Now, I am not one to get overly excited about stamps — in fact, I don’t even remember the last time I bought stamps — but you’ve probably figured out by now that I get very, very excited about anything and everything Eames. So, when USPS releases the sixteen stamps honoring Charles and Ray Eames next summer, you can bet I’ll be back to writing letters the old-fashioned way. Sweet!

My first thought upon seeing the Eames hacks created by ID students from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia today was “OMG, sacrilege!” but then, after mulling it over, I was pretty amused. I mean, that high chair is totally hot (and would fit in with one’s set of Eames chairs purchased pre-breeding), and the toilet seat (although it may inspire lingering toilet-stays) is clean and dare I say, sophisticated. The project is “about breaking the status surrounding high design objects. Through physically invasive alterations, these once iconic, elite, forms are liberated from their old, restrained image. The project is not a critique of the Eames, but rather a fulfillment of their original ideals.” If you want to check them out for yourself, they’re at the Philadelphia Design Within Reach studio right now.

If there’s one word in furniture design that makes me melt, it’s Eames, so that pretty much leaves me liquified, now that I’ve seen the Eames 100th Anniversary Chairs that Herman Miller has produced, in celebration of the birth of one of the world’s most influential design houses. Available is a variety of colors — red, green, orange, white, black, purple, yellow, and light blue stains — my “vacation where I lie on a beach, burn to a crisp and sip Mai Tais” fund just became my “pair of drool-worthy light blue Eames chairs” fund. Delightfully retro, the gorgeously updated palette (as well as the five original finishes) are available (with free shipping!) at Hive Modern for $749 each.

Shane Crozier’s Flux E-Desk looks like something straight out of the future. Think Minority Report, think Blade Runner, think kindergarten circa 2025; this is what I, and I’d imagine Shane, could see school desks looking like in another 15 to 20 years. Granted, that will leave us with a ton of Eames and Day chairs — and those horrible chair-slash-desk things — to figure out what to do with, but I suppose we’ll manage. Shane’s Flux E-Desk is a simple, clean, seat and desk combination that features integrated cable management and a built-in storage unit (I think that’s the little flap on top, I’m assuming for pens and pencils, etc). I’d imagine the lack of back support could get uncomfortable after a day in the hot seat — ergonomics be damned — but then when did we start caring about comfort in the school setting? Either way, the clearly Apple-esque design is ready and waiting when we start shuffling the youngin’s off to school with laptops instead of lunch boxes.

I’ve wondered for a few years why we don’t see more carbon fiber in furniture design — especially since it’s been used to make oddly shaped bicycle frames and body panels for F1 cars for years. It’s not much more difficult to work with than fiberglass, but I guess when it comes down to it, the answer is probably cost. Even that’s turning around these days, and we’re starting to notice this high-tech material creeping into the fringes of the furniture design world.

I mentioned the carbon fiber Eames chairs the other day and now, I’ve stumbled into the Carbon Table by Guy Brown, one of the four masterminds behind Farm Designs. Brown’s table — listed under “tables” on the site — is a study in simplicity; the carbon fiber plane of the table’s surface almost floats on the minimal wire legs. The carbon fiber pattern offers just a hint of texture to the other black tabletop. While I wouldn’t want a room full of carbon fiber furniture, a table or a pair of chairs might prove to be an interesting discussion piece. Of course, if you really want to go overboard, you could always shoot for this carbon fiber toilet seat…no pun intended, of course.

Often compared to the venerable Eames duo, Lucienne and Robin Day are a pair of British designers — he does furniture, she does textiles — who were recently showcased in The New York Times. The feature draws attention to a piece, the Tricorne plywood tray, that’s immediately reminiscent of the Eames’ bent plywood designs such as their LCW Chair. Despite the obvious similarities, the Day’s work is far more obscure here in the US, a point that makes it pretty desirable in my book.

Robin Day is also responsible for designing the Polyprop Chair; while the name might not mean anything to you, it’s probably immediately recognizable as one of those chairs that grace classroom floors in schools around the world.

The Eames name has long been a defining point in the world of mod. So what happens when you take a classic mod piece and update it with an even more modern material? You get these carbon fiber Eames shell chairs from Garageworks Industries.

Available as a side chair, an arm chair, or a rocker, and in slightly varying weave colors, these renditions offer an interesting textural update to the modern classic shell chair; they’d look great in a minimal room with a lot of black or white. That said, I personally prefer the bright colors of the DWR Eames reproductions.

Via AT:LA

–Danny Nathan

A recent collaboration between DC shoes and retailer Commonwealth has brought yet another mod moment into pop culture…Eames skate shoes. Commonwealth is a popular retail space in Norfolk, Virginia, and “covers a community with diverse interests with deep roots in surfing, skateboarding, sports, and hip hop.” The Gatsby will be offered in red and black, but I couldn’t find much information on pricing or availability. Also keep your eyes peeled for Eames patterened ball caps. Pretty sweet stuff.

AT via mashKULTURE

–Danny Nathan

My older sister is leaving Seattle. This is a tragedy for three reasons; 1) As far as places to visit go, Seattle is far superior to Sand Point, Idaho; 2) After she is gone, my reasons to go to Seattle will have dwindled to 33% of what they used to be (my darling emo cousin just ran away, potentially to Canada, though no one knows for sure. Actually, if anyone happens to see a very blond, very tiny, very intellectually superior sixteen year-old galloping about unattended, please mention her whereabouts/condition in the comment section); and 3) I foresee difficulty in convincing my only remaining Seattle relative, a rather soft-spoken pastor, to shop in my absence at Velocity, the incredible art and design store that is now holding an amazingly delicious moving sale. Because they are relocating to South Lake Union, everything at the current Belltown location is going for a nice 10-70% off. That includes art and furniture by some of our favorite new and old designers like Angela Adams, Area, Dwell, Molo, Blik, Offi, Thomas Paul, Jason Miller, Jefdesigns, George Nelson, Ray and Charles Eames, Jean Prouve, Sori Yanagi, Isamu Noguchi, Verner Panton, Architectural Pottery, and, yeah…holy crap, right?

