1. NATURAL WONDER
Dutch designer Hella Jongerius’ beautiful plates from her Nymphenburg sketches collection have rocked the ceramics world. Each piece is one of a kind.
2. GOSSAMER GLAMOR
From Stephen Sills and James Huniford, the duo behind an eponymous New York interior design firm whose clients have included Anna Wintour, Vera Wang, Ian Schrager and Jonathan Newhouse, the understated yet dazzling Gypsum Table Lamp can add a dose of elegance and glamor to the home, and add a classic-in-the-making at the same time.
3. PREFABULOUS
Prefab housing, long regarded as ugly and cheesy, is getting a well-designed and stylish new look. A cadre of innovative architects are embracing its compelling assets-utility, mobility, versatility and affordability-to produce chic, durable and economical variants that leave us clamoring for more. Cases in point are the streamlined weeHouse (left and center) by St. Paul-based architect Geoff Warner, and the other-worldly Loftcube (right) by Berlin-based architect Werner Aisslinger. Think of the possibilities: two as an addition, three for an entire place and one on the roof for your teenage kids.
4. OVERHEAD EXCITEMENT
Mention ornamental plaster ceiling tiles, and images of neo-classical or Victorian designs come to mind. All the more reason these clean-lined geometric styles made by Milwaukee-based manufacturing company Above View are so special. They drop into standard T-bar grid systems, come in dozens of standard and custom designs.
5. WANTS TO BE YOUR BUD
An “ex arrangement” from ex floreus in Lake Forest is a tiny taste of spring for your bedside or, grouped together, a flower bed for your dining table.
6. Rooms painted tangerine orange
Check out Benjamin Moore’s “Tangelo.”
7. CREATURE COMFORT
Indulgently soft ostrich feathers and rich waxed walnut hardly sound like the stuff you’d use to make a feather duster, but that’s exactly what David Linley, also known as Viscount Linley, has done. It’s sold at his eponymous London shop, but those who can’t make the trip can snag it online.
8. HOT POT Staub’s cast-iron cookware has been gaining ground on its competition. Not only do serious chefs swear by the brand’s performance in the kitchen, these days they’re sending the smallest versions out of the kitchen and straight to the dining table. The Mini Cocotte here is shown actual size.
9. THOROUGHLY MODERN
One of the great designers of the modern movement, the late Charlotte Perriand, is finally getting acclaim in this country with Cassina’s reissue of pieces from her collections (at Manifesto, Chicago). Her directness and penchant for the unexpected are evidenced in her 1972 angular Ventaglio tables, where she uses only three legs. Her 1939 Riflesso cabinet of brushed metal and wood blends both Eastern and Western cultures.
10. TWO TO WATCH
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FRESH EYES
Jordana Joseph struck out on her own only recently, launching her interior design firm, jorje, in 2002, but her rZsumZ reveals a baseline of experience that more than offsets her firm’s lack of seasoning. Young, funny and energetic, Joseph concocts rooms that are sparkly and modern with a witty color palate and plenty of good old-fashioned comfort. “I want it to be glamorous without the drama,” she says. Clients report the smooth sailing carries over to the planning and installation as well.
11. THE BOOK AS ART
To commemorate its 35th anniversary edition in October 2004, Interview magazine became a work of art in its own right as editors Sandra J. Brant and Ingrid Sischy forged all the covers, pictures, interviews and columns into a seven-volume set, with a facsimile of the first issue and a copy of the anniversary issue thrown in for good measure. Aluminum case-cum-trolley by Karl Lagerfeld; total weight, 100 pounds.
James Dolenc’s spirited projects belie his short tenure in residential interior design-just two years after spending six years doing corporate work. His goal is “to strive for simplicity and clean lines, but make it original and fun.” His work is characterized by shrewd layouts and an innovative use of materials, but always with an element of surprise, like a kitschy crystal chandelier in a Modernist milieu. He recently teamed up with Thomas Riker to form jamesthomas, LLC.
12. WHO’S COOLER THAN SUB-ZERO?
You might say that Jerome Caruso deserves at least partial credit for causing the late 20th Century American obsession with Martha Stewart-worthy kitchens. As designer of the Sub-Zero refrigerator line-the centerpiece of many hyper-deluxe kitchen fantasies-he helped an obscure Madison, Wis., manufacturer of scientific refrigeration units create one of the era’s great exemplars of luxury and status.
