper, they are an unconventional pair to be shaking up the floral industry. Before starting Reevein Studios, Oppermann was working in PR and advertising with a side gig as a painter, while Cilliara was a sommelier and also makes wigs for the Malmo Opera in Sweden. 

It was while doing research for an advertising project that Oppermann first began to understand the vast amounts of waste produced by the floral industry, with the average lifespan of a freshly cut flower being a maximum of 15 days from field to trash. But the common solution – faux flowers – left her feeling uninspired.

‘Flowers have such strong emotional and symbolic meanings that just can’t be copied,’ says Oppermann. ‘I think I never felt an emotional connection to fake flowers because they were trying to look like a copy of nature. On the other hand, if I looked at a painting of a flower, I could still feel that emotional pull. I found that very interesting and it got me thinking about how I could combine art, flowers, symbolic meaning and sustainable design into something entirely new.’ 

The result was floral sculptures rendered in blatantly artificial colours and textures, made from recycled scrap materials including branches and cotton threads. The studio’s latest collection is a tribute to the anthurium flower – traditionally a symbol of hospitality, long-lasting love, and friendship – that is made from 70 per cent recycled plastic bottles and tapioca flour. The sculptures represent the first capsule launch of what will be a full range of more affordable stems, with new designs launching on the third of every month. 

‘Our designs are a bit rougher and not super romantic,’ say Oppermann and Cilliara. ‘We have a bit more of a biological approach and get very inspired by the anatomy of flowers, and the anatomy of humans, and the many striking similarities that exist between them. For instance, in the new anthurium design and earlier designs, the flower veins are very visible, just as the blood veins of humans.’ 

‘We believe that flowers are an art form,' they continue. ‘Our hope is to make people aware that cut flowers are a delicate luxury, and we do still love flowers ourselves, we just buy a little fewer than we used to.' 

INFORMATION

reevein.com

Dominican Republic native Soranyi Soliver launched her rug brand Sosomo in 2020, transforming her passion for colour and form into contemporary colourful rugs made by craftsmen locally. Focusing on ‘transmitting sensations’, Soliver’s debut collections feature abstract, colourful compositions, and shapes that range from traditional geometries to more organic forms. Balanced and harmonious, Sosomo rugs feature palettes inspired by the Caribbean and, according to Soliver, combine ‘experimentation, risk, creativity, fun and a bit of madness’.

Sosomo: Dominican creativity through rug weaving

The brand’s first collaborative collection includes pieces by New York-based designer Karim Rashid. The series includes two colourful rugs that merge Sosomo’s penchant for bright chromatic compositions and forms, and Rashid’s sinuous geometries and bold colour choices.

A ‘blobular formed rug’, ‘Ikona’ features an undulated edge framed in blue and purple, with an abstract composition at the centre. Its design contains, says Rashid, his five favourite icons: ‘time, body, love, fluid, and blobism’.

More traditionally shaped, ‘Likuid’ is a square white rug featuring different pile heights (an artisanal detail that Sosomo includes in many of its rugs). Featuring Rashid’s preferred colour palette, the rug is defined by a pattern reminiscent of the 1960s, with shapes in red, orange, yellow, light blue and purple. ‘The amorphous, intertwining forms create a liquid-like, fluid pattern that speaks of softness, minimal yet sensual and warm for any interior,’ says the designer.

The handmade quality of these designs brings Rashid’s touch to a different dimension, compared to the sleek, digitally developed forms of much of his design work. 

With this collection, notes Soliver, Sosomo takes its first step into the international design world, bringing Dominican creativity and craft to a wider global audience. 

INFORMATION

sosomorugs.com

Furniture brand Orior has added to its line of distinctive, contemporary furniture with a limited edition range of matching objects, made from marble and stone offcuts gleaned from Orior’s stock inventory. Sculptural in form and available in an array of beautiful hues, the six-piece collection comprises a bowl, a vase, a candle holder, a magazine holder, a pair of bookends and a tabletop sculpture. 

Originally from Newry, Northern Ireland (and now with a second office in New York), since 1979 Orior has been creating furniture and interiors for private clients, it relaunched in 2019 under the creative direction of second generation Ciaran McGuigan, as a sleek furniture brand revisiting pieces from the archives.

