Tiffany & Co. The Landmark

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Luxury items aside, the inner workings of the store speak for themselves. Famed architect Peter Marino was tasked with maintaining historical parts of the original structure, as acquired by Tiffany in 1940, while mixing in modern renovations throughout the 100,000 square foot building, making it one of the largest stores in Manhattan. The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA New York) designed the three-store glass addition, expanding the space to ten storeys.

Each floor focuses on different sections of Tiffany & Co.’s offerings, including High Jewellery masterpieces, Love & Engagement, silver designs, and home décor. Integrated amongst the shoppable items are nearly 40 outstanding works of art from artists such as Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel, and Anna Weyant, as well as rotating museum and gallery space on floors eight and nine. A grand mirrored staircase is at the heart of the store, spiralling from floors three to eight with a large custom statue by Daniel Arsham at the base on the Love & Engagement third floor.

Tiffany & Co. The Landmark

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Donned in head-to-toe custom Givenchy uniforms, the store staff are masters in the history and details of the location, offering an upclose look at the design process behind High Jewellery pieces on the seventh floor, to the history and meaning behind each piece of artwork featured in, or commissioned for, the store. On the sixth floor you can have breakfast at Tiffany’s, as Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud has curated a unique daytime dining experience complete with breakfast and tea offerings from the seasonally inspired menu.

In honour of the reopening, Tiffany & Co. displayed the iconic Tiffany Diamond, a heritage piece with 128.54 carats that has been reset for the first time in ten years. To keep the celebration going, Tiffany held an exclusive opening party complete with a star-studded roster of guests including Michael B. Jordan, Jimin of BTS, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, and a musical performance by Katy Perry, before Mark Ronson DJed into the end of the night. As one of the largest stores in Manhattan, it’s no surprise that The Landmark houses an overwhelming amount of beauty to be seen.

The post The Landmark: Tiffany & Co.’s New Main Attraction appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

Also known by the artist handle GANGBOX, Garrison-Msingwana works across a variety of mediums — including painting, sculpture, and digital rendering — to conjure his own uniquely absurd vision of the world rooted in fashion, pop culture, and the supernatural. He has collaborated with clients including Loewe, Adidas, and Stüssy, and recently launched his first U.S. solo exhibition of paintings, “LAUNDRY 002 – A Thread is a Vein,” in New York and Los Angeles.

The collection of 12 paintings is a continuation of his remarkable LAUNDRY series, which is predicated upon the idea of piles of clothing possessing their own life and sentience. In Garrison-Msingwana’s “uncanny universe,” clothing is near biological. “Who knows what the internal structure of these piles actually looks like,” he explains, “beyond just the regular human form.”

The Book for Men caught up with Garrison-Msingwana to discuss his upcoming multimedia projects, how anime continues to inspire his work, and why he thinks AI could never truly replace artists.

You grew up watching and drawing Japanese anime, which often features characters with an almost supernatural stylishness. How important was fashion to you and your art from an early age?

I didn’t really associate the two for a long time, but I was really interested in character design. Especially in anime because they have these really bizarre characteristics — like Kenpachi, in Bleach, has bells at the tips of all the spikes on his hair. Things like that were just so beyond, bending physics and reality, and I always really admired that. Japanese storytelling, and honestly most cultures’ storytelling, stories from my dad’s culture — he’s Tanzanian from Dar es Salaam — are so reality-bending and folkloric and magical, and I realised that I could blend it all together easily in my work.

With “LAUNDRY 002” there’s a wonderful absurdity to how unwieldy the piles are. How inspired were you to create fashion that is similarly physics-bending?

That does totally tie in. I just don’t really worry about the rules. I think it’s important to keep that dreamlike nature to it; a kind of floatiness that can exist, or a rigidity with some of the clothes and the fabrics that would be so technically hard to achieve. I’d need a whole other career just to be able to make a lot of that stuff, or to even understand where to begin with real textiles and real fabric. So painting it just liberates me to experiment, and then maybe I can collaborate and leave the other areas of expertise of making it real to somebody else.

You recently exhibited this collection in L.A., and New York before that. What was it like going coast-to-coast with your work?

