Big Appetite in the Big Apple

I’m Kelly Berman, a South African writer and editor living in Brooklyn, NYC, and I’ll be guest blogging with reports about the design and décor world fresh from the Big Apple. What could be more fun?

Talk about sensory overload. There was so much beautiful stuff to see in New York City over the past two weeks. Last weekend, my home borough hosted Brooklyn Designs, which featured things designed or made in Brooklyn. Although its four locations were quite intimate in scale, it gave me a lot to chew on.

So, a few tidbits from that. Studio1Thousand, a lighting studio specializing in LEDs, showed the Constellation chandelier by Kenzan Tsutakawa-Chinn, an industrial design student at Pratt Institute. It reminds me of a broom made out of pine needles.

Takeshi Miyakawa’s ingenious plywood designs make the most out of each piece’s volume. His Fractal 23 chest of drawers is a 28-inch cube with drawers on all four sides.

For a peek of the live action at Brooklyn Designs, check out this video on Miyakawa’s Website.

Brave Space Design uses a lot of bamboo in its eco-friendly furniture. The bamboo is farmed and rapidly renewable. It is bound together using emissions-free adhesives into a plywood that is very durable.

The hollow dining range has pockets of space built into the underside of the surface, providing extra support.
The Planar storage range uses push-touch hardware so that handles don’t interrupt the seamless surface.
Ok, the next few things that I saw at the BD+ Design Accessories Market have nothing to do with interiors, but I was so taken with them. Sea creature-inspired jewellery in organic shapes from Emily Amey.


And graphic prints from the inimitable Lotta Jansdotter.

Next up: the big mama of design expos, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair.