glitzkrieg

whatswhat / greta for svenskt tenn

WHATSWHAT is a Swedish design trio composed of John Astbury, Bengt Brummer and Karin Wallenbeck. Greta is a pendant lamp with an ingenious pleated lampshade that changes shape by pulling a metal drawstring. Now carried by Svenskt Tenn, Greta was actually designed by the trio while they were working on their master's degrees at Konstfack University (University College of Arts, Crafts and Design) in Sweden.

nendo / oppopet mouse

I believe I could be persuaded to trade in my plain Jane Mac mouse for one of these little charmers. Designed by Nendo, Oppopet is wireless and features a built-in USB receiver. Choose your pet, but before you go thinking about how the cute little tails that set these mice apart will only irritate you and get in the way, know this: the tail is the receiver- you remove it from the mouse and plug it into your computer and voilà! you're all hooked up.

Images via Nendo.jp & designboom.com

heracleum / bertjan pot / marcel wanders

The designer for Moooi's new Heracleum LED pendant light is credited as Bertjan Pot 2010 powered through Electrosandwich by Marcel Wanders 2010. Hmmmmm. Okay. Possible translation: a stunning new pendant by the charming Bertjan Pot, brought to you by technology devised by Mr. Wanders. FYI, all the delicate pod-like leaves can be repositioned by rotating them on their stems.

Sorry I've been MIA! I'm finally over a horrible cold and hope to blog at least once more this week.

established & sons / nathalie dewez's balance

The Balance desk lamp is quite clever and rather beautiful too. Designed by Nathalie Dewez, this clean, simple-looking light is being manufactured by Established & Sons and was featured by them at Euroluce in Milan. The trick? Its tubular base is weighted, keeping the LED stable and allowing you to rest it on your work area or balance it on an elevated surface. No need to worry that an unintended nudge will send it tumbling to the ground- give it a poke and it'll merely pivot slowly for you, counterbalanced to perfection.

abr / latten shelving system

ABR, exciting Spanish newcomers on the furniture front, wow with their Latten shelving system. Its concept is simple, but wait until you hear how it's executed. Designed by Hannes Gumpp, Max Gumpp & Toni Pallejahese, these shelves are actually created with... chairs. The materials used are pine chairs with MDF seats and thin pine planks in a natural finish to add stability lengthwise, while planks in seven lacquered colours secure the unusual components vertically. It's all bound together with humble plastic ties. Wow. Woweeeee.

First image: Nanimarquina product shot of their gorgeous Digit rug by Cristian Zuzunga. Other images, ABR.

elisa strozyk; accordion cabinet

The Accordion Cabinet is a new, brilliant piece by the talented Elisa Strozyk, created in collaboration with artist Sebastian Neeb. It's made from mixed woods and Strozyk's brilliant creation: wooden textiles. If you haven't seen her top-of-my-want-list pendant light, Miss Maple- you must! Have a look here.

celebrating 10 years of blue mega

To celebrate 10 years, Royal Copenhagen has added pieces to its super-successful and super-beautiful Blue Mega line. I love this pattern; I love the story behind it too. In case you've never heard how Blue Mega came about: Karen Kjældgaard-Larsen, a design student working on her final project at the time, went about modernizing Royal Copenhagen's iconic Blue Fluted pattern, the company's first porcelain dinner service (it debuted in 1775!) and the very same service the young Danish designer had grown up with. She made it modern by blowing up the details that she loved. After graduation, she approached Royal Copenhagen with her design. Two years later, Blue Mega was in production and was an instant hit. The new pieces that celebrate its 10th birthday include a footed bowl, cake stand, lidded tureen, and baby set.

These pieces are available via the International version of the Royal Copenhagen site now, but haven't yet made their North American debut.

frederik roijé; metrobowl

Love Dutch Designer Frederik Roijé's work; always clever & clean-lined. His new collection is called Metrobowl and features cast-aluminum scale models of maps of Amsterdam & New York- as striking 3d bowls.

elisa strozyk; miss maple

This is one of these most beautiful designs I've seen this year. Miss Maple is a flexible lampshade made from a solid material; wood. Textile designer (and recent graduate of Central Saint Martins with a Masters degree in Future Textile Design) Elisa Strozyk has created something brilliant she calls Wooden Textiles. The material involves deconstructing wood into triangles that are added, by hand, to a textile base, creating a flexible wood fabric.

So brilliant, so beautiful.

The last image shows a detail of Strozyk's Wooden Textiles. Rest assured, this young designer has several swoon-worthy pieces featured on her website.

Want want want.....

Photos by Sebastian Neeb.

atelier nl for royal tichelaar makkum

Stunning, yes? Royal Tichelaar Makkum, the Netherlands' oldest company (400+ years) and one of its most esteemed will release the dinnerware service Drawn From Clay by Atelier NL in September. The series of plates and bowls -and a gorgeous cup- are interesting in several regards. For one, each piece is stamped on the front side. Sure, there are the rich glazes and lovely shapes to consider, but the most interesting element of all concern its materials. Atelier NL duo Lonny van Ryswyck and Nadine Sterk started their design process by digging up clay from different parts of the Netherlands. What they discovered were 6 beautiful & unique clays. So beautiful that a full set was made for each of the 6 chosen clays. Oh! Wondering about the stamp? It notes the clay's origins.