The new objects’ smaller scale poetically echoes the curvaceous and organic forms present in Orior’s main collection. Recurring elements, such as tube-like structures and bull-nosed shapes, tie the two enterprises together, while emphasising the shared material palette as well. Each object has been made solely from leftover materials.

‘In designing Objects, we used it as an opportunity to create new shapes and forms that could eventually evolve into furniture,” says McGuigan. ‘It was new territory for us, so we had to adapt our design practice slightly to fit the smaller scale of these pieces. While we took inspiration from our previous work, it’s unlike anything we have ever done before and lays out the framework for future collections.’

‘The process for making Objects was much different from how we approach designing a new furniture collection,’ he continues. ‘With a chair, for example, you know the desired outcome and typically begin with a sketch before implementing materiality. With Objects, it was the opposite. We started with the material, and wanted to see what new shapes we could create that would inspire our future furniture. It was sort of like sculpting clay, but digitally, and the shapes that emerged were tweaked for functionality. It was more of a creative exploration than a formal design process.’

Each piece’s mercurial qualities are further enhanced by the use of rich, locally sourced Irish stones. The red pieces are made from Orior rouge, a limestone from Armagh and the green marble is from Connemara. The black pieces are yielded from a nero marble from Spain, while the pale yellow objects are made from Italian Giallo Sienna marble. Treated by hand to achieve a specially honed finish, the objects are intended to allow each stone’s raw beauty to shine through.

INFORMATION

The Objects range from $800 to $1,200 and will be available for purchase in the New York City Showroom and internationally through oriorfurniture.com 

The new Ikea air purifier, Starkvind, is an indicator of which way the Swedish giant sees the wind blowing. Over the past few years, the company has dipped its toes into electronics and appliances, and Starkvind is its first foray into what’s now known as ‘Smart Air’.

We’ve seen a plethora of new air purifiers designed to direct and monitor the air quality in homes and small offices, so Ikea’s design team are bang on the mark. What’s interesting about this circular device is its multifunctional approach. 

You can get Starkvind in two different versions, a standalone disc that evokes the sculptural speakers of Bang & Olufsen, albeit using far more pragmatic materials and finishes, or integrated into a circular side table.

It can also be incorporated into Ikea’s burgeoning smart home ecosystem, which currently includes motorised blinds, bulbs, and loudspeakers. Both models are available in black or white, with matching dark and light wood legs on the side table. 

Home air purifiers don’t exactly tackle the source of the problem, but they make our living spaces much more agreeable. The twin filters within Ikea’s system captures both large and small particles, from dust to pollen. There’s the option of adding another carbon gas filter to strip away even more unwanted molecules, including cooking smells and the myriad volatile organic compounds that permeate the modern home. The fan has five speeds and can be switched into auto mode, which’ll set the fan speed according to the current pollution levels.

Like all of Ikea’s best ideas, Starkvind is a straightforward way of enhancing the quality of your space.

INFORMATION

STARKVIND by IKEA, standalone £129, side table model £165

IKEA.com

Alex Proba, the Germany-born, Portland-based designer, has become known for her colourful compositions of abstract shapes, which she has applied to everyday household objects as well as murals and swimming pools. Most recently, they formed the starting point for an impressive installation throughout Miami’s Design District, unveiled during Design Miami 2021. 

Alex Proba rugs by children

Little Proba is an initiative established in 2019, born of the designer’s creative workshops with children in Portland and New York, whose designs were turned into colourful rugs; the aim is to encourage creativity and help children in need, through partnerships with charitable foundations including Save the Children and the Young Center for Children’s Immigrant Rights. The latest in a series of partnerships from Little Proba includes a collaboration with the Toni Garrn Foundation, working in Africa to provide opportunities for young girls and their communities. 

‘This first collaboration is just one in a long-term series of philanthropic initiatives we’ve planned to foster creativity in children and, in turn, help those in need across the globe,’ she says. ‘Little Proba works together with kids to educate them that art is a real thing and that anyone can create beauty.’

Proba and her team held a series of workshops across Ghana, working with girls from local schools to paint artworks for the project. Each design will be created as a poster or rug and all proceeds from the sales will go back to the girls. ‘By teaming up Little Proba with the Toni Garrn Foundation, Proba is able to show these young girls that we all have an artist inside of us, and when we are able to tap into that creativity, the power of art is boundless,’ explains a text presenting the project. 

