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Blame it on New York, one of our favourite cities in the world, that we haven’t bothered about work the past few days. The museums, hip boutiques, cool cafes have been keeping us on our toes, not to mention ICFF, for which we are in the Big Apple. Here’re a few highlights.

After causing a stir in Milan, the Myto chair by German industrial designer Konstantin Grcic continues to bask in its glory at ICFF this year. The manufacturing process of the chair commissioned by chemical company BASF for Plank was on display at Salone last month and attracted huge number of visitors. Yesterday Brooke Stoddard, former House & Garden style editor and the daughter of well known author Alexandra Stoddard had a conversation with Grcic about the design of the chair at ICFF Theatre.

Myto by Konstantin Grcic

Dutch designers once again stole the show at the event organised by Nieuw Amsterdam, a coalition formd by a group of New York’s leading design retailers and Dutch design companies. The exhibition that runs till May 20 at various locations throughout the city presents the works of well-known Dutch designers and companies.

The event is the brainchild of Wilma Wabnitz, of Wabnitz Editions, Ltd., a major U.S. distributor of contemporary Dutch design. “Nieuw Amsterdam was the name given to Manhattan in the early 17th century by Dutch settlers,” said Wabnitz. “The foundations laid down by these first colonists consisted of a set of unique elements that we can still feel the influence of in New York City today, with Dutch design ‘colonists’ such as Droog, Marcel Wanders, Hella Jongerius, Richard Hutten, Job Smeets, to name only a few.”

To demonstrate the enormous presence and influence of Dutch design in New York, six of the city’s leading design retailers, including Cite, Matter, Property, M2L, Moss and Suite, will showcase work by young Dutch innovators such as Edward van Vliet, Gewoon, Studio JSPR, Scholten & Baijings, Alexander van Slobbe, Dick van Hoff and Ineke Hans. At ICFF, Dutch design companies including Palau, Qodes and Gelderland, along with progressive new design studios like Studio Jan Habraken, BY:AMT Inc. and Meesters & Van der Park Design Studio, will present the best of contemporary Dutch design in their booths. A highlight will include a lecture at Cite with Edward van Vliet and Richard Hutten on Sunday, May 18 from 4:00-5:00 PM.

Nieuw Amsterdam is the first installment of a major event planned for 2009 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson claiming “Manahatta” for The Netherlands. Look out for these booths at Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre.

Palau / ICFF Booth 2207 / Cite 131 Greene Street
The Modern Palau Collection is making its New York City-debut. This collection of seating furniture, designed by trend setting Dutch designers, Edward Van Vliet, Richard Hutten and Bjorn Mulder, can be described as robust and minimal. Balance in shape and eye for detail determine the style.
Events:

Cite / Sunday, May 18 / 4:00-5:00 PM
Lecture by Edward van Vliet and Richard Hutten

Armchair by Palau

Artifort / ICFF Booth 2204 / M2L 215 East 58th Street
In the 1960s, a revolutionary young designer, Pierre Paulin, began designing sculptures for Artifort. Paulin’s sculptures had natural, human shapes and made surprisingly comfortable furniture. Radically different from the traditional methods of furniture manufacturing, his pieces were made with tubular frames covered by elastic bands. Still revolutionary today, Paulin’s designs elicit emotion with names like Tongue, Ribbon and Orange Slice. Other young designers have since then created for Artifort: Kho Liang Ie, Geoffrey Harcourt and Jasper Morrison, among many others. Young designers with a mission, a revolutionary concept that takes them speed into the future while others stand still.

Inneke Hans / Cite 131 Greene Street
The work of Ineke Hans is based on a strong belief in the magical power of products and environments upon our imagination and behavior. Perceptiveness about the connections between people and objects is a fundamental prerequisite for a furniture designer. Her work investigates the psychological roots of products, perceiving and playing with the interaction between people and objects. It centers on the pictogram and archetype, and draws on the images stored in the back of our minds from earliest childhood as a collective consciousness. These images enable us to put one and two together and fantasize about the potential use of unknown objects and situations. Her designs—both mass-produced and one-of-a-kind—share a toy-like quality, counterbalanced by a sober, earthiness. All speak as strong characters, reminding us, like a gentle tap on the shoulder, that furniture has to function, not just as a physical support, but also in your mind.

Works by Ineke Haans

Droog / Property 14 Wooster Street
All Droog projects reflect the Droog mentality. While often described by the press with words like gutsy, quirky, hip and funky, Droog considers original ideas and clear, up-to-date concepts that have been shaped in a wry, no-nonsense manner to be more essential than baseless provocation. Usability is a must. The products in the Droog collection evoke memories through their simplicity, through their function, through their meaning, through their poetry, and their humor. Droog’s products create an experience that allows the user to participate. The products tell stories that are understood all over the world and are passed on. They are products that are meant to be used. This is why the stories are also about the user. And we are the users.

Events:
Property / Saturday, May 17 / 12:00 PM through June 15, 2008
First “240 Hour Shop in Shop” in the US

Furniture and accessories by Droog

Cor Unum / Matter – Soho 405 Broome Street
Cor Unum (Latin for “one heart”) is a producer of ceramics in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Since 1953, the company has produced a series of ceramic works in both black and white clay. Every piece is made by hand, stressing the unique character of each item and enabling the creation of exclusive, limited-edition designs. At Matter – Soho, Cor Unum will present new limited-edition collections by Richard Hutten and De Makers Van. Hutten’s Homage collection is constructed from pieces of previous Cor Unum collections by designers such as Ettore Sottsass, Jasper Morrison, Ross Lovegrove, Marcel Wanders and Ron Arad. For Hutten, Homage both honors these designers, as well as questions their celebrity. Van’s Lucky Charms are both pieces of jewelry and functional tableware. The pieces can be worn or used individually, or assembled to create a chain or grouping.