Spectacular. I’ve never felt more accomplished and proud. And so much of that is due to Hannah Traore, my gallerist, and her belief in me and support in getting people interested in what I’m doing. It’s really beautiful to encounter people that have their own completely different interpretations of my work. Honestly, that keeps me going in many ways. I have a lot of theories about what I’m doing, but mostly I’m just doing what comes natural to me.

What are some of the insights you gained?

Somebody brought up homelessness to me and how these figures reminded them of bag ladies, or bag men, who live with everything they have. And that makes me think even deeper about what aspects of yourself are intrinsically you. One of my good friends told me that he looked at the piles and felt a sadness. He thought that it looked like these piles were very burdened. Even though you can’t see any physical traits, I guess it was making him think about how heavy it would be to carry all those things, and how limiting it would be. Things like that can set me off in new directions and are beautiful ideas that wouldn’t necessarily have come from my own mind.

You’ve spoken before about wanting to do more multimedia and textile work. What are you working on now?

I can’t say too much right now, but essentially I’m working with a company who are providing materials for me to figure out how to design sculptures. They are essentially PILES, but for a brand. So they’re maybe not as chaotic as I would make ones for my own purposes, but it’s my first endeavour in trying to make them real using textiles. I’m profoundly excited about working with textiles in limited runs in a sustainable way.

I’m also moving to the UK at the end of the year because I want to work on a comic book full time, and I’ve decided that that’s the place that’s best to do that (laughs). I think I’m going to treat it like [Katsuhiro] Otomo, where I’ll probably put like 10 years into it because I’m going to be a bit of a psychotic perfectionist about it all.

The story is called Ghettomancer, but I’m just world-building right now, coming up with characters, their motivations, and overarching stories and themes that I can take from my real life and experiences and kind of codify them or stick them into this very supernatural world that I’m working on. The nerdy kid in me is like, ‘Wow, this is really happening, I’m going to be able to contribute to this world of incredible art that I’ve always admired.’ That kid is like my best friend.

As a working artist, how do you feel about the rise in AI-generated images? Does it inspire you to make your work more bespoke to human experience?

Definitely. The idea of AI having consciousness or trying to supplement humanity is what concerns me. I like technology, but when it comes to my work, I’m definitely an analog guy. The solitude and the simple act of exploring and using my hands and my mind to solve problems is my favourite part. And I love to leave evidence of humanity in everything I do. I leave the tape on my paper works, and you can see fingerprints and mistakes that I painted over. It doesn’t take away from the beauty, in fact I think it adds to it in many ways.

I don’t think that AI could ever get in the way of that, or compete with real artists, to be honest. And I feel like the people who want that out of art don’t appreciate artists and art very much. It’s probably mostly advertisers who don’t want to pay a model, and who would prefer to generate an image for five cents. I just don’t see the point of trying to fake that, or trying to force some evolution to that thing that is already so essential and beautiful about being human, you know?

Photography: Scott Pilgrim, shot on location at East Room.

The post Moya Garrison-Msingwana Sees Humanity as Art appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

Odyssee 24 Globe by Hermès

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Taking a classic fixture of home decor to another level of luxury, the Hermes “Odyssee” globe in gold-plated stainless steel and sumptuous Swift calfskin is a decorative masterpiece sure to please the perennial world traveller. ($28,500)

The Malle Golf by Louis Vuitton

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Louis Vuitton’s monogrammed canvas luggage has been unmistakable since its debut in Paris in 1888. The Malle Golf set takes this iconic design and reimagines it with a highly original athletic application. With dedicated space for 14 golf clubs, monogrammed drawers for accessories, and LV-designed putting mat, flag, balls, towels, club covers, and more, this is the ideal set for pro golfers and amateur linksmen alike. (Price upon request)

Table Tennis Paddles by Tiffany & Co

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There’s surely no more spectacular way to grace the table tennis hardtop than with this pair of magnificent leather and walnut paddles from Tiffany & Co. The ultra-luxe paddles in American walnut and sterling silver are the height of detail-oriented extravagance, while the leather front in Tiffany blue is dazzlingly iconic. ($935)

