Monday, 6 July 2020

New Balance by Fabio Novembre for Lensvelt

New Balance by Fabio Novembre for Lensvelt

VDF products fair: Lensvelt's modular sofa system New Balance is designed by Italian architect and designer Fabio Novembre as a metaphor "for the uncertainties of our time".

New Balance comprises a series of modular seats, including an armchair, single sofa and a chaise longue, which are characterised by sloped bodies with uneven legs.

The modules are designed to be combined in various configurations, each attached to a small table on one side. These tables all have level surfaces, visually exaggerating the appearance of the sloped seats and creating an unbalanced appearance that references feelings of instability.

New Balance seating modules are available with a choice of left or right slope and multiple upholstery options, allowing users to create a sofa tailored to their interior space.

"The fact that New Balance literally looks for balance on its uneven legs is a metaphor for the unstable balance of our time," explained Lensvelt.

"We are looking for certainty, guidance, a new equilibrium," added Novembre. "The users of the New Balance must also look for balance, while small tables between the sofas act as resting points."

Product: New Balance
Designer: Fabio Novembre
Brand: Lensvelt
Contact address: info@lensvelt.nl

About VDF products fair: the VDF products fair offers an affordable launchpad for new products during Virtual Design Festival. For more details email vdf@dezeen.com.

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101 Chair by Maarten Baas for Lensvelt

101 Chair by Maarten Baas for Lensvelt

VDF products fair: Amorphous backrests with a hand-drawn aesthetic characterise the customisable 101 Chairs that Maarten Baas has designed for Lensvelt.

First launched in 2017 at the Salone del Mobile, the 101 Chair is celebrated for its versatility and for becoming Dutch designer Baas' first mass-produced product.

Today it forms the basis of the expanded 101 Chair family and is available in several variations. This includes models with stackable frames and optional armrests, as well as high and low barstool versions.

Each chair is available with a choice of one of Baas' eight distinctive backrests, which all evoke loose hand drawings of human faces so "the chairs always look special and surprising," according to Lensvelt.

The backrests are available with 14 upholstery options, which are also used on the cushioned seats, and teamed with either a metallic or oak frame structure.

"Hans Lensvelt was the first one to get [Baas] to design a mass product," explained Lensvelt.

"The result is a series of unique chairs that look like they are all individually hand-drawn. Now, three years later it is one of the bestsellers of Lensvelt."

Product: 101 Chair
Designer: Maarten Baas
Brand: Lensvelt
Contact address: info@lensvelt.nl

About VDF products fair: the VDF products fair offers an affordable launchpad for new products during Virtual Design Festival. For more details email vdf@dezeen.com.

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Job Cabinet by Studio Job for Lensvelt

Job Cabinet by Studio Job for Lensvelt

VDF products fair: An oversized "fairytale golden key" protrudes from the understated metal body of the Job Cabinet created by Studio Job for Lensvelt.

Described by Lensvelt as an archetype, the Job Cabinet has a deliberately simple form with a single door, and is intended for use as storage space in an office or at home.

It is available in eight different colours and opens with a big golden key, designed to contrast with the rest of the cabinet. The lock into which the key slots is also exposed internally.

Inside the Job Cabinet has six removable shelves, four of which are as deep as the cabinet itself. A wardrobe configuration is also available.

"The Job Cabinet is the archetype of the typical cabinet, but with a special twist," said Lensvelt.

"The ingenious lock, which has been left completely visible on the inside of the door, holds a giant fairytale golden key that forms a striking contrast with the stark look of the cabinet."

The Job Cabinet was first launched by Lensvelt in 2011, and was the first product in the Job Office collection that comprises the Job Buffet, Job Desk and Job Office Desk Lamp.

Product: Job Cabinet
Designer: Studio Job
Brand: Lensvelt
Contact address: info@lensvelt.nl

About VDF products fair: the VDF products fair offers an affordable launchpad for new products during Virtual Design Festival. For more details email vdf@dezeen.com.

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Productora designs pink concrete playgrounds in Mexico

Tlalnepantla Park by Productora

Pink concrete forms seats, steps and climbing walls in these two public parks designed by Mexican architecture firm Productora.

Infonavit, a federal company in Mexico that designs worker's housing, tasked Productora to create the two parks for residential communities in Tlalnepantla de Baz and Tultitlán, Mexico. Both public spaces are situated on narrow strips of land between apartment buildings and roadways.

Tlalnepantla Park by Productora

"Besides being used by all the people who live around either to do exercise, concerts, gathering and so on, they also have been used for the buildings around them to extend their activities in an open area," Productora told Dezeen.

"They offer to the communities a new space that not only works as a park but also as space that articulate and connect the neighbourhood."

Tultitlán Park by Productora

Each park is outfitted with pink pigmented concrete playground equipment, seating and pavilions.

