Designer Desire: Ron Arad

Justin was watching an episode of George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces programme on television recently (see below) that highlighted the Design Museum in Holon, Israel. It’s an incredible, one-of-a-kind building, designed in 2010 by Ron Arad.

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Ron Arad studied at the Jerusalem Academy of Art prior to emigrating to London in 1973. In the early 1980s, he founded his own practice in London and set up One Off Ltd with his partner Caroline Thorman, focusing on limited-edition objects.

Throughout his career to date, Arad (b. 1951) has created sculpture, furniture, jewellery and audio equipment using materials including glass, textile, metal, wood, ceramic, marble and plastic. He is a master of design!

Designers accuse me of being an artist, artists accuse me of being an architect, and architects accuse me of being a designer. But it doesn’t bother me too much; that’s just the way the fragmented world works. _{Ron Arad}

Arad has worked with many leading design firms such as Kartell, Vitra, Driade, Guzzini and Moroso. He has collaborated with Fiat, Swarovski, KENZO, Samsung, Adidas and many more.

His more famous works include the award-winning ‘This Mortal Coil’ bookshelf, ‘Big Easy’ chair and ‘Victoria and Albert’ sofa.

There are over 50 examples of his work in the V&A collection in London and at least half a dozen in MoMA in New York.

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Additional image credits:
Bukowskis | Phillips

Auction alert: Danish/Swedish and English mid-century

146 lots are coming under the hammer on Sunday 12^th February 2023 at Harrisons Antiques. They describe the sale as a “Very Rare Danish/Swedish and English mid-century ONLY” auction. The sale, which starts at 10.30am, consists of almost 150 lots; there’s a large selection of vintage sideboards, dining and coffee tables, desks and sets of dining chairs.

The buyer’s premium is 20% plus VAT. Bidding via EasyLiveAuction incurs a further fee of either a flat £3.00 or 3% of the total price.

Harrisons is located between between Barnsley and Doncaster in South Yorkshire if you’re interested in collecting any won items. If this isn’t a convenient option, they offer a postage service:

Small parcels (up to 1kg): £9+VAT
Medium parcels (1-3kg): £15+VAT

Delivery of furniture items to UK mainland for 1 item £85 excluding certain areas. Please contact us for more details on larger items and for more then one item. Also 2 man delivery also available.
Small items sent via parcel courier and sent at the buyers risk. Harrison’s will package to the best of our ability.

Lot 6: Bang & Olufsen Retro design 40″ Flat screen TV with motorised base

Estimate: £200 -£400

Lot 25: 6 Ultra rare Swedish chairs

By Sven Erik Fryklund for Hagafors Mobel

Lot 33: Frem Rojle round Danish teak table + 4 tuck away chairs

Estimate: £800 -£1,200

Lot 48: Rare blonde Ercol 493 elbow chair

Lot 54: Rare blonde Ercol love seat

Estimate: £200 -£300

Lot 56: Danish teak mid century trolley

Estimate: £100 -£200

Lot 78: Danish ceramic tile top nest of tables by Ox Art for Trioh

Lot 85: Le Corbusier mid century leather & chrome 3 seater sofa

Estimate: £400 -£600

Lot 112: Kofod Larsen mid century vinyl back headboard for G-plan

Estimate: £150 -£250

Lot 132: 4 Retro Italian Mid Century chairs

Estimate: £50 -£100

Lot 144: Janine Abraham + Dirk Jan Rol wicker chair

Estimate: £250 -£300

Lot 142: Danish trolley for Johannes Andersen for Toften

Estimate: £150 -£200

Lot 145: 9-Bay Danish Ladderax/wall unit

Modular with lots of spares
Estimate: £300 -£400

Designer Desire: Wells Coates

Born in Tokyo, Wells Coates (1895-1958) was a British modernist architect and designer of Canadian parentage. Greatly inspired by the likes of Le Corbusier, he designed a number of public and private commercial and residential buildings.

My first proper introduction to Wells Coates was when I was at the University of Brighton. I did a summer school course in photography where I focussed on capturing images of Embassy Court (seen at the top of our montage above) – my favourite building in the city – located on the seafront in Hove. It was the mid-1990s at the time, and the building (erected in 1935) was in a very sorry state; the 11-storey façade was rusty, crumbling and strewn with ugly satellite dishes – but its beauty still shone through. Today it’s a des-res and one of the 72 flats would set you back a cool half a million pounds and more!

In 1934, he designed the Isokon / Lawn Road Flats, Hampstead for Molly and Jack Pritchard. The couple and their family lived at the address, with some of the other 32 flats being occupied by design greats of the time; Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and László Maholy-Nagy.

