December 16, 2008
The multipurpose Japanese cloth known as the tenugui has had a meandering history that includes ritual, practical and decorative uses. The tenugui is a 1′ x 3′ rectangle of thin woven fabric originally used for ritual purposes (silk and hemp blend tenugui have been found dating from 200 AD), then more practically as a hand towel, bandage, or sweatband often worn around the head, most famously by samurai fighters.
December 14, 2008
Making a “drop bag” at Kakefuda, the famous Furoshiki shop in Kyoto where Mick Jagger bought a furoshiki last year. Also see How to tie up two Bottles and Furoshiki – Reusable Grocery Bag.
Furoshiki is a traditional Japanese means of wrapping presents or carrying objects in a square of cloth. It’s waste-free, it’s practical, and it’s beautiful. As an art form, furoshiki is less known outside Japan than origami, but it is just as venerable – it simply uses fabric instead of paper.
December 12, 2008
The new ability to generate mathematic algorithm-based design via computer, and then 3D model them in real space, is – as most people have probably noticed – rapidly producing a new generation of art, design and architectural structures.
December 11, 2008
Cynthia Maxwell, who is not only a mechanical engineer who has just finished a PhD on “Sound Synthesis from Shape-Changing Geometric Models” at Berkeley and has been part of the audio group at Apple and has worked for NASA, she also has a great eye and a sense of humour.
December 9, 2008
This post is about design in the broadest sense, as a process of problem-solving that leads to interesting and strangely compelling solutions. Above is an improvised streetcleaner in China found on Street Use, a truly fascinating blog about DIY and general inventiveness.
December 6, 2008
David Crosby in 1970 with his father in the family living room in Ojai, California. The shot is from a collection of photos by photographer John Olson of 70’s rock musicians in their parents’ living rooms that has been circulating around the design blogs.
December 5, 2008
The Cave Room (above), the Projection Room, and the Xanadu Room (below) are from “The Bloomingdale’s Book of Home Decorating,” 1973, by Barbara D’Arcy. D’arcy was famous for her wild display rooms actually constructed inside the Bloomingdales store in New York in the 1960s and 70s.
December 3, 2008
The use of the word “bohemian” is getting curiouser and curiouser (to quote Alice in Wonderland). Bohemian! Arty! What do these even mean now? To choose a trivial example, is this round object in our studio arty?
November 30, 2008
English textile designer Barbara Brown produced these superb textiles in the 60s and 70s. We found her designs by chance on The Textile Blog, a well-written site out of England covering “the history of interiors and interior furnishings over the last three centuries.” The writer is John Hopper, a trained textile designer from Cornwall.