Backgammon Set by Dior Maison

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Dior showcases its playful side with this deluxe game of backgammon, a lavish twist on the longstanding living-room favourite. Designed in embossed leather and embroidered canvas, this backgammon set is a guaranteed conversation piece. ($6,300)

Photography: Michael Kazimierczuk (Impossible Studios)

Prop Styling: Zach Noftall (Plutino Group)

Styling: Haley Dach

Photo Assistant: Ethan Allen

The post Objets D’art: Designer Aesthetics for the Home appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

The Japanese artist will also be presenting a new Infinity Mirrored Room — arguably her most famous, unarguably her most Instagrammed, medium. Kusama’s previous Infinity Mirrored Rooms have plunged the viewer into never-ending universes filled with star-like luminous orbs, polka dot-covered pumpkins, chandeliers, and other optically-interesting visual phenomena.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to call Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Rooms one of the most popular and influential projects in contemporary art, their public openings inspiring long lines. Patrons are eager to immerse themselves in the Japanese artist’s vibrant world and, most importantly, to document it.

During the last Yayoi Kusama exhibition at David Zwirner, in 2019, the gallery was forced to implement a one-minute time constraint to accommodate the 75,000 people who lined up to step inside “Dancing Lights That Flew Up to the Universe.” The exhibition’s opening coincided with the tenth anniversary of Kusama’s first gallery show with David Zwirner.

Learn more about Yayoi Kusama’s show.

The post Infinite Jest: Yayoi Kusama at David Zwirner Galleries appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

In his new book titled Louis Vuitton Skin: The Architecture of Luxury, renowned critic Paul Goldberger delves into the history of Louis Vuitton’s avant-garde buildings. He explores how architectural designers broke free of traditional branding, rejecting a standardized visual code in favour of unique arrangements for each location. 

Louis Vuitton’s choice to outfit their boutiques in tailor-made blueprints, Goldberger explains, was a natural extension of the fashion house’s penchant for elegance. Known for their place at the forefront of haute couture, the French house envisioned their storefronts as having “the same appeal as the Maison’s products, elevated to civic scale.” 

Skin proves that Louis Vuitton’s mission was a success. Like the latest menswear partnership with Japanese artist Yayoi Kutsuma, Louis Vuitton’s maisons combine the brand’s trademark craftsmanship with uniquely artisan appeal for cutting-edge results. The Seoul location, for instance, is a curved, dynamic, glass structure made in collaboration with architects Frank Gehry and Peter Marino. The clear construction evokes the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, while whimsical curves take inspiration from the traditional Dongnae Hakchum crane dance.

With thoughtful analysis from an author Huffington Post called “the leading figure in architecture criticism,” the book is a must-read for architecture aficionados and fashion-heads alike. Perhaps a nod to the variation of its subject, the book comes in six different covers, each featuring one of Louis Vuitton’s most distinctive builds: Beijing, Paris, Seoul, New York City, Tokyo, and Singapore. The text boasts 372 pages from its Pulitzer-Prize-winning author, along with 245 illustrations.

Learn more about Louis Vuitton Skin.

The post Paul Goldberger’s New Book Explores the World of Louis Vuitton Architecture appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

Sundays Embrace Lounge Chair

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Sundays Company calls this a “hug in chair form.” Take one look at it, and it’s not hard to see why. With its curved form and soft, textured fabric upholstery, this is one of the most beautiful — and luxuriously comfortable — chairs on the market. ($950)

Herman Miller x Logitech Vantum Gaming Chair

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On the other end of the comfort spectrum is this gaming chair from Herman Miller and Logitech — less like a hug than an exhilarating embrace. Get into the gaming zone like never before and find new levels of ergonomic repose with this state-of-the-art design. ($1245)

Post Design Steamer Lounge Chair

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There’s something special about gifting something that’s not new. And that’s doubly true with this Thomas Lamb-designed Steamer Lounge Chair courtesy of Post Design, purveyors of fine, researched mid-century modern furniture. The Steamer Lounge Chair poses interesting questions, by fashioning relaxed seating from a hard material in beautiful maple wood. The result is stunning, visually, and it has stood up after four decades — both physically and aesthetically. Gifting vintage is an ethical choice, to be sure, but it also presents a story to accompany the physical gift. ($1695)

