ISSUE 026

Midnight Express

With tasting notes of archive Braun design, the most summer-enhancing 1970s Ibiza villa, projects from our friends, the most interesting websites stumbled upon last week, Vietnam’s quirky motorbike culture, crowdsurfing models, the female legend of Formula 1 and the bemusing Bermuda short business attire.

The good life beckons once more!

CURATE WITH US

Our question this week is:

What are you working on at the moment?

Let us know in the comments 💭

Further down in this issue, we’ll share the most interesting websites stumbled upon last week!

Hot Hyperlinks

☼ dasprograam researches Braun Design (initially famous for engineering radio parts) between 1955 - 1995, the period under design legend Dieter Rams. Explore the sprawling archive, writing projects and curations

☼ Our friends over at Startupy launched an AI-powered search engine that surfaces the best of the best from the bountiful Startupy knowledge base

☼ A heavenly 1970s beachside villa in Ibiza

☼ Bikes of Burden is a photography series by Hans Kemp, documenting Vietnam’s incredible load-carrying motorbikes from flowers to fish and beyond

☼ Slow is a collective of people, places and projects that reframe the way we live and interact

☼ Remembering Lella Lombardi, Formula 1’s female trailblazer

☼ Sunnei’s crowdsurfing models made a splash during Paris Fashion Week for their FW23 collection

☼ A running collection of noteworthy design principles and guiding tenets from the likes of Nike, Virgil Abloh, Brian Collins and more

☼ How Bermuda shorts became the sartorial symbol of the country and its uniquely colourful business dress codes

SUMMER-ENHANCING PEOPLE

Nomadic Furniture: Oscar Piccolo

Sicilian born artist and designer Oscar Piccolo spent most of his childhood in a mobile fashion. “Growing up moving from country to country, one house to another, my parents created stability for my sister and me through objects; I always had the same dining table, sofa, and bedroom everywhere I went. I feel this has influenced my love for objects and their sculptural significance. They define my notion of home.”

In this sense, Oscar is familiar with the concept of “nomadic furniture”, objects that remain constant instead of homes or static spaces. His pleated hat inspired lamp, Lampada Cappello catapulted Oscar onto the art and design scene, as well as his work with dellostudio which he owns with friend and collaborator Charlotte Taylor.

Oscar’s earthy lens and penchant for sculptural forms continues to create a distinct and delightful visual universe, further traversing into interiors, set design, art direction and of course, new objects.

Highlights

• Oscar Piccolo’s enchanting website where you can discover a range of his beautiful works including his iconic Lampada Cappello in summer-enhancing hues — be sure to hover on the images!

• On why he began designing lamps: “I’ve always been intrigued by the notion of light and its relation to shadows. Lampada Cappello was inspired by a pleated hat/ old lampshade I found. The balance between its handcrafted Sicilian Iron base and the subtle lightness of the pleated lampshade is something really important to me. Its sculptural quality matters to me most, being an object that might be switched off as much, or more than it is turned on.”

• On childhood and nostalgia: “Most of the inspirations surrounding my work and Lampada Cappello have deep roots in my childhood really; I always feel a sense of nostalgia with them. One of the colours I introduced in June is Arancio Lia is named after my grandmother Lia who gave me an orange watch when she came to see me in Egypt when I was 12 years old. These kinds of memories and moments as well as objects from my past inspire me. I also feel that the materiality found in each country I’ve grown up in is reflected in my making. I grew up around so many raw, natural things like wood and stone which have definitely inspired me. Whilst I have a certain curiosity when it comes to these materials, there also seems to be a familiarity I can’t seem to find elsewhere; they feel safe and comfortable, they’re part of my childhood.”

• Watch Oscar Piccolo sharing his world of wonderful objects at home, each with a story to tell from wooden ashtrays to plaster sculptural cheese

• On some of his influences: “One thing that I usually do is look at interiors magazines from the 60s to the 90s. It’s mostly the advertisements in them that inspire me more than an actual interview or anything. They have all of these beautiful advertisements of chairs flying around or carpets layered one over the other. And at Chelsea, there’s a huge archive of them, so I just spend time going through them. And then there’s Picasso and Matisse, both of whom I love. I also like to look at architecture in Mexico, and in New Mexico, and Arizona, or even in Morocco, it’s kind of like an ensemble of things. I am really inspired by architect Luis Barragán – his work is beautiful.”

• On leisure and his Italian roots: “The beautiful thing about Italy is that there’s an emphasis on enjoying your time. You’re not having lunch for the sake of fueling yourself to go back to work. You appreciate lunch and what it’s meant to be — which is sitting down, having a break, and eating well. It’s in the culture. You’ll have coffee in the morning, a coffee before lunch, one right after, and then some coffee in the afternoon after you’ve had a siesta, you know?”

• Inside Oscar’s south-east London home: “I think sharing a house is a beautiful thing but it’s also beautiful to have your own space. If I want to pack lamps up for delivery at 3am, I can. Ok, maybe I sacrifice living closer to where I need to be a lot of the time, but this flat is my world, and I have the freedom to do whatever I want to it.”

• Art Talk with Charlotte Taylor and Oscar Piccolo of dellostudio: Behind the creative powerhouse duo who met while studying at Goldsmiths and run dellostudio together, collaborating on art and design, like this Paloma Wool pop up in London. Dive into Charlotte Taylor’s work which we featured in Issue #014

COMMUNITY CURATED: INTERESTING WEBSITES

Last week, we shared the most interesting websites we’ve stumbled upon lately. Lots to see in the comment section, but a few favourites:

☼ everynoise.com via JM

☼ patatap.com via Timber Rose

☼ wilderness.land via Kristoffer

☼ kioskradio.com via Micah

Hop in the comments this week as we discuss what you’re working on at the moment.

SUMMER-ENHANCING ART

Artworks by Jacob Rochester. Check out his website here

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🌴 Say hey, or drop leisurely content you’ve discovered in the comments below!