The girls created colour compositions using abstract forms, symbols, geometric shapes, elements from nature and everyday objects. The bright colour compositions are pure expressions of the joy of creation and each girls’ unique approach to form and colour. 

An additional layer to the project is given by the group of women in India who regularly work with Proba to hand-weave her rugs. The final rugs are a symbol of female empowerment through art, design and craft. As the Toni Garrn Foundation motto reads: ‘Given a chance, girls can change the world.’

INFORMATION

studioproba.com

In partnership with Axor

Based in the Black Forest town of Schiltach, Germany, Axor has a reputation as an expert and storied manufacturer of iconic objects for luxurious bathrooms and kitchens that extends far beyond its products.  

Developed and designed in collaboration with world-renowned talents – Philippe Starck, Antonio Citterio, Jean-Marie Massaud and Barber Osgerby – Axor products are key components in shaping water-related spaces that reflect the personality of the user. Axor’s collections of taps, showers and accessories inspire and enable architects and interior designers, and delight the design-savvy public. 

Consistently forward-thinking and innovative the brand manufactures with excellence and personality to the fore, developing designs that stand the test of time, and become enduring icons of the brand. 

Products with Axor ‘icon’ status include the ‘Axor Starck V’, a tap sculpted from flawless crystal glass, capturing the energy of water in a swirling vortex, adding sculpture and gentle, mesmeric drama to the bathroom experience. 

The ‘Axor Massaud’ is sensuously organic, its base resembling a blade of grass. Exquisitely thin, the spout doubles as a shelf, its elegantly crafted form providing a spray that takes the form of a silky waterfall.

The ‘Axor Starck Organic’ (pictured top) evokes the sensuousness of nature while also offering ergonomic function and water-saving efficiency. The tap’s gently flowing form is inviting to both eye and hand, with abstract sculptural qualities.

Inspired by the traditional well pump, ‘Axor Starck’, meanwhile, reduces the tap to pure essence, focusing user attention on the luxury of water itself.     

The ‘Axor Citterio’ is understated but unmistakably luxurious, embodying the spirit of Italian neoclassicism. With balanced proportions and elegant geometries, its hand-polished surfaces, distinctively flat and brilliantly reflective, are both calming and dazzling. Another modern bathroom icon in the making.

INFORMATION

axor-design.com

Drawing inspiration from shapes found in the natural world, Japanese design studio Nendo and Georg Jensen have collaborated on a set of three sterling silver vases with organic, tree-like forms. 

For Oki Sato, founder of Nendo and one of five visionaries featured in Wallpaper’s 25th anniversary project ‘5x5’, looking to nature not only felt like a logical continuation of the Nendo oeuvre (which ranges from the ‘Cabbage’ chair, made from the leftover paper that is a by-product of Issey Miyake’s pleated fabric production, to his sun-inspired spherical cauldron for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but also a logical way to combine the language of Japanese minimalism with the aesthetic of the historic Danish brand.

‘There are many Georg Jensen designs that rely on nature as their primary motif; like a flower or a plant, or just abstract and organic forms you see in the natural world,’ says Sato.

‘And I feel that this is something Georg Jensen shares with Japanese culture, which is closely related to nature, and I think that was the starting point of this project. In particular, the concept of “water” is special for Japanese people who live in an island nation surrounded by oceans and where many make a living through agriculture.’

It takes around 400 hours for the set of three vases, entitled ‘Mizuki’, to be created by Georg Jensen silversmiths in Copenhagen. It is a process that entails hammering the precious silver into its intended shape and then repeatedly melting it at high temperatures to achieve its final form, before finishing them off with multiple rounds of expert polishing.

And with characteristic inventiveness, Sato has also designed the vases to be multifunctional. They can be filled with water so that flowers appear to float on top of them, or used as jugs.‘But I don’t want to limit their function to just a vase or a jug,’ says Sato. ‘It’s up to the user how they interpret the design.’

INFORMATION

georgjensen.com

nendo.jp

Launched today, 10 November 2021, the RE-OR interchangeable candles by design duo BCXSY and creative director Tony Chambers are colourful, modular and sculptural, inviting the user to assemble them over and over again in varying configurations. Photography and video: Rick Guest

Colourful, modular and sculptural, the new interchangeable candles by fledgling brand RE-OR have the totemic qualities of Ugo Rondinone’s land art, the ethereal translucence of Larry Bell's glass cubes, and the playful possibilities of a children’s stacking toy.

