FIRST LOOK

INTEL

New and noteworthy in global design.

COURTESY BAROVIER&TOSO

“Impressed by the brand’s 700-year history, I immersed myself in the many skills that the master glassmakers at Barovier&Toso have known how to preserve for centuries. For this first collaboration, my attention naturally turned to the “rostrato” technique [featuring individually pulled spikes of Venetian crystal]. Invented by Barovier&Toso in the 1930s, this technique fascinated me not just for its unique, timeless, and recognizable style, but also for how it divides light in a particularly incomparable way.” —Philippe Nigro, designer

Released in April, the newest addition to luxury lighting brand Barovier&Toso’s portfolio is the Opéra collection by French designer Philippe Nigro. Made from Venetian crystal, the line offers three hardware finish options: brushed gold, brushed copper and brushed black nickel.

LUXURY LIGHTING

With a 700-year history, Murano-based Italian lighting master Barovier&Toso is one of the oldest brands in the world. Working with the likes of the Ritz-Carlton, Bulgari, the royal family of Saudi Arabia, and fashion powerhouses including Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, and Cartier, the historic company is also one of the top luxury lighting producers in the market. Now, for the first time, select Barovier&Toso works (including a recent introduction, the Adonis chandelier, by Marcel Wanders) are available for purchase in the United States, exclusively distributed through JB Lighting Collection. Released in April, the newest addition to the company’s portfolio is the Opéra collection by French designer Philippe Nigro. Each design (available as a wall sconce, hanging fixtures, or table lamps) takes inspiration from the Palais Garnier, the historic opera house in Paris. Nigro’s aim, he says, was to “create a collection of lighting with the simplest forms so that the technique would appear not as only a beautiful decorative feature, but more as the main structure of the lighting.”

ABOVE: Charlotte Perriand, Bookcase for the Maison du Mexique, 1952 © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2020. BELOW: Charlotte Perriand on the chaise longue basculante B306, 1929 © AChP/ © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2021.

INDEPENDENT WOMAN

Charlotte Perriand—a pioneering midcentury designer who embraced the philosophy that good design should be available to everyone—was often overlooked in favor of her male peers such as architect Le Corbusier and painter Fernand Léger. But now, two decades after her death, Perriand is finally getting her due. On June 19, the Design Museum in London is opening Charlotte Perriand: The Modern Life, a much-anticipated retrospective dedicated to the designer’s work. A celebratory tribute to the fiercely independent sportswoman and world traveler, the exhibition will feature Perriand’s furniture designs, recreations of some of her most famous interiors, including the apartment she designed for the Salon d’Automne in 1929, and sketches, scrapbooks, and prototypes that reveal more about her creative process.

Charlotte Perriand: The Modern Life runs through September 5, 2021. »

MODERN MARVEL

At the end of June, the latest creation from master architect Frank Gehry—a twisting, geometric tower finished with 11,000 stainless-steel panels—will open its doors to the world. The eye-catching structure, which sits on a 27-acre campus at the Parc des Ateliers in Arles, France, was commissioned by the LUMA Foundation (a nonprofit arts organization focused on independent, contemporary artists) to house exhibition galleries and seminar rooms, along with the foundation’s research and archive facilities. The tower’s design, featuring an exterior of facets punctuated by protruding windows, was inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s famous Starry Night painting (which he completed nearby in 1889), while the cylindrical glass base from which it rises takes its cue from Arles’ Roman-era amphitheater. »

CHIC SEAT

Thirty-five years after its discontinuation, the Chiclet collection from Herman Miller is officially back. Reissued in May, the modular seating system—its official name is the Wilkes Modular Sofa Group—was originally released in 1976, and it enjoyed a decade-long stint on the market before going out of production in 1986. Dubbed the Chiclet because of its rounded-edge cushions, which have a form similar to that of the classic fruit-flavored gum, the seating collection is available as an armchair, a two-seat sofa, or a three-seat sofa. The new Chiclet designs are identical to the originals by Ray Wilkes, with an expanded range of upholstery options.

CLICK BAIT

The Polaroid camera has never looked so chic. Capturing the fun, retro vibes of Italian fashion house Fendi’s Summer 2021 capsule collection, a newly released Vintage Polaroid OneStep Close-Up 600 updates the instant camera with a new all-over multicolored FF Vertigo logo. The pattern—a bright, wavy update on Fendi’s classic double Fs—is a collaboration between the label and New York–based visual artist Sarah Coleman. Coleman is known for blurring the line between art and luxury fashion, and has employed materials including leather from vintage bags and iconic Louis Vuitton luggage in her previous work. The Polaroid OneStep Close-Up 600 camera, which was first released in 1992, uses high-speed Polaroid 600 film, which requires less light and has the ability to focus at short distances. In other words, get ready for your close-up. —Rachel Gallaher h