Parachute Alpaca Boucle Throw

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Yes, you read that right. This throw is made of superfine alpaca wool. If you haven’t felt that level of sumptuous comfort, prepare to have your mind blown. Lightweight and ultra-fluffy, it’s the perfect accompaniment to any sofa and the showpiece of a living room. ($329)

Flexform Any Day Ottoman

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Furniture designers with an immediately recognizable aesthetic are growing scarce these days, but the work of Christophe Pillet remains easy to pick out of a crowd. Whether it’s this Ottoman, or any of his current collection for Flexform, Pillet’s work walks a delicate line of minimalism without losing any sense of character or charm. (€913)

Goodee x Ezcaray Matisse Throw

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Ezcaray, a family-run textile house acclaimed for their high-quality craftsmanship, are better at weaving now than ever before. This Matisse throw, with eye-popping colours worthy of an art gallery, has been hand-washed, hand-dyed, and hand-woven using the best-quality materials. ($325)

Niez Tissue Box by Michael Verheyden, Avenue Road

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A luxury tissue box? Yes, but no ordinary luxury tissue box — it comes courtesy of the mind of Belgian designer Michael Verheyden, revered for his ability to elevate the mundane to the level of high art. The ideal centerpiece of any room, this is truly the gift for the man who has everything. ($400)

Haws Rowley Ripple Watering Can

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The past couple of years were a time of serious interior gardening for many of us, with houseplants seeming to take over the urban world. No houseplant setup is complete without a beautiful watering can — and this one, with a curved spout and removable non-drip brass rose, is about as sophisticated as they come, functioning to help you keep those plants thriving while looking great as home decor as well. ($129)

Earl of Wood Desk by Kartell

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Philippe Starck has had one of the most prolific careers in recent design history. Channel his productivity by working through your to-do list while seated at his latest masterpiece: a gently curved wooden surface set on chrome-plated legs. The upward lip at the back helps keep your field of vision focused on the task at hand, while the downward lip at the front offers somewhere to rest your wrists as you type. ($1,620)

Alumina Table Lamp by Tala

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We love the high-impact hit of geometry this Alumina Lamp brings to a desk or nightstand. It’s designed for life on the go and can be used embellish any old table or as a wall sconce — the possibilities are endless. ($220)

Flow Trolley by Muuto

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We all know that storage space is key — and most apartments are lacking it. Stay organized and stay sleek with this three layer Flow Trolley. It seems that the secret to a clutter-free desk is some slick Scandinavian office storage. ($960)

Misto Mirror by UMBRA

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After much careful reflection, we’ve decided that every space needs this mirror’s subtle copper gradient and slim oval shape. Who knew something so sleek could be just the decorative touch your walls were in need of. ($140)

Wilkes Modular Sofa Group Chair by Herman Miller

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Back in its ’70s heyday, this seat was dubbed the “Chiclet” for its capsule-like forms. Five decades later, it’s now been reissued in a host of groovy colours and ready to give life to duller spaces. ($2,870)

Gio Ponti Book by TASCHEN

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Still dreaming of owning a Gio Ponti coffee table? Study up on the storied Italian architect with this coffee table book in the meantime. It’ll be worth the wait. ($350)

Tapestry Pillow 39 by VISO

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Based on anecdotal evidence, cocktail party guests seated next to this lively cushion engage in 100 per cent more interesting conversation than those sat next to boring greige textiles. ($150)

Up Step Stool by FERM LIVING

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There’s always one jar of tomatoes that’s just out of reach and although risking your life climbing on the counter, or grabbing one of your fancy decorative chairs seem like viable options, investing in a trendy Step Stool is a lot better — and safer. ($255)

RAIN Area Rug by Mark Krebs

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Featuring a simple yet intriguing striped pattern, this 6′ × 9’ textile is handwoven in northern India. Now, it makes the perfect addition to your wooden floor which was looking a little lonely. ($630)

