Folded shelves by Muuto
DESIGN top 25/global
Leading lights Kitting out your office? Sprucing up your home? The furniture and firms you need are perfectly arranged right here. Editor Nolan Giles
1.
best retro revival Midgard Federzugleuchte springloaded lamp, Germany “Furniture design shouldn’t be ruled by trends; the industry can’t cope with a quick turnaround,” says David Einsiedler, who relaunched the century-old lamp brand Midgard at the start of this year. Instead of feeding into feeble fashions, Einsiedler is intent on reviving the timeless lamps invented by Curt Fischer in 1920s western Germany. As the company’s new ceo, Einsiedler recovered old blueprints for some of the world’s first adjustable work lamps and began manufacturing the lights once more. The Federzugleuchte (meaning springloaded lamp), which dates from 1950 and features a black retro shade, is particularly iconic and available as a table, wall, ceiling or floor lamp. — mss midgard.com
no103 — monocle — 159
top 25/ globa l
2.
top installation Unterlinden by Artemide suspension lights, Italy On the top-floor reading room of Milan’s Fondazione Feltrinelli building one can’t help but notice the Unterlinden lights, produced by Artemide and designed by Herzog & de Meuron. With a minimalist funnel shape and an aluminum body, they dangle in line with the sharp angles of the room on fine cords. The lights are designed to recreate the mood of a museum. — bc artemide.com
3.
filtered perfection Cleansui water filter, Japan
studio to watch Zanat, Bosnia-Herzegovina Ornament and design don’t often sit comfortably together but Zanat, a furniture studio in BosniaHerzegovina, has tapped into a 150-year-old carving technique to restore harmony between the two. “We thought if we could find a way to combine Scandinavian design – the definition of minimalist – and our technique, it would break a lot of taboos,” says Orhan Niksic (pictured), Zanat founder and the scion of four generations of carvers. Based in the town of Konjic, the country’s woodworking heartland, Zanat’s 40-strong team use a technique that chips into wood to create a dappled effect on the surface. Collaborations have included a tactile lamp with Studioilse last year and in February it debuted its work with Swedish designer Monica Förster on a series of dining chairs and lamps, and tabletops reminiscent of intricate lace. “We don’t use any machines for the carving, which makes every piece unique,” says Niksic, adding that even the tools used in the process are made by the team. “In this way we return some lost tactility to the world around us.” — cl zanat.org
5.
best for independent style Pacific Furniture Service, Japan
photographers: Jasmin Brutus, Sayuki Inoue
This water filter is a collaboration between Cleansui – renowned in Japan for its filtering devices that remove impurities from water while keeping healthy minerals – and potters from Shigaraki, a town in Japan’s Shiga prefecture. This earthy-looking item – known as Shigaraki – is the work of pottery designer Shunsuke Kato, who works for his family’s business Yamatsu Ceramics. It’s a good marriage of technology and tradition: a Cleansui filter system sits inside the handmade pot and holds two litres of clean water. — fw cleansui.com
4.
160 — monocle — no103
Yohei Ishikawa is fine with swimming against the tide of fashion. As a design student in the 1980s, while his contemporaries were in thrall to the high design of postmodernism, Ishikawa was drawn to the warmth and wood of Japanese mingei folk art and craft. “I’ve always loved that combination of beauty and function,” he says. He set up Pacific Furniture Service in 1988 and started designing his own pieces in 1992. Today he has a workshop in Yokohama (his third and largest), a shop and showroom in a 1970s resident block in Ebisu, Tokyo, and a collection of more than 30 pieces for the home: squashy textile sofas, sturdy oak tables and sideboards made from birch. Ishikawa has also been selling Lyon steel lockers – the type usually seen in schools – from the US for years, believing that they work well in a domestic setting. “People don’t give enough recognition to that kind of anonymous design,” he says. Inevitably fashion has caught up with him and his emphasis on natural materials and quiet, longlasting design that ages well is now very much in vogue. — fw pfservice.co.jp
6.
best reissue Hans J Wegner CH23 dining chair, Denmark An iconic piece of furniture reissue needs to be true to the original designer’s intent. Danish furniture producer Carl Hansen has mastered this process and brought back the Hans J Wegner ch23 dining chair from 1950. Available in oak and walnut finishes with the meticulous detailing of the doublewoven seat true to the original, the ch23 is light but sturdy, dashing and timeless. We want it under our table. — nsg carlhansen.com
7.
best for invention Theia lamp by Marset, Spain This steel aluminium lamp has a streamlined design of two opaque, intersecting half-spheres, one placed horizontally and the other vertically. Swivel the fixture around its central axis and point it towards you to use as a reading lamp, or at an object or wall to create subtle, indirect light. “My intention was to merge both light and shadow in a single piece, achieving a sense of natural light. For me light is only interesting if you see the shadow at the same time,” says Mathias Hahn, the London-based German behind the design. — dk marset.com
no103 — monocle — 161
top 25/ globa l
9.