It was the latter that Amsterdam-based design duo BCXSY had in mind when they drew up the initial sketches for the candles, back in 2007. Freshly established and presenting at Milan’s Salone del Mobile for the first time, they introduced a collection titled ‘Play!’, translating childhood motifs and patterns into a grown-up environment. Among the realised designs were a coffee table inspired by a slide puzzle, and a see-saw bookshelf. The candle sadly remained in concept stage: ‘We didn’t manage to get it to look nice, and more importantly, we didn’t manage to get it to work,’ recalls co-founder Boaz Cohen.

Making of the RE-OR interchangeable candle

Happily, the technical challenges of creating such a modular candle – with a sliding mechanism that would allow its geometric elements to be moved around, a wick of just the right width so the flame would burn slowly and steadily, and wax cast from carefully shaped moulds to avoid seams and ensure precise forms – have now been surmounted. This was made possible by the involvement of new partners: creative director (and erstwhile Wallpaper* editor-in-chief) Tony Chambers, communications expert Davide Giordano (formerly of Zaha Hadid Architects), and a fastidious manufacturer based in Shanghai.

The turning point, Cohen recalls, was in 2018, when an intern at BCXSY, Beibei Wu, stumbled upon the sketches and asked if she could help find a producer. Then in spring 2020, just as the pandemic began, Cohen and co-founder Sayaka Yamamoto leafed through their archive with Chambers, who saw the potential in the concept and worked with the duo to refine and realise it. As of today, almost 15 years after its germination, RE-OR is finally on the market, available for direct sale in time for the holidays.

Each RE-OR candle comprises five elements. The white cylindrical candle in the centre is tapered towards the bottom so the other four elements can slide in and out, or remain in place as desired. These four elements come in striking geometric shapes: a wider cylinder, a sphere, a truncated pyramid, and a cuboid, each with an aperture so it can be inserted into the central candle. The user is invited to assemble the geometric elements in any order they wish, and then take the candle apart and reassemble it as often as they like, creating any one of 48 possible silhouettes. 

‘One of the things we value most, and often try to achieve in our work, is the bond between the user and the product,’ explain Cohen and Yamamoto. ‘If you buy a normal candle, however beautiful it is, you would place it somewhere and that’s it. But because of the modular nature of RE-OR, you have to assemble it at least once, so you get involved with it in a way you normally would not with a candle, which reflects our perspective towards design.’

First-edition RE-OR candles come in five whimsically named colourways: Sir Gregory Grey (varying shades of grey), Wilhelmina White (pure white but with a bright pink central piece), Notorious RGB (the three additive primary colours, plus a bright yellow), and the self-explanatory Percy Pastel and CMYKay. Naturally, acquiring the full set would give the user the widest range of possibilities for configuration, promising many hours of contemplation and play.

As Cohen, Yamamoto and Chambers perfected the design in 2020, Wu was back in her native China looking for a suitable manufacturer. ‘It turned out that nobody in Europe had the expertise,’ says Chambers. ‘We were lucky to find this manufacturer in Shanghai that was really enthusiastic from the moment they saw our project. They really believed in it, and invested a lot in research and development.’ 

Importantly, the RE-OR candles rely not only on precise technology, but also sophisticated handicraft. The partners wanted the surfaces to be as polished as possible, but not so much that they appear sterile: ‘If you go to the cheapest shops and buy a spherical candle, the form would likely appear more perfect than ours, because those are mass-produced and pressed into metal [rather than silicone] moulds,’ says Cohen. 

‘Our candles may come with very slight blemishes from time to time, as a result of handcrafting, and we like that – they are unique and they have more soul,’ concurs Chambers.

The manufacturer called on its sister factory to create the recyclable cardboard packaging for the candles, ingeniously designed so as to avoid the use of glue. Meanwhile, the branding and visual communication was done by Chambers’ creative agency, TC & Friends. The wordmark is set in Styrene, a sans-serif by Ilya Ruderman, Berton Hasebe and Commercial Type, which has the same simple elegance as the candles themselves. The graphics on the cardboard boxes, silkscreened in a pure white with hand-applied colour stickers, share a similar aesthetic while conveying a gentle sense of humour (the visuals that accompany the legally mandated safety notices – ‘Keep away from children and pets’, for example – are a delight). ‘It’s about getting the most from the least,’ says Chambers.

