5.4.09 | Earlier this year, a spirited debate occured in that tangled web called online media between Michael Cannell, a design writer for the New York Times, and Murray Moss, the owner of New York City retail design gallery Moss. The issue at hand: Does Design Love a Depression? Mr. Cannell started things rolling with his story claiming that design loves, adores, wants to marry a depression.
Events >>
5.4.09 | Jon Vingerhoets thinks he can light up your life, and this marathon runner appears to have the products, personality and energy to do it. Mr. Vingerhoets, a recent and welcome addition to our shores one couldn't get through Ellis Island in the old days with that length or spelling was appointed last year to lead the next generation of Artemide in the United States succeeding Guido Peratto, who had held that position for over two decades.
5.4.09 | IIDA New York's 20th Annual IIDA Leaders Breakfast packed New York's interior design community into Gotham Hall in NYC last week. It was John Lijewski and Hilda Longinotti's tenth year as co-chairs of the event, and the IIDA NY members and the contract community came in droves, even for the 7:30 AM call time. It was apparent that they were there to celebrate 20 successful years of the event, enjoy the bagel and lox, take in the speakers lined up for the morning and mostly to enjoy each other's close (very close) company.
Events >>, Prof. Associations >>
5.4.09 | Allsteel has signed what is called a Strategic Partnership Agreement with Ice Edge Business Solutions, a leader in intelligent 3D design software. That will bring a powerful 3D modeling software to Allsteel and its distribution network. Allsteel said that it has been working closely with Ice Edge to ensure a successful implementation of ICE for the Allsteel dealers. The joint announcement also said that the agreement represents a commitment by both companies to establish Allsteel as the technology frontrunner in furniture.
A&D Firms >>, Technology >>
5.4.09 | Lamex, a wholly-owned subsidiary of HNI Corporation, is the first office solution provider to receive LEED-CI Gold in China for its showroom in the Tangxia manufacturing campus with a display floor area of over 15,000 sq. ft.
A&D Firms >>, Environment >>
5.4.09 | Save A Sample! has just completed its 10th year with a celebration at the Knoll Showroom last week. Imagine, just one person's idea, Suzanne Swift, at the cusp of greater environmental awareness, has redirected thousands of pounds of materials and samples "destined" for landfill into the hands of design students, giving them tools for their general design education and probably the most important lesson they'll learn about saving the environment.
Competitions and Awards >>, People >>
5.4.09 | Canadian office furniture manufacturer Simo is launching its new EVO line in hopes to change the way people approach the office environment. With small footprints, an eco-friendly production process and elegant designs, EVO will enable customers to effectively utilize their office spaces and make the workplace feel less like work.
Product >>
4.27.09 | Matthew R. Haworth scion of the Haworth, Inc. founder andleadership has always seemed assured of employment. But now he has beennamed to what must be one of the toughest jobs in the contract furnitureindustry: filling the shoes of his father, Richard G. Haworth. Mr.Haworth(M) will become Chairman of the Board succeeding Dick Haworth, whowill become Chairman Emeritus.
Manufacturing >>, People >>
4.27.09 | In Milan, amongst the stylish Italians, the gelato, the pasta, bread, salted meats and cheese, there was a furniture fair last week. Well, the furniture fair The Salone Internazionale del Mobile. And amongst that fair is a city full of innovative design, beautiful design, far-out design and some impractical design.
4.27.09 | Last week we covered Hilda Longinotti's retirement event at the Herman Miller NYC National Design Center. (officeinsight 4.20.09, Hilda, Hilda: Wherefore are thou Hilda?) The gracious Ms. Longinotti phoned us last week to let us know that she had taken notice of our modest efforts. Unfortunately, as we were preparing the article, our universal memory card reader corrupted our files, making it impossible to open them. We solved the problem mid-week, and recovered some of the images.
4.27.09 | Kimball Office and Teknion joined forces to carry the message of Sustaining Interior Design Education to over a thousand interior design firms and studios in architectural firms across North America. (The support of all vendors of interior products are invited and encouraged to participate.) These companies and others were prompt to act to create awareness within the interior design profession of the realistic concern about where the next generation professional interior design educators will come from. This concern is becoming critical as many educators in this field near retirement.
Prof. Associations >>, Research >>
4.27.09 | As a professional interior designer, and a nascent design scholar interested in human-environment interactions, I've wondered if I will forever be skirting around the outside of the architectural establishment while examining architecture from the inside-out. At it turns out, my interest in inside-ness has created a form of outsider-ness that is as important as it is perplexing.
Research >>
4.27.09 | We must not allow April to pack its bags and return to wherever it spends the other eleven months without noting its venerable place in the calendar. April is National Poetry Month. Because it was in April that Shakespeare was born. On the 23rd. Back in 1564. Back in Stratford, England. So it's fitting to honor poems by honoring the gentleman who lifted our lumpy, mongrel language into exquisite verse.
Ira Joe >>
4.20.09 | It would be both correct and misleading to characterize Global Industries, Inc., Marlton, NJ, as a sales and distribution arm of Global. It is that, but it is also a separate company conceived and organized almost 40 years ago by Joel Appel, who remains the chairman of the company and has been its primary business director during its successful rise.
Interviews >>, Manufacturing >>
04.20.09 | The choice of Peter Zumthor for this year's Pritzker Prize often called the Nobel of architecture is in synch with the current mood. We've moved into a period of scaled-down consumption, concern for sustainability, and fatigue with the exploits of star architects. And Zumthor represents those designers and manufacturers who deliberately limit the scale of their production to assure personal inspiration and attention to every detail.
Competitions and Awards >>, People >>
4.20.09 | About 250 industry veterans and pioneers turned up at the 6th Avenue Herman Miller National Design Center to see if the legend, Hilda Longenotti, the grande dame of A&D, the doyenne of design sales, was actually going to retire after 54 years in the industry and almost 35 years with Herman Miller.
4.20.09 | We know that many A&D firms have had layoffs in recent months, some with cuts sufficiently substantial to push the vocabulary beyond even down-sizing, although perhaps falling short of restructuring. Others are still swamped with work, while still others are completing strategic additions. As Diane Barnes, HBF/HBF Textiles, North East Regional Manager, hosts the company's sixth annual Career Night in cooperation with Pratt Institute and numerous A&D firms (see this issue), we worry about job prospects for industry professionals.
04.20.09 | Every spring, HBF and HBF Textiles hosts Pratt Institute Department of Interior Design Career Night in its Michael Vanderbyl designed, New York Design Center showroom. Though this year was no different Pratt students and faculty again gathered with top firms in the industry, with the lovely Diane Barnes, Northeast Regional Manager for HBF, in the role of hostess there was an extra, larger-than-life guest in attendance.
Events >>
04.20.09| Here's an idea. Lauren Rottet should raise a couple of million dollars and immediately grow her new firm, Rottet Studio, to one of the top ten Giants; in the process, she could pick up a lot of the free-floating talent that is now looking for work. Why, she could probably save a whole generation of experienced interior designers.
