Today we’re catching up with ames, a company that predominantly uses traditional natural materials and craft techniques found in Colombia. The German-Colombian furniture and accessories brand has dropped several new collaborations for 2023 throughout the year, as well as extensions of existing collections by returning industrial designers. Together, a creative dialogue is started that showcases what’s possible with materials and techniques often previously unknown to the brand’s collaborators. Co-founder Ana María Calderón Kayser begins by immersing the designers in the culture during weeks long research trips that unveil the diversity of the country and an understanding of Colombia’s design and craft tradition that’s then built off of in each project.

“Colombia’s character is defined by its altitude. Colombia has no seasons, but it has snowy mountains, rainforest, coastal areas, and deserts,” says Ana María Calderón Kayser. “Whether we use fique fibers, iraca, or werregue depends on the availability of the raw materials and their specific characteristics. Sometimes we have to wait for years before we can use the material.” The production chain from acquisition of raw materials to the final product is in the hands of small manufacturers and family businesses.

Cartagenas Reina Chair

Part of the 2023 release includes three special edition Cartagenas Reina Chairs by Sebastian Herkner. This brings the total up to five limited special editions, each with its own individual colorway inspired by the plumage of Colombian hummingbirds.

The first variant, Cartagenas Reina Chair Ltd. Edition 3, combines black and caramel brown with pastel beige and copper red. A mix of black, yellow, blue, and beige characterizes the second variant, Ltd. Edition 4. Meanwhile, the third design, Ltd. Edition 5, features soft brown and beige tones.

Cartagenas Reina Chair

Reina is the newest addition to ames’ expansive Cartanegas collection – all designed by Herkner – and is made of galvanized, powder-coated steel tubing and PVC twine made from recycled plastic. It takes the Colombian artisans several days to handcraft this chair, which features a blurred effect that changes color from every angle.

Cartagenas Reina Chair

Cartagenas Reina Chair

Coco

The Coco Modular Seating Collection is MUT Design’s first upholstered seating family, and it’s inspired by origami. For indoor and outdoor use, the chair and ottoman feature a foam core finished with hand-woven covers, while geometric tables accent the squared-off angles. Inspiration also comes from the comecocos paper game, popular in Latin American countries. When playing, children open a folded origami paper to find hidden answers to their questions. The Coco collection includes armchairs, footstools, and tables, each available in several colorways that can be combined with one other.

Coco

Coco allows basic forms, rounded edges, and bright colors to shine while putting the talent of the artisans on full display. The concealed seam textile cover is made of dyed acrylic yarns, woven on a horizontal handloom in the Bolívar region, in a process that results in patterns and color variations. “By changing just one single thread, the patterns in the wefts become very vibrant. The bright colors create depth and perspective. You get the impression that the fabric is constantly changing,” says MUT Design.

Coco

Coco

Coco

Guapi Cactos Vases

The newest three Guapi Cactos Vases, inspired by Colombian cactus gardens and designed by Mae Engelgeer, are a collection extension. The shapely, oversized, hand-woven vases are made in Bogota using recycled PVC, while the originals in the series are made from Chocolatillo straw. Their size, three-dimension effect, and bright colors make for a statement piece indoors or out.

“In order to define the shape of Guapi Cactos, we used a metal construction similar to the Chocolatillo straw version. We then experimented with different materials for each of the three shapes,” says Engelgeer. “It was particularly important to us that the central part of the vases would have a particular effect of depth and that the “ears” – the lateral elements of the vases – would be made of a different material to that of the body of the vases.”

Guapi Cactos Vase

Guapi Cactos Vase

Guapi Cactos Vase

Cartagenas 2-Seater Bench

Another addition to the Cartagenas range from Herkner is the Two-Seater Bench. The designer was inspired by Cartagena, a metropolis on the Colombian Caribbean coast where diverse cultural backgrounds meet and merge. Like other pieces in the collection, the indoor/outdoor bench is characterized by filigree weaving in bold colors, a powder-coated tubular steel frame, and a weave made of recycled PVC string. Smooth curves and strong colorways make the bench an elegant piece of furniture with a strong presence that can be grouped with other pieces from the Cartagenas family.

