Vladimir Kagan's Blog

ICFF The International Contemporary Furniture Fair has come and gone

ICFF 2013

From the Mundane to the Ho Hum

with some refreshing sparks of creativity

 

Copyright Vladimir Kagan, May 27, 2013

 

The Jacob Javits Center opened in New York in 1986 two years before the first ICFF show was held there

ICFF is a far cry from its origin twenty-five years ago when it was a fresh vibrant showcase for new talent. Today it is primarily a real estate venture to sell as much floor space as possible. To that degree, it was a huge success… As a showcase for Contemporary Furniture it was somewhat of a failure.

 

Huge chunks of floor space were devoted to bathroom plumbing. Bathtubs, (that normal people can’t possibly fit into), a plethora of shower heads in all shapes and sizes with spigots and faucets all looking alike. LSD lighting, some experimenting with a new Know-how and a few outstanding examples of where the technology is going.The show included a feeble smattering of International exhibitors displayed in space leased by the sponsoring countries with predictable examples of home furnishings. And finally there were a few High Point manufacturers with slick exhibits, wanting to break into the designer market. The usual exhibits of student’s work from the various design schools around the country was missing. (They were farmed out to an off-premise location... The rentable space was too tempting to waste on freebees.)

 

My take on the show: 80% mundane - 20% fun and worthwhile

 

The fun stuff was mostly exhibits in raw unadorned spaces, with their creators much in evidence, expounding their wares. That portion of the show was well worth the price of admission.

 

my opinionated review of the show

 

There were items that I considered inventive, others well done, some imaginative and finally products that were just fun … in this category, the word “practical” was not a prime criterion.

 

These are my two favorites - “Vladimir’s Choice for Best in Show” 

An LED lighting system designed by Peter Stathis for Trapeze: a very creative company based in San Francisco. On display was an assemblage of esthetic table and wall lamps in my favorite color: orange. These lights function without traditional wiring… every component snaps together… each segment is the conductors of the electricity. The lighting disc is paper-thin and throws off an amazing amount of lumens. (I couldn’t resist buying one.)

 

 

Peter Stathis explaining the wonder of the new LED technology

The Parabola Chair designed by Carlo Aiello from Los Angeles is a remarkable achievement, working with straight metal rods to create a sensuous curve… The Parabola chair is available in powder-coated steel and stainless.

 

 My friends Elin Lake-Ewald and Jonathan Block testing the comfort of the Parabola Chair

 

Both of my winning designs originated in California… there must be something about the Pacific air!

 

 

The next item that caught my eye was a novel clock, an import from Germany. The QLOCKTWO tells time in words. It is available in tabletop, wall mounted and new, as a wristwatch, all in a cornucopia of yummy colors.

 
The latest technology in clockworks using LED lighting to spell out the time

 

Colin Selig from San Francisco is owner of Think-Tank. He came up with an original idea for recycling discarded propane tanks; he cuts them up into funky seating for indoor and outdoor use… cheers to Colin!

 

A very cool way to recycle discarded propane tanks 

 

I always like seeing good woodwork executed by skilled cabinetmakers, (not the earth shaking stuff), just well made and intelligently designed furniture.

 

My friend Mark Jacob, who owns SKRAM Furniture, is a splendid craftsman, working in North Carolina. He has a nice edgy quality to his designs; clean, minimal and with an eye to comfort. This easy chair is typical of his work. 

Mark Jacobs makes a minimal lounge chair exciting

 

Two very simple triangulated wood pedestals make a perfect underpinning for this glass-topped coffee table. (I am ashamed to say that I did not write down the maker’s name… if someone knows him, I will add it to the Blog)

 triangles form the underpinning for a coffee table

 

 

I was impressed by this delicately executed classic console table by Ryan Meacham, a young Irish cabinetmaker who studied at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine and is showing with The Furniture Society, a membership organization that promotes excellence in furniture craftsmanship.

 
Ryan Meacham has a delicate touch in creating this handsome console talbe

 

Bending plywood is a technology not many cabinetmakers posses. It’s a niche like woodturning; Kino Guérin from Quebec Canada has mastered the art and is doing creative furniture, making it look simple... It is not… Kino is an expert at it.

