From established talents including Pelle and Luca Nichetto to newcomers Chapel Petrassi and Studio Ini, these 20 designers, artists and creatives shone with new furniture and lighting launches – and immersive installations – at NYCxDesign.
- Words
- Elizabeth Pagliacolo
- From
- Design, Gallery, NYCxDESIGN
- Posted
- May 28, 2019



Chapel Petrassi
Chapel Petrassi is the brainchild of Marie-Charlotte Bassi and Diego Petroso. The duo’s Gaby coffee table – made of wood clad in gold-mirror aluminum – comes with a variety of iridescent tops. It was a jolt of sunshine inside the Javits Center, where it was displayed at ICFF Studio, the annual showcase devoted to young talent and supported by Bernhardt Design.


Lorekform
At WantedManhattan, Lorekform showed off a simple yet impactful lighting idea: two round discs, formed by pressing glass against custom-made iron plates, were positioned in front of a hanging light bulb, creating a diffuse glow.




Rick Tegelaar
Making good on his promise to explore the potential of unusual humble materials – as he did with his chickenwire Meshmatics lamp for Moooi – Rick Tegelaar showed off a table made from Colback, a technical fabric typically used for carpet backing and automobile paneling, for which he developed a process to 3D print the fibres with fused deposition modelling.




Pelle
At Pelle‘s showroom, the design duo of Oliver and Jean Pelle staged Unnatural Habitat. The new collection includes the powerfully poetic Nana lamps, which evoke giant banana leaves; and the lighting installation Dust, made of shard-like pieces that naturally sway to dapple light all around.


Luca Nichetto
The Stockholm-based Italian designer Luca Nichetto had a big week, debuting new lighting at Matter and Parachilna’s ICFF booth and taking over most of Bernhardt Design’s capacious stand at the fair with his eponymous seating line for contract spaces. With its light, splayed legs and elegant curves, the collection comes in a versatile range of upholstery and accessory options – including oversized, lily pad–like pouffes.


Rainville Sangaré
Montreal designer Rainville Sangaré was one of several Quebec-based talents sharing a stand at WantedManhattan. Even though his stool was small, it was singular – and stood out among his peers’ works, which were very strong as an ensemble.


Yuko Nishikawa
The Brooklyn-based ceramic artist Yuko Nishikawa returned to WantedDesign with her colourful, vessels and lamps that exude pure whimsy – and a welcome dose of playfulness.


Felix Muhrhofer
Muhrhofer‘s 11 Stations (Terrazzo from the Underground) at the Patrick Parrish Gallery pushes the terrazzo trend in diametrically opposed directions – in a series that embeds the stone pieces in meticulous mosaic tops…




Kranen/Gille
With its faceted structure – which evokes a circuit board – and frosted-dome diffusers, the Plant Chandelier strikes the perfect balance of hard edges and soft contours, and marks a strong debut into the Moooi catalogue for Kranen/Gille. No wonder the Dutch brand put the fixture front and centre in its window display for design week.


Federica Elmo
Federica Elmo‘s Ondamarmo – part of the display at Matter – is a captivating marble table with a rainbow stain. It has a campy Memphis feel – and is undeniably beautiful.


Rodrigo Bravo
The Monolith series sees designer Rodrigo Bravo experimenting with a stone particular to his native Chile. The material’s pigmentation ranges widely, but Bravo devoted his showing at Matter to its burgundy and cream tones, brought to life in vessels that are hand-machined in various shapes and functions.


Jeff Martin
The Canadian contingent at ICFF was formidable, with Molo, Bensen, Andlight and Ben Barber among those showing impressive new collections. Relatively newer to the scene is Jeff Martin, who showed the kooky Cymatic Sconce, made with a pink blown-glass bulb on a carved-wood base.


Studio Ini
For two years running, A/D/O by MINI in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighbourhood has commissioned an installation for its courtyard. This time, Studio Ini, led by Nassia Inglessis, created Urban Imprint. The platform consists of a ground layer and a canopy built with interlocking rubber-concrete modules.


These horizontal surfaces are connected by a stainless-steel spring and pulley system – when you step onto the floor, the springs cause it to dip below your feet, and activate the pulleys to lift the canopy into a cupola above your head.


Sollos
Brazilian craftsmanship to the nth degree – that was Sollos at ICFF. Its elegant pieces include the Ella chair by Jader Almeida, the design mind behind the company’s impeccable portfolio.


Kaye Blegvad
Striking an insouciant pose against Brooklyn’s red-brick fabric, Kaye Blegvad’s Reclining Nude bench is a continuation of the artist’s work, which spans everything from textiles to metalwork, that explores female identity and mental health. It was part of the group show Inside/Out on the gardens of the William Vale hotel.


Dror Kaspi
Another standout at ICFF Studio, the Helia concrete light fixture by Dror Kaspi is inspired by Fibonacci spirals. Kaspi developed a special mould and unique concrete mix to make his lovely diffusers.


Jumbo
Justin Donnelly and Monling Lee’s Jumbo label got major exposure at Matter. Its chunky Neotenic chair was shown in a new chrome version that owned the showroom’s window display.


Lubaina Himid
Turner Prize winner Lubaina Himid’s Five Conversations, part of the High Line’s En Plein Airart program, consists of vibrant portraits of Black women painted onto doors from traditional Georgian townhouses. Positioned on the defunct tracks at the Gansevoort Woodlands, the figures seem to be in animated interaction with one another.


Grain
Everything at Colony’s Pas de Deux exhibition was pleasing to the eyes and the soul. Among the most satisfying artist-designer juxtapositions was Shiela Christine Laufer’s paintings and Grain’s Quilt Rug and Offset Coffee Table inspired by them.


Studio Junto
New to New York, the multi-disciplinary artist and designer Gustavo Barroso, or Studio Junto, exhibited pieces inspired by construction site materials – and even incorporating such elements as orange fencing as harnesses for his hanging planters. His was one of 20 storefront spaces on Canal Street given over to designers by the short-term rental program operated by Wallplay.