http://wheretraveler.com

among have her most produced recent bernardaud both chair design designers fabric glass now series together vases also another available bouroullec ceramic colorful covered cups editions enameled erwan france group jean kartell legged limited line massaud objects optic pieces practical projects radi samourai system tools transparent was white wood years ago aiello air airline along anthony applied armchair armor around arranged articulated artisans arts askew assembled avril backward balsa baranger based beautiful been biennale birdcage bishop blanc bluffer bois bookshelves boot bourgeois boutique bowls branches bright brothers bton bud built bulb cake cakes cappellini carlos catherine cement center ceramics chairs charming cheek cheery chrome claire classic claude closely clothes coffeemakers comes composed configurations conveniently corbeille cowboy creative cube cubes cubist deliberate delightful delightfully des designed designer designfeatfinal designing diamond did dinnerware dividers dol done duo easy edges edition egg electric endeavors engaging errors etienne faceted facett factory fat film flexible florence foam form formations former founded four francs fruit fun furnishings furniture galerie galleries garden goblet going graduates grand green handles handsome hangers has hat highbacked holder imaginative imagining include including india individually international iroko issey january jazz jouin jouinn juicers kitchen known kreo lamp laurent leather leboss legless legs lighthearted lights ligne lineup low made mahdavi manufacturer manufacturers marie marlboro massaloux matchbook meal member microwave mid minimalist mixers mixes miyake molds moulinex multi national newcomers olivier only ovens overlapping overstuffed own padded paper paris patch patrick patterns personalized perverse planters plates poc polycarbonate polyester porcelain potter prize process produce project quirky qxd rack recently redand renard repute retractable robert rockers ronan roset rowan rubbery rue saint salad scene school schwepps scratch seat sebastien selection self selfadhesive shape shaped she shelfs shot shown sidet sigol sits slightly smaller snapped sofa sofas sole sorts south spaghetti specialize sponsored stadler standing star steel stool storage strings strips stuck style tableware talked teapots thermo tiles time toasters tongue too touch traditional tray triangulated tube unfinished utensils vallauris various vase vegetable vein velvet vincent vitra wacky walls websites witty won work worked worker working works young

DesignFeatFINAL.qxd 12/12/06 16:22 Page 14 The three-legged Samourai chair designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec The new JAZZ sofa system by Jean-Marie Massaud, produced by Time Style triangulated strips of balsa wood covered in thermo-retractable polyester film. In a more classic vein, India Mahdavi mixes velvet and wood, chrome and leather, ceramics and steel. Her handsome, highbacked Don Carlos chair sits low on iroko legs (or rockers). Among her recent projects have been the enameled ceramic Bishop stool; a fat, overstuffed A-line Bluffer armchair; and a limited edition of quirky, faceted Diamond bookshelves. Designing brothers Rowan and Erwan Bouroullec, who did the minimalist A-POC boutique in the rue des Francs-Bourgeois for Issey Miyake, shot to international repute in just a few years with easy-going, practical furnishings made by Cappellini, Ligne Roset and Vitra, among other manufacturers. The seat of their three-legged Samourai chair is put together with three pieces of rubbery fabric overlapping like pieces of armor, and their colorful polycarbonate Self Shelfs can be assembled in all sorts of personalized configurations. Their most recent projects include Facett, a series of legless foam sofas and chairs covered in padded fabric; and flexible fabric Tiles that can be snapped together to form walls and dividers. Another duo, Ts Ts--Catherine Lvy and Sigolne Prbois--specialize in smaller, imaginative objects including strings of colorful paper Cubist lights and Vase d'Avril, an articulated lineup of 21 glass-tube bud vases that can be arranged in various formations. They also have one of the most engaging websites around. Among the most talked-about newcomers on the scene are 5.5 Designers, who have just won the Paris Grand Prize for Design 2007. The group was founded only three years ago by Vincent Baranger, Jean- Sebastien Blanc, Anthony Leboss and Claire Renard, all graduates of the National School of Applied Arts now in their mid20s. Their work is both witty and practical, like the bright green standing hat/clothes rack whose branches are hangers (produced by La Corbeille Editions), or the cement garden furniture with built-in planters (Bton Design). Among their most recent endeavors was a "designer-worker" project sponsored by the Bernardaud porcelain manufacturer. The four designers worked closely with the artisans in the Bernardaud factory to produce a delightfully perverse and charming line of tableware based on deliberate errors in the creative process: cups with backward handles, salad bowls with spaghetti-like unfinished edges, plates with their patterns askew. Shown at the recent Biennale du Design in Saint Etienne, a selection of the dinnerware is now available at Bernardaud. Another young group, Radi Designers, is composed of Olivier Sidet, Laurent Massaloux and Robert Stadler. They too are known for a lighthearted touch, imagining objects that are both beautiful and fun, like their Transparent Cakes--glass vases in the shape of traditional cake molds. They have recently produced a cheery series of redand-white electric kitchen utensils--mixers, juicers, coffeemakers, toasters, microwave ovens--for Moulinex. Their tongue-in-cheek Marlboro matchbook comes with a selfadhesive, star-shaped scratch patch that can be conveniently stuck on the sole of your cowboy boot, and they've also done an airline meal tray for Air France and a glass goblet for Schwepps. Their works--both individually and together--can be found at the Kreo and Tools galleries. A former member of Radi, Florence Dolac, is now on her own. Working with potter Claude Aiello in the ceramic center Vallauris in the south of France, she has produced a series of enameled white vases, egg cups, teapots and a delightful "vegetable and fruit holder", available in limited editions at Tools Galerie, along with her slightly wacky birdcage of a multi-bulb lamp. Patrick Jouin's transparent cube Optic storage system for Kartell 12 where / JANUARY 2007 JOUINN OPTIC CUBES /KARTELL; MASSAUDDR