They’re privy to the latest furnishings, products, colors, materials and design technologies before most of us. A few go a step beyond their colleagues and produce their own cutting-edge designs. We asked architects, designers and technocrats to share the newest, most innovative furnishings, products and design treatments they’ve recently used or developed. Some reflect a desire to incorporate one-of-a-kind furnishings based on long-established crafts traditions; others demonstrate using materials and construction methods in ways that provide a wonderful visual surprise.
SEE-THROUGH FLOOR
David Stern and Diane McCafferty, architect and interior designer, Stern McCafferty, Boston. sternmccafferty.com
An open loft in a downtown Boston building had limited floor-to-ceiling height. The owners wanted a mezzanine level where they could work and put up guests. Our solution was to take structural glass tiles and set them in a steel frame that became a sturdy but “thin” looking floor. Because of the glass, the floor keeps the downstairs area open and airy. We made it appear even lighter by installing light fixtures that shine down on the floor and make the main floor ceiling glow. To reinforce the open, floating feeling, we designed an open stair with open railing.
HUMONGOUS TV VIEWING
Stephen Weiner, sales manager, Abt Appliance and Electronics, Glenview, Ill. abtelectronics.com We’ve got two items we’re excited about. We’re one of the first retailers in the country to get Sony’s 70-inch LCD flat-panel TV, which is the largest LCD now produced. Besides its larger size, its 1080p technology offers the best high-definition resolution. Price, $32,999. We’ve also got stainless-steel tongs from R(scaron)sle. When you hold them upright, they stay closed; when you hold them down, they open. This feature makes them easier to clean in the dishwasher. Price: $34.
BLUE DOG GARDEN
Ryan and Claire Kettelkamp, landscape architects, Kettelkamp & Kettelkamp Landscape Architecture, Evanston
We like to give a garden as much personality as people give their interior rooms. For one client who had a lot of purple, gold and red colors and 1920s art glass inside her house, we designed a fu dog garden with blue fu dogs we found on a Web site. The fu dog, referred to as a guardian lion, stood in front of Chinese tombs. We were aware of them through Robert Allerton who designed a wonderful garden in southern Illinois. We placed eight dogs atop concrete columns that we stuccoed. We also built a tea house where the owners can hang out.
DOOR HANDLE WITH CARE
George Ranalli, architect, George Ranalli Designs, New York, N.Y. georgeranalli.com
Although I’ve designed furniture, I started designing hardware for the 21st Century so that my work could reach more than my clients. Hardware should follow the principles of ergonomics but also reflect good design. I want my handles, which I call Door Gems, to be warm and inviting to use–not cold. The Lock-it design, available through the museum shop at The Denver Art Museum or my Web site, is made of cast aluminum with a clear or lacquer finish and has a lever handle made of three pieces. You enjoy grasping it more than just holding a plain handle because of its tactile feeling.
ZEN BEDROOM
Robyn Shapiro, designer and architect, Robyn Shapiro Design, Chicago. robynshapiro.com
In a small bedroom with little storage and one wall of windows, I used Poliform USA’s storage system in light oak on the two longest walls. Then I floated a bed in the middle of the room with two small end tables on each side and a desk at the bed’s end. I put swing-arm lamps on the edges of the headboard. I added power into the headboard, so you can sit at the desk and work or sit in bed and read or work at a laptop. By organizing the room this way, I opened up the room and made it serve multiple functions. The overall effect is a Zen-inspired space.
SYCAMORE ROOM DIVIDER
Thom Filicia, 4designer, Thom Filicia Inc., New York, N.Y., and TV host, “Dress My Nest,” and “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” thomfilicia.com
I designed a 15-foot-by-20-foot sycamore sculpture for the U.S. at the 2005 World’s Fair in Aichi, Japan, which I made from a reclaimed tree in Connecticut. I had it sliced and then used it to divide a living room from another space. I wanted something that truly represented America. In another space–a townhouse–where the former owners had ripped out the mantles when they moved, I decided to leave the remaining crude brickwork exposed. Prior owners had never intended for it to be seen, but I liked it. I applied a subtle lacquer over the brick to clean it, and then installed a wood frame around it, which is the same framing I used in the rest of the room. I also placed a piece of art atop the brick. The room was part of the 2006 Kips Bay Showhouse in New York.
