Design

Hermès Birkin

When it comes to Iconic handbags, the Hermès Birkin is the ultimate status symbol. It is known for its superior craftsmanship and an insane price tag. Standard models start around US$7,000. Hermès is known to be extremely secretive about the number of Birkin bags that it manufactures each year, limiting the supply to the elite and fashionable.

Hermès Birkin - Iconic Handbag, its jistory design and effects on culture

Hermès Birkin | PC: Quartz

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The Zig Zag Chair by Gerrit Reitweld.
Design

The Zig-Zag Chair

If you have been reading my Design section you know how much I love the Form vs. Function debate. At various stages of life I find myself identify with different sides. During my B.Arch days I was staunchly on team “Function”,  but post Industrial Design education and few years of work in the field seems to be gradually pulling me into team “Form”. So today I want to write about one more piece of furniture which further fuels this debate- The Zig-Zag Chair by Gerrit Rietveld. 

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alessi-9093-michael-graves-kettle
Design

9093 Kettle

In school while studying Architecture & later Industrial Design, my professors could not stop emphasizing on the fact that one’s design needs to solve a problem. Yet the students were expected to do tried and tested design assignments which (of-course) needed to solve a problem. But what is one to do, when there is no problem or better yet, the problem has already been solved in genius ways? After a lot of sweat, blood and tears I learnt the answer to that question – Make it better! Continue reading

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Design

Juicy Salif

In my Iconic Design series, today I want to write about a Lemon Squeezer. Yes, you read that right; a banal lemon squeezer has made it on this list! It is none other than the very controversial, yet counted among the major-leagues of modern design, the Juicy Salif. Perhaps the only lemon squeezer that has earned a spot at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Before I came across Juicy Salif, I never thought a mundane lemon squeezer could capture my attention and thoughts for so long, but isn’t that the crux of Emotional Design!

Phillipe Stark & Allesi Juicy Salif the lemon squeezer

Juicy Salif | Image Credit

Philippe Starck Allessi Juicy Salif Lemon Squeezer

Juicy Salif | Image Credit

The Juicy Salif lemon squeezer is designed by internationally renowned French designer Philippe Starck for the Italian firm Alessi.  Continue reading

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Design

Angelpoise Lamp

Angelpoise Lamp is an iconic pieces of Industrial Design that has always captivated my attention. My earliest memory of this lamp is from my childhood when I would see Dad reading under the light of this lamp late into the night. The lamp’s shade was of a faded green colour, perhaps because of the heat from the incandescent bulb in it. As a curious kid,  I had burned my fingers quite a few times while fiddling with it and was not a fan of the weird mechanical contraption.

Much later, I realized that it was a replica of the iconic Angelpoise and truly understood its remarkable design. Angelpoise lamp is a design classic and has found a mention in popular songs, books and sculptures.

Original Angel poise 1227

Image Credit : Angelpoise

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Design

Chair No. 14

I have been an admirer of  this iconic piece of furniture for the longest time. My earliest memory of this chair is from when I visited a Parsi family that had the plastic version of this in their dining room. As the elders socialized, I killed time by sticking spoons into the weave of the seat.

Later my education in Architecture and Industrial Design only increased my appreciation for this wonderful piece of furniture design. Since then I have spent countless hours looking at pictures of this chair in various settings and imagining how it would look in my future house.

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Image Credit: Thonet.de

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