Cool furniture, design objects and desiderata

[TheFoo]

I was thinking specifically of Mellor's Minimal cutlery set. Especially with the knives the drop in functionality seems too steep, though I could be wrong. I'm now sort of curious to try them. I'm ashamed to confess that I like the look of them though they may be a bit too showy -- I think my spouse would find them pretentious, and I tend to defer to her as she's an accomplished artist whereas I'm just a professional nerd. The Pride set is an accomplished design in my view.

On whether most lauded modern designs fail, well, perhaps your modus tollens is my modus ponens. I only like very few things, and tend to prefer underdesigned things or even bog standard crap to overdesigned items.

Unfortunately, flatware design is tragically under-examined. It is challenging to find any thoughtful discussion or experiences. However, anecdotally, people who have used the likes of the Mellor Minimal or Pott 35 seem to have no complaints about their functionality; in fact, the Pott stuff is supposedly perfectly balanced. In contrast, I have heard from multiple sources that Jacobsen’s famous set for Georg Jensen is problematic and impractical.

I don’t like over or under-designed things. My personal measure of design is the degree to which an object invites and elevates its intended use. Functionality is core to this, but not sufficient. Jasper Morrison is my favorite contemporary designer—his design philosophy and work are pretty spot-on to me.

 

[TheFoo]

particularly with the fork and knife, it's as if the exercise is to take a billet of steel and mill to function using the least and most direct steps; a premise of minimal process that develops into an almost memphis or brutalist ware.

whether or not the pieces are actually made in this way is unknown to me (and totally besides the point), but the essential technological choice of casting or forging or stamping or whatever is a material statement with aesthetic outcomes besides.

incidentally looking back i prefer the Pott 33 to the 35 set. seeing them in 3/4.

Yes, process is part of the discussion, but I’m not sure how important it is other than with respect to quality/durability.

After all, the Minimal set does not depend on the type of manufacturing process to make sense as a design if you account for the importance of clarity/expressiveness of function. By eschewing with as much ornament and complexity as possible, the Minimal set is making an explicit point about its function and purpose. Whether it was easier or harder to make that way is a separate issue.

You are not alone on the Pott 33. Everyone seems to prefer it versus the 35 as well. I suppose I am the anomaly. I guess I like the Pott 35 for reasons related to the above discussion of the Minimal design.

 

[Wrenkin]

Unfortunately, flatware design is tragically under-examined. It is challenging to find any thoughtful discussion or experiences. However, anecdotally, people who have used the likes of the Mellor Minimal or Pott 35 seem to have no complaints about their functionality; in fact, the Pott stuff is supposedly perfectly balanced. In contrast, I have heard from multiple sources that Jacobsen’s famous set for Georg Jensen is problematic and impractical.

I have the Jacobsen set. The forks look good but they're ill-suited for a contemporary diet. I think they're designed for a traditional European meat and potatoes meal, where their use is limited to stabbing relatively large pieces of food. If you want to eat anything containing rice, or a lot of sauce, look elsewhere. The knives are kind of like airline cutlery, which is charming, and the spoons are ok. The best part are the special asymmetrical bouillon spoons, but those don't come in a standard set anymore.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

I have the Jacobsen set. The forks look good but they're ill-suited for a contemporary diet. I think they're designed for a traditional European meat and potatoes meal, where their use is limited to stabbing relatively large pieces of food. If you want to eat anything containing rice, or a lot of sauce, look elsewhere.

For what we eat, and I think this is refective of many east-west bicultural families, what we use most of the time is chopsticks with a spoon. In some ways what you're advocating is the much-maligned spork - and there is a lot to said for a more genuinely multifunctional piece of cutlery for how people eat now.

 

[TheFoo]

For what we eat, and I think this is refective of many east-west bicultural families, what we use most of the time is chopsticks with a spoon. In some ways what you're advocating is the much-maligned spork - and there is a lot to said for a more genuinely multifunctional piece of cutlery for how people eat now.

For reference, this is the Arne Jacobsen set from Georg Jensen being discussed. The reason the fork is no good for rice and sauce is because the head is too narrow, while the tines are too short and far apart. You can’t get a good-size bite with it unless stabbing at a chunk you’ve cut with a knife. Small bits of things, like peas, tend to roll off the side. Sauce tends to fall through the tines rather than stick between them.