Caruso, who works out of a design studio near his Lake Forest home, takes great pride in Sub-Zero’s design. Its seamless integration with cabinetry and myriad customizations reflect his European influences (he worked in Sweden and Belgium in the 1960s after graduating from the U. of I. in industrial design). Since Sub-Zero’s first residential models were introduced in 1984, they’ve been knocked off by nearly every appliance-maker in America. Caruso has also been the primary design force behind elevating the Wolf stove to a similarly exalted place since Sub-Zero acquired the brand in 2002. Next for him: a line of seating for Herman Miller to be introduced at NEOCON this June. (underscore) Is it too obvious to think of him as the King of Cool? -Philip Berger
13. FRESH FISH
Every true techie carries a USB memory key, but how about one encased in light-up rubber sushi? In six colors from Chicago’s own cutting-edge tech importer, Dynamism.com.
14. SWEETSCAPES
Dan Wheeler and Larry Kearns of Wheeler Kearns are quietly changing the nature of residential architecture in Chicago with homes that show a clean-lined, unpretentious face to the world, congenially participating in the streetscape instead of theatrically dominating it. But behind these simple faades are graciously proportioned, richly detailed interiors that are versatile, efficient and visionary in the use of space and materials.
15. SILENT MIGHT
Unlike his peers, Michael Vanderbyl’s name isn’t bandied about by “furnituristas” or at the top of everybody’s want list. But this San Francisco-based designer has quietly amassed an important oeuvre with products for Esprit, IBM, The Disney Company and Polaroid, and furniture for Baker, McGuire and HBF. This clean-lined sofa for Baker’s Archetype collection epitomizes his modern take on classic curves.
16. The smell of fresh, lightly scented bed linens
Try pure rose scented ironing water at Frette, Chicago, or Bonjour of Switzerland linen spray in linden at Arrelle Fine Linens, Chicago.
17. FLIGHTS OF ANGELS SING THEE TO THY REST
The Irvington nickel-plated bed by Martha Stewart Signature Collection was inspired by the design of 19th Century brass beds, but its finish makes it brilliantly modern.
18. WALL CANDY
Wallpaper’s back in irresistible styles that treat the eye and tickle the mind. Featured are Florence Broadhurst’s handprinted “Floral 100” on a shiny or brushed silver ground and Juan-Carlos Castro’s “Funny You Don’t Look It” (at www.futureperfect.com), which resembles an ornate Turkish mosaic but is actually the top of the artist’s head digitally printed.
19. HIGHER LEVEL HIGH-RISE
The Contemporaine, a new 15-story residential high-rise at 516 N. Wells St. designed by Ralph Johnson of Perkins + Will, is a sight for design-sensitive eyes. Floor-to-ceiling windows from its base to crown and glass on the balconies instead of metal fences give the structure ethereal transparency. The pinwheeling balconies that project from different exterior walls and thin concrete columns that draw the eye skyward give it energy and grace. It floats instead of hulks, and intrigues instead of alienates. Oh, if we could only afford one of those units.
20. PLASTIC GARDEN FANTASTIC
Do you enjoy your garden but dread the maintenance? Why not consider plastic plants and artificial garden elements? That’s what modernist landscape architect Ken Smith did when he was asked to design two roof gardens for the recently opened Museum of Modern Art in New York. No water necessary.
21. Evening Island at the Chicago Botanic Garden
The Island will stay open until 10 p.m. starting June 1. Soft lights and moonlight will illuminate the five acres of bridges, footpaths and bold sweeps of meadow.
22. CRAZY QUILTS
Artist Erin Adams pushes boundaries when she applies her design sensibilities to tiles. First came her mosaics that look like Oriental carpets, and now she’s produced a new line of fused glass tiles that resemble tiny individual quilt blocks. Aptly named Quilts.
THE MUST SHOPS
23) EXTRAORDINARY: Many dealers focus on art, furniture and accessories from the not-too-distant past, but only the most singular or visually arresting pieces make it to the floor at Douglas Rosin Decorative Arts & Antiques in River North. The place is a veritable museum of 20th Century design. Who would have pegged Gorham as the maker of a Scandinavian-inspired silver and ebony candelabra (circa 1960-70), or suspected Herms could dream up such decidedly non-equestrian inspired drink-stirrers (circa 1930-40).
24) MATCHLESS MIX: Home furnishings emporium No Place Like in Chicago has one of the best-edited mixes of contemporary, clean-lined furnishings and tablewares in the city. There are exclusive furniture lines from both coasts and Canada, and an unusual tableware and decorative accessories that are sleek and utilitarian. Our favorite is iitala’s hard-to-find classic dinnerware pattern Teema.
25) ENDLESS EXOTICA: Unlike other antiques sources, the ethnic and exotic furnishings at Primitive Art Works and their expansive new Design Center (130 N. Jefferson St., by appointment) range in age from ancient to contemporary and reflect a fascinating cultural perspective rather than a specific style. They’re also items you won’t find elsewhere in the city, like the 19th Century Chinese village house that anchors the Design Center.