The launch campaign, shot by photographer Rick Guest, includes images and video footage of the candles artfully burning down as though a wax sculpture by Urs Fischer (because each candle has a burn time of 30 hours, Guest had to do a five-day marathon shoot). It’s proof that RE-OR’s candles are not only a beauty to behold, but a joy to use too. With the first edition available in limited quantities, we recommend buying your set now. 

Photographer Rick Guest spent five days documenting the burning of this first-edition RE-OR candle in Notorious RGB, showing its artful disintegration over time. Photography and video: Rick Guest

Making of the RE-OR interchangeable candle. Video: Marlon Rueberg, commissioned by Davide Giordano

INFORMATION

First edition RE-OR interchangeable candles, available from 10 November 2021 in Sir Gregory Grey, Wilhelmina White, Notorious RGB, Percy Pastel and CMYKay, £45 each, re-or.com

‘Crafting a menorah is like making a musical instrument,’ says Max Voss-Lloyd of design brand Rubble. ‘It is an object with a standard set of rules to make it fit for the purpose of celebrating the Jewish Hanukkah.’

Voss-Lloyd has united the contemporary with the traditional in his design crafted from aerated concrete, a lightweight form of concrete that allows for easy shaping and requires only the use of a chisel and saw. Most importantly, the material is non-flammable. ‘The material offers endless creative possibilities. I can work it wet or dry, but it’s dusty work, so I finish the final stages by submerging it in water. Once the carving and sanding process is finished and the concrete has had a few days to dry out, I love the texture and tone of the material,’ explains the designer.

‘The most obvious design consideration here is the middle candle arm, the shamash, as it needs to be higher than the rest. I am reimagining a Hanukkah menorah for a new generation. It was an interesting exercise to redesign this iconic piece through the stone-age lens. Overall, I am looking for balance and harmony.’

The fragility of the material became apparent when Voss-Lloyd was creating nine equal spaces for the candles while its unpredictability also makes the sandpapering process a precarious one.

The Hanukkah menorah joins Rubble’s collection of table lamps and candlesticks. ‘Our objective is to have fun and create timeless and biomorphic objects that evoke not only a personality, but also a sense of story and history,’ says Voss-Lloyd. ‘I like to make functional objects and hope to see them installed in homes for years to come. It’s extremely satisfying to think that once a year our menorah will come out to take pride of place in many homes and be an integral part of a family celebration.’

INFORMATION

rubbleworkshop.com

Marc Newson has unveiled a new set of shelves at Galerie Kreo (on view at the gallery until 20 November 2021). ‘Quobus’, a modular shelving design cast in metal and enamel, is open to interpretation, allowing for countless variations. The shelves play on the traditional grid format with an exploration of shapes and patterns, creating spaces of different sizes that can be altered at will, making this piece great as a bookcase design or for displaying objects.

The horizontal and vertical units encompass Newson’s pure design philosophy, staying faithful to the wishes he has noted in the past: ‘

I hope to propose a series of objects, furniture, that is simply effective and aesthetic.’

Encapsulating this simplicity in a range of hues, from soft sorbet to boldly graphic black and white, the pieces juxtapose the curved lines of the silhouette against the structure’s angular form. The cube can be extended or shortened, filled or left empty.

Marc Newson shelves: fun and functional

The design draws on research commissioned by Newson when creating Taschen’s Milan bookstore in 2015. The distinctive cube-like design, then as here, conforms to the need to be both practical and aesthetically pleasing in its own right. When used for its original purpose it disappears, but becomes a sculpture in its own right when left empty.

Space and light are at the heart of the design, while the details are typically carefully considered, with the curved forms of the joins – which encompass gleaming round brass screws – becoming a sensual foil for the grid-like structure of the whole.

The launch of the designs ties in with a new era for Galerie Kreo, which is moving from its former home off London’s Berkeley Square to a larger gallery space in the heart of Mayfair, managed by director Clara Krzentowski. The space will kick off with an inaugural exhibition showcasing new work by Newson, who has presented three major exhibitions at the gallery and worked with the Kreo team for two decades.

