Still lovin' the newsletter! I used your links for Christmas shopping - great stuff! Thanks for making shopping fun this year. Keep up the great work with the newsletter - can't wait for the next edition. I feel like a kid anticipating my Highlights magazine. - Beth Thiel, ASID
What is not to like about Chicago in June, especially when punctuated by the energy that is NeoCon? The enthusiasm for the city’s summer weather and extra long, sunlit hours is mirrored in attendees’ excitement and anticipation for the latest and greatest in the industry. I actually had the most relaxing NeoCon in my history of attending the show, primarily due to the game-time decision to visit the Merchandise Mart's residential floors during Monday’s madness, saving the commercial floors for the more tranquil Tuesday. And the peaceful, inspiring keynote presentation by Michael Graves, as well as a pair of comfortable flats, definitely added to the stress-free experience. I regret that we couldn’t bring you our annual list of highlights last month due to a much needed vacation, but we’re serving up 10 of our favorite finds now (in alphabetical order)...
Arcadia We’re suckers for a showroom full of vivid, serpentine sofas, and Arcadia delivered the eye candy. Designed by Christopher Panichella, the Achella Modular collection stood out from the crowd, getting its groove on with a smooth silhouette and flexible personality. Curved sections – with or without backs and arms – accentuated by ottomans integrated with sleek, low tables to create endless combinations. But wait – their Escala conference room series wasn’t so shabby either. With its recessed in-table Power Vault, two credenzas types, serving cart, media board and media wall, it’s a complete package worthy of your attention.
contributed by Fiber-Seal Systems The vast majority of area rugs are created using a single type of face fiber. Orientals and similar rugs may contain cotton yarns in their foundation, but the pile is almost always a single fiber type. In the last few years, there has been a new emphasis on rugs created with pile elements of two or more different fibers. For lack of a better term, we simply call these “multi-fiber” rugs, and with multiple fibers come multiple maintenance considerations required for long-term use.
contributed by Devika Chand [interior design student / superwoman in training / one persistent person]
I’m going to be honest... I’m not the best student. I am, however, a woman who has spent six years to complete an interior design program that usually takes three. Yes, you read that right. Six years. (A few things – like getting married, having two children, and transferring programs – happened along the way.) Through this time I’ve been instructed under an array of different teaching methods, some of which I understood, some of which I didn’t understand but accepted, and some of which I felt were just plain crazy. But here’s the deal. I’m going to tell it to you straight. School is about to be back in session, and if you want to succeed as an interior design student, then first things first: GET A GRIP.
While on vacation last month I finally got around to reading Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog. An enjoyable passage that I feel P&C readers will relate to occurs on page 152 of the paperback version. In it, clandestine philosophizer and Paris resident Renée Michel, one of the two main characters, contemplates the effect that she feels sliding doors have on Japanese interiors:
“…I was fascinated by the way the Japanese use space in their lives, and by these doors that slide and move quietly along invisible rails, refusing to offend space. For when we push open a door, we transform a place in a very insidious way. We offend its full extension, and introduce a disruptive and poorly proportioned obstacle. If you think about it carefully, there is nothing uglier than an open door. An open door introduces a break in the room, a sort of provincial interference, destroying the unity of space. In the adjoining room it creates a depressïon, an absolutely pointless gaping hole adrift in a section of wall that would have preferred to remain whole. In either case a door disrupts continuity, without offering anything in exchange other than freedom of movement, which could easily be ensured by another means. Sliding doors avoid such pitfalls and enhance space. Without affecting the balance of the room, they allow it to be transformed. When a sliding door is open, two areas communicate without offending each other. When it is closed, each regains its integrity. Sharing and reunion can occur without intrusion. Life becomes a quiet stroll—whereas our life, in the homes we have, seems like nothing so much as a long series of intrusions.”
If you have any comments about this passage, please share them on the P&C Facebook Page.
To bridge the gap between the student / educational community and the professional / manufacturer community of the interior design world, and not to die of boredom while we do it.
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The Council for Interior Design Accreditation [CIDA] has announced a new award that celebrates innovative teaching and program-related practices that advance the cause of excellence in interior design education. The Innovative Interior Design Education Award competition is open to faculty members and collaborating teams at CIDA-accredited interior design programs. Awards of up to $3,000 are available to winning entries. The CIDA board of directors believes that this award is an important step toward further recognizing methods that lead the way in educational innovation. Submissions are due in the CIDA office no later than September 15, 2010. Award winners will be notified in January 2011. Go here to open up a PDF to find out more information about this competition.
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