Category: Design and Interiors

Categories / Design and Interiors, Kids

Rietveld Junior Crate chair

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Rietveld junior chair

Any design classic worth its salt now seems to be available in a kids version too. Earlier this summer we featured the Knoll range and there's also the Charles and Ray Eames selection. The junior crate chair reproduces the chair Gerrit Rietveld made from reused crate wood packaging in 1934, but at 2/3 of its normal size. These chairs do have slightly more of a pedigree than some of the designs on the market as, in his lifetime, Rietveld did build a pair for his own daughter. 

The twenty-first century version comes as a flat pack in a variety of colourful finishes as well as the natural version shown here. If you think your kids aesthetic sensibilities are worth this kind of investment, the chair costs 189 euros. 

Buy it online

Categories / Design and Interiors

Fontana Arte 1960s Huna Suspension Lamp

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Huna

If I was pushed on a year (without knowing otherwise) for the Fontana Arte Huna Suspension Lamp, I would have guessed at 1930s. But it actually dates back to 1965.

From Archivio Storico, the light certainly has that 1930s utilitarian feel, albeit with a lot more class than the kind of thing you might have found in a factory or warehouse. In terms of construction, the Huna offers a painted aluminium pendant with black or white interior, complete with a staineless steel suspension cable and transparent power cable.

If you want one in your home, it sells for £174.

Find out more at the Panik Design website

Categories / Architecture, Design and Interiors

Iconic K8 Phone Box listed by English Heritage

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Shrubhillk8

The Twentieth Century Society has been campaigned for the past two years to have the remaining examples of the K8 phone box given listed status (we featured the tea towels sold to support the campaign last year. The Society has recently announced its first success in this campaign with the K8 at Shrub Hill Station in Worcester given Grade II status.

The K8 has designed by Bruce Martin in 1967 and was the last of BT’s great red telephone boxes. There were originally 11,000, but now only 60 remain in use. The Society hopes to achieve listed status for another 14 of the iconic boxes.

To see a complete list of the remaining K8s, photographs of other examples and further details of the campaign, visit the Twentieth Century Society’s website.

Categories / Design and Interiors

Jens Risom armchair at Design Within Reach

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Jens armchair

While Knoll still sells Jens Risom's Lounge chair, one of the very first designs produced for the company, Design Within Reach (DWR) exclusively offers the Jens armchair and ottoman. They are based on designs Risom originally produced for the Caribe Hilton Hotel in Puerto Rico in 1949. Though they still look the same, DWR have collaborated with the designer to update the production techniques, meaning you get mid-century style married with contemporary cost-effectiveness. 

Sadly, this is a treat for North American readers only as the company doesn't offer international shipping. If you do reside that side of the Atlantic, the chair is currently reduced in their sale to $935. 

See it online

Categories / Books, Design and Interiors

Penguin Donkey 2 by Ernest Race for Isokon Plus

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Donkey2

When we first started Retro To Go, one of the first items we wrote about was one of our all-time favourite designs, the original Isokon Plus Penguin Donkey, which dates back to 1939. But for some reason, we've not got round to mentioning the update, the Penguin Donkey 2 by Ernest Race. Until now that is.

For the uninitiated, the Penguin Donkey is a small bookcase, designed in 1939 to hold (as you've probably guessed) Penguin paperbacks, but good for storing everything in practice, from magazines to CDs. The Penguin Donkey 2 is an update, with iconic British designer Ernest Race asked to re-design the Donkey back in 1963, producing something more 'modern', a little more simple and with a flat top so it can double up as a side table.

It's still in production today, although it is less common to see than the original. However, Skandium sells them in a mix of white and solid cherry, priced at £410.

Find out more at the Skandium website

Categories / Design and Interiors

Braun ABW31 clock by Dietrich Lubs

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Braun_clock

The classic Braun designs of the 60s, 70s and 80s are getting in ever-more short supply as the years pass, presumably because technology moves on, leaving many classic products by the wayside. Thankfully, we still have the Braun ABW31 clock by Dietrich Lubs – for now, at least.

It's a classic piece of Braun design, minimalist and modernist-inspired and despite dating from 1987, is also pretty much timeless. A greet frame with black functional numbers, hands and markers, it should fit perfectly into just about any room.

Available in limited numbers from the Design Museum, the ABW31 retails for £39.95.

Find out more at the Design Museum website