DESIGN

MYSTICAL JEWELS

Peter Janík is 33 years old, and probably one of the most exhibited jewellers in Slovakia. His unusual collections, among which one can often find custom-made items, have already been on display in 27 countries. The jeweller finds his inspiration in early Christian, Jewish and Arabic cultures, as well as in Le Corbusier’s minimalist designs. He sets Australian opals or Tahitian pearls into platinum and titanium. ‘Lunar,’ a ring made by him, imitates the three different phases of the moon.

AUSTRALIAN DESIGN FOR KITCHENWARE

The Australian design agency modernwhite.com considers itself as the international mouthpiece for modern forms created by Australian up-and- coming designers. The nation has only a small number of inhabitants and thus a small local market at its disposal, but it remarkably harmonises Asian and European influences. The lack of an industrial base for mass production facilitates small numbers of production, which perhaps otherwise would never have been created.Robert Foster has created this creamer and sugar bowl as well a the tray with a bowl for the label F!NK. Foster, who has also worked for Alessi and Ingo Maurer, uses a highly unusual method of metal design: explosives. The explosion takes place within an aluminium tube that has been filled with water, thus evoking distortions which cannot be made by conventional techniques.This collection of various plates is made by Simon Lloyd. With his choice of materials he knows how to evoke surprise with results that seem to be unpredictable, captivating with their aesthetic brilliance. Lloyd tries to form objects that harmonise with their surroundings. That is why his materials are composed of natural substances.Elaine Miles researches the connections between art, language and perception with the help of her glass works. She was only recently trained as a glass-blower in Germany and America and connects her expertise to the intimacy of perceptible surfaces, thus enabling a whole new approach even to mere functional objects.

DUCKLING? NO THANKS!

The times to sit in the bathtub all alone with just a rubber ducky are definitely over: Ambrogio Rossari (born in 1943) has designed ‘Moody’, a glass bathtub where one side is an aquarium with living fish! If that feels a bit too intimate for you, you can opt for a washbasin with the same system, also designed – like many other bathroom objects – by the Italian.

MODERN SEATING PLASTIC FANTASTIC

There is no cooler place than the SOFTPILL for chilling-out. Floating just a few inches above the ground, one hovers in a colourful world of flowing forms and hard plastic.