Stoppage Vessels by Mercury Bureau

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Toronto designer Shane Krepakevich made these limited-edition, locally produced, hand-blown glass vessels by constantly reworking the shape of a single steel mould. He finished them off with a cut and polished lip. ($590)

Block Chanukiah by Via Maris

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Celebrate the holidays the right way with this modern Block Chanukiah by Via Maris — the modernist New York City-based Judaica brand. With a storage compartment that has room for 44 candles, the Festival of Lights has gotten a lot more stylish and also practical. Suddenly, Judaica can be the hippest thing you own. ($250)

Bespoke Quilt Package by Fogo Island Workshops

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Give the gift of comfort this holiday season with Fogo Island Workshops’ custom quilt package to create the coziest quilt throw. There’s no better way to tell someone you love them. And if you don’t exactly know someone’s style, it’s the perfect way to give them creative control. ($1,500)

Penny by Wilkinson & Rivera

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The Penny Stool from East London-based duo Wilkinson & Rivera is just one of the partners’ creations in a collection of functional and youthful pieces. This funky stool made with locally sourced wood will liven up any space. ($620 USD)

Laurel by De La Espada

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This sculptural side table is ready to draw attention to normally overlooked areas. Composed of two geometric shapes — a cone and a cylinder — that intersect to offer two equally functional and unique surfaces for plants, loose change, candles, coasters, and more decor. ($3,040)

Bingo by EQ3

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The Bingo stool is as fun as its name — and although it’s short, small, and has three legs, it’s extremely durable and stout and can be used as a stool or an eccentric side table. ($250)

The post The SHARP List: Our 2022 Gift Guide for Design Lovers appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

With the weather cooling down and the leaves turning red and orange outside, it’s about that time of year many of us retreat into our homes to spend the winter hibernating, watching Netflix, and endlessly scrolling our phones. Our home is where we spend most of our waking days, especially those of us working from inside the same room where we cook dinner. Despite living in the city and paying exorbitant amounts for the privilege, the ability to be one with nature can feel so far away. That’s why it’s important to bring nature to you. Your home should be an oasis.

That is what the artist Jeremy Joo is hoping to accomplish. His furniture line is a beautiful minimalistic approach to building natural materials that feel essential in our times and homes. His work feels like a perfect balance of creative expression and sturdy simplicity.

“We humans are a part of nature,” Joo explains, speaking from his Toronto studio. Surrounded by many of his distinctive pieces, the designer looks the part, wearing an ascetic streetwear outfit complete with vintage-looking ECCO Staker boots in oiled nubuck and brown leather, available as part of ECCO’s new Heritage collection. Although Joo lives and works in Toronto, where the harmony between nature and craft can feel chaotic, his work brings a sense of calm and natural beauty to the location it embodies.

Joo’s love for nature is apparent in his work. He takes inspiration from Korea, Japan, India, and parts of Africa. He likes that the proportions are large, and everything is very low to the ground. Either you are sitting on the floor or slightly elevated, but you are always close to the ground and mother nature. This approach is much different from your typical North American household or dining establishment. He finds those cultural ties speak to him much more than western aesthetics. “Looking at modernist pieces from Jean Prouve and Charlotte Perignon definitely gives me inspiration,” he muses.

“I pull from a lot of different places, but it all circles back to my own experiences and how I view the world. It’s a lot of things, and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where it comes from; many of my ideas are more ethereal than traceable or linear,” he says.

A professional craftsman like Joo relies on premium quality in everything he works with, including footwear. With the rugged and versatile Heritage collection, ECCO brings the best of Nordic craftsmanship to a range of timeless and iconic workwear, with functional, comfortable pieces that are as durable as they are stylish. Like an outstanding piece of artisan-designed furniture, the Heritage collection is all about authenticity, functionality, and, of course, quality.

ECCO Grainer ($240)

ECCO Track 25 ($300)

ECCO Track 25 ($300)

ECCO Staker ($320)

ECCO Grainer ($240)

True Craft: In Conversation with Jeremy Joo

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ECCO Grainer ($240)

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ECCO Track 25 ($300)

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ECCO Track 25 ($300)

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ECCO Staker ($320)

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ECCO Grainer ($240)

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Jeremy has been spending many days in the studio prepping for a new collection for next year. He just wrapped a four-piece project for the company AAVVGG. His primary focus right now is his day bed, which he hopes to finish by the end of the year. He talks with enthusiasm when describing this new piece, eagerly pulling up samples of what it will look like off his phone.

