Journal Entry 2: Contemporary Modernist Furniture in Europe, July 2016
My travels in June took me to New York, Montreal, Paris, Brussels and Knokke. My trip was a furniture pilgrimage of sorts — I wanted to see some of our own furniture in the private residences and commercial buildings they were housed in. I also wanted to visit as many furniture galleries and stores as I could, to observe trends in design and craftsmanship.
I knew that modernism was the defining trend of our times and expected to see a lot of mid century modern classics. This I did — from a Design Within Reach in NY to The Conran Store in Paris to boutique stores such as RR Interieur in Knokke. Eames, Hans Wegner, Jean Prouve, Charlotte Perriand, Norman Cherner, Arne Jacobson and other Scandinavian masters dominated the displays in these stores.
The revelation, however, was discovering the ‘new modernists’ or ‘contemporary modernists’. Designers like the Brazilian Jader Almedia and the Milan based Inoda + Sveje who take inspiration from the mid century modern classics and create designs that are refined to a whole new level.
I first saw Jader Almeida’s Bossa Side Chair in The Conran Shop in Paris. The blending of modernist influences with a more tropical style, especially the rattan seat and back, reminded me of Pierre Jeanneret’s modernist furniture for India. I saw more of Jader Almedia in the beautifully curated RR Corner, a boutique store in Knokke. The chairs produced by the Miyazaki Chair Factory in Japan, including the DC10 chair by Innoda + Sveje were just as amazing.
Huge inspiration for us as at Phantom Hands as we begin collaborating with designers over the next few months to create a new collection inspired by Indian craftsmanship + Modernism.
-Deepak, 09 July 2016
Discover our handcrafted furniture pieces at http://phantomhands.in