 

Kino Guérin's pretzel furniture looks playful but is a highly technical

Boat building certainly is a niche market. Normally you would not find an exquisitely made Kayak in a furniture show… But at ICFF expect the unexpected. Nick Schade, hiding somewhere in England is ready to take your order for a custom canoe or boat of your choice. Bespoke Global, a gallery located on Green Street in New York, represents him.

 

This sensuous boat caught my eye - Nick Schade is an amazing craftsman - I'd want to keep this kayak in my living room!

 

A beautiful and comfortable Wing Chair with a practical high seat and upright back is ideal for reading. Designed by Jaime Hayón for “Republic of Fritz Hansen” heir to the iconic furniture maker in Denmark.

 

Jaime Hayón caught the spirit of Fritz Hansen in this handsome wing chair

To my utter surprise, I found my 50’s Capricorn Sofa and coffee table on display in the OASIQ exhibit… OASIQ is the licensee for my outdoor furniture collection. Their showroom is on 58^th Street in New York. (It gave us a pleasant place to squat and review the show.)

I was pleased with the imaginative poster they created using my Chaise as the vehicle for the design.

 

the Capricorn Sofa and coffee table in powder coated steel, available in many colors

Destin Layne and her fiancee Jonathan Block and I relaxing in my 50's Sofa

posing with the poster for my Capricorn Chaise

 

Moving away from furniture, I was particularly impressed with the ceramics of Gilles Caffier from Paris.

   

Paris ceramic artist Gilles Caffier was impressive with his textured "objet"

 

 

Textiles were not widely represented, but I loved the collection of hand-woven African fabrics imported by Afrique Authentique-AutheticAfrica.com from London.

These hand-woven fabrics are interpretations of African tribal patterns

 

 

There are always some rugs to be found at the show. I particularly liked a hand-woven silk rug with subtle colors woven in Nepal and imported by Classic Rug Collection in New York. The owner told me that it can also be woven in “silk-bamboo threads” a technique developed by shaving the bamboo very thinly… Bravo for bamboo; a wonderfully versatile material.

I loved the subtle colors and soft texture of this Nepalese silk rug

 

As our tour of the show compelled us to walk through exhibit after exhibit of bathroom fixtures, I found one Italian manufacturer who came up with some original ideas… (Leave it to the Italians to carve marble into a malleable material and create an original sink.)

The hole in the back is for plumbing access

 

 

Lighting always strikes a chord with me. I liked the Stickbulbs designed by Min Hong, who works in Long Island, N.Y. His sticks are art disguised as lamps, using LED technology.

These stick lights really don't give a lot of light but create a nice atmosphere 

 

My friend, Christopher Poehlmann always comes up with a subtle variation on a theme. He carved acrylic blocks and illuminated them with high tech LED. (Some years ago, Chris made a beautiful chandelier for my Nantucket Kitchen.)

 

A block of carved acrylic is illuminated with a tiny LED bulb

The chandelier in my kitchen designed and made by Christopher Poehlmann

 

Christopher, Elin and I (on my electric scooter) reminiscing about old times

There were dozens of globe lights with bare bulbs housed in a variety of cleverly spun or perforated plastic materials.

I liked this overblown oragami shade chandelier

And loved these lacy fixtures

And just for the fun of it, we found this Pterodactyl made out of cardboard by a Japanese artist

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There is always one after-market-party not to miss at Ralph Pucci International. He provides the best entertainment with every wannabe seen designer or aspiring starlet making an appearance.

Having ingested enough furniture in the past two days, I concentrated on the entertainment and found this “installation-art” in slow motion… A good way to end ICFF 2013.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small is Beautiful

Small Wonders

Copyright Vladimir Kagan, May 18, 2013

 

On a recent visit to my Daughter Jessica in Connecticut, I was enchanted by a simple music box we bought together in a touristy gift shop on our trip to Paris. It is encased in a tin box and wound with a little red knob to emit a “tinkley” rendition of the Marsaeille. The box is decorated with historic images of the revolution…It’s a cheap toy that one buys on impulse and tosses into a drawer, never to be seen again. However, it’s simplicity and sophistication is quite amazing - a detail that we take for granted.