Cartagenas 2-Seater Bench

Laxo Shelves

The Lazo Wall Shelf is ames’ first collaboration with up-and-coming Belgian designer Charlotte Lancelot, as well as the first shelf in the company’s lineup of products. To make Lazo, artisans from Bogota weave recycled PVC string around a steel frame, using two colors per shelf to create decorative patterns unique to the brand. While the solid weave leaves users with a flat, firm surface to hold things, the shape is a resource-saving design. Lancelot intentionally kept it simple to ensure easy stacking, storage, and transport. An advantage of using PVC in Lazo – and other ames products – is that it’s a moisture-resistant material that can be used indoor or outdoors. The shelf is available in three sizes and five colors to create accents or be playfully combined.

Laxo Shelves

To learn more about all ames has to offer, including other recently released products, visit amesliving.de.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

Nestled within the Atlantic Forest on the coast of Serra do Guararu in São Paulo, Brazil, Casa Azul stands as an example of how to build in protected nature without doing it damage. Designed by Studio MK27, this beach house showcases design that respects and celebrates the lush environment it calls home.

At the start, a two-meter protective perimeter was drawn around the Casa Azul’s projected footprint to shield the local forest from any construction. The design had to cooperate with strict parameters set by environmental agencies, ensuring the preservation of the landscape’s integrity. The result? An ingenious architectural solution that’s as much a part of the environment as the trees and coastal breeze.

The house is raised on pilotis giving it the appearance of hovering over the landscape. A massive wooden deck, which seems to be an extension of the surrounding forest, spans beneath the elevated structure. Its organic shape pays homage to the works of landscape architect Roberto Burle-Marx, playing a visual contrast to the sharp lines of the home above. A pool is strategically positioned to partially bask in the sunlight while still maintaining a harmonious relationship with the surrounding landscaping designed by Rodrigo Oliveira.

Two staggered volumes seem to float amid the tree canopy, helping to provide shade and surrounding views. The lower concrete box frames views of nature thanks to both sides of sliding glass walls. With the walls open, the barrier between indoors and out is dissolved creating a large veranda. The upper floor aims to be a sanctuary amidst the treetops, housing rooms wrapped in wooden grid panels (muxarabis) that filter the light.

On the ground level, a rustic stone wall acts both a functional separator and a complement to the supporting pillars.

Casa Azul leans towards minimalism in materials and decor, keeping the focus on its surroundings. Textured concrete and warm woods blend together without creating an overwhelming presence in its environment.

With the glass walls open, the communal living space feels like a treehouse.

Photography by André Scarpa.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.

Bridget Harvey is a maker and practice-based researcher who has been examining repair, hope, and activism since 2012, through practices such as working as a repairer and maker, exhibitions, a practice-based PhD, an artist residency at the Victoria and Albert Museum, public speaking, and repair workshops.

Tell me about your childhood, education, and background and how you first became interested in repair.

In a lot of ways it was all very ordinary. However, I was always encouraged to make things, to tinker with things and to fix things. This might be making ideas that I had, or tie-dying clothes with my Gran, or helping maintain the house. While I was always encouraged to care for my things, repair them, re-use, and repurpose materials, I didn’t consciously notice my interest in repair until much later. I left school at 16, did a screen printing apprenticeship in Philadelphia and some other bits and pieces, then I settled in to a job at Waterstones bookshop for a few years, making and fixing things in my spare time. It was when I had been there for a few years that I decided to go back to studying, first at Morley College in Southwark, and eventually completing my PhD (on repair as practice) at University of the Arts London.

What appeals to you about repairing existing objects versus creating something new?

