Pack Of Dogs Furniture by NEL, Now Being Produced By Proteak.

At the 2007 Salone Satellite in Milan, these pieces were based roughly on the shape of a dog, in different sizes and positions.



Above: Pack of Dogs pieces as they were first introduced

The characters, named after famous Mexican wrestlers (Dos caras Jr, Aguayo, Superastro, El Santo, Alushe and Mistico) follow you around your house or office, and may work as a side table, stool, bench, bookshelf, magazine rack, newspaper holder, bookends, etc. By the way each piece is used, and the objects that interact with it, a different story is told.

The pieces were manufactured by way of traditional woodworking techniques using scraps of solid wood such as tzalam, ash, red oak, poplar, alder, walnut, and pine.


Above: the teak version now being produced by Proteak.

Now, with a slightly different design, the pieces are being manufactured and mass produced in teak by Proteak. The pieces shown below are made of FSC certified young teak.






In September of 2007, during the Designboom's "Handled with care" exhibition at the London Design Festival, NEL showed their collection "Pack of dogs". This time the pieces were made in ceramic.

The "Pack of dogs 2" is a series of ceramic multifunction pieces based roughly on the shape of a dog, in different sizes and positions. These characters, named after famous Mexican wrestlers (/Dos caras Jr, Aguayo, Superastro, El Santo, Alushe /and/ Místico/) may work as a side table, stool, bench, bookshelf, magazine rack, newspaper holder, bookends, etc.




The Pack of Dogs collection is now being manufactured by Pirwi, using FSC certified young teak from Proteak. Please visit Pirwi's website for more information.

The Pack of Dogs collection is available in the US through Kirk Gallery in Austin.

For sales in the rest of the world you can order the dogs online at www.proteak.com , or by contacting Pirwi at www.pirwi.com

As far as I can tell, the ceramic version is not being mass produced.

Pack of Dogs designers: Ricardo Casas, Héctor Esrawe, Emiliano Godoy, Cecilia León de la Barra, Óscar Núñez

About NEL:



NEL is a platform for experimentation formed by an evolving collective of Mexican designers. The collective serves as a channel to create and exhibit projects that focus on the conceptual and playful side of design. The organic nature of the collective allows for an ever changing pool of designers, which in turn generates a wide variety of projects that range from political statements to playful storytelling or aesthetic explorations.

When Solids And Stripes Collide: Corian® Loves Missoni

"CORIAN® loves MISSONI" was a collaboration of the the design versatility of DuPont™ Corian® solid surfaces and the style of Missoni. Kitchen, bath, living and dining areas were designed by Missoni with the use of DuPont's Corian.

Missoni, an Italian fashion and homewares house has long been known for its beautiful textiles, often recognizable by colorful stripes, zig zags and flame stitching. Corian is a material that is commonly associated with durable solid countertops. Combing these 'stripes' with this 'solid' yielded design that is both beautiful and durable.

DuPont™ Corian® solid surface - an exclusive product of DuPont - is an advanced composite material delivering superior levels of functionality and aesthetical performance for flat and curved surfacing applications in residential, public and commercial environments, indoor and outdoor.


The results were fabulous as you will see.



Below are pictures from the exhibit at the 2008 Milan Design Week:
















Above: Rosita Missoni and her son, Luca

Rosita and her husband Ottavio Missoni were at the helm of Missoni SpA for 50 years, together creating a unique, inimitable style that’s admired all over the world. In 1997 she handed the reigns over to her sons Vittorio and Luca and, for fashion, her daughter Angela, and has since devoted herself exclusively to the MissoniHome collections.

Copyright © 2008 DuPont. All rights reserved. The DuPont Oval Logo, DuPont™, The miracles of science™ and all products denoted with ® or ™ are registered trademarks or trademarks of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company or its affiliates.

Another Artist With The Same POV: BCXSY's Golden Glory

above: detail from BCXSY's Golden Glory project

This is the third post about a group of artists to make a point about mass consumerism by gold-plating mundane objects.

How long is an eternity?
How does one quantify the unquantifiable?
What is the span of one day compared with endless time and space?

BCXSY is pleased to present FOREVER! - a collection of uniquely individual and materially rich products that explores how the function, aesthetics, and emotions of design can help to define the indefinable.

In an era of mass production and haste, BCXSY slows down and takes a closer look at what it means to last FOREVER!

Above is how artists Cohen and Yamamoto describe their work titled Forever!

"Golden Glory" Materials: mass-produced plastic toys and everyday objects - hand gilded with 23.75k gold-leaf, acrylic-glass plate.








As described by the artists:

"The exclusive one-offs that comprise GOLDEN GLORY explore the necessity of cherishing meaningful objects. Through the laborious art of hand-gilding, common plastic novelties and generic trinkets transcend the realm of the mass produced and meaningless and become truly remarkable modern day keepsakes."

Consisting of several subsets, Golden Glory is only a small part of the Forever! project. But it's the part that echoes other art works and limited produced pieces, specifically those of Tobias Wong and Big Game.