 

Jessica's Paris souvenir - a music box in a tin can 

The technology of a music box is not new; they first appeared at the end of the 18^th century and were originally made with a perforated metal disk. Over the years, the mechanism was miniaturized into a small cylinder with spiky pins that pluck at thin stands of spring-steel, each fine-tuned to emit a single note on perfect pitch. By plucking a number of these strands at one time they emit a symphony of sounds. By the 19^th Century, music boxes were powered with elaborate clockworks produced by sophisticated Swiss watchmakers. As these instruments became smaller and smaller, they were secreted into snuffboxes and fine jewelry. Not all music boxes necessarily were diminutive. A father and son team of German cabinetmakers, Abraham and David Roentgen, created intricate cabinets with a plethora of hidden gadgets. Amongst these were elaborate armoires that concealed a complete music box orchestra. The Roentgen’s furniture was the rage of all the Royal families of Europe. In a recent exhibit in the Metropolitan Museum an amazing collection of Roentgen cabinets, desk and tables were beautifully exhibited. I was amazed that these elaborated pieces of furniture were so remarkably well preserved in spite of two hundred years of the ravages of wars.

An 18th century music box with a perforated disc, which was later replaced by cylinders

 

A simple hand-held music bax showing the inner working: A spiky cylinder engaging a comb of spring steel hand wound by a knob with a geared worm-screw  

An elaborate music box made by a Swiss watchmaker

An antique music box with a drawer full of interchangeable cylinders - just like a record collection

A Roentgen desk-cabinet with the music box activated hourly by a clock mechanism

A 19th Century snuffbox and gold pendant with a hidden music box

By the earliest 20^th century, music boxes gave way to the player piano, which, with their punch-card technology were the precursor of IBM’s first punch-card computers!

 

Tiny things have always fascinated me. While visiting Boston’s North Bennet Street School, an institution dedicated to fine craftsmanship, I was enamored by a miniature plane, so tiny that it disappears into the palm of a hand; yet a vital precision tool used in violin making.

A violin makers brass plane - used for scooping out the sound-box of the violin

 

I like collection small-gauge toy trains, though they do not qualify as miniature, their exacting details surely do.

 

It was probably my wife Erica’s love for “small” that got me stated in the first place. We have a glass vetrine cabinet filled with Erica’s collection of miniatures including a porcelain tea set befitting a royal dollhouse. As toddlers, our children played with it daily, serving droplets of tea for their imaginary parties.

 

 

 

On my cluttered desk, I have accumulated an assortment of diminutive “toys”: a pair of Italian hand-bound miniature books covered in marbleized paper, originally intended for our grandchildren, but never bestowed on them.

 

 

 

 A jeweler’s loupe that serves me no purpose other than the pleasure of its intricate construction. However, my wife Erica had a more mundane use for it: to check the children for head lice!

I enjoy fondling a small ball bearing disc, which I purchased some years ago to design a hinge for a pair of heavy eight-foot cabinet doors.

 

As we have graduated to bigger things in our lives, we have mostly forgotten the pleasure of small…. Small can be beautiful!

 

What can be more fun than enjoying the toys of our youth?

 

 

 

 Footnote:

Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (Metropolitan Museum of Art) [Hardcover]

 

 

 

VLADIMIR KAGAN: MADE IN THE USA

• An Interview with Nathaniel Ross
  Copyright 2013 Haute Living

Nate Ross is a writer and designer, based in Chicago, who recently conducted an in depth interview with me for his client Haute Living, my Chicago showroom. 

“I am evolutionary, not revolutionary. I’ve always designed to fill a void in the lifestyle of the modern home.” ~ Vladimir Kagan

It can be said that designer Vladimir Kagan’s work eludes categorization due to its amoebic form, and eschews interpretation by its mere simplicity. His lines parallel the legato of a Paul Desmond saxophone solo, but can also embody the expression of a Baroque concerto. With an oeuvre spanning over sixty-five years, Kagan’s work, one can argue, is much closer to the art furniture of Wendell Castle than something from the Herman Miller or Knoll collection - but that is the great appeal of a Vladimir Kagan piece. Much more sensual than any modern form that preceded it, Kagan's singular design language was born out of a love of painting and sculpture. This affinity for fine art, an edacious work ethic, and master craftsman skills propelled Kagan into the stratosphere of modern design.   

