Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context—a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan. Eliel Saarinen, quoted in Time magazine, 1956
(Norwalk, Connecticut, ?? May, 2011 -- ) CRAFTED is a newly-launched collaborative vehicle in which the studios behind established brands step outside their normal focus, and join forces to explore new concepts for home-related products. The fruits of the very first CRAFTED program are set to debut at this month’s ICFF.
For CRAFTED 001 -- the Sidebar Project -- Teroforma (based in Norwalk, Connecticut) has teamed with Seattle design/build furniture studio urbancase. To prove the benefits of Eliel Saarinen’s famous dictum about designing in context (quoted above), they created a consummately-crafted liquor cabinet and barware, each conceived specifically to complement the other.
Andrew Hellman (co-founder of Teroforma) and Darin Montgomery & Trey Jones (of urbancase) share a dedication to meticulously crafted objects, as well as an affinity for the well-crafted cocktail. When introduced last year, they found themselves discussing the difficulty of designing products without full knowledge of the other pieces that might be used alongside. With Saarinen’s maxim in mind, they collaborated. urbancase developed a retro-style handmade liquor cabinet whose signature decorative diamond motif reappears as the “cuts” in Teroforma’s unique cut-crystal glassware.
The Sidebar, designed by Darin Montgomery and Trey Jones for urbancase
A resplendent rectangular case on tapered legs, the handcrafted cabinet features a laterally sliding panel revealing adjacent compartments for liquor and glass storage. A drop-front drawer houses bar tools, and a pull-out drawer below stashes peripherals (napkins, stirrers, olive picks, cocktail recipes). Offered in two variations. Walnut: solid walnut base, face and sides, with staggered dimensional surface; white Corian top. Liquor compartment interior features an allover incised diamond pattern repeated in the tool and storage drawer. The pattern, a reference to tuck and roll upholstery, nods to vintage luggage and handbags. Corian: White Corian cabinet showcases the diamond pattern on exterior face and sides, in the tradition of upholstered bar fronts. Interior compartments are walnut with no decoration. Size of both variations 36”H x 42”L x 14.5”D.
Sidebar Tumblers & Cocktail Glasses, designed for Teroforma by Roman Vrtiska, Czech Republic; made by Bohemia Machine, Czech Republic