NEW YORK DESIGN WEEK | WantedDesign | by Conor Burke
WantedDesign is always on my “go to” list during New York Design Week aka NYCxDESIGN, it is a platform dedicated to promoting design and fostering the international creative community at large. Founded in New York City in 2011 by Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat, WantedDesign has always staged their presence at the landmark Terminal Stores building on 11th Avenue in West Chelsea’s Historic District, offering participants and visitors a unique and dynamic experience for all the design lovers.
This year also marks the first year for WantedDesign’s new, second location: WantedDesign Brooklyn, at Industry City in Sunset Park. This strategic expansion reflects the growing importance of Brooklyn as a hub for multidisciplinary creative thinkers and makers.
Check out my top selects from WantedDesign……….
Calm, Cool and Collected: New Designs from Norway is an exhibition exploring the work of seven up-and-coming and emerging Norwegian design studios. Selected by design curator and writer Paul Makovsky, the show surveys the imaginative ways these designers have engaged with sustainability, creating works with an emphasis on functionality and clean, simple lines. My pick from the group was the “Passivation Project” a collection of polish stainless steel and chemical mirrored pieces by Everything Elevated. < Images by Everything Elevated >
DIESEL Living showcased for the first time in the US, Foscarini, Moroso, Seletti and Scavolini along with the Diesel team recreated a Diesel Living space within WantedDesign, introducing their latest collection of lighting products, furniture, home accessories and kitchen designs. The domestic installation showcased four thematic areas, boldly influenced by core Diesel values: Nightlife, Make Love not War, Urban Blue and Poplife represent the rock, military, denim and pop attitude of the brand. < Image by Conor Burke >
Egg Collective were honored with the WantedDesign American Design Honors award, now in it’s fifth year partnering with Bernhardt Design the award recognizes the talent of young creative and entrepreneurial American designers. The trio of ladies: Stephanie Beamer, Crystal Ellis, and Hillary Petrie have managed to fuse their multidisciplinary skills in architecture, art and woodworking to create extremely well engineered furniture and lighting pieces.
All of Egg Collective’s finishes are hand applied, and its metals are unsealed. These “live” metal finishes will pick up traces of the life lived around them. Oxygen, water, oils, and fingerprints will cause changes in surface coloration making each piece unique over time, I love it when design becomes personalized by it’s user and environment.
< Images by Conor Burke & Egg Collective >
