Cool Hunting

OuTable
OuTable, a collection of conceptual plastic utensils for outdoor dining, brings the poetry of nature to such humble items as the spoon. Designed by the clever Israeli-based firm d-Vision, the "neo-naturist" project takes inspiration from the simple beauty of eating outdoors with friends or family. With varying shapes and sizes that echo the organic forms found in nature, the collection also speaks to an...

Attitude Chair by Deger Cengiz
New York designer Deger Cengiz's elegant standard chair features an extra pair of hinged legs that swing into place when the user tilts backward. While he's not the first to come up with the idea (see Homer Simpson's similar version in "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace"), the finished chair bears the quality of timelessness rarely found in such gimmicky conceits. Apparently inspired by ill-tempered...

Design on a Dime: Interview with David Cafiero
Particularly relevant in the current economic climate, Housing Works Thrift Shops' fifth annual Design on a Dime benefit takes over 40 of the world's top interior designers and challenges them to create inspiring room vignettes using donated materials. (Sills Huniford's 2008 vignette pictured at right.) Visitors can then buy the merchandise at 60 to 80 percent off the retail price. And as with all...

Neal Small Retrospective
by Tisha LeungBeginning next month, Material ConneXion will present the first retrospective of work by self-trained designer and one-man operation Neal Small at their New York showroom. In the mid-'60s the New York designer came on the furniture scene as a young designer with a transformational idea for furniture—acrylic plastic. Better known as Plexiglas, Lucite and Acrylite, Small turned out innovative furniture, lighting and...