From significant business changes to noteworthy product launches, there’s always something new happening in the world of design. In this biweekly roundup, AD PRO has everything you need to know.
Design Happenings
Maak presents sale of Victoria, Lady de Rothschild’s contemporary craft collection
As the second wife of financier Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, the American-born Victoria Schott, better known as Lady de Rothschild, settled into Ascott House, in Buckinghamshire, England, in the early 1970s. Six reception rooms in this historic rural retreat, designed by Robert Kime, Renzo Mongiardino, and Peter Marino, are currently the elegant backdrop to Maak’s latest exhibition (through September 17) and online auction (September 12 through 21), a showcase of Lady Victoria’s impressive stash of contemporary crafts.
In 2021, Christie’s gave the late socialite, philanthropist, and avid collector’s furniture, art, and design objects the spotlight, but this time around the attention is on over 100 works sculpted from the likes of glass, whitewashed ash, and forged steel, as well as jewelry curated with the assistance of de Rothschild family friend and designer Tomasz Starzewski. These include French woodturner Marc Ricourt’s rippled, scorched elm vessel, Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala’s chunky tumblers for Iittala Glass Factory, and Japanese ceramicist Kondō Takahiro’s lidded porcelain box, reminiscent of an underwater treasure.
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AD PRO Hears…
…that the Fall 2023 RH Interiors Collection & Sourcebook—back in print for the first time since 2020—will be arriving in mailboxes this week. At more than 600 pages, the Sourcebook spans dozens of new collections, each uniquely interpreting RH’s understated elegance ethos. Expect to see new collaborations with Oliver Oulton, Francesco Crivellari, Ron Mann, and more.
Products
Sunbrella launches in-house custom window treatments
Sunbrella’s durable, light-filtering, easy-to-clean window coverings can now be customized. The soft drapery and Roman and solar shade options, featuring over 300 colorways and 40 patterns, are outfitted with Sunbrella’s fade-proof Color to the Core technology and can be heightened with various liners, headers, valances, and cornices. Motorization and automation capabilities also allow the window treatments to be integrated into all smart home systems. Another perk? Consultations, in-home measurements, and installations are conveniently organized through one of the dealers in Sunbrella’s extensive network.
A Maker to Know: Last Ditch Design
Before forming Last Ditch Design in 2022, LA-based maker Todd Hewitt’s nearly 30-year career led him to Henrybuilt, Environment Furniture, and Lawson-Fenning. Those experiences helped shape his new solo venture, dedicated to crafting timeless furniture—much of it custom fabricated—that draws from midcentury modern, Scandinavian, and contemporary design.
Hewitt’s inaugural collection, starring FSC-certified lumber (Last Ditch Design has also partnered with the nonprofit One Tree Planted), spans eye-catching seating, tables, desks, beds, storage units, lighting, and accessories rooted in simplicity. Consider the monolithic Nostromo bench flaunting a built-in game board, the Silas lounge chair—and its matching ottoman—fusing an array of comfortable bolster cushions with a sleek leather sling, or the symmetrical Sulaco sideboard adorned with woven cane door panels.
AD PRO Hears…
…Urban Electric Co. has debuted a Curated Shades assortment, featuring 10 patterns culled from Robert Kime, Zak & Fox, Rebecca Atwood, Jim Thomspon, Serena Dugan, and more. Varied in style, the fabrics can be paired with any of the lighting maker’s shaded fixtures all while maintaining four- to six-week lead times.
…this fall, Mazo will be reissuing the Arch chair, a 1932 bentwood design by Danish architect Magnus Læssøe Stephensen. The leisurely piece, with its angled backrest and woven paper-cord seat, is available in natural oak, ruby red, and auberge finishes through Gestalt New York.
Business
Carl Hansen & Søn acquires Pandul
Since 1982, Pandul has been producing classic, modern lighting from Danish designers such as Hans J. Wegner, Erik Magnussen, Henning Koppel, and Jørgen Gammelgaard from its factory in Greve, outside of Copenhagen. Now the heritage manufacturer is part of Carl Hansen & Søn (its operational and sales infrastructure remains intact), particularly fitting given that Wegner also dreamed up numerous chair designs for the family-owned Danish furniture company between 1949 and 1968, including the iconic Wishbone.
In the News
Remembering designer and architect Rodolfo Dordoni
In 1997, Rodolfo Dordoni conceived the cubic Suitcase armchair for Minotti, an imposing geometric beauty that embodied the Italian architect and designer’s flair for unconventional precision. Dordoni, who passed away on August 1 at the age of 69, served as art director for the furniture brand until his death, simultaneously tackling residential and commercial projects at the eponymous Milan studio he founded in 2005 with Luca Zaniboni and Alessandro Acerbi. Upon graduating from the Politecnico di Milano in 1979, Dordoni kicked off his career as art director for Cappellini, eventually designing such memorable products as the 1950s-inspired Sail Out outdoor sectional sofa for Cassina and Molteni&C’s round-edged marble Old Ford table. Another of his long-term collaborators, Foscarini, will poignantly unveil Dordoni’s posthumous table lamp designs this fall. Centered on Pyrex glass stems, the fixtures include the delicate, decorative Fleur and the Chapeaux family distinguished by playful hat-shaped diffusers.
2024 Colors of the Year predictions roll in
Grounding, meditative hues are poised to dominate 2024. Following Behr and PPG’s recent reveals that the soft black Cracked Pepper and warm honey beige Limitless are its Colors of the Year, respectively, Sherwin-Williams Consumer Brands Group has announced a duo of fresh shades also predicted to make a splash in the new year. The HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams pick is earthy Persimmon, a jubilant tangerine melded with muted terra-cotta, while Valspar opted for the calming, subtly sea green tinted Renew Blue, evocative of mist.
AD PRO Hears…
…the Kips Bay Decorator Show House is heading back to Dallas, with doors opening to the fourth annual edition on November 3. Aptly timed to coincide with Dallas Design Week, the show house will take place over a two-week span within a historical home in the Sunnybrook Estates neighborhood of Old Preston Hollow.
Awards
Cooper Hewitt names 2023 Design Award winners
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum has announced the recipients of its 2023 National Design Awards. The 10 honorees of this 24th edition, selected by a multidisciplinary jury of practitioners, educators, and leaders from the design world, will be fêted at Cooper Hewitt on October 5. Snagging the interior design award is The Archers, the LA-based, AD100 firm founded by Richard Petit and Stephen Hunt. Its portfolio runs the gamut from a 16,500-square-foot abode in the Hollywood Hills to the library-like bookstore at UCLA’s Hammer Museum. Atlason Studio in New York, meanwhile, won the product design category. Established by Iceland native Hlynur Atlason, the innovation and industrial design practice collaborated with Heller earlier this year on the Limbo chair fashioned out of low-density polyethylene.
