Above: Ipe tondo and Ipe quadro sidetables by James Irvine

Just Black inverts a selection of Italian brand Marsotto Edizioni's products in white Carrara marble by replicating the designs in black Marquina marble.

Above: Gina fruit bowl by James Irvine

British designer James Irvine, who passed away in February, was the company's art director. Dark versions of his Ipe tondo and Ipe quadro side tables and his simple fruit bowl designs are included in this collection.

Above: Pia fruit bowl by James Irvine

Thomas Sandell's melting bookcase features alongside Claesson Koivisto Rune's monolithic low square table and Jasper Morrison's London, Paris and Rome tables.

Above: Pina fruit bowl by James Irvine

Other contributing designers include Konstantin Grcic, Naoto Fukasawa and Ross Lovegrove.

Above: Gallery table by Claesson Koivisto Rune

The original collection was presented during Milan design week in 2010 and has been annually reinterpreted ever since - see our story about the range here.

Above: London table by Jasper Morrison

On show until tomorrow, the exhibition is located at Galleria d'Arte, Via Brera 16.

Above: Melt bookcase by Thomas Sandell

See all of our stories about Milan 2013 »
See our Milan 2013 map »

Here's some more information from Costanza Olfi and Mario Marsotto:

Just black 2013

Variations on a theme. After the absolute predominance of white, Marsotto edizioni now presents a selection of products in Black Marquina marble. The radical contrast produces entirely different effects, as in a sort of reversed image of the objects. Last year, it was the individual lines that stood out. Now it is the piece as a whole that reveals the essence of its design.

Above: Taksim side table by Konstantin Grcic

The black, non-light, forcefully asserts its presence, emphasizing the character and functionality of each object. Thus the collection acquires a renewed balance: alongside the ethereal lightness of white are the depth, weight and texture that are so ideally expressed in black.

Above: Eco book ends by Ross Lovegrove

The harmonious proportions that have always been the hallmark of each item in the Marsotto edizioni collection are naturally unvaried, together with that touch of elegance which black cannot but enhance.

Above: Poodle table by Naoto Fukasawa

And so a veritable metamorphosis has occurred, where the vibrant impact of black actually reinterprets each single piece. Enriching it with emotional, totemic values that strike a chord.

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Marsotto Edizioni appeared first on Dezeen.

News: British industrial designer James Irvine, who founded his studio in Milan nearly 30 years ago, has died aged 54.

Irvine studied design at Kingston Polytechnic in London before completing his master's degree at the Royal College of Art in 1984, after which he moved to Milan to work as a design consultant for Olivetti, the Italian company famous for its typewriters.

Founded in 1988, his studio has created products, furniture and transport for companies including Italian design brands Artemide, Foscarini and Cappellini, art publisher Phaidon and camera-maker Canon, while in 2000 he designed a fleet of Mercedes-Benz buses for the German city of Hannover.

Irvine most recently worked as the creative director of bent wood furniture company Thonet and as design consultant to Japanese brand Muji, roles he combined in a furniture design collaboration with Konstantin Grcic in 2009.

Figures from the industry paid tribute to Irvine on Twitter, with British designer Sebastian Bergne commenting: "Deeply shocked to hear of the death of James Irvine. What a great loss." David Carlson, editor-in-chief of online magazine David Report, wrote: "The world has lost a great person and a great designer."

San Francisco-based designer Yves Béhar later added: "James Irvine was a gentle soul in design, talent and kindness as one. He was always very sweet to me personally... will miss you James."

We filmed an interview with Irvine in 2010 as part of the Dezeen Talks at [D3] Design Talents series at imm cologne – watch it below.

See all design by James Irvine »

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1958-2013 appeared first on Dezeen.

Milan-based designer James Irvine has designed an I-beam shaped stool for Italian design brand Discipline to be exhibited during Helsinki Design Week this month.

The name Centanni derives from the hope that the durable design can last 100 years.

Created using larch wood and oak, the design uses no glue or screws. Instead sections are slotted together using a system of tenons and wedges.

Italian brand Discipline launched in Milan this year.  The Centanni Stool will be available at the end of September and Helsinki Design Week runs from 6-16th September.

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for Discipline appeared first on Dezeen.

