This post highlights the exhibitors that stood out to me, for one reason or another, at this year’s ADD show.
Occasional Furniture:
While not necessarily something I would want for my own home, ingenuity is what made these picks stand out.
Malcolm Majer is a Baltimore based architectural designer who studied at RISD. In his free time, he enjoys designing and making furniture, as an escape from the creative constraints of his day job. He develops these post-modernesque pieces using an impulsive process, and they are meant more as objets d’art than function furniture.
Bronsen Company in Brooklyn is a creative studio that makes art objects. The lifelike appearance of these hand-textured/painted concrete moon tables caught my attention.
Craftsmanship:
Although they might not be the most exciting pieces, as a furniture maker, I recognize the high level of skill demonstrated by these woodworkers.
(Above): Black Creek Design The fit-and-finish of these pieces were impeccable. The execution of the design of the bases/legs for these two pieces must have been challenging, to say the least, but came out flawless.
(Below): Erickson Woodworking With obvious influences in Maloof and other icons of the late 20th century, the shaping, complexity, joinery, and precision of these pieces were second to none that I’ve seen.
Form:
The shape, geometry, and proportion of these pieces is what caught my attention.
I had a nice chat with Alex Giray, former Coloroado-based climbing guide turned furniture designer/maker. His designs are timely, yet original, and I really like the additional functionality that he incorporates. He mentioned that this is his first trade show, but he seems to have done well all around, from his designs, to his craftsmanship, to his branding.
Ovuud, a lighting and furniture designer in Philadelphia is definitely worth checking out. His work is predominantly made from domestic woods and LEDs, and is at a somewhat attainable price, considering the what goes into designing and producing pieces like this. He definitely seems to have some original designs, only one of which is shown above. I encourage you to click through and see the rest of his work.
I remember seeing Kino Guérin’s booth at last year’s show. This time he brought a lot more furniture, while last year it was mostly shelving. This French Canadian maker uses bent laminations that he shapes over moulds while they are inside of a long vacuum press bag. The quality of his work is very high, and his ideas quite original.
Textiles:
Saved New York offers cashmere, yak down, and camel hair throws and pillows. The former Ralph Lauren designer is based in NY, while production is in Mongolia. Their patterns are likely to resonate more strongly with a more mature, uptown market.
Caroline Z Hurley has 19 different patterns that are more playful and minimalistic. Her designs employ simple shapes and soft tones, using interaction between different hues to create emotion. Her product line includes blanket, pillows, quilts, rugs, and fabric by the yard.
Light Switches:
There were two different booths offering alternative choices for light switches, which I thought were worth including.
(Left): Forbes & Lomax offers switches and dimmers inspired by those of the 1930’s. An optional transparent acrylic back plate allows the paint or wallpaper behind show through, creating a more inconspicuous appearance.
(Right): Vitrea offers a product line of touch switches with deep smart-home integration.
It was a great show this year. I liked it even better than last year’s. I had some great conversations with some of the furniture makers who were exhibiting, and the veterans all said that the show is worth the cost and effort from a business standpoint.