Rain on the caravan roof - Part 2

So, can a caravan really be an object of desire? 

As if Byron Bay wasn't cool enough - why not stay in one of these at the Atlantic?

It can if it's an Airstream!  This is the caravan that I have on my wishlist and one day I'll roam the countryside or park myself somewhere in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in one of these beauties.

Originating in 1930s California, the Airstream was developed from original designs by a guy called Bowlus,
who also happened to be the head designer of Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St Louis

So called for their aerodynamic shape, the Airstream is a thing of utter beauty to me.  Since my caravanning holidays as a little girl, I have always been fascinated by the interior design of the mini home-away-from-home.

(found on Google images - sorry, lost the thread!)

It's the ultimate design challenge - how do you fit everything you need for weeks or months on the road into such a tiny space?

Really smart thinking is how.  And stacks of ingenuity.  Nothing in such a compact space can have only one purpose, so your table has to fold away to become the base of your bed, and everything you sit on must also serve as storage. 

(lost the thread of these ones too ... oops)

I just love the cleverness of it.  Then add the styling, detailing and retro cool of the Airstream exterior ....

Um .... I am dying of coolness overload here, or as a lovely blogger bud of mine would say - hooley dooley!
Who the heck knew Fritz Hansen had designed an Airstream - and a Mini to tow it?  Check them out here

.... and you have another deserving winner of the coveted William Morris award:


                                                          BEAUTIFUL and USEFUL.


Til next time, Nx

Starck reality ...

It's Monday morning and all is not quite well with the world.

Last night I stumbled upon a programme called Design for Life - anyone seen it?  It's a reality TV show (originally aired in '09 in the UK, I have since discovered) where 12 designers aim to impress Philippe Starck with products they develop.  The brief, from Starck, is to make something "useful to humanity and democratic" and the prize is 6 months working in Starck's design company.  Now, you can love or hate Starck, but I'm assuming if you've got any ambition in the tough world of product design, that prize would be pretty cool, not to mention professionally useful, to win.

Starck's ubiquitous Ghost chair - image via everythingsimple.com

It was the first I'd seen of this show, so I didn't know (until I read later) who the contestants were.  I was really hoping they were random strangers plucked off the street, but alas, they're mostly qualified product designers, some already employed in the industry.   So I am just a bit gobsmacked at the ideas some of them came up with ...

Bottom of the list for me, hands down, was the bedside lampshade that you could take off the lamp, roll up and fashion into a sort of baseball-bat-looking object, in case you hear a bump in the night and need to go and investigate, and you wish to look vaguely menacing in your jim-jams as you do so.  Hmmmm.  Starck was harsh - "you arrrrre in la-la lande and you heve complett-ely miss-ed ze point" (he has a very strong French accent!).  I did feel a bit for the guy who came up with an ergonomic chair to be used in schools based on the exercise ball idea - a tad heart-breaking when the first thing Starck said was, "I made zat, uhhh, twenty yearssss ago".

So before I get on with the week, I feel the need to remind myself how beautiful, useful and ingenuous design can actually be ...

Ahhhh ... I feel better already.  This chair, called the Valet Chair, was designed by Danish designer Hans Wegner in 1953.  Originally commissioned for a hotel in Copenhagen, at a time when most business travellers were men, the chair was designed to allow the hotel guest to hang up their suit ready for the next day, and keep contents of their pockets in one place.  Here's how it works ...

The workings of Wegner's Valet Chair - photo via chairblog

You hang your jacket on the back, then the seat flips up to create hanging for the trousers.  Lifting the seat reveals a tray in which you can pop the contents of your pockets.  Simple!

William Morris is famed for saying, "Have nothing in your homes that you do not either know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful".  I love it when the 'or' in this quote becomes 'and' - when you come across a product that ticks both boxes - beautiful and useful.

Order restored. 

Hope all is well in your world.  Til next time, Nx