IIDEX/NeoCon Canada 2010 was a watershed event, witnessing an increase of visitors from outside Ontario. The transfer of ownership of IIDEX from ARIDO to IDC produced a truly national show. Consider this meeting of East and West: Mogens Smed of Calgary-based DIRTT Environmental Solutions was deep in conversation with Christophe Jouanno of Extenzo Stretch Ceilings from Mirabel, Quebec.
Events >>, Prof. Associations >>
Last week at the Milliken Carpet showroom, Sharad Mathur, VP of Marketing for Inscape and author of the book Space, Life and Planning, presented a fascinating seminar on Vaastu, the ancient Indian practice of space planning.
Author Amy Tan was the guest speaker at IIDA San Francisco’s Leaders Breakfast honoring Jack Solomon and Orlando Diaz-Azcuy.
Events >>, People >>, Prof. Associations >>
This week (Sept. 28-30), Configura hosts its 3rd annual North American CET Designer User Conference in Las Vegas. What is it hoping to achieve with its free yearly conferences? “It goes back to our philosophy of working together,” said Johan Lyreborn.
A&D Firms >>, Events >>, Technology >>
The American Society of Interior Designers – Illinois Chapter (ASID-IL) and i4design magazine produced and hosted the seventh annual Celebration of Design Gala at Chicago’s Chase Auditorium Theater on Sept. 23, 2010. More than thirty Illinois-based interior designers / design teams received a “Design Excellence Award.”
A&D Firms >>, Competitions and Awards >>, Events >>, Prof. Associations >>
It seems logical that the physical design of workplaces where people spend their days should have ramifications for workers’ well-being after they leave them, but this study is among the first to rigorously explore that relationship.
Node is something you would expect from izzy+ if it had Steelcase’s stolidly serious approach to business and seriously capable manufacturing facilities. The result is a definite Delight of NeoCon, because it is so unexpected, yet exceptional, not just another experiment or neat refinement. What has happened? Is someone turning the “Steel” in Steelcase into a more plastic and livable alloy?
Product >>
Jim Stelter, former EVP of Sales and Marketing of Steelcase, is hard to pin down. He never stopped moving, and his energy entangles forces far and wide. Vanerum•Stelter, of which he is president, is a division of Vanerum Group, a global corporation. Now the Vanerum Group has acquired Belisia Design Studio, a Belgium vendor is known for “creating and managing a product portfolio with strong design aesthetics and a focus on collaborative environments for office and learning facilities.”
On September 15, 2010, Interior Designers for Legislation in New York (IDLNY) hosted a Town Hall meeting at the New York School of Interior Design. The event was the first of many planned opportunities to increase the involvement of the New York Interior Design community in promoting legislative efforts to enhance and protect the interior design profession.
Events >>, Prof. Associations >>
Russell and Lanius identified a set of adjectives that can be used by both practitioners and academics to describe emotional response to space. This set of terms is particularly valuable because it can be used to represent the full range of reactions to a place.
Most design professionals don’t actively communicate or possibly even think about interior design issues on a regular basis; this lack of an ongoing conversation about both practical and theoretical concepts and ideals needs to change if the industry is ever going to accurately define itself to people outside the industry.
A&D Firms >>, Prof. Associations >>
This final installment ties together past topics and describes how those elements helped to create the innovative desking system known as Hum. Minds at Work.
Research >>, Minds At Work >>
One of the most remarkable and distinctive capabilities of the human species is its ability to create its own environment in infinite variety. This is the great opportunity and challenge of interior design, and on a larger scale, urban design.
A&D Firms >>, Random Walk >>
Robert L. Price just announced the formation of one furniture group, a new company offering multi-purpose seating and tables for the contract and hospitality industries. The brand is a partnership of 2 Italian seating companies: Potocco S.p.A. and BP Sedie S.p.A. The product lines will include wood, metal and lounge seating as well as occasional and dining tables.
Norman Polsky was the founder of Fixtures Furniture. When he sold the company in 1996, he required that $1 million of the purchase price be paid to the employees. Mr. Polsky had his own 10 commandments:
People >>, Prof. Associations >>
9.6.10 | Susan Wiggins is executive director of the Interior Designers of Canada (IDC), the newly reorganized all-province Canadian interior design association, and former executive director of the ARIDO, where she shepherded IDC’s restructuring as a unified and strengthened voice for Canadian designers.
People >>, Prof. Associations >>
While we all consider interior design as a positive force in the world, it is also of sufficient force and effect that its misapplication may produce considerable harm. Moreover, by its very nature, the interior environment, by design, can be, and has been, used to intentionally produce significant injury. A definition of the field must encompass this.
A&D Firms >>, Random Walk >>
George Kordaris was named CEO of Moroso USA replacing Ben Watson, who previously worked for Mr. Kordaris at Vitra, but is now the design guru (Executive Creative Director) at Herman Miller. Mr. Kordaris formerly held senior positions at: Humanscale, Herman Miller, officeinsight/Design Days NY, Vitra, Vecta, and Knoll.
Norman Polsky, Hon. FASID, IDEC, IFMA, IIDA, died last Thursday, Sept. 2. He founded Fixtures Furniture, and after its sale, Mr. Polsky and his wife Elaine became energetic philanthropists, giving to many good causes, including ASID, The Center for Health Design. He was a 1990 recipient of the Design Excellence Hall of Fame Award; and recently honored by the International Interior Design Association.
People >>
Baldry and Hallier have news for workplace planners. Trying to incorporate “fun” spaces in workplaces may not be a good idea. They integrate their backgrounds in human resource management (academic and applied) and recent research literature with information about contemporary workplace experiences to reach these conclusions. Their “analysis suggests that management’s attempts to determine what is deemed fun may not only be resented by workers because it intrudes on their existing private identities but also because it seeks to reshape their values and expression.”