Above: Tobias Wong's gold McDonald's coffee stirrer from his "Indulgences" collection.


Above: Big Game's New Rich Gold Bic Pen Cap

Don't get me wrong, I'm not pointing this out to imply that their work is not entirely original or worth exploring, on the contrary. I just think it's interesting how many artists have gilded mundane and mass produced objects as either a way to mock or reflect society or- as in this case- to illustrate the transformation of a common object to a treasured one. When considered, what makes an item 'treasured' has really been defined by that which society considers valuable, in this case the luxe of gold. Hence, the artists are all basically saying the same thing.

Tobias Wong's Little Indulgences and Big Game's New Rich projects both gilded mass produced items. Read and see all about them here.


about BCXSY

(photograph: Sheri Avraham)

BCXSY is a cooperative between designers Boaz Cohen and Sayaka Yamamoto. BCXSY has several other wonderful projects and pieces worth seeing, be sure to check them out here.

The iDiamond Ear: diamond-studded earphones

Music to your ears. And eyes.



Designed by Thomas Heyerdahl of Heyerdahl jewelry of Oslo, Norway, these earphones, limited to 1,000 pairs, are crafted from 18k white and 18k rose gold and are set with 1.65 carats of F color, VVS pavé diamonds and feature laser engraved details. The Q edition of the headphones (limited to 100 pairs) are D-E color.


above left: Designer Thomas Heyerdahl proudly presents the new "iDiamond ear" earphones.

Each carefully crafted pair is set with 204 diamonds, adding up to a total of 1,65 carats. “iDiamond ear” will be produced in a limited edition series of 1000 numbered pairs for exclusivity.


Suggested retail price:EUR 4,950 / USD 7,200 + VAT / TAX

Heyerdahl is the same company which created the world’s most expensive iPod called the iDiamond, which was auctioned for a charitable cause in London. The iDiamond was created as one unique and single piece of jewelry (shown below).

Restoration Rocks: Fragments of Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Become Jewelry

The Guggenheim Museum announces the release of Restoration Rocks, a special edition jewelry line -- made with Gunite remnants of the Frank Lloyd Wright building - and distributed exclusively at the Guggenheim Museum's retail store and on its website.


Above: Five-Piece Necklace,RJ03$395.00

Designed and fabricated by California-based jewelry artist, Cara Tilker, the collection features nine different designs including earrings, pendants, bracelets, a ring, and cuff links.


Above: Two-Piece Necklace, RJ14$350.00

Each piece incorporates actual historic fragments of Frank Lloyd Wright's landmark Guggenheim Museum, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2009. Lightweight concrete and Gunite remnants, set aside during the 2007 restoration process* from the building's walls, are presented in resin and sterling silver settings.


Above: Hoop Earrings, RJ32$175.00


Above: Bezel Earrings, RJ27$195.00

Tilker makes each jewelry piece through a labor-intensive process. Resin is poured into a handmade silicone rubber mold, then individual building fragments are placed in the resin, covered with a second layer of resin and allowed to set. After the resin pieces are released from the mold, they are hand-shaped and sanded, and finally set in sterling silver settings.


Above: Cuff Links, RJ04$300.00

Above: Large Cuff Bracelet, RJ21$350.00
Small Cuff Bracelet , RJ18$325.00

A minimal amount of Gunite--a mixture of cement and sand aggregate, and the jewelry's featured component--was removed from the building as was deemed necessary for its restoration, and saved. The material, which comes from the interior and exterior of the building, was removed in order to gain access to reinforce points of the exterior wall to preserve its structural integrity. Material was also removed from damaged sections of the exterior in order to replace it with more stable material.


Above: RingOne size, adjustable, RJ34$250.00

Restoration Rocks is a component of the planned 2009 50th Anniversary celebration. The building is judged by many to be one of the architectural wonders of the world.


Above: Pendant Necklace, RJ08$275.00

The Restoration Rocks jewelry will be limited in quantity with retail prices starting at $125.00. Several select designs from the line will be also available in 14-karat gold, by commission. The prices on those, however, are significantly higher than the ones shown above.



*about the restoration:

As the original landmark building of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum—designed by America's supreme architect, Frank Lloyd Wright—approaches its fiftieth anniversary in 2009, aspects of its facade and rotunda structure require restoration. This exhibition explores in depth the restoration team's work, which has included a systematic evaluation and documentation of the building, an unprecedented analysis of the rotunda structure, laboratory and field investigation of repair materials, and detailed environmental analysis to propose adequate repair methods.
Photographs, drawings, and videos document the components of the current restoration, including reinforcement of the upper ramp walls, installation of a corrosion protection system, replacement of skylights and windows, repair of the cracking curved exterior walls, and application of a new exterior coating. The exhibition surveys all these efforts to restore the exterior to its original splendor and to maintain the building's unique environment for both the art and the visitor.
—Monica Ramirez-Montagut

shop for the jewelry here.