Daniella Ohad

I was first introduced to the remarkable work of French sculptor and furniture designer, Alain Douillard (1929-2017) who died last week in a 2010 retrospective at Magen H Gallery. Metal was his tool and he had mastered it during nearly seven-decade career, from iron to precious metals. Trained at the Ecole des Beaux-arts de Nantes […]

There is a fundamental difference between architectural furniture and furniture inspired by architecture. The first, with iconic examples by Mies, Le Corbusier, George Nakashima, and Jean Prouve, manifests principles and aesthetic sensibility that stand at the core of architecture; the second includes furniture influenced by particular buildings. When Brasília, the new national capital of Brazil

The name of Harley J. Earl (1893 – 1969) is rarely known today to those without a special interest in design history, but the American car designer was so influential and powerful during the interwar years and the age of Mad Men, that he became a brand name known to millions living in suburbia America. Earl was not

There was nothing un-glamour about Kenneth Jay Lane (1932-2017) who died last week at his home in Manhattan. Not his jewelry, not his image, not his celebrities friends and clients, and not his dandy appearance. When I first entered the world of design in the early 90s, Lane was a very famous man, so famous

Form Student Innovation Competition, If we look at the history of design commissions and competitions by FORMICA, we can find products designed by some of the key designers and architects of their time. Now, that the company has announced a new competition, “Form Student Innovation Competition,” it is time to look at the innovative objects

​When you walk in Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, along East 52nd Street look up when you get almost to the East River. On the north side of the street, 424 East 52nd Street, stands a skyscraper called Southgate (below). Up until now, only the very few knew that it was in this building that the

With the rising culture of the tastemakers, largely fueled by the social media, the auction houses have entered the arena of defining and redefining those proponents, leaders in matters of style and taste. In the fall, Sotheby’s will present ‘Living in a Material World’, an auction dedicated to cutting edge design, with a focus on

Let’s celebrate Santiago Calatrava’s 66th birthday today. The NYC-based architect, artist, and structural engineer has created railway stations, stadiums, bridges, and museums across the globe, all bearing his signature complex sculptural forms that look like skeletons. Like Edgar Krug, the fictional architect in Paul Scheerbart’s seminal novel The Gray Cloth (1914), who travelled the world,

I am pleased to announce that registration to the fall edition of my program Collecting Design: History, Collections, Highlight (opens on October 3rd) at the New York School of Interior Design is open now. This season, I will host friends and colleagues who will share their expertise on various aspects of the collectible design market.

One of the objects presented in the new Sottsass exhibition at Met Breuer, a small, red, jeweled object of an enormous impact, that was considered by the late designer as a mark of the turning point in his career, and I am talking about the Valentine portable typewriter. An icon of sixties design, it is