Alessi

Alessi concentrates on clean and classical design by some of the world's most famous designers and architects. The series "blow up" is one of my favorites. The new version of these are in wood. These have become my favorite wedding presents for friends.
The spaghetti measure is a fun little item. The different loops measure the different portions.

Architectual daughter

Mum just bought a new apartment and asked me to give her some suggestions on colour combinations. So I chose some basic colours that I like and then chose 3-4 coulours that can be combined well with those. The center colour would be the main colour which one could paint the walls with and the secondary colours are the colours I would suggest for furniture etc. The strongest amoungst the colours would be used on smaller items such as pillows, curtains or other details.

Benjamin Hubert

I have a sort of love for concrete and I recently discovered this young designer (born 1984..) who has already made quite a name for himself. Looking through the pictures on his homepage I realised that I was already familiar with several items that he's designed. I just love his "heavy lights" made out of concrete and also his "float" lights made out of cork. I love the industrial look of the concrete and in general I am loving all the new ways that concrete is being used nowadays. I wish I had a workroom where I could make my own forms and start playing around with some designs of my own! The cork lights give a great warm feeling. His furniture is also very impressive. I actually did a scetch for a coathanger very simular to his "Splay" (maybe that's why I like to so much!). The little bowl with the indent for the spoon is very sweet as well as his soft rubber chairs. It's available in a variety of playful colours. There's also a stool to go with it.

cement! I love it!

There is something so beautiful about this basic, raw looking material. Cement, concrete. I just love it! Despite many consider grey a dull colour, I couldn't disagree more. One must also remember that there are many shades of grey and that it can either have a hint of a hotter colour like red or orange, or a colder colour like blue or purple. I feel that grey is quite neutral and creates a perfect canvas for other more spectacular colours. The combination of concrete and a dark wood is amazing. I think that concrete, due to its somewhat industrial look fits well in kitchens and bathrooms. Polished concrete can be used as benchtops instead of expensive marble or stone, or for a floor. Concrete is also great for creating a unique piece of furniture or space due to the fact that one can create a unique mould for each piece! Bathtubs, sinks, benchtops, benches, ponds, etc can all be created in an own personal style. Here are some examples of both complete buildings, spaces and single items that have cement as its main material.

Tadao Ando - Church of the Light.
Nobody can make concrete look as spiritual as Tadao Ando. This is just one of many examples of his work. The only place where the light enters this chapel is through the cross shaped opening near the altar, giving an extremely spiritual feeling. Also the cross seems to crack the walls of the chapel (where the concrete blocks meet).



















This is a simple example of a kitchen benchtop. The main reason I inserted this example was in order to show that by integrating pieces of smaller stone in the cement, one can create a more dimensional surface.

The example here to the left is in order to show how concrete combines well with a rough old brick giving an industrial kind of feel.





This sink named mvura (water) is designed by helena otzen + johannes steinbeck + ben braun from Germany.
This is a great example of how the concrete has been shaped creating a soft, unique and also practical item.










Verdickt & Verdickt Architecten, Belgium.

This is a beautiful example of how concrete can be integrated in an industrial style loft. Structure in
aluminium, white painted walls, an old rough wooden table, modern chairs and a few colourful items (in this case a lamp, but could easily be chairs, a vase, a sofa, etc.)