These are a mix of glass and lucite, past and present. The bottom 3 pieces are from the 70s and all of the pieces at top are contemporary. Transparency puts furniture into the realm of the future or the imaginary, even when it also automatically harks back to the 1970s. Which may be the same thing. The 70s also had that thing for kaleidoscopic and candyshop colour, iconoclasm, disco and visual pleasure. And conveniently mirrored table tops. Above, XXX tables by Glas Italia, released this year. See this Arren Williams article. Below, glass and lucite by Italian company Sawaya Moroni, who are present-day masters of this too. Example further below are vintage.

Two photos above are by Klick Interiors.

Above, French 70s lucite desk from here. Below, Electrified Plexiglas and Mirrored Glass Low Table by Ron Ferri, circa 1970’s USA. Mirror, Lucite. From Todd Merrill

Below, unknown chair.

Discuss.

All of these things belong in the comfortable homemade space station where we’ll live in some sort of harmony and wear space rags. Pictured here: space capsule by unknown; lounge by Joe Colombo; spacey driftwood root from the Pacific; Gabriella Crespi steel table; 7′ steel sculpture by Paul Evans; Roger Tallon helicoid aluminum spiral staircase. Click each for more information. If anyone knows the identity of the space capsule, please advise. UPDATE: a Flickr user informs me that the white space capsule is actually a replica of the Trinity Gadget, part of a nuclear explosives test at Los Alamos, which changes things completely. It’s not lo fi at all, and is massively destructive. But this is fitting, because in science fiction, utopias go wrong so fast.

“Electrified Plexiglas and Mirrored Glass Low Table,” circa 1970-79, by American designer Ron Ferri. American Glam. From the artnet site:

“There are few designers who captured the essence of the Studio 54 era as well as Ron Ferri did. The Emerald green Plexiglas base is illuminated from within and rests on a sleek mirrored glass top. Pure disco chic. From the original Jay Spectre designed interior for R. Roberts. Documented in Point of View: Design by Jay Spectre by J. Spectre and G. Bradfield; page 46. Original condition.”

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2thewalls is the closest thing on the internet to the much-missed and now cult-status Nest: Quarterly of Interiors. Finding 2thewalls is a bit like falling down the rabbit hole, and not just because reading it feels like deciphering text printed on a zebra crossing. Like Nest, 2thewalls is concerned with the way people actually live in architecture, and, also similar to Nest, 2thewalls somehow illuminates reality’s tendency to take on an almost Alice in Wonderland quality. In design, reality really is stranger than fiction, and both publications get this across not just through unconventional subject matter and design, but also by providing interesting historical context in such a way that it overturns our more banal assumptions about where objects and styles come from. I find it a welcome refuge from the massive decontextualization of styles and objects that most decor magazines and blogs (tumblr! I’m talking to you!) are guilty of, something that I think flattens our experience of the design around us and converts it into an exhausting avalanche of commodities. 2thewalls always makes me think, and it has the additional knack of somehow digging up things that I’ve once loved but have then lost or forgotten. A long time ago I cut out these two photos (above and below) from a vintage garage-sale copy of Architectural Digest: a blue fold-out writing desk in the shape of a hippo, and an old wooden staircase out of a folk tale, but I lost them and never saw them again until they resurfaced on 2thewalls. I’m showing this work only because it’s a favourite of mine, but there is so much more there to look at on 2thewalls. All of the work shown here  is by Atelier Lalanne, and you really should go to 2thewalls to read the original accompanying text. Photos here, all except for the last two, are courtesy of 2thewalls and were taken from the February 1981 issue of AD, and are by Marc Lacroix. 2thewalls is a project of New York designer Keehnan Konyha.

The table by Francois-Xavier Lalanne, above, is easily disassembled into 5 round bistro tables. Below, Francois-Xavier (inset) and Claude Lalanne. The two pieces at bottom – a frog that opens into a chair and a necklace that seems to have been made in ancient Greece – both sold recently at auction. A comprehensive book on Atelier Lalanne work is Claude & Francois-Xavier Lalanne and see also Claude & Francois-Xavier Lalanne: Fragments.

I found Lost City Arts by accident when searching for works by Harry Bertoia. Like this shop, Lost City has eccentric art and furniture pieces that are substantially more eye-catching or compelling than market-produced objects mainly because most of their art furniture was, in fact, made by sculptors. Most of it is one-offs or small editions which is why most of it is too expensive for me. But I like the fact that these objects came from also a time when buyers actually collected contemporary sculpture for their houses and apartments. I don’t know what these pieces awaken for me, but the more eccentric accessories of modernism – glam, or brutalist, or whatever – are becoming more and more appealing. Maybe everything’s too clean these days, or too girly; I don’t know. Captions and photos are from Lost City Arts. Above is a Spider table from Italy, 1950s.

Unique Animal Form Sculpture by Harry Bertoia, USA, 1950’s. Rare early example of Bertoia’s expansive exploration of metal work. Large carpenters nails are assembled in the form of a fantasy animal of insect. The entire surface is coated with a layer of melted bronze. It is extremely rare if not totally unique in Bertoia’s career to depict actual figures. Playful exercise predating the more formal styles that were to develop.

Walnut Occasional Table by Milo Baughman, USA, 1960’s. Occasional table by Baughman. Designed with a great sense of scale, the thick top matches the vertical dimension of the X base. Beautiful walnut grain overall, excellent as side table for the low slung sofa.

Above: Paul Evans, Brutalist Sculpture, USA, 1960’s. A very rare freestanding artwork by Paul Evans, known primarily for his artfully accented furniture. His sculpture is exceedingly uncommon. The trademark brutal approach has been applied to create a floral themed masterpiece.

Harp Chair by Jorgen Hovelskov, Denmark, 1960’s. Beautiful vintage example of the Harp by Hovelskov. A masterful exercise in material conservatism, the form more than makes up in its visual complexity. The expertly crafted frame, in solid walnut, anchors the hypnotic weaving of the jute cord forming the seat. A delicate but perfect balance of style, comfort and high design.

This is the piece I secretly hanker for the most: Motorized Kinetic Sculpture by Calleja, USA, 1970’s. A very cool, quiet and mesmerizing kinetic sculpture. A pair of chromed rods, each precisely curved, are mounted to a base which contains a motor. The motor slowly turns the rods, seemingly weaving the rods into and out of each other. A very simple method to achieve a subtly calming effect. The interior of the base is signed CALLEJA.