design: Thunderbolt. photo: Sarah Henderson
Don’t miss show2006, currently on view at PNCA. It’s a great survey of some of the high-powered furniture and object design talent working in Portland today. This showcase of “innovative and functional furniture design” by Portland-based designers opened with a standing-room-only reception at the Pearl District showroom of Design Within Reach then moved lock-stock-and-end-table to PNCA for the duration of the month.
How’s this for serendipity: we’d just made our way through the capacity crowd of design-lovers, noting Kari Merkl’s cool slatted bench “Camber Seat,” Material Furniture’s “BOXER,” mod room divider/shelves, and coming to a rest beneath Esque’s devastating mirrored drop lamps. motel gallery’s Jenn Armbrust introduced us to Thunderbolt designer Ryan Thomson, and he was explaining that when his killer “res table” (that we wanted to cart home then and there) went into production would be made in resin and a Baltic birch.
At that moment, fix studio’s Chris Bleiler somehow managed to silence the room to announce the judges’ selections for Best in Show and runners up. Bleiler noted that ShowPDX had received 70 submissions of which the jurors selected 43.
design: Kari Merkl. photo: Sarah Henderson
designer Kari Merkl. photo: Sarah Henderson
Honorable mentions were given to Kari Merkl for her “Camber Seat” and Artisan Metalwork’s “TABLE table.” Ben Ediger was third runner up with his “O.U. No. 2.” Esque’s “Silvered Pendant lamps” took 2nd and Study Hall was 1st runner up with “a simple planar table.” When Bleiler finally got to Best in Show, it was awarded to none other than Ryan Thomson/Thunderbolt for the “res table.”
Ryan Thomson and Chris Bleiler. photo: Sarah Henderson
design: Tomita design.build. photo: Sarah Henderson
Kudos to Bleiler and Jen Jako of fix studio (with commissions including clarklewis, Gotham Tavern, and the Doug Fir) for pulling the Show together year after year. As Bleiler noted, it�s a much-needed chance for designers to get out of their studios and connect, as well as an introduction for these designers to a broader audience.
– Lisa Radon�
photos: Sarah Henderson
POSTED: October 12th, 2006 | AUTHOR: melissa | FILED UNDER: art | TAGS: art, furniture, portland, show2006 | No Comments »
Over 300 visitors braved rain and wind, suffered the mild humiliation of paper booties, and wished they�d been allowed to bring cameras as they celebrated (and tried not to drool on) a delightful sampling of mid-century architecture and d�cor in six local homes for Portland’s Street of Eames modern homes tour on Saturday, April 8th. Talk about clamor! We even heard of people sharing joint custody of tickets (printed on paper coasters and redeemable for one entry to each home) so they could each see three of the six and compare notes later.
A definite highlight was the home of (local tile magnates) Ann and Robert Sacks, a glass box atop Dosha salon on NW Glisan which has been featured in so many books and magazines we felt we�d been there already. We especially enjoyed their spot-on art collection, authentic Eames sofa, and (of course) gorgeously minimalist use of tile. We do wish we�d been allowed on the roof deck, though. Perhaps for cocktails this summer?
Another favorite was the 1967 Rummer home in Beaverton, a California modern layout in which a fabulous courtyard sanctuary of river rocks, Japanese maples, and koi flowed into the living space. Skylights embedded in mile-high ceilings poured natural light onto impeccable furnishings and a brilliantly glazed concrete floor. It was difficult to leave.
Other stops on the tour included: A plush love nest in the newly erected Belmont Street Lofts; an enormous but oddly hunting-lodge-ish home set in a field of daffodils; a West Hills gem with ickily floral motifs but an amazing round (round!) kitchen and a view we�d give our Bakelite jewelry collection to call our own for one month; and a bold, West Hills house on stilts where even the children�s toys were classically and refreshingly modern. (The latter would have been our favorite were it not for our innate phobia of stilt houses on steep hills in rainy climes.)
The 2007 Street of Eames tour has already been scheduled for next April; visit their website for more information, because seeing it far surpasses reading about it.
In the meantime, lovers of all things modern might want to check out the following:
The first catalog by CB2: Crate and Barrel�s solution for those of us who have graduated from IKEA but are still a little shy of the income bracket required to shop exclusively at Design Within Reach. We�re smitten with CB2�s transparent, molded acrylic tables.
Smallest Coolest Apartments 2006: The finalists now being posted over at Apartment Therapy prove that you don�t need more than a few hundred square feet to live on your own little Street of Eames.
–Harvest Henderson
updated Tuesday April 18 2006 10:10
POSTED: April 18th, 2006 | AUTHOR: melissa | FILED UNDER: art | TAGS: portland | No Comments »