Vitriini Boxes by Anu Penttinen for Iittala

Everyone probably has little things on their tables and shelves that always somehow seem to be ‘homeless’. Iittala’s new range of Vitriini boxes offers an excellent solution for storing these thing – and showcasing them as well. The range has been created by glass designer Anu Penttinen, who has made a name for herself as an artist and as a masterful user of colour.

Vitriini also makes a perfect gift, as people can easily add more colours and sizes later. Penttinen underlines the modular character of the range, which was one the key properties she wanted to build in from the start. “Collecting and combining different pieces from the range lets people create their own personal take on the design, ranging from the wild and colourful, to the romantic or the cool and refined.” The Vitriini range is so much more than just a collection of storage options. What it offers is a beautiful palette of alternatives that look good while serving a very practical purpose at the same time. In fact, they are much more ‘interior jewels’ than just ‘boxes’.

Buy it here: Vitriini Boxes, by Anu Penttinen, for Iittala

Bloom.MGX by Patrick Jouin for MGX by Materialise

Inspired by both the One_Shot.MGX stool and flower blossoms found in nature, this table lamp in two sizes, features a shade which easily collapses and expands to release or contain light. As with the One_Shot.MGX, the shade is 3D printed as a single piece, including hinges that in one movement, transform the shade from a bud to a blossom. And with the complexity of its design, the Bloom lamp succeeds in pushing even further the boundaries of 3D technologies.

Bloom.MGX, by Patrick Jouin, for MGX by Materialise
Read more: Patrick Jouin

Zero PXL Table and Pendant Lamp By Fredrik Mattson

Fredrik Mattson has designed “Pixelated Eyecandy,” a radical retro concept for a table and hanging lamp. Mattson took the form of the traditional lamp and cut it up into rings, disassembled and then reassembled to make its current form. Manufactured by Swedish company Zero, each model is available in a much tamer white flavour.

Zero PXL Pendant Lamp, Zero PXL Table, PXL Ceiling by Fredrik Mattson, for Zero

IF Mode Folding Bike by Mark Sanders for Pacific Cycles

A winner of an iF Gold Award, Mark Sanders design for the IF Mode Folding Bicycle is aimed at commuters of the mobile generation who, until now, may have not considered cycling or folding bikes to be an option. IF Mode avoids oily chains, complex tubes with hidden dirt traps, and the clutter of traditional bike features. It takes seconds to unfold into a full sized street bike and weighing in at only 14.7kg (32lbs). The bike has a special handle so you can wheel it around much like airport luggage. With its green credentials and compact shape, Sanders says, the features and “uncluttered aesthetic offer a radical new image of what a bicycle can be.”

IF Mode Folding Bike, by Mark Sanders, for Pacific Cycles

Birds by Matti Klenell for Iittala

Inspired by the magpie, Matti Klenell has created a new addition to the Iittala Birds collection. The magpie is well-known for stealing jewellery and other shiny objects and hiding them in their nests. Klenell wanted to incorporate the same idea of hiding something into his new pieces. In the process, he has given his glass birds a practical use alongside their aesthetic one – drawing on the varied skills of the glassblowers and craftsmen at Iittala’s Nuutajärvi glassworks.

Klenell has designed two bird families for Iittala: the Harakka (Magpie) family and the Korpi (Deep Forest) family, both with two generations of members. Klenell’s birds comprise two or three parts, which adds to their sculptural qualities. They also include a functional feature that is unique in the Iittala Birds collection, as the hollow bottom sections of his birds can be used as handy little containers to keep treasures, such as jewellery, notes, and memories, just like the magpie.

“There’s a long tradition of using glass objects as hiding places, and there are many examples in mythology and history of urns and vases being used for this purpose. The stolen diamonds in detective stories are often thrown into a Ming vase, and people playing computer games often need to look inside an urn to find further clues for the game.”
– Matti Klenell

Buy it here: Birds by Matti Klenell, for Iittala

Rietveld LEGO Buffet by Minale-Maeda for Droog

Dutch based design duo Minale-Maeda (Kuniko Maeda and Mario Minale) playfully reprise Gerrit Rietveld’s grace to reconsider his de Stijl masterwork, Buffet for dutch design company Droog. The Rietveld LEGO Buffet uses over 25,000 pieces of LEGO, updating the de Stijl’s call for simplified materials through the use of the iconic toy building blocks known to us as children, creating a re-iteration of one of modern design’s most relevant historical suggestions.

Rietveld LEGO Buffet, Limited Edition of 5, by Minale-Maeda, for Droog
via: designboom

Tua Table Lamp by Marco Zito for Foscarini

A table lamp with which you can create a personal relationship; surprisingly simple, because it has been thought out with a great deal of care. Tua is inspired by the palm of the hand containing a light: a gesture interpreted in a single, shaped metal plane that is both the support and shade of the lamp. The light source is hidden inside the range of the curve, whose aesthetic has a characteristically fine cut. When the light is on, it creates a pleasantly intimate glow, perfect for all those spaces dedicated to the single person (bedside table or work table). The lamp lends itself even to a multiple interpretation: interior-exterior, two-dimensional/three-dimensional, a graphic sign and a functional lamp, which is always elegant, reassuring and friendly.

Tua Table Lamp, by Marco Zito, for Foscarini

Malva Lights by ett la benn

Malva is a series of lights inspired by the natural qualities of cellulose and viscose: the objects are generated by the forming of moistened sponge cloth and its subsequent hardening by air drying on a mould. The translation of this customary material into individual design pieces through basic processes of forming and drying measures up to the highest demands in sustainability and eco friendliness: all objects are compostable.

Malva Lights, by ett la benn

Whirlwind by A+A cooren

A+A cooren has designed a glass vase representing the shape of a water vortex or a tornado.

Whirlwind by A+A cooren, Gallery S. Bensimon, June 9 to 14, 111 rue de Turenne, Paris, France, Photography by Joao Viera Torres

Candlesticks by Victoria Delany

Silversmith and recent graduate of the Royal College of Art, Victoria Delany has designed a set of silver and lacquered wood candlesticks. The central wooden parts are interchangeable making an endless number of interesting and colourful combinations. The top and base of the candlestick unscrews allowing you to stack the lacquered wooden components up in any combination and height.

Candlesticks by Victoria Delany, Photography by Matthew Booth