google ad sense 728 x 90

The aA Design Museum in Seoul: Combo Museum, Furniture Store And Café





The aA Design Museum in Seoul


If you know me, you know I have a thing for chairs. having written previous posts on chair paintings , not once but twice, it's no surprise that the new aA Design Museum is something I simply had to write about.

Walking into the aA Design Museum is like being invited to a cool downtown loft party, with tons of amazing places to sit on designer chairs and sofas by everyone from Marcel Breuer to Tom Dixon, a cute place to eat, and unusual exhibits and info- even a showroom with furniture for purchase.



Above: The launch party on dec. 31st, 2007.


Above: the invitation to the launch which featured an appearance by designer Tom Dixon.

Korea's aA Design Museum was a dream of a lifetime for restaurant owner Mr. Kim. A combination design museum, cafe and furniture store, it's a loft type structure in the heart of the modern nightlife district of Mapu-Gu, Seoul.



Above: their appearance at the Seoul Design Festival

Begun three years ago and just opened this year to the public, it's housed in a very unusual environment. Although it has the eclectic appearance of a midcentury modern chair lover in a downtown loft, the tiles, balustrades and windows, some of which go right back to the turn of the century, were all flown in specially from Italy.

Combining vintage architectural elements, fabulous furniture and a bit of whimsy, make the aA design museum a place worth visiting. If you don't plan on hopping a plane to Seoul anytime soon, here are tons of images for you!


The Showroom:






The Museum:











The cafe:





No, not everything is "chairs".
An example of one of their exhibits:





Visit the museum online (however it is not in english).

Laura Zindel's Ceramics Will Bug You In The Best Possible Way.







I especially love her platters, just a few of which are shown below:






prices can be seen here.
Laura Zindel Ceramics are designed by Laura Zindel-Lauterbach and her husband Thorsten Zindel Lauterbach. The two live in Southern Vermont in a very old farmhouse. Laura has a BFA in Ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in Ceramics from the University of Massachusetts.

The Technique:
Hand built and slip cast with low fire white earthenware and glazed with non-toxic low fire glazes. The images are original pencil drawings drawn by the artist. The images are then printed with enamel and become a ceramic transfer. The images are then individually collaged to each piece and fired permanently to the surface. This technique is a modern version of what was once called transferware, first introduced in the 1700s.
*Each piece is individually made and variations may occur during the kiln firing.
Glaze colors tend to vary slightly and size is approximate due to shrinkage.

Care information:
All work is food sage. Please advise careful non-abrasive washing with warm soapy water, for brilliant, long-lasting life of the glazed surfaces. It is not advised to place pieces in the oven, and should be used as serving dishes only. Dinnerware can be lightly microwaved and put in the dishwasher. All other pieces should be hand washed.
See all her work here.


studio location:
339 Coolidge Highway
Guilford, Vermont 05301
802-254-8930

You can purchase her items at The Artful Home as well.


Lacroix's New Furniture & Homewares For La Redoute (With a fun microsite to match)





Seems that fashion designers are all getting into the housewares game and Christian Lacroix's latest collection for the department store La Redoute is another wonderful example.



His line of whimsical rugs, cushions, outdoor furniture, gardening tools, towels and more has all the whimsy of his fashion designs. The UK store carries the following products, but for some reason the US site does not, although they carry Lacroix's clothes and towels.











Buy the collection here.

or visit: http://www.christianlacroixpourlaredoute.com/

They have designed a microsite to browse the collection that is a fun way to walk through and see the entire line:





Visit the microsite here that has a fun game and extras like cool wallpapers.

Please donate

C'mon people, it's only a dollar.