His career trajectory began in the late 1940's; first while working in his father's furniture shop in New York, and then later opening his own shop on 57th Street. One commission lead to the next, and soon Kagan was designing furniture and interiors for the political, cultural, and business elite. His success continued through the decades, inventing new forms and applying new materials to his furniture designs, ambitiously writing his place in the Pantheon of contemporary furniture design.

And now, in his mid-80's, there is no sign of him slowing down. He carefully manages his family and work life, dividing his active schedule primarily between his apartment in Manhattan, his new 24,000 square foot factory and archival showroom in New Jersey, and his home on Nantucket. On top of being Vladimir Kagan the designer, Vladi, as he is affectionately known, is a loving father and grandfather, active blogger, world traveler, and so much more. He was kind enough to sit down with Haute Living to have a candid conversation about his life, his work, his writing, and the future of Vladimir Kagan Design.       

HL: Your father was a master cabinetmaker with his own shop, first in Europe and then in the U.S. The influence your father had on you as a designer is an intriguing part of your life story. Tell us about that relationship.

VK: We had a very artistic family. My father was a furniture maker, but he was also a serious art collector. Before World War II, he had two art galleries, collecting the art of Viennese and German Expressionists. Many of the major artists of the day were drifting in and out of our home, and so I was always surrounded by very creative people. The core of my creativity, however, stemmed from my father who was a major influence in my life’s work. He encouraged me in my development, and felt it was vital to learn how to draw properly. He also taught me the ingredients of furniture making. We had different handwriting, so-to-speak, but he was okay with that. I went on to study architecture, and this experience taught me to have an appreciation for structure, and to be disciplined in my craft. However, the yin yang of my life, the other side of me, wanted to be an artist, a painter, and a sculptor – and so I would do a lot of life study sketches and drawings from nature. I remember being really interested in anatomy class where I learned a lot about the way the body functions. All of this I think interplayed with how my designs evolved.

Photo by Todd Selby

HL: You were surrounded by artists in your childhood, and you lived with one for over five decades. Your late wife, Erica Wilson, was a textile artist and a very talented designer in her own right. Are Erica’s designs going to be something Vladimir Kagan Design will reproduce in the future?

VK: That would be a nice tribute to her. We actually have two brilliant archival students cataloging her designs with the hopes of it all going to a museum so that people could see her truly wonderful creations some day. Her shop on Nantucket, Erica Wilson, which my daughter Vanessa runs, has a number of Erica’s designs there.

HL: You spend a great deal of time on Nantucket. What is your history with the island, and do you work while you are there? 

VK: I’ve always had a love affair with Nantucket. I took Erica there while we were dating, and then I asked her to marry me on that island. We both fell in love with it and about a year after our first child was born, Erica was asked to teach a needlework class there during the summer, and so we said, “Why not?” We accepted a rental house sight unseen and ended up loving it. We rented it for years and made several offers on it, but the owner wasn’t interested selling. After about 10 years she said, “You guys love it so much, I’ll sell it to you.” It’s the house we’ve lived in ever since! And even though I’ve lived in the same New York City apartment for over 45 years, I feel the house on Nantucket really is more “home” than any other place.

HL: What is your Nantucket home like?

VK: Even though I design modern furniture, the home is more or less an antique, and I keep it that way – I just love it! I have one piece of my furniture there, and some outdoor furniture that I designed, but that is all. I don’t feel the need to live with my furniture. I do my creative work there, and I have a wonderful studio where I can be imaginative and inventive. My drawing table, my computer, and a great Kagan chair, that is all I need!

HL: There are very few modern furniture designers whose work are produced and manufactured in the United States. Haute Living likes to support American designers. What does being an American designer mean to you personally?

