Max Lamb Unveils Cardboard Furniture, Pierre Frey Acquires Zuber, and More News

From significant business changes to noteworthy product launches, there’s always something new happening in the world of design. In this biweekly roundup, AD PRO has everything you need to know.

Exhibitions

Max Lamb sets his sights on cardboard

Sustainability has long piqued the interest of British designer Max Lamb, so it was only a matter of time before he decided to transform the pileup of cardboard in his studio, typically reserved for models and prototypes, into furniture. These earthy, wood-and-rock-like creations are the focus of “BOX”, an exhibition at Gallery FUMI in London’s Mayfair district (on view until November 18 before traveling to Salon Art + Design in New York, Design Miami, and Frieze Los Angeles).

Lamb cut, scored, folded, and crushed the utilitarian brown paper. He then reassembled the material into a crumpled sack-like vase and a series of monolithic chairs and tables, with the help of bolts, screws, paper gum tape, and a homemade flour and water glue, infusing each piece with a raw, well-worn quality.

AD100 talent Elliott Barnes designs Chloé exhibition

Formal haute couture dominated Paris in 1952, so when Egyptian native Gaby Aghion established the luxury label Chloé that same year, her modern and comfortable ready-to-wear clothing signaled a liberating new era for women. Mood of the moment: Gaby Aghion and the house of Chloé at The Jewish Museum in New York (on view through February 18) puts the spotlight on Aghion’s legacy and the slew of prominent designers—including Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Phoebe Philo, Natacha Ramsay-Levi, and Gabriela Hearst—all of whom launched their own careers by working at the fashion house.

Chloé designs exude simple elegance, an aura that AD100 designer Elliott Barnes translated to the exhibition rooms by draping them in sustainable white fibrous paper used in garment conservation, a detail he uncovered in the Chloé archives. The breezy material both symbolizes the Chloé silhouette and amplifies the museum’s historic ceiling and wooden casework.

Black Folks in Design exhibition returns

Black Folks in Design, the network connecting Black designers across myriad disciplines, unveiled “Spotlight I” (its first exhibition) in 2022. Now the collective is back with “Spotlight II” (on view through November 10) at VERSO’s New York gallery in Tribeca, curated by Black Folks in Design founder Little Wing Lee of Studio & Projects. Lee, who also assembled the pieces for VERSO’s annual Bridge residency in Bridgehampton over the summer, brings together graphic design, florals, textiles, and furniture from Asmite, Robell Awake, Jonas Damon, Jerome Harris, Mabeo Furniture, Nifemi Marcus-Bello, Garth Roberts, Studio & Projects, and Norman Teague. The works, including Damon’s stack of mirror-polished aluminum blocks and Roberts’ brutalist-reminiscent stools, honor craft traditions and sustainability.

Emma Scully Gallery presents EJR Barnes solo show

Elliot “EJR” Barnes deftly straddles the realms of decorative art and industrial design, and that multi-layered aesthetic is what fuels “A Room on East 79th Street”, the London artist and designer’s debut solo exhibition at the Emma Scully Gallery on New York’s Upper East Side (on view through December 15). Pulling from movements as diverse as Surrealism and the Vienna Secession, the moody lair brims with Barnes’s furniture and lighting, from the plump Grizzly Chair (crafted from hair-on hide, birch plywood, and aluminum) to the Napoleon Complex Floor Lamp (uniting maple, boxwood, steel, and linen). It’s also accented with small, homey objects like glassware designed in collaboration with Miranda Keyes.

In the News

Pierre Frey acquires Zuber

Pierre Frey has plumped up its range of fabrics, wallcoverings, furniture, rugs, and carpets with the acquisition of Zuber, the world’s oldest wallpaper manufacturer. Founded in 1767, the historic French factory known for its decorative, hand-brushed papers was overseen by Gisèle Chalaye since 1985. As part of the Pierre Frey portfolio, Zuber’s vast panoramic landscapes will continue to embrace the traditional 18th-century technique of carved wood-block printing.

Design Happenings

AGO Projects takes over India Mahdavi’s Project Room in Paris

With Project Room, just past her studio and showroom in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, architect and designer India Mahdavi invites passersby into various global design communities. The intimate space, which most recently illuminated thriving Greek talents in “Greetings from Greece” (the group show curated by Athens-based Carwan Gallery), now transports visitors to Mexico with “¡Hola, París!”, curated by Mexico City design gallery AGO Projects and on view through November 4 just around the corner from coinciding Design Miami/ Paris.

For this exhibition, AGO Projects cofounders Rodman Primack (of the AD100 firm RP Miller) and Rudy Weissenberg are showcasing collectibles ranging from mosaic tables by Fabien Cappello, flora- and fauna-inspired textiles and ceramics by MyungJin Kim, and hanging lanterns by Pedro & Juana that double as fantastical flowerpots. Also on display in the tangerine-coated interiors are pieces from the Guadalajara homeware store Chamula Hecho a Mano, as well as designers Ryan Belli and Niños Heroes and the ceramicists MT Studio, Mono Rojo, and Tony Marsh.

