Tag: Furniture

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From Parnham to Durham: Feature Interview with Canadian Furniture-maker Robin Speke of SPEKE|KLEIN

Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Canadian furniture designer Robin Speke, of Speke|Klein, about the firm’s practice – especially their education at Parnham College in England, the evolution of Speke Klein’s business model, and the links between design, craft and manufacturing. This is an edited version of our conversation. Given that Parnham College’s … Continue reading From Parnham to Durham: Feature Interview with Canadian Furniture-maker Robin Speke of SPEKE|KLEIN

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Pull up a Chair and Join us!

To continue this serialized essay about how furniture functions as a key design element in DesignAgency’s interiors for The Broadveiw Hotel Café, let’s consider the balance of functional and symbolic design objectives that is achieved in the room’s main dining areas: the café chair dining range and the harvest table multi-use space. The dining areas … Continue reading Pull up a Chair and Join us!

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The Power of Waiting

In this series about how furniture functions as a key interior design element in the Broadview Hotel Café, I have spent some time discussing the overall architectural context of the room and the Circular Stacked Bar as its central landmark piece. I’m also interested in the two seating areas that occupy the threshold zone between the … Continue reading The Power of Waiting

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Tending to the Bar: Furniture at the Broadview Hotel Café

Yesterday I wrote briefly about how furniture plays a key role in the success of the Broadview Hotel Café interior. I promised to expand on how the space’s interior zones are defined by furniture installations that express spatial and cultural meaning. Of the six interior zones identified – the circular stacked bar, the wingback entrance lounge, … Continue reading Tending to the Bar: Furniture at the Broadview Hotel Café

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Furniture Defines Interior Space at the Broadview Hotel Café

This weekend marked the soft opening of the new Broadview Hotel, situated on the North-west corner of Queen Street East and Broadview Avenue in Toronto’s east end. A much-anticipated event in the design community, this project has involved many local and international creative collaborations. How could I stay away? I found the main entrance off … Continue reading Furniture Defines Interior Space at the Broadview Hotel Café

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Thoughts about Furniture, Design Practice, and the Matter of Making

I have been thinking about contemporary furniture, design practice, and the matter of making – and recently learned about what sounds like a very promising lecture/event to be held at The Design Museum in London (England) on the evening of Tuesday, September 5th, 2017. (Read more about the event here.) What caught my eye was … Continue reading Thoughts about Furniture, Design Practice, and the Matter of Making

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Michael Wolf’s photographs of ‘Hong Kong Informal Seating Arrangements’

One of my favorite on-line sources for critical writing about all sorts of design – from architecture and urbanism to product, fashion, graphics and beyond – is Edwin Heathcote’s “Reading Design” initiative. Heathcote and his team regularly post excerpts from a variety of contemporary and historical sources, mostly texts already published elsewhere. I especially appreciate it … Continue reading Michael Wolf’s photographs of ‘Hong Kong Informal Seating Arrangements’