The solution is a wider fork head combined with more, longer, closer-spaced tines. This facilitates better scooping of food where you still need to stab at some things and don’t want to fuss with two separate elements. Also, in personal experience, I feel a fork gives me better control and precision than a spoon when eating rice dishes, unless the rice is dry and loose as opposed to more glutinous and clumpy.

Problem with a spork is that it’s hard to imagine it being good at both fork and spoon functions at the same time.

 

[Kaplan]

A decade ago, I had a gf who had this set (an architect student, who probably got it from her architect parents), and I never really enjoyed eating with it.

But I'm pretty sure it'll look nice enough in the distant future of 2001.

 

[gdl203]

A decade ago, I had a gf who had this set (an architect student, who probably got it from her architect parents), and I never really enjoyed eating with it.

But I'm pretty sure it'll look nice enough in the distant future of 2001.

 

[emptym]

I have the Jacobsen set. The forks look good but they're ill-suited for a contemporary diet. I think they're designed for a traditional European meat and potatoes meal, where their use is limited to stabbing relatively large pieces of food. If you want to eat anything containing rice, or a lot of sauce, look elsewhere. The knives are kind of like airline cutlery, which is charming, and the spoons are ok. The best part are the special asymmetrical bouillon spoons, but those don't come in a standard set anymore.

For what we eat, and I think this is refective of many east-west bicultural families, what we use most of the time is chopsticks with a spoon. In some ways what you're advocating is the much-maligned spork - and there is a lot to said for a more genuinely multifunctional piece of cutlery for how people eat now.

We mainly use the SE Asian way of fork and spoon: use the fork to push food onto the spoon, then the spoon to put food in your mouth.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

We mainly use the SE Asian way of fork and spoon: use the fork to push food onto the spoon, then the spoon to put food in your mouth.

In our (Japanese) case, it's not that we use the chopsticks and spoon together (except with soup noodles - ramen, udon, soba etc.), rather we used chopsticks most of the time, and spoons otherwise. We use forks for pasta though, even though there's no reason we couldn't use chopsticks... but the one thing we hardly ever use is a table knife!

 

[GeneralEmployer]

I know Arj Barker; I think he would approve of this poast. Damn fine show.

 

[Piobaire]

So I'm the only one that mainly uses his fingers?

 

[sugarbutch]

So I'm the only one that mainly uses his fingers?

Etiquette to go with the Canadian tuxedo?

 

[PhilKenSebben]

I an thinking of buying this sofa for my home office/Library.

Given the conversation about silverware here, I am going to regret this, however I am looking for comments, thoughts, alternatives and Ideas.

Yes it is is from Crate and barrel. Yes it isn't actually a piece that some famous guy designed on the back of a bar napkin, No it isn't going into a museum of some sort, it is going to be sat on , laid on, used, quite possibly sex might even be had on it. So suggestions, if any, need to bear that in mind, it is a piece for use. I do enjoy the midcentury aesthetic and there are a few mid century pieces mixed into the room currently (Namely the kardiel protractor Jr Desk in Walnut)

Thanks in advance!

Pardon Our Interruption

 

[brokencycle]

I an thinking of buying this sofa for my home office/Library.

Given the conversation about silverware here, I am going to regret this, however I am looking for comments, thoughts, alternatives and Ideas.

Yes it is is from Crate and barrel. Yes it isn't actually a piece that some famous guy designed on the back of a bar napkin, No it isn't going into a museum of some sort, it is going to be sat on , laid on, used, quite possibly sex might even be had on it. So suggestions, if any, need to bear that in mind, it is a piece for use. I do enjoy the midcentury aesthetic and there are a few mid century pieces mixed into the room currently (Namely the kardiel protractor Jr Desk in Walnut)

Thanks in advance!

Pardon Our Interruption

I don't think there's anything wrong with that sofa, but Room & Board has some options that are cheaper and made in the US:

https://www.roomandboard.com/catalog/living/sofas-and-loveseats/andre-sofas

https://www.roomandboard.com/catalog/living/sofas-and-loveseats/reese-sofas

 

[PhilKenSebben]

I don't think there's anything wrong with that sofa, but Room & Board has some options that are cheaper and made in the US:

https://www.roomandboard.com/catalog/living/sofas-and-loveseats/andre-sofas

https://www.roomandboard.com/catalog/living/sofas-and-loveseats/reese-sofas

Brilliant. I like a number of their sofas! Thanks so much!!!