Ingo Maurer (1932-2019)



 
Few people working in the rather serious industry of industrial design have the ability to weave magic through every one of their pieces the way Ingo did. According to his Wikipedia page, he was nicknamed the “poet of light” — a title he certainly lived up to.



 

Rather than working to conceal the light source as most traditional lighting designers do, Ingo’s work has always exposed and underscored the beauty of the basic architecture and technology of lighting itself. His first piece, called Bulb, is a large crystal globe encompassing a smaller one; created in 1966, Bulb is now included in the MoMA permanent collection.

 
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Meeting Peter Cardew


The Meeting Table by Peter Cardew Architects, currently on display in our 50 Water Street showroom.

After designing the head office and five stores for the Vancouver-based athleisure company Reigning Champ (2 in Vancouver, 2 in Toronto, 1 in L.A), Royal Architecture Institute of Canada Gold medal-winning architect, Peter Cardew was asked for design suggestions for the company’s library. For this project, Cardew designed a shelving system, a display system, and a Meeting Table which is currently on display in the window of our 50 Water Street showroom.


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Ruth Jones Interview

 

It was our privilege to have Ruth Jones, a master textile artist, design an elaborate window installation for our 50 Water St. showroom in conjunction with the Textile Society of America Biennial Symposium held in Vancouver. When you meet Ruth and see the dedication and passion that she has for her work, you gain a new appreciation for the art and craft behind textiles.
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Lee Broom

On Tuesday June 5th, we were delighted to welcome award-winning British designer Lee Broom to our 50 Water St showroom. He presented OBSERVATORY, his new stellar-inspired lighting collection and spoke of his latest products as well as his work over the last 11 years.

Ettore Sottsass

 

Born on September 14th, 1917 in Innsbruck, Austria and died on New Year’s eve 2007 in Milan. His father who shared his name and profession moved to Turin so that his junior could study Architecture at Politecnico di Torino. The elder Ettore was a traditionalist, his son wanted to be everything that he was not, drawn to bold shapes and colours, often bending and breaking the rules of Architecture and Design. After graduation, Ettore was drafted into the Italian military to fight in the Balkan Campaign, was captured and held in a POW camp in Yugoslavia.

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Happy Birthday Florence Knoll

 

Florence Marguerite Knoll Bassett née Schust was born May 24, 1917 in Saginaw, Michigan. Florence studied Architecture under Eliel Saarinen at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1934. In 1936, she started to explore furniture making with Eliel’s son Eero and the now legendary Charles Eames.

 


Florence discussing the now infamous Tulip base with Eero Saarinen

 

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Patricia Urquiola Luncheon


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We, the Inform Interiors Kitchens & Bath department, were given an opportunity to introduce Patricia Urquiola to a few select members of the Vancouver design community over lunch in our B&B Italia/Boffi showroom during her recent visit. Guests were greeted with a glass of Manciant Cremant de Bourgogne at the Boffi Salinas island in our front window, designed by none other than Patricia.

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