Brooklyn Industriousness. We slipped into the Brooklyn Designs show yesterday and had a great time checking out the borough's finest. Were we impressed? So-so. Overall, Brooklyn design is warm and homespun, but it won't hit you over the head or take your breath away. However, there are plenty of bright spots.
The very fact that this show exists is a testament to the singular indentity and gaining momentum (we hope) that is being generated in the borough right now. There was a great deal of solid wood design, earthy tones and babies pushing through in strollers. It was packed.
Our only question is - if color is so popular right now and so powerful a visual force in the home, why is it so lacking in Bklyn?
Here are our some of our picks:
Best in Show
- Niche Modern: Stunning glass pendant and table lighting
- Bart Bettencourt: Whole hog into green furniture, Bart's designs are new and innovative and getting better. You have never seen bamboo chairs like this....
- Aswoon - Susan Woods Studio: Stunning use of metal chain link to create a room divider
- Semigood : Better than that! Beautiful angular oak & teak modern furniture with a lightness of form
- December Box: Takes vintage metal castings from Scalamandr and creates 500 lb, 14ft bench. Awesome.
Notable
- Asterisk Designs: Bright Venetian plaster wall coverings rather than painting
- 3 Square Design: Great wood side chairs that look like Prouve
- Gardy Bloemers: Nutty metalwork, huge hooks, funky stableware
- RG Furniture Design: Not entirely original, but very nice raw wood tables and benches
- Amy Helfand: Contemporary, abstract rugs... simple shapes, stunning colors
- Argington: Emotional favorites as they sell fine children's furniture with pleasing shapes
- Brave Space Design: Couldn't stop looking at their bookshelf/room dividers...
- Eric Manigian: In the tradition of Nakashima, beautitful all-wood slab furniture
- Glide Inc.: Neat finger recognition technology for the home, but even neater use of LED lights
I agree with you on the show being so-so; was it smaller than last year? It felt it. Plus last time there were other places to go too, a sample sale at Christopher Coleman's studio, a model apt. at one of the condo conversions, etc.
Two of the standouts to me didn't get on the list (maybe because they're there every year?) First is Zia-Priven Design, that had these incredible new light fixtures with square lampshades and a flow of chain coming down the middle. Just fab- see it here www.ziapriven.com/albums/album_image/1902386/561419.htm
The other is Scrapile who has these gorgeous tables made out of wood, well, from the scrap pile that make beautiful stripes. The only problem with them is I feel like it would be focus of the room, so the walls would have to be white, dishes white, etc. etc. I don't really like white walls, but man, love those tables.
Oh, and don't forget Jacques Torres cocoa. A Bklyn Designs tradition.
bravespacedesign.com is the correct site address.
Did anyone have a chance to check out Wüd Furniture Design? Their stuff was pretty great.
You can see their work on www.wudfurniture.com
I went to this show for the first time, and I enjoyed it tremendously, but at the same time, I also felt it was so-so. The stuff was beautiful, but it was all high-end, and a very large commitment. I'd love to also see items like table top, ceramics, soft goods, etc--things that are equally beautiful, but at a lower price point and less along the lines of, "I need to go home and mull this over before I make a big decision."
amyhelfand.com is the correct web link
I was rather disappointed. Maybe I expected more for my $10. Too many items were in the more-than-my-first-car price range.
As an exhibitor, I totally understand what people were saying about items being priced more than their first car.
We can't even afford our own pieces, but there are people out there that can. That is why we are trying to introduce a line of lower-priced items like pillows and ceramics in addition to the higher-priced items. We've desperately tried to keep our production in Brooklyn, even in New York or worst-case in the States, but you know what? It is next to impossible! Prices are high, quality is suspect, and you have to hand-hold and play cheerleader to try to get anything done. It is a struggle. On one hand you face criticism if you produce overseas, the other hand you get criticism for producing locally but having high prices. THIS is the struggle pretty much every person at BKYN DESIGNS is facing I discovered in casual conversation.
These items aren't mass-produced, and as designers, we don't have access to factories, economies of scale and a corporate bank account to wield our buying and sourcing power.
It is a fine line we're walking and we appreciate the understanding of people who are willing to fork over their hard-earned dollars for design that hasn't yet been ripped off by The Elm, if you know what I mean...
"The Elm" is also very much in a completely different (accessible) price category.
I totally understand why prices are so high, but it's still sort of disappointing to go to a show where almost everything costs thousands of dollars. That's all I'm saying, Jeremy. I appreciate your dilemma. It would just be nice to see more ceramics and pillows--the stuff you mentioned. I like seeing things out of my price range, but I also like seeing things that are smaller and more affordable. Everything I saw was lovely, though, and I appreciate the vendors' efforts.