I guess I do a bit of both now – I make objects from materials from broken things, and I repair things. I do not like waste, and I want to explore and show how we can reduce our environmental impact by approaching making in different ways. In my making, I am really interested in individual agency – how we can use making to interact with and prolong the life of the precious materials we have around us. This can also bounce up the making scale – if enough individuals come together to ask how their things are made and why they can’t fix or adapt them, then hopefully manufacturing practices will change. I also think that the hands-on interaction with materials and stuff is good for us, we can do it alone, together, watching videos, or reading forums, whichever way – but touching the real things around us and understanding them is important.

There are many words for repair with slight nuances in their meaning – mending, fixing, hacking, restoring, repurposing… which do you prefer in relation to your work and why?

I prefer repair, for me this has both the clear direct meaning and also the flexibility. To repair something is to take it to a state that suits the way you want it – so not necessarily the way it was designed to be used, but how you want it to work. I often use the term repair-maker as well, to emphasize the link between the acts of repairing and making something new.

How would you describe this project or body of work?

I actually work with a lot of different materials, but one thing I have been doing now for about eight years is exploring ways of repairing ceramics. I call the series Sides to Middle, which is actually a textile phrase (you would cut your old, worn bedsheet down the middle, and sew the edges together to create a new, stronger middle area to sleep on). I like this phrase because to me, it also riffs on writer Rebecca Solnit’s suggestion that hope can help bring ideas in from the fringes to the conspicuous center ground, make them more noticeable. So with this body of work I have been trying to show that we can repair all sorts of things, to show different methods (not always practical ceramic methods) and aesthetics, in objects that we are all familiar with – plates and bowls.

What is the inspiration behind it – where did the idea come from?

I was reading a book called Waste and Want by Susan Strasser – it’s a social history of trash, and in it she spoke briefly about old household approaches to ceramic repair. I started to look more into it, trying out ideas I found in my studio, and through that looking into and testing conservation methods. It really just grew form there.

Which repair techniques are you using and why?

I am a bit nomadic – I have always taken a multidisciplinary approach to my practice, using different materials and drawing techniques from different areas. I am really interested in combining different materials so metals and woods with ceramics, testing out different glues, constructive ways of using plastics, and so on. I also always go back to textiles and textile techniques – darning, patching, binding, stitching.

How did you learn the techniques you use in your work?

Some I learnt at home growing up, particularly the textile techniques and also making and using jigs to support my work. Others I have learnt through workshops and other lessons. But most I have taught myself. I was lucky enough to do a residency at the V&A Museum, where I watched and spoke to a lot of conservators – observing the practices and the objects. I learnt a lot there and came across a lot of techniques I wouldn’t have known about otherwise.

How do your repairs change the function or story of the object?

Sometimes they don’t – they just return it to form, and I like that. Other times the object becomes the carrier of the repair story, it is almost more about the repair than the original object (that is particularly true of my museum/exhibition displays). Ideally, we see the object back in some form of use, with its repair in dialogue with and part of its use story.

How visible or invisible is the repair and why is that important?

I am not intent on my work always being visible. For me invisible or as-invisible-as-possible repairs fit better with post-modern and late-neo-liberal ideas around perfection and aesthetics of commercial goods and clothing. However, this often depends on design. That said, I also really like visible repairs and a lot of my work is visible. I like the discussions they provoke, the stories they tell, and the authorship/signature they provide. I also think visibility helps with overall acceptance of repair as necessary, and it can be a political statement about how or when we chose to discard things. I am really interested in care, and visible repairs make visible the care applied to that object.

How have people reacted to this project or body of work?

Overall positively, although I have had questions about the necessity of it when it can be cheaper to replace things. This is a really good discussion to have – one thing that is often overlooked in repair work is the idea of privilege – having things which are repairable, having the time/materials/tools to do the work, ideas around aspiration and social acceptance.

How do you feel opinions towards mending and repair are changing?

Slowly! But they are changing. I think there is a long way to go before it is a truly mainstream culture though.

What do you think the future holds for repair?

Hopefully lots of it. I think we will see more legislation around repair and waste. France has just shown one pathway by introducing a bonus scheme for people paying to have clothes repaired. And I hope we will see more education schemes around repair – training, apprenticeships, expansion of the conservation discourse, etc. This is starting through ideas like Team Repair who send out kits and tools for kids to learn about repair, but ideally it will also be present in schools, higher ed and so on too. I love mending things and I love seeing others enjoying it too.