The sale is running through August 18th, but I recommend running on over as fast as your feet will carry you; you know those Seattle-ites and their design obsessions…

I’ve never given this many standing ovations in my life. I think my mind short circuited about 75% of the way through this extraordinary conference. Blogging had to come to a halt and what was being said throughout these presentations needed my complete and full attention. Without further adieu, more conference highlights:

The young economics superstar Emily Oster gave an awesome presentation that basically debunked much of what we think we know about how HIV and sickness spreads in Africa. I’m sure there will be book coming and I’m definitely going to read it.

JJ Abrams, creator and producer of Alias and Lost as well as many films had a fun, compelling and heartfelt presentation. He kicked off a session called Screenovation. When JJ was very young he was totally into magic and that interest led to his infatuation with creating mystery. During his presentation JJ showed a ’secret’ magic box he was given as a child that he hasn’t opened yet, and not knowing what’s inside continues to inspire him in what he does today. He said “mystery is more important that knowledge.”

Former president of eBay Jeff Skoll had an inspiring talk about how he turned his fortune towards film to make a difference. He’s a leader in the social entrepreneurism and venture philanthropy movement. Super to hear how passionate and successful he was while still remaining pretty humble… “Bet on good people doing good things…”

Film director Deborah Scranton showed clips from her movie The War Tapes and spoke about how consumer created content is changing the world of film, creating change, inspiring people and so on. The room was completely silent, the clips she showed were unexplainably powerful. I look forward to following up and watching the entire DVD.

Will Wright, the creator of The Sims (which happens to be the best selling computer game of all time) showed off his newest game Spore and spoke about how it could help people, children especially imagine their own futures better.

Brazilian architect Jamie Lerner spoke passionately about building ecologically sustainable long lasting cities– he was genuine and informative. He shared plans from Curitiba, one of the worlds most sustainable cities– a place where he is the mayor.

I wrote about both Elizabeth Diller and Paola Antonelli as they were presenting– again, check out the Blur Building, her slides were mystical and fascinating. Don’t mistake design for decoration, it’s not.

Friday’s final session was the The Talest of Passion, and for me was the most important and moving session of the entire week. Unfortunately Henry Louis Gates JR couldn’t make it for family reasons so the session kicked off with Jan Chipchase, a cultural researcher for Nokia. Believe it or not, his presentation is available on his site for download. His job description is great, he goes all around the world studying how people interact with their phones. One of the best parts of his presentation is when he points out that cell phones are actually changing what the ‘center’ of the room is– where your phone is, on the desk, in your jacket, in your bag, etc changes what you feel the center of the room is. Connectedness is a crazy thing.

Eames Demetrios, grandson of Charles and Ray Eames and director of the Eames office shared insights into his families legacy and how closely design was to him growing up. He had one quote where he basically said, design isn’t something his family went to go and buy, it was apart of his daily life. He also said “The role of the designers is about anticipating the needs of the guest and make them feel good.” What an interesting family legacy he continues to carry on with his own design and films.

The speaker that actually moved me most, more than any designer, technologist or innovator was Isabel Allende, author of dozens of books– most famously The House of Spirits, one of my personal favorites. She told vivid and engaging true stories about her life, and said she doesn’t need to come up with characters in her life, they’re all around us. She basically deduced in 18 minutes that not technology, entertainment or design could save the world– that women could, the forgotten 51% of the world. She asked not for a ‘better world’ but just one that was simply good. Thinking about her talk brings goose-bumps to my arms, when this is available online it’s going to be a must watch.

I really enjoyed shopping in Daikanyama, it’s a fairly quiet neighborhood set back from the flashing lights of neighboring Shibuya. Over the next few days I’ll be highlighting a few of my favorite shops from this neighborhood. Although there are a dozen Adidas shops throughout Tokyo, the Daikanyama Adidas Styles shop is worth mentioning just for all the retro sneakers they have for sale behind glass: Old school Adidas roller skates for 41,000 Yen, 25 year old classic running shoes, etc. If you go into the entrance to the Adidas shop but continuing walking towards the back, there’s a small boutique called Stitch in the back. This was the shop that had what looked like a shared space with Adidas for an Adicolor room I shared earlier this week. Stitch felt a bit like a cross between Kid Robot and the MoMa shop aimed at a much more savvy clientele. Lots of Maharishi, designer toys, some select sneakers, nice t-shirts and a solid collection of mid-century furniture. Eames, Eames, and more Eames. This country loves good design! If you’re shopping in Daikanyama, these two stores are a must stop.

designboom has a really interesting international design competition going on I found and wanted to share; I think I’m going to enter. The subject of the competition is “teenage furniture”, and they’re looking for designs that are multifunctional to fill the gap between teenagers and furniture. I didn’t know there was a gap; when I was a teenager not long ago I liked Charles Eames just as much then as I do now; but anyways. They say adolescent essence is of pop and rock, music videos and I pods, fashion, arts, film dvds, on-line chats, instant messaging, hanging out with friends… we are seeking design ideas for furniture for the places where teenagers study, relax and socialize. we are in pursuit of designs which compliment and sum up contemporary living and technology. Furniture that is multifunctional yet personal. First prize is â‚3000, ooooh yeah. Get out your 3D modeling programs, your pen, pad, and get to work! More info here.