Tag Archives: what would have been

Eye On Design: Maquette 259 Seating By Faye Toogood

maquette 259 faye toogood photo by gail worley
All Photos By Gail

British designer Faye Toogood believes that, whatever your domain of design expertise, the materials you can get your hands on are essential, “because you are always looking for a new way to interpret your designs and to explain your story.” This approach also pertains to her recent venture from designing signature interior spaces and environments (for high-profile clients), to furniture design.

maquette 259 faye toogood photo by gail worley

Part of the exhibit What Would Have Been on view at Freidman Benda, her Maquette 259 seating (2020)  realized in a rusty-peach-painted canvas over upholstery foam aligns with this aesthetic. Toogood’s products are designed with “honesty to the rawness and irregularity of the chosen material,” and are sculptural in form. Like her interior spaces, her furniture is considerate of both the two-dimensional design as well as three-dimensional space.

maquette 259 faye toogood photo by gail worley

I love how it looks like a group of boulders just rolled together! Maquette 259 was manufactured in an limited edition of 8 pieces. Contact Friedman Benda Gallery in NYC for purchase information.

Eye On Design: Melting Thonet Chair By OrtaMiklos

melting thonet chair photo by gail worley
All Photos By Gail Worley

The classic Thonet Chair design gets a super artsy, post-modern treatment with Melting Thonet, from European design firm OrtaMiklos (which includes partners Leo Orta and Victor Miklos Andersen).

melting thonet chair photo by gail worley

Generally informed by natural habitats and processes, the creative duo’s experimental approach activates their design works from the existing norms. Here, Michael Thonet’s innovative chair frame — created by bending wood with hot steam and forming it into curved, graceful shapes — is fabricated from a powder-coated steel, to create a frame that exaggerates the original’s bends and twists into an entirely different domain.

melting thonet chair photo by gail worley

Photographed at Friedman Benda Gallery in Chelsea (Contact for Pricing) as part of the Recent Exhibit, What Would Have Been.

melting thonet chair photo by gail worley

Eye On Design: Grotto Mirror By Chris Schanck

grotto mirror photo by gail worley
Photos By Gail

The absence of virtually all design shows for the year 2020 (Salon Art + Design, Architectural Digest Home Show, ICFF, and on and on) — which was probably my least favorite Covid cancelation — serves as the inspiration for Friedman Benda’s latest exhibit: What Would Have Been, which I visited a few weeks ago to get my design-fix on! The exhibition gives fans access to design that lost its intended platform; works shown briefly before museum doors closed or failed to open at all. A favorite piece in the gallery (and not just because it’s pink) was Chris Schank’s Grotto Mirror — which may look familiar to some readers.

Continue reading Eye On Design: Grotto Mirror By Chris Schanck