The studio chose this material to create a uniform design throughout the park and because concrete requires little maintenance.

Tlalnepantla Park by Productora

The Tlalnepantla park built for the El Tenayo Housing Unit is split into nine parcels that each measure 20 by 20 metres. They are arranged in a row on top of an inclined stretch of land that makes use of the site's existing topography.

At one end of the park, there is a multi-use court painted with yellow and green circles. Two sets of pink concrete bleachers are set up in front of the playing field for spectators.

Another segment is occupied by a triangular pavilion, a skate park, playground structures and a civic area with a flagpole. A series of stairs and ramps link each of the distinct sections to meet accessibility requirements.

Tultitlán's park is located across from the Hogares Castera housing and is formed by a concrete pathway measuring 15 metres wide and 200 metres long. A number of 50 centimetre by 50 centimetre concrete cubes are scattered across the park's entrance to establish meeting points.

Tlalnepantla Park by Productora

A triangular pavilion, similar to that in Tlalnepantla park, occupies the long corridor, along with several concrete platforms and sculptures that double as playground equipment and grandstand seating.

The recreational space is surrounded by grassy patches and trees and also includes three sports fields.

Productora worked with the local communities to develop the projects, which also involved updating sidewalks, street lighting and furniture and landscaping.

Tultitlán Park by Productora

"Both were projects where the community was involved, there were surveys and meetings with neighbours where they express their concerns and needs," the studio added. "Somehow, they were projects designed together with the users."

Tultitlán Park by Productora

Infonavit is a federal company that develops housing for workers among its initiatives is The Housing Research and Practical Experimentation Laboratory, a social housing project in Hidalgo, Mexico with designs by Tatiana Bilbao and Frida Escobedo.

Productora is an architecture studio in Mexico City and Los Angeles led by Abel Perles, Carlos Bedoya, Victor Jaime and Wonne Ickx. Its other projects include a concrete house built on a nature preserve in Tulum and a concert hall that references Aztec ruins.

Photography is by Erick Mendez.


Project credits:

Architectural design: Productora, Carlos Bedoya, Víctor Jaime, Wonne Ickx, Abel Perles
Collaborators: Daniela Diaz, Natalia Echeverria, Alonso Sanchez, Diego Velazquez
Contractor: Cronos
Client: Infonavit

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Fabio Novembre and Hans Lensvelt discuss work and design in live talk for VDF

Virtual Design Festival teamed up with Dutch design brand Lensvelt to host a design-focused conversation between designer Fabio Novembre, Lensvelt founder Hans Lensvelt and Marcus Fairs.

The final talk in our VDF x Lensvelt collaboration highlighted Novembre's first product for Lensvelt, the 2019 New Balance Sofa. The modular sofa system features sloping armchairs, single sofas and a chaise lounge, all upholstered in various colour combinations.

Hans Lensvelt and Fabio Novembre
Novembre (right) and Lensvelt, who have been friends for two decades, spoke to Dezeen as part of VDF

Novembre has been a friend of Hans Lensvelt's since 2000 when the designer was the speaker at the Architect Interieur Prijs organised by Lensvelt. Since then he has worked with Lensvelt on a number of interior projects, including the UNAhotels in Florence.

The discussion between Novembre and Lensvelt was moderated by Dezeen's editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs and saw the designer talk about his work for Lensvelt.

The New Balance sofa by Fabio Novembre
Novembre designed the New Balance sofa for Lensvelt

It was part of our collaboration with Lensvelt for Virtual Design Festival that also included Screentime interviews with designers Maarten Baas and Joep van Lieshout, both of which have also designed products for the brand.

Novembre was one of the 35 designers featured in the video message for the launch of Virtual Design Festival in April and recorded a greeting in which he called for a new world order to be created in response to the societal conditions created by the coronavirus pandemic.

Fabio Novembre
Novembre was one of the designers included in Virtual Design Festival's launch video

"People say: let's go back to normality. But what is normal?" he said. "The virus is in the system that we used to live in."

"The answer to a catastrophe is not about re-establishing the previous order. It's about creating a new one."

Among Novembre's recent projects is a font design for sportswear brand Adidas' varsity VRCT jacket. In 2017, he created six beds "inspired by the world of dreams" for mattress brand PerDormire. Each bed refers to a different aspect of fairytales, from castles and moons to queens and princesses.

The designer is also the scientific director of Milan's Domus Academy school of design, a role that he was appointed to in 2018.

About Virtual Design Festival

Virtual Design Festival runs from 15 April to 10 July 2020. It brings the architecture and design world together to celebrate the culture and commerce of our industry, and explore how it can adapt and respond to extraordinary circumstances.

To find out what's coming up at VDF, check out the schedule. For more information or to join the mailing list, email vdf@dezeen.com.

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