best collaboration Ariake, Japan
8.
most practical design Folded shelves by Muuto, Denmark Rotterdam-based designer Johan Van Hengel’s focus on useful products is demonstrated in these shelves for Copenhagen’s Muuto. Inspired by the interplay of layers and shadows, each slender unit is made from a single sheet of steel, bent to create clever pockets. — nj muuto.com
10.
most colourful design Tricolore vases by &Tradition, Denmark Germany’s Sebastian Herkner has become a prolific design talent in the past decade by not restricting his skills to one medium. The consistent theme in his work is artisanship. As Herkner’s star has risen, so too has his ambition for collaboration. After making a colourful woven chair with craftspeople in Colombia this year, he’s followed up with these Tricolore vases for Copenhagen’s &Tradition, made using a traditional mouth-blowing technique in the Czech Republic. “I don’t start an idea with a pencil: I plan with colour,” he says. — nsg andtradition.com
11.
best for the balcony Gonçalo chair by Arcalo, Portugal With its simple lines created from two bent metal pieces, the Gonçalo chair is an icon of Portuguese design. Light, sturdy and comfortable, it is weatherproof and stackable, and has a timeless aesthetic. It was created in the 1940s by Gonçalo dos Santos in Algés, Lisbon, for Arcalo, which was bought in 1994 by owner Manuel Caldas, 67. He was born on the same street as the chair. — tl arcalo.com 162 — monocle — no103
Japanese firms Legnatec and Hirata had been making furniture for rural houses for half a century. It was Singaporean product designer Gabriel Tan who saw the potential to turn the brands’ wares into a design company of international appeal. The collaboration soon turned into an ambitious 18-piece collection by a team of five designers from Norway, Sweden, Singapore and Japan who all shared a love of Japanese culture. Ariake’s white-oak, hinoki and cedar tables, cabinets, shelves and chairs tinted with dyed ash were hatched over an intensive week-long workshop in the town of Morodomi in Japan. Its aim to immerse the designers in the region’s crafts resulted in the gentle curves and streamlined shapes inspired by Japanese architecture and an appreciation of woodworking finesse. — zz ariakecollection.com
Leading lights Kitting out your office? Sprucing up your home? The furniture and firms you need are perfectly arranged right here. Editor Nolan Giles
1.
best retro revival Midgard Federzugleuchte springloaded lamp, Germany “Furniture design shouldn’t be ruled by trends; the industry can’t cope with a quick turnaround,” says David Einsiedler, who relaunched the century-old lamp brand Midgard at the start of this year. Instead of feeding into feeble fashions, Einsiedler is intent on reviving the timeless lamps invented by Curt Fischer in 1920s western Germany. As the company’s new ceo, Einsiedler recovered old blueprints for some of the world’s first adjustable work lamps and began manufacturing the lights once more. The Federzugleuchte (meaning springloaded lamp), which dates from 1950 and features a black retro shade, is particularly iconic and available as a table, wall, ceiling or floor lamp. — mss midgard.com
no103 — monocle — 159
top 25/ globa l
2.
top installation Unterlinden by Artemide suspension lights, Italy On the top-floor reading room of Milan’s Fondazione Feltrinelli building one can’t help but notice the Unterlinden lights, produced by Artemide and designed by Herzog & de Meuron. With a minimalist funnel shape and an aluminum body, they dangle in line with the sharp angles of the room on fine cords. The lights are designed to recreate the mood of a museum. — bc artemide.com
3.
filtered perfection Cleansui water filter, Japan
studio to watch Zanat, Bosnia-Herzegovina Ornament and design don’t often sit comfortably together but Zanat, a furniture studio in BosniaHerzegovina, has tapped into a 150-year-old carving technique to restore harmony between the two. “We thought if we could find a way to combine Scandinavian design – the definition of minimalist – and our technique, it would break a lot of taboos,” says Orhan Niksic (pictured), Zanat founder and the scion of four generations of carvers. Based in the town of Konjic, the country’s woodworking heartland, Zanat’s 40-strong team use a technique that chips into wood to create a dappled effect on the surface. Collaborations have included a tactile lamp with Studioilse last year and in February it debuted its work with Swedish designer Monica Förster on a series of dining chairs and lamps, and tabletops reminiscent of intricate lace. “We don’t use any machines for the carving, which makes every piece unique,” says Niksic, adding that even the tools used in the process are made by the team. “In this way we return some lost tactility to the world around us.” — cl zanat.org
5.
best for independent style Pacific Furniture Service, Japan
photographers: Jasmin Brutus, Sayuki Inoue
This water filter is a collaboration between Cleansui – renowned in Japan for its filtering devices that remove impurities from water while keeping healthy minerals – and potters from Shigaraki, a town in Japan’s Shiga prefecture. This earthy-looking item – known as Shigaraki – is the work of pottery designer Shunsuke Kato, who works for his family’s business Yamatsu Ceramics. It’s a good marriage of technology and tradition: a Cleansui filter system sits inside the handmade pot and holds two litres of clean water. — fw cleansui.com
4.