His day bed borrows from other pieces he has made, like the club chair and the sofa. It has the same exterior shelf seen in his previous work, giving the user a place for their things. It’s simple yet effective. He describes it as a large day bed low to the ground and on the same level as his previous work for a cohesive look and feel. “Everything is very in line with each other,” says Joo.

When finished, it will be upholstered in high-end fabrics and be a real stand out of the new collection. “I think this day bed is going be pretty cool,” he says excitedly; his enthusiasm is infectious. He remarks, “The day bed is a natural extension of the collection for different orientations of the human body.”

Joo started his studio in 2018, working with furniture and object design and hopes to also start including spaces and interior design in the future. Growing up in Toronto in a Korean household, he says “that a lot of the values, the forms and the philosophies of Korea are ingrained” in him.

Throughout his work, he believes there’s a lot of tension at play between the Korean identity versus the Toronto identity versus the global identity. He finds “the interplay the interesting part.” The tension between those worlds can help show you what you like and don’t like about certain things and how you can change that and emulate that for a different design in the future. The past informs his work, but it’s also about dissecting what was bad and what was good and how to move forward. It’s all very poetic in a sense.

His pieces start from a place of familiarity. What feels familiar? How does one sit? How does one sit comfortably? These are thoughts that cross his mind when looking at a new way to design. He wants it to be intrinsic for not only himself but the people he’s thinking about, and from there, it moves into an unfamiliar zone where he has to assemble the pieces. “It’s the chaos of creation.” These pieces are both symbolic and physical. He chooses to work with natural materials and avoids using nails and screws when possible. Everything’s made with genuine care and appreciation of the world around him.

He explains that he wants to emulate what nature does and reduce us to something smaller so we can see the larger picture. He’s not here to make very showy, flashy, hyper-decorative furniture; he wants to create solid furniture for a life to be lived with it.

One of his most noteworthy pieces is the Stool Collection, which was an early example of his love for making platforms. “When you look at a platform, the point of a platform is not to look at the platform. It’s to look at the item it’s holding up. I think the ethos behind the practice is being able to lift up life or lift up the importance of the important things in life, whether that’s nature, family or just thought itself. It’s about lifting the person up, and here’s a platform to do that better.”

True Craft: In Conversation with Jeremy Joo

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He explains deeper, “The furniture is not meant to be the centre of the room. It’s meant to be the architecture of your environment so you can live the life you want.”

“Seeing the gratification of something that was in your mind that wasn’t anything physical that now takes up physical space before you. It’s an exciting feeling and experience. There’s a natural ebb and flow between the familiarity and unfamiliarity of creating new pieces of art.”

Nature and craft feel more essential than ever when it comes to how we live; Jeremy Joo’s work is a living embodiment of that. Bringing nature into the home is super important to him, and is a good reminder that we could all probably do with decluttering our houses and picking up some new furniture that will last a lifetime.

Jeremy Joo’s new collection featuring the day bed is set for release in the spring of 2023.

The post True Craft: In Conversation with Jeremy Joo appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

Born in Germany, Aktay studied architecture and urban planning at the University of Stuttgart. He graduated in 2012, but it wasn’t until 2020 that he began posting on his now wildly popular Instagram page, @dezin_design. Boasting over 80,000 followers, the page put Aktay on the map thanks to (in addition to his skill) the relentless pace with which he shares his creations. Early on, Aktay would post new designs daily, while today he’s more of an every-other-day kind of user. The frequency with which he posts isn’t inherently special — after all, anybody can throw a new piece of art up on social media. What’s made Aktay’s stand out is the high quality the work has maintained throughout the years.