ARTISAN FINDS
Michael Simon, designer, Michael Simon Interiors Inc., New York, N.Y. michaelsimoninc.com
I’m dedicated to keeping artisans alive by finding talented ones and giving them commissions to pursue their art. In a large, octagonal-shaped bedroom suite in Minneapolis with very high ceilings, I used textiles that I had printed in Naples, Italy, which historically was one of that country’s two great weaving centers since the 17th Century. The mill I used was excited to try the ink-jet printing I wanted to do. The results were a huge success. Of course, to do something like this takes longer–in this case 1 years from start to finish, but we got exactly the design and colors we wanted. I’ve also found artisans to embroider, gild, carve and paint on glass.
KINETIC CONNECTOR
Bruce Fox, design director, Heather G. Wells Ltd., Chicago and Boston. hgwltd.com
We like texture and art from unusual sources. For one client’s guesthouse in Boston, we reclaimed a log from Boston’s Big Dig and cut it into 6-inch-by-8-inch tiles that we used to cover walls. The tiles offer a textural, warm look in a modern space. In another home, a modern Chicago high-rise apartment, we commissioned sculptor Evan Lewis to make a 6-foot-by-9-foot bronze and steel kinetic screen, which we placed between the living and dining room. Its panels spin when people walk past.
SAFE ENTRY
Bice C. Wilson, designer and architect, Meridian Design Associates, Architects PC, New York, N.Y. meridiandesign.com
When we were designing a small, high-end residential building in New York City with no doorman but a front gate, we needed some way to ensure a high level of privacy and safety. We used a biometric fingerprint reader that recognizes the fingerprints of the owners and their friends and family members. It can be used for a single-family home as well. The technology was developed by Reycom Technologies (reycomtechnologies.com).
THE FOURTH UTILITY
Herb Hauser, engineer/designer, Midtown Technologies, New York, N.Y. midtowntechnologies.com
Three years ago, we recognized that information is the fourth utility of the real estate experience. The first three are water, heating/ventilation and power. We wanted to turn information systems into another utility and decided to develop the technology that would allow home systems to be regulated from outside by sending an e-mail or calling in and overriding an existing program. It could also alert you if something needed to be changed. For example, the window in Timmy’s room might have been left open, and there could be a draft. Or, it could allow you to set information such as “Herb likes his water temperature in the shower at 64 degrees Fahrenheit while Barbara wants hers at 78.” You push a button and the mixing is done instantly. Ideally, all the needs for thermostats, home theaters and television in a house would be preplanned before homeowners move in since it’s much less costly, but this also could be retrofitted. For a 2,500-square-foot house, the system might cost between $3,800 and $4,200.
RESIDENTIAL PARABUILDING
Jonathan Barnes, architect, Jonathan Barnes Architecture and Design, Columbus, Ohio. jbadusa.com
Parabuilding, which means “alongside,” a term coined by Herbert Muschamp, former architecture critic of The New York Times, describes projects that feature an addition alongside a building but in a very different style from the original, which is usually much plainer. I used the technique with a turn-of-the-century, 12-story office building in downtown Columbus that was converted to residential use, though the base of the building still houses commercial space. The original building is brick; the new one is steel and glass, which opens up the spaces within. I repeated a horizontal band from the original building on the new one for continuity but designed it in glass instead of the original brick. This technique could also be used in single-familyhome additions.
FAUX GRASS WITH CLASS
Laura Kirar, interior and furniture designer, Tru Design (for interiors), Chicago, and LKDL (for products), Miami. laurakirar.com
My favorite latest find is Synlawn (synlawn.com), a synthetic product that is so realistic that you can barely tell the difference between it and real grass. When I recently designed a Viennese dining pavilion for the DIFFA charitable event in New York, I needed grass that wouldn’t die or brown over the course of four days. I discovered Synlawn, which comes in lengths similar to rolled carpeting and even has rubber matting. You can anchor it with spikes or nails and use it on a rooftop garden where you don’t have good drainage and aeration. It’s even quite soft and comes in different textures to simulate homegrown grass.