Fernando Wong makes his mark on Chateau Vaux-Le-Vicomte

Owned by the Vogüé family since 1875, Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, the sprawling 17th-century Baroque estate in Maincy, France, was designed by Louis Le Vau, Charles Le Brun, and André Le Nôtre. Le Nôtre’s celebrated garden can be observed from opposite sides of the grand vestibule, a space that has been recently reimagined by landscape designer Fernando Wong. The installation was revealed this weekend during the candlelit gala dinner, the château’s capital campaign to restore Le Nôtre’s magical fountains and waterworks, and will be on view through October 22.

Drawing from the property’s spectacular gardens and orangeries, Wong wrapped the entry columns in Schumacher’s Chiang Mai fabric, while castle arches are filled with the classic Hampton stripe that calls to mind billowing 18th-century alfresco tents. An array of nostalgic orange trees refresh the entrance (the site’s original ones are said to have been removed by a jealousy-consumed Louis XIV, who planted them in Versailles), as does a sculpture by British artist David Harber, fashioned out of stainless steel and adorned with gingko leaf-shaped petals.

At the 2023 San Francisco Fall Show, designer vignettes delight

More than 40 international art, antique, and design dealers assembled at the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture this weekend for the 41st edition of the San Francisco Fall Show. Welcoming attendees into the Festival Pavilion’s grand entry hall were a series of designer vignettes, each styling works from exhibitors and offering a glance of the current musings, inspiring participating tastemakers—namely Nina Campbell, Benjamin Dhong, Paolo Moschino and Philip Vergeylen, and Lauren Santo Domingo. The vignettes’ festive tablescapes and transportive scenes of Italian gardens were in tune with the show theme (la dolce vita) and complete with fanciful wallcoverings and embroideries from show sponsor de Gournay.

AD PRO Hears…

…that ahead of the holiday season, Pinterest dug into its internal search data to learn what consumers are craving for upcoming entertaining and decorating needs. “Winter bedroom aesthetic”, “glam Christmas tree”, and “country mantle decor” ranked among the top seasonal searches—and served as decorating launch points for the recently held Anthropologie x Pinterest Holiday Showhouse in Brooklyn Heights.

Product Spotlight

BD Barcelona and Oscar Tusquets introduce the Gaulino Family collection

In 1987, Oscar Tusquets, cofounder of the Spanish furniture brand BD Barcelona, drew from the oeuvres of Antoni Gaudí and Carlo Mollino to design the sinuous wood and leather Gaulino chair. Thirty six years later, the icon has spawned the new furniture collection The Gaulino Family. It’s the first product launch since Apartamento magazine, Igor Urdampilleta of Arquitectura-G, and Pablo Bofill and Hernán Cortés of Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura signed on to lead the next generation of BD Barcelona. It spans the lighter low-slung Gaulino chair, the sleek armless Gaulinetta chairs, the Gaulino stool, and the smoked-glass Carlinas table rendered in ash that is naturally varnished, stained black, or lacquered coral red.

AD PRO Hears…

…that midcentury minimalism and postmodern architecture are the guiding inspirations behind RH Contemporary’s fall 2023 collections. Refined sculptural forms forged in elegant Onyx Tropez, ribbed Italian travertine, and Spanish Emperador marble standout among the collections, which feature debut collaborations with international talents like Christophe Delcourt, Line Svendsen, Alexander Purcell, and Juliana Vasconcellos.

…that a Vladimir Kagan sofa upholstered in an energizing floral print by Jocelyn Hobbie, a hand-painted Gustavian floral dresser, and a hammered-silver sconce by Sawkille are among the highlights in designer Courtney Bishop’s latest Album drop, a furniture collection inspired on the rock band Heart’s banger “Crazy on You.”

Openings

Gohar World pops up in SoHo for the holidays

This holiday season, Gohar World—the eccentric tabletop label from sisters Laila and Nadia Gohar—is popping up in New York at 181 Lafayette Street through January 14, 2024. Designed by Rafael Prieto of Casa Bosques, the space invites visitors into the surreal universe that is Gohar World, anchored by entertaining essentials with an artisan appreciation. From the custom wallpaper made from photographs of Eglise Saint-Honorat (an abandoned church in Arles, France) to the curation of domestic furniture, the SoHo shop is a sight for curious eyes with good taste. In addition to showcasing the brand’s new Table IV collection (arriving on October 24) and one-of-a-kind vintage pieces, the shop will host workshops for table-styling classes and embroidery personalization on all linen products.

AD PRO Hears…

… that Garde, the contemporary design showroom helmed by Scotti Sitz and John Davidson, is expanding beyond its LA roots with a newly unveiled New York locale at 223 East 60th Street. The gallery, which also has a Dallas location, credits Pauline Esparon, Giopagani, Paul Matter, and Dalmoto among its artist roster in New York.