For his firm’s participation in this years Dining By Design event, renowned Interior Designer Roric Tobin calls on his extensive work in Japan and his deep appreciation for Japanese design, imagining an evening celebration in the classical Japanese garden of Korakuen.
This setting for A Night in Korakuen evokes the gardens, starting with a deep blue carpet from Stark as its base. The focal point is the dramatic Flow dining table with its striking shock of orange veins running through the Onice Bella Rosa slab from ABC Stone,which is set on a metallic casting of wooden branches.
At the two heads of the table are Crane chairs in contrasting veneer based on the iconic origami shape. The seating is filled out with acrylic ballroom chairs with cushions upholstered in colorful silk.
The River Rock buffet has a cabinet of grey birdseye with a slab of aqueous cast glass floating above. Rushes and irises surround the piece to make it feel as much a garden sculpture as furniture.
The final piece from the Roric Tobin Designs collection is the Lotus Leaf side table, which consists of three small disks of Verde Ming marble in a simple stepped formation.
Tablescape elements are courtesy of Christofle, with china silver and geometric candelabra which complete the look. Above, a dramatic flock of illuminated origami cranes sweep through the air. Finishing the scene are dramatic contemporary kimonos mounted on the upholstered walls.
This vignette was created in collaboration with Modern Luxury Media.
here’s another one of my favorite Dining By Design Installations from this year’s DIFFA event, which features carefully curated dining vignettes that raise awareness for individuals impacted by HIV/AIDS. Gensler New York’s 2019 design concept, titled You Are Beautiful, served as a celebratory reminder to all those individuals living with HIV/AIDS that they are Beautiful, both inside and out, they deserve enduring happiness, and, most importantly, they are not alone in their fight.
In partnership with Knoll, EvensonBest, and MillerBlaker, the free-standing vignette embraces the idea of joyful inner beauty too abundant to be contained. The raw and honest space, flanked by stained plywood, reveals the cut-out and applied “You Are Beautiful” message luring guests to peer inside.
A warm color palette informed by the branded red color of an AIDS ribbon articulates the vibrant interior, featuring furniture and tabletop accessories by Muuto and Filzfelt.
Finally, a series of colorful, transparent Beach Balls dance above the table, representing playfulness and lighthearted respite to spark conversation and empower the values of enduring happiness.
As promised, here’s another one of my favorite Dining By Design Installations from this year’s DIFFA event, as David Scott Interiors and renowned international luxury furniture brand Roche Bobois invite guests to an elemental dining experience aboard a luxury liner cruising the Atlantic.
Thoughtfully crafted for modern entertaining, an ambient seating area splashed with hues of ocean blue and warm sunshine yellow transitions to a dining area evoking natural light reflecting onto wave-like water formations.
A window seat provides the perfect perch to overlook a natural wonder in the water with Zaria Forman (@zarialynn)’s video artwork titled Ode to an Iceberg, fearing video filmed by Forman in Whale Bay, Antartica (courtesy of Winston Wächter Fine Art). While guests cruise along, similarly to artists’ hands, the wind and water sculpt the icebergs into unimaginable melting shapes.
The unique installation features Roche Bobois’ iconic pieces such as the Bubble armchairs, Edito lounge chair, Ava Bridge chairs, Voiles Dining Table and Nonette floor lamps. Architectural lighting is provided by Orsman Design and tabletop arrangements are provided courtesy of Nikko Ceramics and Les Ateliers Courbet with floral arrangements by Mark Rose Events.
“Our design was driven by the sculptural quality of the pieces selected from the Roche Bobois collections,” says designer, David Scott. “The visual strength of the brilliant yellow Bubble chair and the dramatic shape and finish of the Voiles dining table is a striking pairing. Song Wen Zhong’sAva Bridge clear dining chair is the perfect nod to Zaria Forman’s video piece . They look like they could melt away right in front of your eyes!”
“Roche Bobois is proud to support DIFFA in its continuous efforts to fight the misconceptions and judgements against HIV/AIDS,” says Jennifer Barre, National Marketing Director for Roche Bobois. “We couldn’t be happier to have partnered with the amazing team of David Scott Interiors. They really brought a storytelling dimension to the space.”
Dining By Design takes place in New York City each year in conjunction with The Architectural Digest Design Show. This collection of high-end, conceptual dining environments is sponsored by DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) to raise awareness and funds in support of the organization’s work to fight HIV/AIDS. In the coming weeks, I’ll be showcasing my favorite installations from Dining By Design in the Eye on Design space. This week we are featuring Us is More created by INC Architecture & Design.
