Nirmada: Interior Design in New York City

Last week the Museum of Arts and Design celebrated the 40th anniversary of Maya Romanoff and the launch of three spectacular tie-dye wallpapers. I wasn’t able to attend the event, but my dear friend and colleague Lisa Pak, brought me a souvenir scarf from the event tonight! (thanks Lisa baby!)

The collection unveils  in Spring 2010: Half Plaid, Snowflake, and Crystal. This anniversary folio was inspired by the artist’s early work, created in collaboration with New York designer and co-founder of Design Miami, Amy Lau. The museum display has been arranged by friend and architect, David Rockwell.

A pioneer of monumental textile installation, Maya Romanoff is noted for his deep knowledge of ancient craft techniques and ability to synthesize environments with the resonant beauty of handmade, utilitarian objects out of materials that range from paper and felt, to mica and glass bead. The guiding force of his artistic career has been to make art that is “ . . . not so much objectified as occupied,” to make art of every day life.

To achieve the art of everyday, Romanoff early on saw the need for artisanal production at scale. He gave an entrepreneurial platform to his artistic vision by founding a company for the purpose in 1969. Through nearly half a century, his enterprise has remained true to its founding ethos. Romanoff’s atelier – now a bona fide factory with a staff of skilled artisans, many of whom have worked with the artist for decades – produces handmade materials that lend a transcendent vibrancy to interior spaces around the globe.

Maya Romanoff’s work has garnered many awards, including Icon of Industry from NEWH, the IFDA Trailblazer Award, GOOD Design Award and International Design Excellence Award, as well as earned the permanent placement of several collections into the Cooper-Hewitt Design Institute Smithsonian.

You can purchase these new papers through me, starting next month. Until then visit the installation at Bergdorf Goodman to view the collection.

“To make a beautiful thing once is easy – to do it over and over again, that is the true art.” -Maya Romanoff

Our favorite quirky, tall, and all around colorful designer-guy, Karim Rashid, is now curating and exhibit on …radiators?? I admit, I can’t live without my two Kone vacuums, (one on each side of the apartment) but radiators? This could be the answer to my most perplexing NYC design dilemma…

"honey" by Caleido

So I headed over to the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) to check out their current exhibition – Totally Rad: Karim Rashid Does Radiators. Selected from over 300 designs, the exhibition features approximately 30 steam-heat designs in production today. All of the designers and manufacturers aim to re-examine this everyday object and offer a fresh design perspective. The radiators, while retaining their functionality as heaters, are beautifully crafted and intelligently designed, serving both visual and practical needs in the domestic interior.

It’s an amazing collection. From Gruppo Ragaini comes a radiator that holds and warms pillows. Once they’re toasty, you just take them out and throw them on the sofa.

Whenever I am in the UK I LOVE that everyone has radiators that can hold towels in the bathroom.

One of our favorites in this exhibit is shaped like a shower curtain.

We also liked the one made from green squares, like tiles — fill a wall with as many as you’d like and use them to create interesting patterns.

The exhibit runs through May 17 at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.