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Katie Treggiden is a purpose-driven journalist, author and, podcaster championing a circular approach to design – because Planet Earth needs better stories. She is also the founder and director of Making Design Circular, a program and membership community for designer-makers who want to join the circular economy. With 20 years’ experience in the creative industries, she regularly contributes to publications such as The Guardian, Crafts Magazine and Monocle24 – as well as being Editor at Large for Design Milk. She is currently exploring the question ‘can craft save the world?’ through an emerging body of work that includes her fifth book, Wasted: When Trash Becomes Treasure (Ludion, 2020), and a podcast, Circular with Katie Treggiden.

As the source of so much history, Mexico City’s architectural style throughout the mid-20th century tells a story. Colección Estudio x Difane translate it through their collaborative Basurto Stool Collection. Difane, co-founded by Andrea Gadsden and Fernanda Salamanca, is a gallery representing emerging and established Mexican designers and creatives. The gallery partnered with the founders of Colección Estudio, Andrés Cacho, Daniel Martínez, and Manuel López, known for their intricately detailed yet simple designs.

The two parties describe each piece that makes up the Basurto Stool Collection as being “a miniature abstraction of the buildings from that period,” created from the lines, symmetry, volumes, and shapes of the city. The completed stools embody Mexican cultural elements in their essence, while also hoping to make an impact on the global design scene.

Photo: Alejandro Ramirez Orozco

Basurto High Stool, American Oak Rendering: House Lab

Basurto High Stool, Black Oak Rendering: House Lab

Basurto High Stool, Walnut Rendering: House Lab

Basurto High Stool, White Oak Rendering: House Lab

Basurto Low Stool, Black Oak

Basurto Low Stool, White Oak Photo Fabian Martinez

Photo: Maria Pacheco

Photo: Cheli Gonzales P

Photo: Cheli Gonzales P

Photo: Cheli Gonzales P

To learn more about the Basurto Stool Collection, visit difane.com.mx.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

To be exact, the hue Bang & Olufsen have chosen to refresh their Fall 2023 Atelier Editions Beosound Level portable speaker is neither pink nor purple. According to the Danish luxe electronics brand, the color is specifically Lilac Twilight. Regardless of labels, the colorway is a striking departure from the Scandinavian brand’s characteristic palette of luxurious metallics and wood embellished components for something much more expressive.

B&O has been using their Atelier Editions as an avenue for the brand to pursue bolder options tapping into the cultural color zeitgeist offered in very, very limited numbers and finished in expressive and bold hues.

Now in its 6th edition, Lilac Twilight is applied across the Beosound Level’s front speaker in woven Kvadrat fabric. Hints of the same pink hue framing the entire speaker’s aluminum case frame is visible upon closer inspection, giving the audio speaker a bit of visual depth and texture.

Introduced as a color combo residing “between the realms of serenity and enchantment of a summer twilight in the meadows,” Bang & Olufsen will keep production of the Atelier Editions Beosound Level Lilac Twilight to a paltry 20 units globally as an online exclusive.

The color combination evocative of the beloved floral expression should also appeal to BTS and Prince fans alike.

The Atelier Editions Beoplay EX earbuds take on a lighter take on the floral themed hue as Lilac Purple. Only 75 items of Beoplay EX Lilac Purple will be available globally online from August 17th until they’re all sold out.

Such exclusivity comes at a premium, with the Lilac Purple Beoplay EX earbuds priced at $699 and the Beosound Level Lilac Twilight for $2,799. Noting the specs of both these audio devices remain exactly the same as previous regular editions, with color and limited numbers their primary selling points, it is worth noting the standard Beoplay EX colors can still be had for $339 and the natural aluminum color Beosound Level is available for $1,649.

This post contains affiliate links, so if you make a purchase from an affiliate link, we earn a commission. Thanks for supporting Design Milk!

