The Danish Pinecone

Just the other day I was outside on my balcony with a sackful of large pine cones that I (along with my willing and good spirited husband) gathered around the wooded area near the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls.  After letting them sit and dry for a few days I was ready to transform them into my holiday decor, spraying them a shining silver.  

Perusing different design websites as they were drying, I stumbled upon a gorgeous pendant lamp that fit the theme of the day, Pinecone, from a young Danish designer in Copenhagen.  Jonas Lönborg, designer and owner of Hello Sailor, has designed Pinecone and Pinecone Mini (currently in prototype stages and looking for investors) in a series of different materials, working to get the exact look and feel, while producing an adequate light source.  To date, both plywood and acrylic have been used for the pendant trials.  The mirrored acrylic is quite special as well as the soft glow echoed from within the birch plywood... And I eagerly await Lönborg's final version!   

 

 

  

Moquette vs. Carpet

 

Recently, I had the opportunity of having a short article published in one of Italy's most important newspapers, La Repubblica.  More precisely, in the online version of Casa & Design, the home and design section of the newspaper.  The subject: carpet.  Or, since the article was in Italian, for the Italian public: moquette.  I must admit that it was a bit tongue and cheek in picking the topic, since I knew from the start that the Italian perception of (or prejudice toward) carpet is dismal to say the least.  Accompanying the article at the end was a poll "for" or "against" carpet-- the results were no shock: 81% against.  Yet, despite the great opportunity of writing for the site, there was clearly a missed opportunity and a skewed impression.  The article was not intended to convince an Italian to use wall-to-wall carpet in each room of their flat-- not even I want that for my home-- but to open the Italian mentality a bit, keeping in mind another option for floor covering.  As a designer, the visual impact is essential when working with a client.  In the case of the article the readers are the client, and unfortunately, the visual, a series of photos prepared along with the article, were not shown online. Maybe this visual tool could have assisted the words... and opened a few more minds.

Herein the "photo gallery":