Dwell 10/1/2016

It’s never been easier to find good furniture. With a few clicks, an endless scroll of sofas, dining chairs, and beds appears. So why is the process still so stressful? Perhaps it’s because the exercise of outfitting a home is a gradual one, filled with inevitable compromise. A current popular philosophy dictates that all of our belongings should give us joy, and if they don’t, we should jettison those items immediately. Easier said than done. Objects can carry great weight, both literally and figuratively. Maybe it’s an inherited piece that’s discordant with everything else, but there’s too much attachment to get rid of it. Or a disagreement arises, stemming from what’s considered “beautiful,” and one person stubbornly clings to an item that the other can’t stand. Then there’s always the…

LETTERS I recall that back in 2000 you posted a Fruit Bowl Manifesto. Reading your April 2016 issue, on page 64, there we have it: a fruit bowl. They are not there often, but it seems some of your homeowners do eat fruit. Another thing I enjoy seeing in Dwell is that every issue has at least one Eames chair. I wanted to say thank you for all the years of reading. Bob Schatz Portland, Oregon Dwell features the ideal mix of what is currently happening worldwide in contemporary architecture, construction, and material use. Every article is straightforward, with just enough images and text. Great place to be inspired! Keep it coming! Thomas Caljo Posted to Facebook I’ve been a reader of your fine publication since 2011. The recent trend…

Nick Ballon A documentary and portrait photographer based in London, Nick Ballon traveled to Brussels to capture the 19th-century residence of designer Danny Venlet and his family (page 92). “Once we had finished our first day of shooting, we went out for dinner and drank a little too much wine at a local fish restaurant called Le Vismet,” he recalls. “It’s heartwarming to know that although you might be in the center of a busy city, you can always step out and find a friendly place to eat.” Ballon’s first book, Ezekiel 36:36, is a visual study of Bolivia’s national airline. If you could own any furniture item, what would you choose? “I’m a fan of Donald Judd’s minimalist sensibilities to furniture making and the crossovers to his art. His…

Pierre Paulin has been a household name for quite some time. The late French designer, who produced his first furnishings for Meubles TV and Thonet France, is best known for capturing the verve of the Swinging Sixties with innovative, sculptural seating designs that wed stretch-fabric upholstery with undulating, Space Age forms in bright, pop-driven hues for Artifort. But he also designed whole interior environments, including state commissions for French presidents Georges Pompidou and François Mitterand; cofounded a global industrial design agency, ADSA, in 1975; and worked through a number of stylistic periods with rigor and élan in the course of his six-decade career. Shortly before Paulin’s death, his family founded a firm—Paulin, Paulin, Paulin—in 2008 as a venue to preserve, enrich, and make accessible his prolific and forward-looking body of…

Artists need patrons to find fame. Talent isn’t enough. Great desire, coupled with an aptitude for strategic selfpromotion, isn’t enough. An artist needs a believer, a kindred spirit who will use whatever power and resources they have to give the artist room to create without restriction. This crucial support is often the nudge that can catapult any creative person—designer, actor, musician—into the global arena. For designer Ini Archibong, a chance meeting 13 years ago with actor Terry Crews sparked a free-ranging conversation about life, art, and creativity. At the time, Archibong was ferociously pursuing his design education, both scholastically at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, and professionally by working with furniture companies, showing new works, and forging relationships with other designers. Crews, who rose…

Jens’s furniture is the bond that ties my family together. We hold my grandfather’s pieces dear to our hearts. Most of the family heirlooms are located in Connecticut and on Block Island, where parts of our family have lived since Jens built his famous prefab there in 1967, which was featured on the cover of Life at the time. Another batch is scattered around San Francisco, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Denver, Portland, and other places where his 11 grandchildren reside. The furniture unites us. Twenty or so years ago, when Jens and Henny, his second wife, moved into a smaller home, they didn’t have the space to take everything with them, so they gifted pieces to each of the four children. Over the years, every member of the next generation was…