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

The Zuma tableware collection, which includes ceramic plates and glassware, pulls references from the natural world alongside futuristic grids and ancient motifs. Designed by Kelly Wearstler for Serax, Zuma’s tableware is versatile and meant to be mixed and matched in color, pattern, and shape. With an organic feel, it seems particularly well-timed to autumn, with white, grey, and a soft orange to choose from. The palette and patterns feel warm and relaxed, creating a welcome sensory experience to enjoy along with your meal.

The porcelain tableware in monochrome and muted salmon are highlighted by digital patterns that have a hand-painted feel – each ceramic piece is even hand-stamped once the glaze has been applied. The pattern conveys a tech-meets-craft quality and intentionally varies throughout the collection to expand upon both characteristics. The family feels rich and dimensional, if a bit unexpected. Of course, that shouldn’t surprise us, it’s Wearstler’s signature style after all.

While Zuma’s porcelain family is decidedly contemporary, Wearstler chose to balance it with stemware that includes reference to amber tones found in ancient glass. The Ombre glassware family features a fiery base that weighs each piece down before dissolving upward into nothingness. Sophisticated and rectilinear, it’s the perfect match for the heft of the ceramic tableware.

To learn more about the Zuma tableware collection, visit serax.com.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

Operating concurrently from two outposts in Oakland, California and Salt Lake City, Utah, design studio Enlisted has amassed an impressive portfolio of products and branding running the gamut from toothbrushes, wall storage systems, to home security systems. Their latest efforts take form of Cove, a wall mounted EV charging system for EverCharge inspired by contemporary wall sconces designed to glow with pleasing ambiance.

Cove is designed to expand EverCharge’s existing charging station options beyond the commercial grade EVO2 designed for apartments, condos, and workplaces into the category of EV charging solutions aimed at single family owners who’ve switched to electric vehicles. One glance at the EVO2’s pragmatic industrial design, and it’s obvious the EverCharge’s decision to recruit Enlisted’s aid was a prudent one.

An optional storage accessory allows for the charging plug and cable to store neatly. The charging cable can also be conveniently wrapped around the Cove itself, with the holder dedicated to the plug.

Cove’s serene simplicity can be attributed to Enlisted’s decision to look toward minimalist architectural wall lighting as inspiration in its form and function.

“We played around in this stage with architectural lighting design to give the product a premium and homey feel. As we continued to look at the product from the home owners POV we separated the charging-handle mount from the main body of the product, to give the users freedom to configure the mounting style to fit their personal style and preferences.”

Enlisted’s work went beyond designing the charger unit itself, extending into the brand strategy, identity, and online design surrounding the Cove.

Enlisted designed the Cove’s cable and handle charging port to store away in a variety of configurations.

Designed to be compatible with all electrical vehicles, the 48A output circular charger can be connected indoors (within a garage) or outdoors using a NEMA 14-50 outlet or hardwired for a cleaner look. Owners will also be able to keep tabs on whether their EV is fully charged from the convenience of a compatible app via WiFi and Bluetooth.

Cove is rated to operate indoors or outdoors within environmental limits ranging from -22°F to 122°F.

EverCharge is planning to launch Cove this summer (2023), with price and availability TBD. To sign up for release date updates and how to purchase, scroll down to the bottom here to learn more.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

Originally designed in 1979, Fritz Hansen is proud to introduce the PK15 chair by Poul Kjærholm as a new addition to The Kjærholm Collection. Master craftsmanship and sculptural expression capture the essence of steam bent wood in what was to be the Danish architect and furniture designer’s last chair. Perhaps there couldn’t have been a better one, the PK15 is a fine example of Kjærholm’s furniture pieces, a practice centered around constant experimentation with both materials and techniques.

“The really interesting part is that it looks so easy to make, but it’s actually really, really difficult in production and construction,” said Marie-Louise Høstbo, Creative Design Director, Fritz Hansen. “When you work with steam bending, you are working with solid wood, which is, in many ways, still alive, so it has its own tendencies. With the PK15, the expression is as pure and pared-back as it gets, two single pieces of wood with curves for the back and straight legs, so you are pushing the boundaries of what is possible with that technique.”

