Styleture

At Styleture we never pass up the opportunity to celebrate good style. With ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) just around the corner, we can’t wait to see what new products are in store. While we anticipate the latest and greatest in design, we want to take some time to celebrate a few of our old favorites. And what better time to celebrate than May 5th? In honor of our own “Sinko” de Mayo, here are five of our favorite sinks.

ILBAGNOALESSI One Tuna by LAUFEN

LAUFEN is masterful when it comes to innovation and organic forms, taking bathroom design to another whole level. With the graceful curves of the fish that bears its name, TUNA is an imaginative piece with timeless flair. Its soft fluid lines and clean white finish create a modern and luxurious statement for any bathroom.

Mojito by Native Trails

Just in time for summer, Native Trails’ new Mojito bar and prep sink is making a splash. With a look as refreshing as its namesake, Mojito’s hammered copper texture brings beauty to any backyard barbeque. This innovative sink combines artistry and functionality with a deep circular shape perfect for filling with ice and keeping bottles cold.

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As Earth Month comes to an end, it’s natural to reflect on all things… well, natural. Whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, the greatest design inspiration comes from Mother Nature herself. That’s why we at Styleture strive to bring nature’s beauty indoors whenever we can. We’ve found some of our favorite companies that are not only making natural products but are contributing to a sustainable future as well.

Taking its lead from nature’s blueprint, Stone Forest sculpts designs from natural materials like stone, copper, bronze, bamboo, iron and hardwood. Their hardwood and bamboo lines are fully sustainable, and their copper and bronze products are crafted from 100% recycled materials. Some of our favorite stand outs include their luxurious Bronze Lunette, their stylish SYNC Drop-in Bamboo Vessel Sink and their Wood L-Slab Pedestal.

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This past weekend was intense for much of the design industry as leaders in modern furnishings, fixtures, materials, and lifestyle products flocked to the seventh annual Dwell on Design expo in Los Angeles. Over three days, exhibitors displayed the best and newest of their product collections and visitors were able to participate in demonstrations, seminars, and networking events. There were so many innovative brands and products at the expo than we could even get to, but here’s a selection of some products and exhibits we found particularly interesting:

At the Loll Designs booth, visitors lounged in the latest outdoor furniture while Loll representatives explained their use of recycled materials and handed out plastic chip samples. All of their furniture is made entirely with used high density polyethylene, a hard plastic common in cutting boards, playground equipment, food containers, and countless other uses. Here is a ‘fun’ fact that we learned: every one pound of Loll furniture is equal to approximately eight milk jugs and every year the company diverts millions of pounds of plastic that would otherwise go to landfills. Now that’s recycling!

The GRAFF Faucets booth was busy with visitors clustered around high-tech showers and sleek faucets. The mirror-mounted Luna’s sculpture-like form attracted many visitors who admired it for the dramatic crescent shape. The Ametis collection of fixtures, designed by Swiss designer Davide Oppizzi through his design agency DCube, was also popular at the show. The Ametis faucets drew praise from attendees, particularly the black and LED-integrated version. The faucet has built-in LED lights that indicate water temperature and can be toggled between two flow rates (how cool is that?) The Aqua-Sense shower garnered lots of interest for its array of technological features. Ametis shower users are able to directly upload video and music files to be played on the waterproof screen and speakers as well as to set chromotherapy mood lighting, water orientation and temperature. Responding to increasingly tech-savvy consumer demand, GRAFF is perhaps the leader of luxurious smart showers.

Josh Herman Ceramics displayed some unusual vessels and sculptures formed from clay and finished in volcanic glaze that we were told took ten years to perfect. The San Diego-based artist has been inspired by his experience with Hakomi Therapy, a psychotherapy method that combines East with West under the principles of mindfulness, nonviolence, unity, organicity, and mind-body integration. Herman also gains much of his design inspiration from modern and mid-century design, culminating in unusual modern pieces.

Native Trails attracted to its booth visitors who were interested to see and learn more about the advancements and uses of bamboo in the bath setting and of their increasingly popular copper products. On display at the booth was the full Renewal collection of mirrors and vanities made from woven strand bamboo certified as sustainable by the Forest Stewardship Council (the FSC is a very well-respected organization). Bamboo has boomed in recent years as consumers, homebuilders, and designers are drawn to its durability, sustainability, availability, and appearance. Consumers are used to seeing bamboo hardwood floors but this major expansion of the material into the bathroom is a significant affirmation of bamboo as a furniture material that we can expect to see in the bathroom. Long live bamboo!

Many visitors were elated to see that Airstream, maker of iconic stainless steel luxury trailers, once again exhibited at Dwell on Design with a demonstration trailer that kept a line of curious visitors waiting for a tour inside. Outside the trailer were several patio heaters created by niche design company Kindle Living which has successfully and cleverly combined the function of heat lamps with the form of modern indoor lamps. Their line of products have earned the company customers from homeowners to major hotels and restaurants who seek to heat and light their patio areas without sacrificing design. What a great combination Airstream and Kindle Living made – I have a hankering to buy an Airstream and travel around the country now!

See something you liked at Dwell on Design? Tweet us @Styleture or post to our page at Facebook.com/Styleture.

