Furniture Design Blog | Maxine Snider | A portal to the design world » UTOPIA

ORGANIZATION

Maxine — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:10:50 +0000

To my favorite compulsive organizers out there, a new blog for you: Things Organized Neatly. When Martha Stewart Living doesn’t satisfy your need for order…

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GAULTIER: A UTOPIANIST

Maxine — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:00:04 +0000

Ever thought a can of cat food might make a beautiful silver cuff, as-in-bracelet? Me neither! But Jean-Paul Gaultier did. He cut off both ends, dipped it in silver, and called it jewelry.

Susan Orlean’s New Yorker profile on Jean-Paul Gaultier reveals that the designer has great powers to recast the ordinary. By definition, he is a utopianist: he is able to take nothing for granted when approaching the material world; he is able to see possibility where many of us cannot. A cat can, in other worlds, can be a bracelet if it fits on your wrist.

TRAVEL: the wheels on the bus

Maxine — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 17:37:26 +0000

I had to share this with you, in case you missed it [via Apartment Therapy].

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“I was in no way looking to purchase a double-decker bus, but I had been considering ways to create my own unique environment for years,”

-Crystal Thomas, who bought a double-decker bus, to convert into a guest cottage.

Here’s the full interview with her, on Ready Made Magazine’s web-site.

UTOPIA: POLAROID

Maxine — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:18:37 +0000

I’ll venture to call Polaroid film a utopian idea, at least when it was first proposed: the idea was shocking–shake your film in plain air and watch the image emerge. In February 2008, Polaroid ceased to make Polaroid film, opting to focus entirely on digital products.

Not satisfied to go quietly into the night, several polaroid fanatics joined what was coined The Impossible Project and last week, the project introduced a successor to the original instant polaroid film. Rejoice!

I am not sure yet whether I should hang onto a number of kits like this:

MATTER: BLOCKS REDUX

Maxine — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:39:32 +0000

We can’t help but feature blocks here, once again. We’ve found a company that combines two of our interests: wood blocks and intentional communities, or utop ia s. The Bruderhof, a communal society founded in Germany, moved to Paraguay, and settled, finally, in North America (on several different sites or “hofs”), make their living with simple wood toys. If you’re interested in learning more, here is an article.

MATTER: OUR NEEDS

Maxine — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:26:47 +0000

I have long held a fascination with objects designed for ”special needs” populations. Collectively, the range of our special needs is unspeakably large, but several companies are determined to satisfy them, with designs and objects that I find heartening; someone has considered our daily challenges and came up with a 4-foot shoehorn for those who can’t bend down, an automatic card shuffler for those whose fingers aren’t deft, a hug machine for those who crave deep pressure but also face social phobias and need to control that pressure. This particular design field continues to grow: what are your favorite objects? What are your pressing needs?

Temple Grandin’s Hug Machine, made by the Therafin Corporation.

A sock aid

LoVision Playing Cards

Utopia: Shakers

Maxine — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:43:46 +0000

The Shakers are famous for their bureaus, sewing tables, dressers, flat brooms, and boxes. One Shaker sister gave voice to the popularity (read: commodification) in a BBC documentary, titled “I Don’t Want to Be Remembered as a Chair. Some of us can think of worse legacies, of course.

Few people know that aside from the fine furniture, the Shakers invented the circular saw, the clothespin, and the washing machine. Oprah Winfrey, in 1991, bought an 1830s Shaker work counter for $220,000, which was (at that time) the highest price paid at auction for Shaker furniture. She, along with many other people, have since paid higher prices. At this late, post-industrial date, Shaker influence is so pervasive that it’s almost (but not entirely) inextricable from all our design favorites.

Shaker Design:

Shaker-inspired:

Shaker design:

Shaker-inspired:

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