DezeenTV: earlier this year Dezeen teamed up with [D3] Design Talents at imm cologne to interview 12 designers, including several whose careers have been launched at the young designers' showcase. To kick off the Dezeentalks at [D3]Design Talents series, Cologne regular James Irvine discusses sweaty armpits, car bonnets and Jasper Morrison's buckets.

Click on the symbol in the bottom right of the video player above to view the movie in full-screen HD.
Can’t see the movie? Click here.

Watch all the Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents »

Keep an eye out for more Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents interviews over the coming weeks...

See all our stories from Cologne 2010.

See James in our Made in Italy: il Modo Italiano talk at the Design Museum.

Watch all our movies »

See also:

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Made in Italy: il Modo Italiano	James Irvine for Marsotto Edizioni	More stories from Cologne 2010

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James Irvine appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese brand Muji and German furniture manufacturers Thonet have collaborated to produce two collections of tubular steel and bent wood furniture.

The tubular steel series (above and below) was created by designer Konstantin Grcic and comprises a chair and desk in three sizes.

Three polypropylene drawers can be suspended beneath the MDF table top.

The beech, bent wood collection (above and below) was designed by Milan-based, British designer James Irvine (creative director of Thonet) and features a single panel supporting the back of the chair, which aligns with the accompanying table top.

Both designs are Launched in the UK today.

Here's some text from Muji:

--

“MUJI manufactured by THONET”

“In all the world, only the Thonet factory in Germany is capable of producing bentwood and steel pipe furniture of this quality.” Masaaki
Kanai, President and Representative Director of Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd. (MUJI)

“Muji manufactured by THONET” is a collection of simplified, stylised Thonet designs made of bentwood and tubular steel, manufactured to Thonet’s customary high standards at their Frankenberg HQ and available exclusively at Muji stores in Japan, Germany, Paris and the UK.

There are plans to enhance the collection in the near future. Both Muji and Thonet have collaborated with international designers in the past. What is ground breaking for both companies is their decision to work together with named designers to reinterpret important design masterpieces from Thonet’s historic back catalogue, making them accessible to a younger, broader, “Muji” marketplace.

By uniting the design heritage, skilled craftsmanship and manufacturing capabilities of Thonet with the streamlined design aesthetic of Muji, not to mention its youthful, design savvy audience, beautiful designs gain new relevance for today’s modern, urban lifestyle. The beech bentwood collection takes Thonet’s most famous bentwood chair, No. 14, as its inspiration. (This design – now called the 214 chair - still features in the Thonet collection, this year celebrating its 150th birthday.)

Milan based English designer, James Irvine, now Creative Director at Thonet, exploits the beauty of the curved lines of the original chair design, adding a simple, horizontal panel to support the back. The seat of the chair is constructed of either wood or mesh. The new MUJI No. 14 chair is robust, yet so light you can virtually lift it with one finger. When placed next to the corresponding dining table, which is available in 2 sizes to seat either 4 or 6, the back panel merges with the tabletop, leaving only the elegant line of the bentwood visible.

The second collection, designed by German designer and graduate of the Royal College of Art, Konstantin Grcic, celebrates Thonet’s tubular steel furniture tradition, dating back to the Bauhaus designers of the 1920’s. An iconographic cantilever chair with tubular steel frame and plywood seat shell, reminiscent of designs like Breuer’s B 32, is created with the image in mind of “sitting on air”. Its clean, simple lines and functional flexibility will introduce the effortless style and timeless beauty of the period to a new, contemporary audience. To team with the chair, Grcic has designed a tubular steel desk with dark grey MDF tabletop, available in 3 sizes. A suspended shelf accommodating 3 polypropylene drawers is an optional addition to the desk and a low table, also in 3 sizes, with optional shallow suspended shelf complete the collection.

In line with strict environmental policies of both companies, materials and manufacturing processes have been carefully selected both for their minimal impact on the environment and for their cost. Whilst quality remains a key priority in the development of these designs, accessibility is paramount. These are investment pieces without the luxury price tag.

These are investment pieces without the luxury price tag. “MUJI manufactured by THONET” was unveiled at the Tokyo Design Week in November 2008 and went on sale exclusively at top Muji stores in Japan prior to Xmas 2008.

The collection will be available at the end of May in Muji stores in Germany and France, prior to arriving in the UK, where it will be available exclusively at Muji’s flagship store in Tottenham Court Road, London from August 2009. Pieces will be available to order on 6-8 weeks delivery. Prices start at £215.

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