Aktay uses 3D rendering to create his designs, which he’s credited in the past with allowing him to maintain his steady rate of work. He strives for realism and practicality, never letting the endless possibilities of digital creation run away with his intentions. Sometimes, that means rendering the texture of wood so specifically that you know how it feels with no more than a glance, while other times, it’s making sure the functionality of a piece (such as its materials or joints) seamlessly translates from the screen to the real world. There’s a sense of movement to much of Aktay’s work, which is cut through with lines of motion or made up of simplistic shapes. His acclaimed Moon side table — a piece that garnered acclaim in the summer of this year — consists of two pieces of shaped plywood and a circular glass top. Your perception of what the piece is, the purpose it serves, and the sum of its parts changes depending on your point of view. It’s only from an “omnipotent” overhead view that its totality (and simplicity) is evident: a circle with a simple crescent carved through the middle.

It’s the entirety of Aktay’s ethos in a single piece. At a glance, his works often impart a false sense of surrealism. It can feel like what you’re seeing is an optical illusion — his underrated Curtain side table is a prime example of this: a single sleek piece of steeply curved plywood that somehow forms a standing side table. Corners, curves, and points of connection often seem to defy logic or physics.

Make no mistake, though: Aktay’s gift is for creating fully functional furniture from minimal materials, often no more than one or two pieces at a time. His grasp of motion and sense of intentionality allow him to get the most out of each plywood panel or polymer sheet he’s working with. Smooth curves and sharp corners imbue each piece with a central dash of motion, guiding your eye across the work. It often feels as though the pieces are teaching you how to look at them in real time, showing you the way the unique physics of his work create the very practicality for which he’s garnered such acclaim.

The result is work aesthetically transgressive enough for a museum but practical enough for your living room. With Aktay’s star firmly on the rise, odds are they’ll end up in one (if not both) sooner rather than later.

Learn more about Deniz Aktay’s works here.

The post More Than Meets the Eye — The Furniture of Deniz Aktay appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

Designed by Antonio Citterio, the Groundpiece reimagined the sofa for the 21st century, with new proportions that offered a lower, deeper, more relaxed and more casual approach to seating amplified by large, pillowy goose-down cushions. The Groundpiece’s greatest innovation remains Citterio’s reimagining of the armrest and seat back, which swap out rounded and often thin elements for wider flat surfaces that can be padded and upholstered — or made from metal with built-in shelves and clad with cowhide. The result is a multi-functional armrest or seat back that can be used as a flat surface for accessories, books, or a drink. It’s a testament to the Groundpiece’s timeless design, inherent utility, and superior comfort that, even after two decades, it remains one of Flexform’s most sought-after pieces.

Timeless Classic: The Flexform Groundpiece Sofa

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Timeless Classic: The Flexform Groundpiece Sofa

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Their website is barebones, with no payment processing integration. Still, AM has been a mainstay among LA’s design-savvy for over a decade. LeComte’s curated wares fill out hip restaurants, furnish the sets of films and TV shows, and crop up in the personal homes of celebrated designers. True to the practical minimalism with which she’s organized her business, LeComte remains unaffected by celebrity. “I’m such a not star-dazed person,” she says. “A lot of the people that come in, I have no idea who they are.”

Amsterdam Modern’s primary focus is sourcing mid-century modern furniture from the Netherlands. LeComte’s reasoning for this is rather serendipitous: “I married a Dutchman.” Through her husband’s friends in Amsterdam’s famed Waterlooplein flea market, LeComte was introduced to the art of furniture picking. As soon as her first container of items arrived in LA, she knew that she’d discovered something special. She recalls the other buyers and pickers at LA’s Rose Bowl market eagerly unloading her wares for her. “We started this frenzy, just from bringing in great furniture that people wanted,” she says. This sense of excitement has kept Amsterdam Modern blossoming over the years, as the business grew through word-of-mouth and relationship building.   

Today, mid-century modern is very much in vogue, with viral hashtags circulating and web markets churning out poor attempts to emulate the iconic designs. LeComte points to the timelessness and innovation of the era, as well as the way the designs evoke our nostalgia. “For many of us, it’s what we remember our parents and grandparents having in their homes.” Keeping the items imbued with a sense of history is crucial, and to that end, Amsterdam Modern sells most items in their original condition. “Even where there’s brass that’s tarnished or oxidized a bit, it adds an extra layer of richness that helps warm up any space,” she says.