The PK15 is a departure from the material Kjærholm most often chose to work with – steel. Steam bent ash and wicker had fascinated him throughout the years, and this chair came to represent an important departure in his design work. The two materials seem rather simple, but the PK15 is a highly complex piece of woodworking craftsmanship with an extensive development process.

To create the PK15 chair, the limits of steam bending have been pushed as far as they can go. Both linear and curved, one piece of solid wood forms the backrest before turning at a right angle to become the chair’s straight front legs. The seat is elliptical, opening into a wide front, with French webbed wicker that creates a lightness – a hallmark in many of Kjærholm’s designs.

The PK15 echoes Kjærholm’s 1964 PK12 chair, considered one of the most articulated of his furniture pieces. After experimenting with steam bent wood at Fritz Hansen in the 1960s, the designer couldn’t reach the desired outcome and set the project aside.

Instead, he developed the PK12 in steel and braided leather, making only a few to order with a cane seat and wrapped backrest. It wasn’t until the 1970s that his interest in wood was renewed, and he found a manufacturer in Sweden with the skills needed to bring his vision to life. Kjærholm drew up the PK15, reinterpreting the PK12 into steam bent wood. Sadly, only a few were made in 1980, the year he died. And when the PK15 was later put into production from 1990 to 2004 it used a different woodworking technique.

“With my father everything had to be perfect. My father was not that productive, if you want to say it like that, because the process of creation and development between the workshop and the factory was so exhaustive and uncompromising,” said his son, Thomas.

The story of how the PK15 finally came to be comes courtesy of Thomas. “In the late 1970s, when he was a Professor of Furniture Design and Spatial Art in the School of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, he traveled with his students to Sweden to see different workshops that were using different methods of how to bend wood. They visited Gimla Möbelfabrik and my father made a very simple drawing and handed it to the producer and asked, ‘Do you think it would be possible to make this kind of shape?’ And the producer said, ‘Well, yes I think so.’ They used a bending method which is very old, and they started out with a prototype that my father saw,” he said.

“This was in 1979. And that was it. My father died in 1980. Some years later Ejnar Pedersen, who had a furniture workshop, PP Møbler, and had been very close to my father – he made the Louisiana chair for the Concert Hall at Louisiana Museum – working with my mother to produce this chair. It was in production for about 15 years. Then it was on hold until Fritz Hansen said it wanted to produce it and found a way to do that.”

“Along with the PK0 A which we launched last year, the PK15 says a lot about how visionary Kjærholm was. He designed these pieces 45 and 70 years ago, at the beginning and the end of his career, that we are only now able to produce. So, this is a really important marker for Fritz Hansen, both the challenge and the commitment to perfect a technique that he always sought.”

For Fritz Hansen, the PK15 marks a return to its 151-year-old roots, when the brand first began exploring steam bending. It went on to win the license to manufacture Thonet-Mundus in the Nordics, and then developed a Danish chair with a Scandinavian design language.

The PK15 is available in natural lacquered ash or black colored ash with a natural wicker seat. Like the first PK12 chairs, the PK15 has an optional flat leather cushion. It joins the rest of The Kjærholm Collection, which has been produced and distributed worldwide by Fritz Hansen, in close collaboration with his family, since 1982. Besides the importance of its legacy, The Kjærholm Collection is an important source of inspiration for a new generation of Danish and international designers.

Thomas notes how critical it is to his family that any new release, such as the PK15, respects his father’s legacy and is, simply put, extraordinary. “I have a prototype [of the PK15] in my Poul Kjærholm showroom. You can see it’s a prototype clearly, but the essence is there and now the chair is on its way to production. I am very connected to this chair because I was working as a cabinetmaker in the PP Møbler workshop when Ejnar Pedersen developed it. I have my hands on it, so to speak,” he shared.

