Chroma is a recycled-acrylic material by 3form that can be used as a horizontal surface. It’s best used in illuminated designs and is available with a matte finish and thousands of translucent color combinations. Up until now, 3form offered Chroma with 40% pre-consumer recycled content, but the company recently upgraded the formula, as explained in an article about closing the loop.
This is Metem, a material distributed by Minnesota-based Intectural, a sister company of Epicurean Cutting Surfaces and Loll Designs. Metem is made with old milk jugs — like Loll’s Rapson Collection — or to be more specific, post-consumer recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE). It’s highly durable and requires no maintenance, according to Intectural, and can used inside or out in wet or dry applications.
Loll Designs recently announced a new line called the Rapson Collection. As background, it turns out that Toby Rapson, son of the famous Ralph Rapson (architect of Greenbelt Case Study House No. 4), met Loll at an AIA event in Minneapolis and decided to work with the company to resurrect certain of Rapson’s chairs originally designed for Knoll in the 1940s. Loll and Rapson-Inc. came up with a couple prototypes and shared them at ICFF and Dwell on Design this year.
This is an inventive design for a shelf/storage solution that fits the occasion. Called BrickBox, the modular system is designed and manufactured in Barcelona by Antxon Salvador and Roger Zanni. BrickBox can be used for storage — assemble and stack — or transport — pack and grab a handle — and comes in two sizes: 10.6″ x 10.6″ x 14.2″ (small) and 21.3″ x 10.6″ x 14.2″ (large). Fair Companies featured the design in a recent video, which could help propel the company outside of Europe and into the U.S. BrickBox is searching for an American distributor right now. Pricing is between ~$40 – $60 per box.
Broom is another chair made by Emeco and Philippe Starck, but this one isn’t made with aluminum. As explained by Starck: “Imagine … a guy who takes a humble broom and starts to clean the workshop, and with this dust he makes new magic.” In this case, the dust is discarded industrial material — 75% reclaimed polypropylene, 15% reclaimed wood fiber, and 10% glass fiber — and the magic is a stackable chair.
This the new Blueair Sense designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune. It was designed to shatter barriers in the bland world of air purification with a contemporary design, touch-less control, compact size, low energy consumption, quiet operation, and optimal clean air delivery rate. All Blueair units are Energy Star certified and use “HEPA Silent” technology, and I understand Blueair Sense will be no different. I’ve asked Blueair for pricing and availability information and will update this article when I hear back.