Visitors to Amsterdam Modern’s warehouse are consistently dazzled, as crowded aisles burst with stacks on stacks of tables, chairs and lighting. The fullness is precisely the point: the experience of the search brings more value to the reward found at the end of it. “There’s a beauty in hunting for your own piece. It’s an experiential thing: you’re not just scrolling mindlessly until you find something that’s trendy,” explains Ellen’s daughter Samantha, who serves as AM’s director of social and partnerships. In the epoch of fast furniture and factory-produced conformity, Amsterdam Modern’s beautifully deliberate chaos functions as antithesis and antidote.

Images courtesy of Amsterdam Modern.

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“I think wood was the most accessible thing, because I was working on, you know, giant harvest tables from the 17th and 18^th centuries. Those are all wood, and there aren’t screws or anything like that. So it was very much just seeing how wood joined with wood, which is similar to what I do now,” says Joo, whose entire process from sketch to construction is analog. “And wood has lived a life long before I come into contact with it. You can see the rings, the layers, the densities, the deformations, and the knots. Wood is such an honest material, and I want to convey that honesty through the work.”

While Joo’s taste for right angles and spare lines may seem like an aesthetic nod to the work of minimalist sculptor Donald Judd, his designs aren’t devoid of sentimentality or personal expression. Instead, they’re richly layered with his own experiences and cultural references (to Asia and Africa, in particular). “Scale is so different in different cultures,” says Joo. “In European [history], everything’s very high and upright. The backs are very formal. But a lot of my stuff is very low, and that has everything to do with Asia and Africa. There’s a different philosophy and sensibility to what design and everyday life looks like. Just embedding a Korean nature and Korean sensibilities into the design practice was really huge for me — that was the foundational jumping off point for JDH.”

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Echoes, First Steps, and Any Day — Pillet’s collections for the storied Italian furniture company — may be simple in form, but they’re luxurious in execution, the result of pairing timeless design and humble materials with master craftsmanship. It’s the essence of both Pillet’s design philosophy and Flexform’s ethos.

The three collections take notes from both Scandinavian and Mediterranean design. The earliest, the aptly named First Steps, was released in 2020 and comprises an indoor chair and bar stool, along with two similar outdoor counterparts. The chairs and bar stools have a recognizable silhouette — sleek, minimal legs that rise to meet a simple seat and back frame. What moves them beyond traditional is the textural contrast between materials: a metal structure and a tightly woven paper cord seat and backrest (polypropylene cord is used in the outdoor seats). “The game here was trying, with a radical absence of material, to do something extraordinary,” Pillet explains. “[It’s] doing a normal thing in an abnormal way. Only a few very good companies are able to do that.”

Pillet makes use of the same interplay of materials to define both his Echoes and Any Day families, launched in 2021. Echoes features chairs, armchairs, stools, a footstool, and a chaise. Each has similarly clean lines, a metal structure, and woven seats and backs brought to life through the made-in-Italy craftsmanship that Flexform is known for. “They are very humble, ordinary, well-known materials,” Pillet says. “It was nice to put [them] into the hands of extraordinary craftsmen.” Any Day offers a variety of tables with metal bases that can be topped with either wood or stone. Like First Steps, both Echoes and Any Day are also available as outdoor series.

In collaborating with Flexform, Pillet joins the esteemed group of designers who have contributed collections over the company’s history. “For more than 60 years, they’ve been doing the best furniture,” says Pillet. “They don’t need a designer. They need new points of view, to open new doors in their mind — new expressions for telling the same story.” It’s why Pillet for Flexform just makes sense. The 62-year-old’s career has been defined by the fresh perspectives and trademark elegance he brings to projects of all kinds, from restaurant interiors to sunglasses to furniture. He’s designed for Lacoste, Emeco, Vitra, and Shu Uemura, but he says his collaboration with Flexform stands apart. “The goal here was really not to make a product but to bring ideas,” he says. “This way of working, for me, is amazingly interesting and so different. It’s really opened new ways of designing.”

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