Ceramica by Cor Unum

Gelderland / ICFF Booth 2212
Quality, functionality and an eye for timeless design are the defining features of Gelderland. For more than 70 years, the company has lead the way in furniture design and has been inextricably linked to designers such as Jan des Bouvrie, Henk Vos, Roderick Vos, Stefan Steenkist and Scholten & Baijings. Working with a multitude of designers gives rise to different approaches to the austere and sleek design synonymous with the company. The strength of the organization lies in its wide range of products, attention to comfort and design, traditional craftsmanship and a high level of service.

Thomas Eyck / Property 14 Wooster Street / Matter – Soho 405 Broome Street
Up-and-coming designers Stefan Scholten & Carole Baijings create brightly colored, innovative textiles for Thomas Eyck. Property will feature Scholten and Baijings Color Plaids, Color Bombs. These brilliant throws, blankets and throw pillows are designed to create a color explosion in the interior. The vivid stripes and wild colors created by interrupted color sequences make the Color Plaids completely unique. At Matter – Soho, presents Scholten & Baijings Woven Willow, a collection of seven objects based on the traditional Dutch 17th-century weaving technique in which willow wicker is cleaved into very small pieces and used almost as textile. Combined with rubber and glass, their fresh and innovated approach to this very old technique has resulted in a brightly colored collection.

Royal Tichelaar Makkum / Matter – Soho 405 Broome Street / Moss 150 Greene Street
At Matter - Soho, limited edition pieces from the Markkum collection will be on view. Pearls from Makkum by Alexander van Slobbe is a series of outsized porcelain “pearls” that can be purchased as a complete necklace (in a limited edition of 100 and presented in a luxury box created by graphic designer Irma Boom) or assembled from the assorted designs into a unique, personalized set. Dick van Hoff’s Work collection will also be available at Matter – Soho. This range of highly functional products celebrate technology and seek to replace “tabletop” with “desktop.” At Moss, the results of an elaborate restoration project for the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum of 17th century flow pyramids served as a starting point for new interpretations of the form by Hella Jongerius, Jurgen Bey, Studio Job and Alexander van Slobbe. The result is a most impressive presentation of five sublime artifacts: one traditional replica and four interpretations, each in an edition of seven.

Plates by Marcel Wanders for makkum

Tableware by Hella Jongerius for makkum

Ceramic jugs by Studio Job for makkum

Quodes / ICFF Booth 2311 / Matter – Soho 405 Broome Street
There was a time that furniture lasted for generations. It was appealingly shaped and made with love, and children lovingly inherited cupboards, chairs and tables from their parents. Quodes wishes to restore that tradition, and focuses on distinctive, functional furniture that has its own character, but is not overbearing.
“Luxury starts where functionality ends and where the true value is personal and so has no price or reason.” - Marcel Wanders, designer

Jan Habraken / ICFF Booth 2213
“It’s a mixture of mass-market and couture that characterizes my design.”
In 2007, Jan Habraken opened his studio in New York and already he has garnered the attention of Target, Kikkerland and Areaware. Clear lines and simple geometry characterize his designs. Not only concerned with designing objects, Habraken is also involved in the process of refining the manufacturing process and optimizing production. His functionalist approach stems from his socially conscious viewpoint. His work has a reputation for quality, precision and practicality that has come to be what is expected from Dutch design.

Jo Meesters / ICFF Booth 2213
After working for three years with Marije van der Park, Jo Meesters struck out on his own, beginning his own studio in 2007. He is passionate about combining technology and craftsmanship, and his work seeks to balance aesthetics and innovation. Awareness of the past is essential to Meesters, who often uses existing objects as a departure point for his projects. His creative process explores the ways in which concept and product may be intuitively linked.

Gewoon / Cite 131 Greene Street
Gewoon is a small team of Dutch designers that focuses on designing products for living and lifestyle, mixing traditional materials with contemporary design. Gewoon also works on projects alongside architects, interior designers and stylists for universities, hotels, the Dutch government, and companies like Nike. The Gewoon line of products is sold in high-end furniture, gift and children’s stores in Milan, Munich, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Dubai and Tokyo. Their products are manufactured in social workplaces in The Netherlands.

Studio JSPR / Property 14 Wooster Street
Studio JSPR is a Dutch interior design brand that specializes in creating remarkable products and interiors. By introducing products featuring innovative materials, designs and a combination of styles, Studio JSPR creates its own unique product collection. Its many projects and custom production results in special interiors and products, which represent a complete high quality lifestyle setting with an “unexpected touch.”

Events:
Property / Monday, May 19 / 6:00 – 9:00 PM
Meet-and-Greet with designer Jasper van Grootel of Studio JSPR

Spectrum / SUITE 625 Madison Avenue, Ste. 218
Spectrum, founded in 1941, presents a collection of furniture with a timeless character. Some items were designed around 1960 and have been in the Spectrum Collection ever since, forming the basis of the collection. Materials and production techniques alike are regarded as crucial benchmarks for the outlines of the collection, which strives to meet the highest standards in quality and design.

Alissia Melka-Teichroew / ICFF Booth 2213
Alissia Melka-Teichroew is the founder and creative director of BY:AMT Inc, formerly known as Alissia MT Design. The daughter of a French mother and an American father, she was born and grew-up in The Netherlands. This transcontinental background is reflected in the fluidity and fluency of her designs. Attuned to the latest design innovations, trends and materials, she infuses her work with her own unique, charismatic personality and mischievous sensibility. Her products are savvy, sophisticated and witty: the archetypical diamond ring rendered in candy-colored acrylic, ceramic plates folded in easy-to-hold shapes (Handful of Plates), a mirror that transposes the viewer’s face over an iconic image of feminine beauty (ME-ror).