The finished PK15 upholds Kjærholm’s spirit of experimentation in a contemporary context, says Høstbo. “Poul Kjærholm is hugely significant in terms of Danish design and the heritage aspect of it, but his body of work is also a starting point in many dialogues with the architects and designers we are working with. It is where they go for inspiration and they are still amazed,” says Høstbo.

Together, Thomas and his sister Krestine manage the Kjærholm estate, ensuring their father’s legacy is honored for generations to come. “We both have two children and every year, at the end of May, we all come together and talk about different subjects or do things or show our children something about him and his work,” Thomas said. “One year Michael Sheridan, who wrote the book Poul Kjærholm Furniture Architect, came and talked to us.”

He added, “The other thing we have done is make an archive. It has pamphlets and various things we have collected, including some folders from the early 1960s with photographs of the designs. Then, with Fritz Hansen, the contract my mother made many years ago set out the principles that uphold his legacy and our engagement. We are involved not just in new launches, but in choosing new materials, new colors of leather, and so on.”

To learn more about the release of Poul Kjærholm’s PK15 from Fritz Hansen, visit fritzhansen.com.

Ash French Cane

Ash Natural Leather

Black Ash French Cane

Black Ash Grace Leather

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

Ray Dak Lam is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Edmonton, Canada with a penchant for using big colors – and lots of them. Throughout his career, Ray has had the opportunity to creatively work with big brands like McDonalds, GoDaddy, Asana, and more, all while keeping up with his personal practice at the same time. The project he’s been most diligent with is “Shape Studies,” something that began during the pandemic as a fresh and challenging creative outlet to keep the gears turning. Ray has managed to stick with the project ever since, working within the basic fundamentals of shape, line, and texture to explore the limitless graphic possibilities within those parameters.

This month’s Designer Desktop shares one of Ray’s “Shape Studies” explorations, with a background pattern using “perspective and textured gradations to evoke the sensation of journeying through a surreal and vibrant landscape.” Mission accomplished.

Download this month’s desktop below!

Client: McDonalds

Client: Brookfield Properties

Client: Doughnut Party

Ray Dak Lam

DESKTOP: 1024×768 1280×1024 1680×1050 1900×1200 2560×1440

MOBILE: iPhone XS iPhone XS Max iPad Pro

Learn more about Ray Dak Lam here.

View and download past Designer Desktops here.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

Have you taken an e-bike for a spin yet? Electric bicycles are quickly gaining traction among those of us who want to travel somewhere faster than usual, but don’t mind putting in some exertion of their own on the journey. The Ride1Up Cafe Cruiser has a lot going for it – whether on pavement or dirt trails – including the versatility of adding an extra seat for a passenger or a child seat. Offered in both a step-through and a traditional cross-over version, this Ride1Up e-bike is high on comfort and capabilities, bringing true style and functionality together in one vehicle.

The technical aspects of the Ride1Up Cafe Cruiser are equally impressive. Recognized as a Class 3 electric bike with 28mph pedal assist and 20mph throttle, the e-bike features a powerful 750w sustained geared hub motor with 60nm torque. Depending on the rider’s weight, terrain, incline, and level of assist the e-bike is putting in, you can travel 30-50 miles on each adventure! Don’t worry, its lightweight alloy frame with internal protected and locked electronics won’t add too much heft to your ride.

Choose from Matte Carbon, Matte Indigo, or Gloss Latte frame colors for both the ST and XR frame styles.

Ride1Up Cafe Cruiser ST, Gloss Latte

Ride1Up Cafe Cruiser ST, Matte Carbon

Ride1Up Cafe Cruiser ST, Matte Indigo

Ride1Up Cafe Cruiser XR, Gloss Latte

Ride1Up Cafe Cruiser XR, Matte Indigo

Ride1Up Cafe Cruiser XR with Rear Seat, Matte Carbon

Ride1Up Cafe Cruiser XR with Child Seat, Gloss Latte

To learn more about the Ride1Up Cafe Cruiser, visit ride1up.echoscomm.com.

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Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.