The following year – with David Bartholomew Pleydell-Bouverie – Wells Coates designed the Sunspan Houses. Fifteen of them were built; including one in Portsmouth, another in Burnham, Buckinghamshire, three on Woodlands Avenue in New Maldon, Essex, Chadwell St Mary, Essex and Esher in Surrey.

In 1939, he designed 10 Palace Gate, a block of luxury flats in London’s Kensington for construction company, Randall Bell. Flats currently command rents of over £1,000 per week. A space in the building’s underground car park is currently for sale for the princely sum of £65,000.

He designed the Telecinema – one of the 1951 Festival of Britain buildings. Apparently it was:

…the first theatre in the world in which big screen television, 3-dimensional pictures and tereophonic (sic) sound took its place on par with the cinema… spectators wearing (the) special stereoscopic spectacles…

The woven upholstery fabric for the Telekinema’s seating was designed by Lucienne Day in 1951.⁠⁠

In addition to buildings, he designed office furniture for Kingfisher Limited of West Bromwich, some examples are included in our montage above. He also created 9 models of radio for Ekco including the round Bakelite AD65 (1934), AD75 (1940), A22 (1945) and rectangular A33 RadioTime (1946).

There are a number of books that investigate the man and his works. His daughter, Laura Cohn, authored The Door to a Secret Room: A Portrait of Wells Coates. There’s a 1970s monograph written by Sherban Cantacuzino and a more recent one by Elizabeth Darling.

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Additional image credits:
Artnet | V&A

Five of the best gaming chairs for your games room

Whether you’re creating a vintage feel or a clean, modern look in your home, adding a games room somewhere alongside it is vitally important for gamers. While you might need to consult with your partner or other family members before creating it, it’ll all be worth it in the end. When you’re ready to put your games room together, picking the perfect gaming chair is one of your most important tasks.

For most games, a gaming chair is the vital ingredient needed for a comfortable gaming environment. While sitting on the floor with a controller in hand will suffice for some, a gaming chair provides the comfort and the elevation required to master any game. Even if you’re reading up on the latest gaming news or looking into a casino’s terms and conditions before diving in for a mobile gaming session, a gaming chair is most definitely required. After all, you want to treat your posterior well, don’t you? Slouching on a lumpy, uncomfortable sofa for hours at a time certainly isn’t going to provide that. Additionally, many modern-day gaming chairs boast a range of impressive features in addition to the comfortability and solid back support for which most people are looking. Let’s assess five of the best gaming chairs below.

NeueChair

If you’re aiming to use your games room as an office from time to time, then look no further than the NeueChair. An adaptable product that is used by both office workers and gamers, this well-made chair is sturdy, offers the comfort and support people need and it’s highly adjustable. While its design divides opinion, it does exactly what it promises and provides a comfortable seat that is built to last. For many, the NeueChair simply does the job.

Secretlab Titan Evo 2022

A go-to chair for many gamers in 2022, the Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 has everything that you’d want in a gaming chair. From its magnetic cushion and all-round comfort to its minor curve to the seat base that’s said to provide a healthy sitting posture, this chair has clearly been designed with comfort in mind. Alongside the aforementioned features, it also has highly adjustable built-in back support, 4D armrests, adjustable lumbar support and a slick all-round design. This particular chair comes in three sizes too, with small, regular and extra-large on offer.

Corsair T3 Rush

Offering breathable soft fabric, 4D armrests that provide ultimate comfort, a fantastic memory foam lumbar pillow, and featuring 180º recline, the Corsair T3 Rush is a more than capable gaming chair. It’s incredibly affordable too.

Razer Iskur X

While this is a cheaper option compared to many of the other gaming chairs on this list, the Razer Iskur X is still an excellent gaming chair for many players. Razer’s flagship product from this particular gaming space has a solid steel-reinforced body, extremely comfortable high-density foam cushions and a sturdy frame and design that will make it last for years. While it doesn’t possess some of the additional features that many of the other chairs boast, it’s still an excellent gaming chair.

Herman Miller Embody gaming chair

A favoured option for many avid gamers right now, the Herman Miller Embody gaming chair is arguably the most comfortable gaming chair ever created. With comfortability clearly being at the forefront of any design plans, this particular product will make sure any aches and pains simply don’t occur during a mammoth gaming session. While its price may put some people off, you most definitely get what you pay for in terms of quality. It comes with a lengthy 12-year warranty too, making this particular gaming chair a solid investment for the future.

H is for Home Harbinger

Tag: furniture design