26. PICTURE PERFECT
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SIM2’s Grand Cinema RTX television is as close as it gets to small-screen perfection, though 55 inches square pushes the definition of small. A state-of-the-art digital projector accounts for the superb picture, while the slender, 16-inch-deep glass case accounts for its good looks. In a completely dark room the picture seems to float in space. One hitch: No built-in tuner, so a cable or satellite connection is mandatory.
27. CHINA SYNDROME
Bring out the good china-for everyday. Atelier Le Tallec in Paris produces special lines of hand-painted porcelains ranging from ginger jars and figurines to tea sets and dinnerware, exclusively for Tiffany & Co. This dinnerware pattern is called Aubepine.
28. & 29. AU NATURAL
Log-cabin style was the antidote to minimalism in the ’90s; here the two styles meet in the antler table lamp, which pays homage to both camps by pairing a bare-faced bulb with creamy glazed ceramic antlers. The ingenious confection is from red-hot Brooklyn-based furniture designer Jason Miller.
30. DYNAMIC DUO
Architecture buffs who want to know just how big those apartments are on East Lake Shore Drive, or what David Adler homes on the North Shore look like on the inside, can satisfy their curiosity with these two new tomes from Acanthus Press. “North Shore Chicago: Houses of the Lakefront Suburbs 1890-1940” by Stuart Cohen and Susan Benjamin ($77) and “Chicago Apartments: A Century of Lakefront Luxury” by Neil Harris ($75), feature hundreds of photographs and original floor plans and historical information on the architects and their prestigious clients.
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RESOURCES
30 THINGS WE LOVE
1: Hella Jongerius porcelain plates start at $660, at Moss, New York, or mossonline.com. 2: Gypsum lamp, $3,800 at Dwellings, New York, or www.dwellingshome.com. 3: Prefab housing: Loftcube at www.loftcube.net; weeHouse at www.weehouses.com. 4: Ornamental plaster ceiling tiles, in standard and custom designs, at www.aboveview.com and through Architectural Products by Outwater, 800-631-8375. 5: ex floreus miniature flower arrangement from $25 at ex floreus, Lake Forest. 6: Benjamin Moore paint, at stores where Benjamin Moore is carried. 7: Feather duster, about $280, at www.davidlinley.com. 8: Staub pot, the Mini Cocotte, $35, at Sur La Table, Chicago. 9: Charlotte Perriand’s Riflesso cabinet, $5,070, and Ventaglio tables, $6,915 each, at Manifesto, Chicago; manufactured by Cassina in Italy. 11: Andy Warhol’s Interview book, $495, at better bookstores or at www.artbook.com, 800-338-2665. 13: Sushi memory storage device, from $59 at www.dynamism.com. 15: Michael Vanderbyl sofa, about $4,800 through Marshall Field’s, State Street, Chicago. 16: Frette scented ironing water, $55, at Frette, Chicago; Bonjour of Switzerland linen spray, $15, at Arrelle Fine Linens, Chicago. 17: Martha Stewart nickel-plated bed, $2,130, at Marshall Field’s, State Street, Chicago. 18: Wallpaper: Florence Broadhurst’s Floral 100 sold in triple rolls to the trade only through Classic Revivals, 617-574-9030, [email protected]; Juan-Carlos Castro’s “Funny You Don’t Look It,” $10 a square foot at The Future Perfect, 718-599-6278) or www.futureperfect.com. 20: Plastic garden: plastic boxwoods at www.earthflora.com, 440-899-4947; artificial boulders at www.dekorraproducts.com, 920-992-6535; crushed recycled glass (used as ground cover) at www.trivitro.com, 425-251-8340; PVC pipe and flanges to match “trunks and roots of the plastic plants” at www.usplastic.com. 22: Erin Adams glass tiles, $156 a square foot, at Ann Sacks, Chicago. 26: SIM2’s Grand Cinema RTX, $10,000, at Glenn Poor, Chicago. 27: Atelier Le Tallec dinnerware, pattern Aubepine, available through special order at Tiffany & Co., Chicago. 28 and 29: Antler table lamp by Jason Miller, $270, at www.velocityartanddesign.com. and at The Future Perfect, 718-599-6278 and www.millerstudio.us. 30: The Chicago Books: “North Shore Chicago: Houses of the Lakefront Suburbs 1890-1940” ($77) and “Chicago Apartments: A Century of Lakefront Luxury” ($75), both Acanthus Press, at finer bookstores.