VK: We started our manufacturing in America in 1944, and we’ve been manufacturing in America ever since. There’s a certain pride in keeping my designs American-made. I’ve always been influenced by the needs of the modern American home, and attuned to the American way of life. Though this has inspired my designs, they are 100% universal in that America is the most global country on Earth – from the 6’6” man to the very petite, I design for everyone!

HL: You mentioned your house on Nantucket as being “antique.” What is your opinion on the market for moderndesign in the United States? What are your thoughts on the Chicago market for modern design?

VK: I think American taste and interest have continually grown for good quality, modern furniture design. But when I came into the picture in the 1950’s, I think less then 10% of the American market wanted modern furniture. I believe that young people today are much more into modern design and not hanging on to tradition like generations of the past. And Chicago is truly a modern city with all of its great architecture – it is always thinking. We have a lot of expectations for the city of Chicago.

HL: Your blog is about your life, your travels, and everyday trivialities. How did blogging come about?           

VK: It’s sort of a stream of conscience journal when I’m inspired to write. It takes a lot of my creative time, but it’s also a very stimulating mind exercise and it allows me to give structure to my thought process, which is very helpful when I’m designing. I have a lot of unfinished, half-stories that I have to complete, hopefully soon.

Photo by Todd Selby

HL: What are your thoughts on modern art today? I read one of your recent blog posts about the Armory Art Show in New York, and you didn’t have too many positive things to say about what you saw!

VK: Well, I did see some things I liked, too! My son, Illya, is a en plein air painter on Nantucket with a very good following and reputation. How does he describe the value of art? He says it’s “the cost of the canvas and the cost of the paint, and that is it. Art is defined in the eye of the observer.” Art today is a response to the need to be flashy, to make a statement, and the competition to be different than the next artist. If it looks like a Mondrian or a Matisse, it won’t make it into the museums. So they have to be inventive and work very hard at being different, and a lot of it is just not good. You don’t have to have millions of dollars to own good art, you just have to have a good eye.

HL: Much of your design work is considered mid-century design, though it really transcends time, periods, and styles. What was it like to be a furniture designer in the 1950’s and 1960’s?

VK: There wasn’t too much design happening during the years of the Great Depression and during World War II, so it was very exciting to be creating a new design language in a sense. Looking back, I never considered myself a mid-century designer. In the 1950’s, there was a conflagration of mass produced furniture, and when all of this was going on, I ardently stuck to the old tradition of producing and selling hand-made furniture. It was my father’s motto that I adhered to: “Ehre das Handwerk,” which means “All of the Handwork.” I designed furniture that was functional – it attests itself to a more casual lifestyle. Much of the furniture at the time was in the style of “formal boring” – and so I designed as a reaction to this. There was also an appetite by the public and by the press for something new. It was the right ingredients, the right chemistry, and the right time to do something fresh. It was very invigorating.

HL: Tell us about the future of Vladimir Kagan Design Group and its new showroom in New Jersey?

VK: Yes, we've found a remarkable home in an old mill building in New Jersey. We want to grow Vladimir Kagan Design slowly and solidly. We don’t want to explode it. Over the years I have been prolific, and so now we have an archive of over 700 designs from which we can go fishing for new introductions. But the main objective is organic growth, and with Joe (Vitagliano) as my business partner, and my son, Illya, Vladimir Kagan Design will be steered into the future by very capable hands.

HL: Any new designs in the works?

VK: I'm always thinking about new creations. I do new designs for designers, architects, and private clients, which has been an outlet for a lot of my creativity recently. But these pieces are exclusive, and the main focus is to keep the showrooms exciting. We regularly have design meetings to discuss rollout of new ideas, so we are constantly adding to the collection. Haute Living will need to keep expanding its space as there will be new Vladimir Kagan pieces in its showroom very, very soon!

HL: Vladimir, it was a pleasure speaking with you! Thank you for your time.

VK: You are very welcome!

Haute Living is truly honored to bring you the designs of Vladimir Kagan. For more information about the work of Vladimir Kagan, or to see the newly installed Vladimir Kagan furniture in-person, visit Haute Living’s showroom in Chicago, or view it here.

Interview by Nathaniel Ross

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