Big Leaf Manufacturing

The Seattle-based woodworkers use years of experience to take artistic risks

By Sam Bovarnick Roy McMakin opened Big Leaf Manufacturing in 1997 as a workshop for his furniture and architecture firms, but now maintains a level of independence that allows it to take on commissioned projects. Seattle-based Big Leaf has since established itself as one of the finest specialty woodshops in the world, and we recently paid them a visit to see how they go about …

Grapple by Ryan Frank

Testing production limits with modular hanging hooks made of grass

Barcelona-based designer Ryan Frank has invented a modular hanging system called Grapple. The molded hooks have a buckle feature which allows them to be set at different heights along strands of webbing and hold items of various weights, such as a coat, plant, bag or hat. The adjustable system uses just two materials to create a highly adaptable storage structure. The hook design is based …

Interview: Giorgio Biscaro of FontanaArte

The art director of the Italian lighting brand discusses its recent relaunch and future

by Stefano Caggiano Nominated as FontanaArte‘s first art director ever, Giorgio Biscaro had 12 months to pick up the heritage of the historical lighting company that boasts Gio Ponti and to bring it to new levels. He spent the first month thinking about the direction to take and reading Ponti’s thoughts made him take the plunge and opt for the risk-taking strategy of innovation. He …