The DWR Champagne Cork Chair Contest Winners, Finalists and Honorable Mentions.

Congratulations to the winners of DWR's 2013 DWR Champagne Chair Contest. Reportedly choosing the top three was one of the toughest decisions the judges ever had to make in this contest. The judges DWR President and CEO John Edelman; COO John McPhee; VP of Merchandising Kari Woldum; and VP of Marketing and Creative Michael Sainato -- send their sincere appreciation to all of the entrants this year.

Instead of simply sending you toview the winners on their their blog (which is bizarrely narrow and small and makes it hard to see the images), I've enlarged them and included the finalists and honorable mentions for you.

First Place Winner:

$1,000 DWR Gift Card goes to Miwa F. for her "Rockin' Chaise." This design is truly masterful with a functional drink holder that moves. Our judges loved the innovation of this design using mid-century aestethics and were impressed with how the materials come together into one seamless piece.

Second Place Winner:

A $500 DWR Gift Card goes to Jeffery Molter who designed a modern folding chair as well as a case to store it in. Our judges were so impressed with this design and we cannot remember ever receiving anything like this before. Form meets funciton with this whimsical yet useful piece.

Third Place Winner:

A $250 DWR Gift Card goes to Aaron Padilla. Named "F8 Chaise," this is beautifully constructed, unique design. The underside of the seat is fully sculpted of cork and the the upholstery overlaying it is a foil basketweave. Thank you Aaron for this clean and well thought out design. We also loved the packaging it came in!

Finalists:
Wing Back, Designed by Kathryn Bachen:

Mantis Lounge, Designed by Billy Wages:

Rowan Rowan, Designed by Purin Phanichpant:

Champagne Chair, Designed by Willie and Tess:

The "O" Chair, Designed by Alfonso:

Champagne Chair, Designed by Alison Brummer:

Chateau Chair, Designed by Sawa Sakane:


The 7 Honorable Mentions
Mackwire, Designed by Devin Mack:

Circle Gets the Square, Designed by Catherine Choi:

Poltrona W., Designed by Mauricio Avilés del Río:

Champagne Twist, Designed by Dan Nawrocki:

Watch Your Step, Designed by Tony Abraham:

Royal Scrapenbaum, Designed by Dario Polaco:

Grape Divine, Designed by Tony Enn:


DWR would like to congratulate the winners and all of the contestants on their beautiful, innovative and functional designs this year. You can browse all 319 submissions here.

Drink Up and Start Designing. It's The DWR Champagne Chair Contest.

Once again, Design Within Reach has brought back their Champagne Chair contest. All you have to do is create an original miniature chair using only the foil, label, cage and cork from no more than two champagne bottles.


Info from their site:



A panel of DWR champagne and chair experts will judge the chairs, and three winners will receive a DWR Gift Card. The deadline for submissions is January 14.

To get inspired, here's a few of the past submissions from previous years.

Anna Uniezyski:

Alex Garzon:

Brandy Shih:

Emily Kann:

Erin Mitchen:

David Ethan Sanders:

Edward Cristma:

Gavri Slasky:

Isaac Krady:

Ivan Supraha:

Kalina Toffolo:

Lynne Mulvihill:

Monte Allen:

Phil Dwyer:

Tim Jacobsen:

Tony Nemyer:

Tracee Pickett:

You can see more finalists from their 2007 contest I covered here.

The contest began December 28th and you have until January 14th, so get on it! After you've designed your chair, feel free to share it on Instagram and Twitter with #dwrchampagnechair

images and info courtesy of DWR

Today's New York Times & DWR Crossword Puzzle For Design and Architecture Lovers. Hints, Too.

Design Within Reach and the New York Times have teamed up to create a very special crossword puzzle for architecture and design enthusiasts that appeared in today's issue of the NY Times T Design Magazine.

For those of you who do not get the New York Times, I have recreated it here for you along with all the clues and some special hints, courtesy of DWR.




This puzzle will also appear in today's October 7 issue of T Design (see page 60) in The New York Times.


HINTS TO A FEW CLUES from DWR:

ACROSS
1. AKA Y-Back Chair designer Wegner
Visual hint: The Y-Back Chair is also known as the Wishbone.

23. A chair to tiptoe through
Visual hint: This chair was designed by Eero Saarinen in 1956.


63. Designer of Womb Chair and TWA terminal at JFK
Visual hint:

103. Egg, e.g.
Visual hint: Arne Jacobsen designed this organic form for the SAS Hotel in Copenhagen.


DOWN
27. They designed and lived in Case Study House #8
Visual hint:

104. Designer of logos for UPS, IBM and ABC
Visual hint, courtesy of Apple Computer

Happy 4th Of July! A Patriotic Promotion From DWR

To remind potential buyers of their holiday promotion (free shipping through July 4th) Design Within Reach e-mailed out this patriotic email to their customers and subscribers that features the American flag made up of modern chairs. This is the second year in a row they've created their 'modern' version of Old Glory.

This year, 2009, they used the Eames shell chair with Eiffel tower base, the Bubble Club outdoor chair and the Bantam Armchair to make up the flag:



The three chairs used in the above art are all available for purchase from DWR:


above: Eames® Molded Plastic Side Chair, available here.
above: Bubble Club Armchair by Philipe Starck, available here.
above: the Bantam Armchair, available here.

Last year's version (2008) featured the Panton chair in blue, the Arne Jacobsen Swan chair in red and the molded Eames Chair in white:



And once again, the chairs from the 2008 DWR flag are all available for purchase:


above: Eames® Molded Plastic Side Chair, available here.
above: Panton chair, available here
above: Arne Jacobsen Swan Chair, available here

I just love them and thought they'd be the perfect way to wish you all a happy Fourth of July!

Shop Design Within Reach and take advantage of their free shipping offer through July 4th now.