The first thing I thought when I saw the renderings for the new bassinet and easel from Argington and ODA, the Office for Design & Architecture: a pushcart.
This thing would be perfect for a family moving into one of those towers on the Lower East Side, a great way to evoke the storied, gritty, authentic character of the neighborhood--which you just paid $3 million for Bernard Tschumi to obliterate for you.
Stainless steel rod and walnut-veneered ply makes a nod to the late-lamented Ooba and to the Eameses lounge chairs before them. This bassinet's got more whimsy, though. Which is industryspeak for "stuff I don't get."
If you attend either the NY Gift Fair or ICFF, where these puppies will be unveiled, perhaps you can ask one of the designers [ODA's Eran Chen, Christian Bailey, and Charles Brill are credited on the design; Argington is the manufacturer] what's up with that little canopy thing the Euros are so fond of. Clearly, they are well-versed in its historical references. Me, not so much.
No information on pricing yet, but I would guess the version shown here retails for about $224,000. If you swap out the original Calder mobile, that'll come down significantly.
ARGINGTON FURNITURE COLLECTION W/ ODA -- 2008 [oda-architecture.com via core77]
i actually got to speak with jenny from argington this weekend at the fair and got the skinny on what's next for the protoype. check it out here
less the calder mobile of course!
[nice get, jenn. thanks -ed.]
It kind of looks like a hamper
on a somewhat related note, oh guru of high design for the children of our lives, is there anyplace that sells a faux-calder-esque mobile similar to the one shown here? i'd love something like that for the babe's room, and while alexander is something like a 4th cousin twice removed on my great grandmother's side, i did not inherit the gene to whip something up like this myself.
calder-style mobiles...
http://www.theabstracthome.com/groups/mobiles/mobiles.htm
also...
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=53650
merci, noisette's maman!