INFORMATION

galeriekreo.com

The sun's here, and hopefully to stay: our selection of contemporary garden parasols is an ode to summer and a practical edit of some of the best parasols from the world's leading designers and manufacturers. Creatively conceived and robust for the outdoors, these parasols are perfect to add a bit of shade as well as colour and creative inspiration to your family-friendly urban garden, poolside or balcony. 

‘Free’ Parasol by Ethimo

Ethimo’s outdoor furniture expertise comes to life in the ‘Free’ collection of parasols: featuring a solid aluminium frame (with multiple weights available for bases, depending on its use), it is available in red, white and dove grey, and comes in two square sizes and one rectangular. The essential sunshade design is a perfect complement to the architecture of both large and small outdoor spaces. 

ethimo.it

Two Tone Patio Umbrella by MoMA Design Store

Available in orange and blue, MoMA's bi-colour lightweight parasol is made in Italy with waterproof canvas, and its orientation can be adjusted to shade a desired area and to regulate its height. The practical, classic design features a pointed stand that can be inserted into the ground, or can be used with a stand. 

store.moma.org

‘Atlantis’ Parasol By Skagerak

The classic striped motif of this large parasol brings to mind beaches along the serene holiday moods of the French Riviera and Italy's Versilia. Skagerak's ‘Atlantis’ Parasol also features leather-reinforced fabric and a metal-reinforced wooden pole, making it more resistant, while a pulley system to open and close the umbrella contributes to the ease of use. 

skagerak.com

‘Shadoo’ Garden Parasol by Fermob

Available in three pastel shades, Fermob's Shadoo Parasol features water-resistant Sunbrella fabric and a wide shade with a clean silhouette. The French, outdoor furniture specialist created a parasol that easily adapts to any space, thanks to the traditional, minimalist shape and fresh colour palette, ideal to get your garden or poolside for the summer.

fermob.com

Shadylace parasol by Chris Kabel for Droog

Rotterdam designer Chris Kabel has created a city parasol for Dutch design collective and brand Droog, whose shade mimics the green foliage of a tree, made in collaboration with Dessailes lace. The Rotterdam-based designer has brought his fascination for nature to a popular outdoor product, drawing from the natural shade of trees for inspiration. Filtering the sun through a composition of delicate leaves, the parasol offers a moment of connection with nature that can be added to any city balcony.

droog.com

‘Ensombra’ Parasol by Odosdesign for Gandia Blasco

Inspired by the design and movement of a fan, the ‘Ensombra’ parasol from Spanish outdoor furniture specialist Gandia Blasco is a welcome variation on the garden parasol theme. ‘We have transferred the system of opening and closing a fan to a different product type, the sunshade, to obtain a simple system that can be opened and closed over a single slat,’ say Odosdesign, the creative team behind the piece. The parasol features a galvanised steel base and a stainless steel thermo-lacquered shaft. The shade's adjustable slats are available in white, agate grey, concrete grey, bronze, sand, black, blue grey, wine red, orange brown and grey brown, to add a pop of colour to your garden. Create a dynamic chromatic composition by combining a few.

gandiablasco.com

‘Gea’ Parasol by Chi Wing Lo for Giorgetti

Giorgetti’s outdoor offering made its debut in 2017 with a collection by Chinese designer Chi Wing Lo. Named after the Greek word for ‘earth’, the ‘Gea’ collection celebrates the openness of outdoor living. Mounted on a 360-degree swivel frame with a stainless steel or marble-insert base, the sail-like parasol is a welcome breath of fresh air in the world of sun screens.

giorgettimeda.com

‘Bistrò’ Parasol by Fattorini + Rizzini + Partners for Paola Lenti

Paola Lenti collections aim to create new domestic landscapes, and this sunshade by Milanese design studio Fattorini + Rizzini + Partners is a playful nod in this direction. The parasol sits on an upholstered pouf, and is equipped with a detachable side table.

paolalenti.it

‘Meteo’ Parasol by Konstantin Grcic for Kettal

Konstantin Grcic's practical parasol design for Kettal started with a simple idea: turning the obstacle-like parasol foot into something useful and beautiful. The ‘Meteo’ collection marks the first collaboration between Grcic and the Spanish outdoor furniture brand, and ‘aims to explore the largely untapped design potential of modern parasols’. The base of the parasol becomes seating, dining table and even a planter, offering ‘a useful gesture to an otherwise obtrusive element’.