160 — monocle — no103
Yohei Ishikawa is fine with swimming against the tide of fashion. As a design student in the 1980s, while his contemporaries were in thrall to the high design of postmodernism, Ishikawa was drawn to the warmth and wood of Japanese mingei folk art and craft. “I’ve always loved that combination of beauty and function,” he says. He set up Pacific Furniture Service in 1988 and started designing his own pieces in 1992. Today he has a workshop in Yokohama (his third and largest), a shop and showroom in a 1970s resident block in Ebisu, Tokyo, and a collection of more than 30 pieces for the home: squashy textile sofas, sturdy oak tables and sideboards made from birch. Ishikawa has also been selling Lyon steel lockers – the type usually seen in schools – from the US for years, believing that they work well in a domestic setting. “People don’t give enough recognition to that kind of anonymous design,” he says. Inevitably fashion has caught up with him and his emphasis on natural materials and quiet, longlasting design that ages well is now very much in vogue. — fw pfservice.co.jp
6.
best reissue Hans J Wegner CH23 dining chair, Denmark An iconic piece of furniture reissue needs to be true to the original designer’s intent. Danish furniture producer Carl Hansen has mastered this process and brought back the Hans J Wegner ch23 dining chair from 1950. Available in oak and walnut finishes with the meticulous detailing of the doublewoven seat true to the original, the ch23 is light but sturdy, dashing and timeless. We want it under our table. — nsg carlhansen.com
7.
best for invention Theia lamp by Marset, Spain This steel aluminium lamp has a streamlined design of two opaque, intersecting half-spheres, one placed horizontally and the other vertically. Swivel the fixture around its central axis and point it towards you to use as a reading lamp, or at an object or wall to create subtle, indirect light. “My intention was to merge both light and shadow in a single piece, achieving a sense of natural light. For me light is only interesting if you see the shadow at the same time,” says Mathias Hahn, the London-based German behind the design. — dk marset.com
no103 — monocle — 161
top 25/ globa l
9.
best collaboration Ariake, Japan
8.
most practical design Folded shelves by Muuto, Denmark Rotterdam-based designer Johan Van Hengel’s focus on useful products is demonstrated in these shelves for Copenhagen’s Muuto. Inspired by the interplay of layers and shadows, each slender unit is made from a single sheet of steel, bent to create clever pockets. — nj muuto.com
10.
most colourful design Tricolore vases by &Tradition, Denmark Germany’s Sebastian Herkner has become a prolific design talent in the past decade by not restricting his skills to one medium. The consistent theme in his work is artisanship. As Herkner’s star has risen, so too has his ambition for collaboration. After making a colourful woven chair with craftspeople in Colombia this year, he’s followed up with these Tricolore vases for Copenhagen’s &Tradition, made using a traditional mouth-blowing technique in the Czech Republic. “I don’t start an idea with a pencil: I plan with colour,” he says. — nsg andtradition.com
11.
best for the balcony Gonçalo chair by Arcalo, Portugal With its simple lines created from two bent metal pieces, the Gonçalo chair is an icon of Portuguese design. Light, sturdy and comfortable, it is weatherproof and stackable, and has a timeless aesthetic. It was created in the 1940s by Gonçalo dos Santos in Algés, Lisbon, for Arcalo, which was bought in 1994 by owner Manuel Caldas, 67. He was born on the same street as the chair. — tl arcalo.com 162 — monocle — no103
Japanese firms Legnatec and Hirata had been making furniture for rural houses for half a century. It was Singaporean product designer Gabriel Tan who saw the potential to turn the brands’ wares into a design company of international appeal. The collaboration soon turned into an ambitious 18-piece collection by a team of five designers from Norway, Sweden, Singapore and Japan who all shared a love of Japanese culture. Ariake’s white-oak, hinoki and cedar tables, cabinets, shelves and chairs tinted with dyed ash were hatched over an intensive week-long workshop in the town of Morodomi in Japan. Its aim to immerse the designers in the region’s crafts resulted in the gentle curves and streamlined shapes inspired by Japanese architecture and an appreciation of woodworking finesse. — zz ariakecollection.com