In this tableau, individual ribbons and imperfect patches of color converge, creating a playful and experiential landscape. An everyday building material (wood) forms the singular core of the installation’s structure, elevated and layered upon by expressive gestures of vibrant color.
These layers are the building blocks that create a dynamic, three-dimensional painting in our ordinary world, where vibrant, expressive gestures elevate simple forms and materials. Alone, they are rather unremarkable, but together they are unforgettable. At this table, and life’s core, us is always more.
The installation’s rainbow color palette was inspired by the visualization of a film still from the rock biopic The Runaways, created by the Instagram account @ColorPalette.Cinema, which takes stills from classic films and adds color-coded swatches beneath them, revealing the essence of the visual language of film.
Design by Inc Architecture and Design, with Lennie Construction Corporation, and Mehovi Painting Inc. (Paint by Benjamin Moore). Additional services by Ventresca Design in partnership with Color Kinetics, LED-Linear, Loupi Lighting, Electric Light Agencies and Lights on West. Tableware by Colony.
For this week’s Eye on Design, we are presenting a fabulous visual recap of the 20th annual Dining By Design event, sponsored by Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA).
Event Signage Outside Pier 92, Where the Event Takes Place
Held in tandem with the Architectural Digest Design Show, Dining By Design showcases imaginative, one-of-a-kind tabletop design in a series of dazzling dining installations by internationally renowned and local talent. Items in each dining tableau, as well as one-of-a-kind original artworks, are part of a silent auction fundraiser, in which everyone can participate. As DIFFA National’s largest fundraiser, Dining By Design raises nearly a million dollars annually, with proceeds going towards grants to organizations combating HIV/AIDS.
Please enjoy photos of a few of our favorite installations!
White Room by The New School at Parsons School of Design: Meal is constructed of found materials from each borough of New York City, allowing the projected materials costs to be donated back to HIV/AIDS activism. Unified in one color, the assemblage serves as an analogy for the many New Yorkers affected by HIV/AIDS. Built by a community to give back to a community.
White Room Detail
The New York Times Designed by Liaigre, with Douglas Little.
Pratt Interior Design: Movers and Shakers
M Moser Associates Installation featuring the Vondom Adan Planter (seen here as the Table Base) by Italian architect and designer Teresa Sapey, which was a featured item up for bid in the silent.
Interior Design Produced By Silver Lining (Love Table).
It is unfortunate that what turns out to be my best set of photos is of an installation whose designer and associated details I somehow neglected to take note of.
Antique mirror place settings are embedded in a natural moss-covered table surface for ‘Green’ Dining at its finest — very cool!
Perkins and Will with Steelcase and Other Sponsors: (Re)action
One in 8 people living with HVI do not know it. The Pulley system symbolizes the human effort needed to promote awareness and prevention. Illumination is achieved through action. Active participation in the fight for prevention and cure is key for enlightenment.
(Re)action, Detail
Installation by Cappellini, Designed by Giulio Cappellini and Antonio Facco.
This showcase by Twyla featured original abstract paintings by Architect-turned-Artist Edward Granger. Mystify, (2017 ) seen above, left, was part of the auction as well.
These elegant yet comfy-looking low banquets were custom made for the installation.
Beautiful flora including succulents, cacti and air plants were expertly arranged into pieces of living art for an entire wall of this dining space, Desert at Dusk Lush Landscapes by Ovando (donated by Ovando and Rockwell Group). Landscapes are designed in elegant 10”x10” black plate glass boxes.
Here’s a better look at the really fantastic desert garden wall. All plants were available to own via the silent auction.
Furnishings by Poltrona Frau are features in this showcase designed by Benjamin Noriega Ortiz, with LASVIT Lighting and Orley Shabahang carpets.
Here are separate, but more detailed shots of the left and the right sides of this installation. I really love the Rooster mural!
Design featuring Anteriors inspired furnishings.
Anteriors Detail Shot
Fight Club Logo-inspired Design by Gensler, featuring Knoll Furniture with assistance from contract furnishings company EvensonBest.
Known for its sofas and sectionals, French designer furniture company Roche Bobois provided the vibrantly-colored cushioned seating that covers the walls of this dining installation, created by Gensler.
What an original, wildly imaginative design approach!
The immersive, 360-degree scrim over the table features a kinetic projection of ocean waves, so that you can feel like you’re dining at the beach! Excellent!
Find out more about DIFFA and its sponsored events, at Diffa Dot Org!
