Rocket Gallery

Rocket are having a re-design of their book room soon and all books are half price from today onwards. You have to go into the shop to get the offer, but that means you also get to see Tomoko Azumi's show in the gallery.

Jasper Morrison Shop

Damn, just missed this, and i like a nice tray! Jasper Morrison's Shop is well worth keeping an eye on though, featuring simple, themed exhibitions.

Marc Newson

Sorry, I mentioned Marc Newson yesterday but did not post a link, so there you go. And it turns out he has an exhibition on at the Gagosian NY at the moment which ".....is a thematic exhibition that brings together for the first time all of his major designs and realized products for transport and human locomotion since 1999."

Daniel Rohr

Daniel Rohr has taken the most dramatic change of direction with his colander tables, and it has thrown me a little. I remember seeing his clamp series a few years ago, an interesting re-purposing of clamps into shelf supports, which also illustrated the process of construction. All very real, accessible and educational. So, the (Mark Newson's 'Event Horizon' inspired) table, being made out of nearly half a ton of Aluminium was a suprise, the total antithesis of the low tech stuff that came before. 

Firstly, i like the object on many levels, the precision, the polished surface and of course; the shadow it creates, although the legs suffer from a lack of attention compared with the top. Then I starting thinking about the material costs, surely it must be a fortune, but at current prices the metal would cost £700, probably cheaper than some top quality english oak to make a dining table of the same size. Then there is the construction; once the CAD drawing is fully developed, they can be turned out easily, with the obvious CNC time and tooling costs. (You can watch a construction video here). And what about  the wastage? as I am guessing the table weighs about a fifth of the weight of the initial materials, but Aluminium is easy to recycle too, and I really hope Rohr addresses this. These objects are also going to last a very, very long time! So i tried to find out how much they sell for,  and i did not have much joy, so i think we can presume they are a small fortune.

To be honest, i would also like the block of aluminium just as it is, there is something very beautiful about it in that form.

Plumen

Plumen, the latest project from the brains behind Hulger, has already been picked up by MoMA and is about to lift off. With a simple concept, it is a reaction against the frankly hideous designs of energy saving bulbs that already exist, but i think the restraint of the shape is why it works so well. I would have been easy to go over the top but Plumen has high design appeal coupled with huge accessibility. Looks brilliant (better!) with out a lampshade too. They start shipping from October 5th.

by other designers

byotherdesigners lighting project is realised through games of (design) 'Consequences', with some good results.

Inhotim

More new works are being unveiled today at the already totally brilliant and epic Inhotim, a private 178-acre botanical garden cum Art Zoo near Belo Horizonte in Brazil. Its a very long way for me to go, but i know it's not for some of you, so no excuses. I will definitely be making the trip at some point.