kettal.com

‘Titan’ umbrella collection by Janus et Cie

Janus et Cie's parasol collection comprises classic sunshades in bright and traditional colours. ‘Sleek lines and modern shapes provide the framework for these stunning umbrellas,’ says Janice Feldman, the brand's founder. ‘“Titan” is one of those rare examples of quantity and quality. The umbrellas are huge – and among the most innovative, elegant shade solutions in the industry.’ Built with superior aluminum alloy and an interior galvanised steel stem, the parasols can be customised in more than 85 awning-grade textiles. Each model is also available in three sizes, for maximum garden design flexibility. 

janusetcie.com

Oh joy. Songwriter Nick Cave now brings his creative force to the world of objects, having designed a collection of playful and mysterious items that occupy a unique position somewhere between merchandise and art.

He explains that for him, there has always been a strong visual component to the songwriting process, and that effectively, he has always ‘drawn’ his lyrics, making them a thing to be seen and examined.

His recently launched shop – Cave Things – carries an eclectic stock, ranging from charm pendants to milk jugs – their designs taken from his drawings and his obsessive need to express ideas in visual and physical form. For Cave, the act of drawing relieves the pressure and ‘deep unease’ of songwriting. ’Cave Things’ he says, ‘are the incidental residue of an overstimulated mind’.

The latest addition to the collection is an egg cup – basically a love offering to The Bad Seeds band member Warren Ellis, and decorated with Cave’s portrait of him.

‘Warren joined The Bad Seeds after I saw his band play at a local pub in Melbourne,' says Nick Cave. It was some time in the early 1990s and we were recording the Murder Ballads record. He came bounding into the studio, and our lives, with drug-crazed eyes and a fiddle in his hand, and kicked off a friendship that has lasted more than 25 years.’

‘When we get together in the studio these days there is a kind of wild synchronicity that is nothing short of magical. It is an absolute privilege to work with him. He is an alchemist and a godsend. I have designed this egg cup in his honour. If you think I just scrawled some bullshit on the side of an egg cup, you’d be right. If you think that I am shamelessly exploiting Warren’s good standing amongst his fans, you’d be right again. Yet, I love this little egg cup — truly, purely and without limitation. It is my gift to Warren and the world – The Warren Ellis Pure Exploitation Egg Cup – just the greatest little egg cup ever.

INFORMATION

cavethings.com

Pens designed by Achille Castiglioni and his close collaborator, architect Gianfranco Cavaglià in 2001, part of the writing set ‘Cento3’, have now been put into production for the first time.

Castiglioni’s daughter Giovanna (who also heads the foundation preserving the designer’s legacy) found the original prototypes hidden behind a mirror in her father’s Milan studio: a series of wooden pencils that Achille Castiglioni and Cavaglià had created in collaboration with wood workshop Bottega Ghianda in 2001. As designers, Cavaglià recalls, he and Castiglioni had always had a desire to create their own working tools, in their case, writing instruments. During the project’s conception, the two designers debated the pens’ exact shapes, and the final design is moulded to accommodate a three-finger grip, to reinforce the connection between hand and mind. The design has the added benefit of not rolling off a table easily. 

The prototypes had been left untouched for nearly two decades, as it was difficult at the time to find a suitable manufacturing collaborator to produce the unusual shape at an affordable price. Searching for a suitable manufacturer, Castiglioni’s heirs joined forces with a team of Bologna-based designers and entrepreneurs to launch Ego.M, a collaborative brand that would bring these design icons to life and produce them for the first time.

The new versions are 3D-printed in black graphene, and are available in three formats: a multifunctional ‘matitone’ (a thick pencil referencing the tools used on a building site), a classic pocket fountain pen with stainless steel tip, and a mechanical pencil. The technique faithfully reproduces the original forms, and the material is light to hold (an aspect, Cavaglià recalls, that was important for Castiglioni). The final result is clean and precise, an essential writing kit that brings the design commitment of one of Italy’s most celebrated creative minds into the future.

INFORMATION

‘Cento3’ pens by Achille Castiglioni and Gianfranco Cavaglià, from 50 euros, available from egoundesign.com.