Cool furniture, design objects and desiderata

[brokencycle]

I asked a similar question a couple of years back, and got some nice replies and suggestions, which you can check out starting around here and going for a few pages.

In the end, I settled on keeping my Citterio 98 from Ittala:

Spoiler

View attachment 1482878

- but if I decide to upgrade, I would probably get the 'Bali' from Ercuis:

Spoiler

View attachment 1482879

- though from your selections it seems like you're looking for something more modern?

Btw, how sure are you of the decline in quality from Georg Jensen? I don't think I'd be too worried about the country of production. Both my dad and sister have the Copenhagen set (which I personally prefer over the New York one), and I believe they may have added to their sets in recent years, without any noticeable dip in quality.

I couldn't buy the second because of the gaudy branding on them.

 

[Kaplan]

I see where you're coming from, but it's not really that noticeable IRL.

But for those that like these, it's quite a traditional style, so something similar can be had from other makers, without any branding, IIRC.

 

[Darkside]

We have the iittala Artik and the design is amazing, but they are a little heavy on the handle end.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

I asked a similar question a couple of years back, and got some nice replies and suggestions, which you can check out starting around here and going for a few pages.

In the end, I settled on keeping my Citterio 98 from Ittala:

- but if I decide to upgrade, I would probably get the 'Bali' from Ercuis:

Thanks for that reminder and link.

I love the Citterio 98 and I am not sure that the Bali would qualify as an 'upgrade' in terms of design at least...

 

[TheFoo]

Think I’m gonna do the Pott.

 

[sugarbutch]

We have brushed stainless GS something or other from Macy’s for everyday use:

Sasaki Eros was our wedding registry pattern:

 

[CDFS]

I wish ikea still made this, but I can't even find a good picture of all the pieces together (or even a good standalone of the entree fork)
View attachment 1482817View attachment 1482818View attachment 1482819
Best set they ever made IMHO. Well balanced and made from good stainless.

Would have been expensive for Ikea, but still cheap in the grand scheme of things. I think it was sold in the early 2000s

Those look really good, actually.

 

[TheFoo]

So, pulled the trigger on the Pott 33:

But now second guessing and thinking about Pott 35:

 

[nootje]

The Pott 35 looks like something you’d find in a military dump store. I think you made the right choice.

 

[venessian]

We have the iittala Artik and the design is amazing, but they are a little heavy on the handle end.

View attachment 1482952

That looks somewhat like the shape/proportions of the old Georg Jensen "Prism" we have, which is beautiful stuff. The fork is trying a bit too hard though.

 

[venessian]

The Pott 35 looks like something you’d find in a military dump store. I think you made the right choice.

They both do, to me. Really ungainly looking, "heavy-duty", would look real good with a canteen and tin plates, and the branding on the knife is hideous. Ergo, all quite predictable I suppose.

 

[TheFoo]

They both do, to me. Really ungainly looking, "heavy-duty", would look real good with a canteen and tin plates, and the branding on the knife is hideous. Ergo, all quite predictable I suppose.

This is such a silly criticism. Almost all modern(ist) design can be said to look cheap, simple, utilitarian, etc. Yet, those are the exact virtues meant to be elevated and celebrated in modernism. Many of the iconic modern designs you have posted, for example, “look like” they belong at a campsite or in a cafeteria—at least to those either uninitiated or willfully dismissive.

I think it is far more interesting, constructive, and useful to critique modern and contemporary design on other grounds. For example, why not focus on the relationship between function and form? What about quality of materials and manufacture? And when assessing aesthetics and elegance, why not do so without concern for whether a thing “looks like” something else? There can be beauty in the common and inexpensive, after all.

 

[ValidusLA]

I think the Pott 33 is much superior to the 35 imo.

The 35 is almost comically stark.

 

[double00]

This is such a silly criticism. Almost all modern(ist) design can be said to look cheap, simple, utilitarian, etc. Yet, those are the exact virtues meant to be elevated and celebrated in modernism. Many of the iconic modern designs you have posted, for example, “look like” they belong at a campsite or in a cafeteria—at least to those either uninitiated or willfully dismissive.

I think it is far more interesting, constructive, and useful to critique modern and contemporary design on other grounds. For example, why not focus on the relationship between function and form? What about quality of materials and manufacture? And when assessing aesthetics and elegance, why not do so without concern for whether a thing “looks like” something else? There can be beauty in the common and inexpensive, after all.

hard to weigh in without a place setting fit the fork is resolving your table and your face no?

 

[TheFoo]

hard to weigh in without a place setting fit the fork is resolving your table and your face no?

Come again?