This year, Dwell Magazine holds their seventh annual design exposition in Los Angeles on June 22-24. Dwell anticipates over 23,000 visitors will attend Dwell on Design, riding an upward trend of attendance at the largest design event on the West Coast.

The week leading up to the start of the expo on Friday is known as Dwell Design Week and was kicked off on Friday the 15th with the popular Meet the Architects event. Attendees had the opportunity to listen to renowned architects discuss the design and process behind some of the most striking modern homes profiled by Dwell. This week and on Saturday, Dwell will hold a home tour of both the West and East sides of Los Angeles.

Kitchen & Bath Showroom Section

Dwell Outdoor has 25,000 square feet of exhibition floor

Oyler Wu Collaborative has been working tirelessly for months on their next art installation which will be unveiled and displayed at the expo. Oyler Wu is a Los Angeles-based international architecture and design company created by partners Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu, the firm is known for its modern and often experimental design. Both partners teach design studio at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and have won awards for their book Plane Pendulum which they published in 2009. They are known for bold art installations such as reALIze, which honors the boxer Muhammad Ali with a complex sculpture.

Oyler Wu Installation

New at Dwell on Design this year is the Screening Lounge, sponsored by Design Onscreen and the Stephanie Odegard Collection. Four films are to be shown: Modern Tide, a film about midcentury architecture found on New York’s Long Island; Desert Utopia, about midcentury homes in Palm Springs, California; Contemporary Days will follow the impact, especially in Britain, that Lucienne and Robin Day had upon furniture design as we know it; Hella Jongerius follows the Dutch designer of the same name, who has developed a reputation for excellence in product design.

The Swiss Design Prize event is a celebration of Swiss product design, which is known to be meticulous and thorough, ranging from fashion to furniture. The competition is held every two years and makes a global tour, the first American stop of which will be Dwell on Design. This is a unique opportunity to see the best design coming out of Switzerland and perhaps gain insight into a culture that continues to innovate and maintain a reputation of quality.

Several art and design schools will be exhibiting student work on the exhibitor floor, making this an ideal event for students and prospective students interested in pursuing a career in design. Schools attending include Art Center College of Design, Southern California Institute of Architecture, Woodbury University,UCLA, Otis College of Art and Design, USC, and California Polytechnic of Pomona.

Ron Cogan, of Green Car Journal, will be organizing ride-along and test-drive trips in a range of low-emission cars. Included are hybrids by Infiniti, Acura, and Volkswagon in addition to electric cars by Chevy, Fisker, Audi, and Ford. Most unusual, Volkswagon will have a Passat running on biodiesel and Mercedes will be trying out hydrogen vehicle. This event serves as a reminder that keeping design innovation moving forward is important not just for the aesthetics of our environment, but for providing us with better technology for core needs such as transportation.

In addition to the plethora of activities and attractions organized by Dwell, there will be over 350 exhibitors at the show. Companies will be vying to draw visitors to their newest products, ranging from water fixtures to outdoor furniture. Native Trails is utilizing social media by giving away prizes to several visitors who “like” their Facebook page and one lucky winner will win the Solace mirror from their new Renewal collection. Contestants can double their chances by also commenting on their Facebook page. Graff Faucets, maker of the new Davide Oppizzi-designed Ametis collection of bath fixtures, is also utilizing social media by inviting visitors to participate in an iPad giveaway during the exposition.

Native Trails Solace Mirror

Graff Ametis

Dwell on Design this year is certain not to disappoint, as visitors will enjoy events and services not typical of design trade shows. The weekend of the show has been laid out with both the student and professional in mind, with enough activities, speakers, and exhibitors to keep one busy and informed. Our editors are attending, and we will be bringing you updates and insights into what the modern design of today and tomorrow looks like.

Every day, we indulge in the delights of the bath. From the minute we rise, to the moments before we sleep, the bath provides invaluable comfort and luxury – a source of water and energy that counts among our most valuable resources. But, thanks to the ingenuity of a select group of designers and innovators, we don’t have to choose between indulgence and preservation. Introducing the greeniest of baths – our favorite responsible products for smarts and style that work in honor of Earth Day and everyday.

Corbett Lighting Quasar

With a name and design evoking the promise of the future, Corbett Lighting’s Quasar delivers nothing less. Accented with silver leaf finish, the metallic LED fixture offers stunning illumination with minimal ecological impact. Perfect for the needs of the bath – Quasar emits a warm glow from a sleek disc of bronze. The textured lens adds dimension, while the high-tech LED bulb adds green intelligence. Available as a pendant, flush mount application or ADA-compliant sconce, Quasar makes perfect design sense.

Native Trails Yanama Vanity with Eclipse Sink

Two of the most luxurious materials – rustic cherry and hammered copper – come together in Yanama by Native Trails. A superb cabinet whose beauty is only outweighed by its ecology – the torso is constructed from FSC-certified, sustainable wood – Yanama re-imagines the geometry of the vanity. Designed to pair with Native Trails’ Eclipse basin, made from hand-hammered, recycled copper, this sink captivates with its sweeping curves. Good for the environment, great for the bath. Shown here in brushed nickel, Eclipse is also offered in an antique copper finish. Read the rest of this entry »