New York • ICFF

Typically following Milan’s supersize furniture fair, the launches at N.Y.C.’s smaller International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) can echo the Italians. This year’s more eclectic mix of furnishings and materials, however, was more likely to be touted as green.  - David Sokol

The style council
The San Francisco–based Council, launched in 2007 invites various talents to submit designs for consideration and chooses its collection from the resulting entries. For its second year, Council plucked concepts from Cédric Ragot, whose Stabil nesting tables feature a powder-coated-steel tabletop cantilevered seemingly precariously from a string-thin, asymmetrical base. The One & Co–designed Periodic Table, a block of reclaimed fir beams sprayed in pure silver, is a first-ever technique that required a year of research to produce. Council, San Francisco. www.councildesign.com

[Reader Service: September 2008 #220]

Wily wires
Marking a push into the residential market, Herman Miller unveiled its Lifework Portfolio of furniture designed for home offices. The introduction includes Airia, by Rhode Island–based designers Ayako Takase and Cutter Hutton of Kaiju Studio.

The mixed-material desk features insightful details, such as a walnut lip that is curved where the forearms rest on the tabletop, and three covelike channels — as sensual as they are inconspicuous — for wire management. Herman Miller, Zeeland, Mich. www.hermanmiller.com

[Reader Service: September 2008 #221]

Tree people
Wallpaper manufacturer Graham & Brown invited students from London’s Central St. Martins to contribute designs for a new series printed in water-based ink on paper from managed timber sources, and shipped in compostable corn-based packaging. Of 22 proposals, the company chose to produce five Eco-Wallpaper designs, featuring patterns of birds, futuristic cars, tropical flora, concentric circles, and birdcages. Graham & Brown, Blackburn, United Kingdom. www.grahambrown.com

[Reader Service: September 2008 #222]

Ready for takeoff
The wavy steel modules of Ondine, designed by Michaël Bihain and architect Cédric Callewaert, appear like abstracted birds on the verge of flight. Connect three of these components instead to produce a circular bench whose undulations support sitters of different heights. Michaël Bihain, Brussels. www.bihain.com

[Reader Service: September 2008 #226]

Wet-suited
The layered, looping forms of Son of a Bench impart this sturdy perch with a fast, Blade Runner look. Clad in rubber, the futuristic style is multifunctional, too. Besides using the bench in outdoor settings or in lobbies regularly exposed to the elements, Son’s multiple slots are perfectly sized for standing up wet umbrellas. Blu Dot, Minneapolis. www.bludot.com

[Reader Service: September 2008 #227]

Crystal drawers
When the push-touch doors of Brave Space Design’s Planar Storage pieces are closed, they resemble walls of crystalline facets — although the series is fabricated of bamboo, recycled MDF, and FSC-certified maple. Brave Space Design, Brooklyn. www.bravespacedesign.com

[Reader Service: September 2008 #228]

Drafty delicacy
By cutting and folding nonwoven cellulose into a variety of delicately geometric shapes, husband-and-wife designers Nir and Ada Simhon transform a two-dimensional sheet into a dynamic three-dimensional animated surface that wafts in the wake of passersby or shimmers in the breeze. ONON Surface, Guivataim, Israel. www.ononsurface.com

Second skin
Pritzker Prize–winning architect Jean Nouvel is the brains behind Skin, a seating collection named for its construction of star-incised leather suspended from a metal frame. The design is inspired by Nouvel’s Museè du Quay Branly in Paris. Molteni & C, Giussano, Italy. www.molteni.it

History al fresco
Richard Schultz Design strips bare the traditional wingback chair, and transforms it into the backyard-ready Wing Chair. The seat references its predecessor’s shape in perforated and folded aluminum. And with their broad backs placed into a circular or rectangular grouping, Wing Chairs provide users with a sense of enclosure. Richard Schultz, Palm, Penn. www.richardschultz.com

Made in the shade
The plastic laminate strips that comprise the canopy of the Ensombra umbrella rotate around a central axis, allowing patio dwellers to move the slats to control the amount of incoming sunshine. Gandia Blasco, Valencia, Spain. www.gandiablasco.com

Moisture Control

From rain-screen technology and whole house dehumidification to enhanced sheathing and roof underlayment, this month’s selection homes in on excessive moisture and humidity—whether it’s pounding the exterior of a structure or coming from within the building itself. — Linda C. Lentz

Outer laminate

Used in Europe for over 20 years as a surface for ventilated-rain-screen facades, Building Grade exterior laminate is mechanically strong, impact- and scratch-resistant, corrosion- and mold-resistant, vandalproof, and high-velocity-hurricane-zone compliant. Made of 40 percent postindustrial waste and 70 percent rapidly renewable resources, it comes in three thicknesses and 50 patterns, including oxidations, wood grains, and solids, as well as optional custom digital printing and graphics. Arpa USA, Jacksonville, Fla. www.arpausa.com

Ventilated-rain-screen facade systems keep moisture issues under breathable wraps

When 2 Columbus Circle, renovated by Allied Works Architecture’s Brad Cloepfil for the Museum of Arts & Design in New York, opens next month, one thing will be irrefutable. Its luminous terra-cotta-tile skin is engineered to protect the core from any weather the city may suffer.

One component of a complex, ventilated-rain-screen facade called Terrart by the German manufacturer NBK, a division of Hunter Douglas, the glazed clay ceramic skin is shiplapped and suspended over (not adhered to) the substructure, which is protected by a moisture barrier via a clip system. This allows air to flow through, preventing moisture buildup. Moreover, the overlapping configuration, along with gaskets behind the vertical joints and balanced air pressure, avert water from entering the cavity. “It’s a very forgiving system,” says NBK North America Director of Sales Bud Streff. “You’re never trapping moisture. Plus, there are no sealant joints. So maintenance is low.”

As for the terra-cotta itself, Streff claims it has excellent color retention. It is very hard, with a water absorption of 4 percent or less, and virtually graffiti-resistant. NBK North America, Marblehead, Mass. www.nbkusa.com

While NBK’s Terrart has been available in this country for seven years, the firm’s parent company, Hunter Douglas, has only recently launched its reputable QuadroClad Façades brand west of the Atlantic.

According to Boyd Goodson, manager of Hunter Douglas Contract Façades division, “Hunter Douglas has been selling rain-screen systems all over the world, except the United States and Canada. It’s been the European way of building for a long time, and we feel it’s the healthier building cavity to have.”

Similar to Terrart, QuadroClad consists of two main components, the panels and substructure, which differ in size and surface material. The large QuadroClad panels come in metal—a combination of lightweight aluminum skins fused to an expanded honeycomb aluminum core; glass, with such options as tinting and fritting; and an exterior-grade resin, specially developed by 3Form and Bayer Material Science. All install on the same substructure, allowing them to be integrated for maximum design flexibility. Hunter Douglas Contract Façades, Salt Lake City, Utah.
www.hunterdouglascontract.com/facades

Hunter Douglas Contract’s QuadroClad Façades are available in a variety of colors and finishes, as well as standard panel sizes as large as 60″ x 120″, plus custom. Materials include glass (1), metal (2), and resin (3). NBK Terrart systems (4) come in myriad sizes, shapes, and hues.

Long-term insurance

Named for its ability to endure extended exposure to the elements, Gold Bond e2XP Extended Exposure Sheathing has a coated fiberglass facer or mat and an enhanced mold- and moisture-resistant core. Designed to attach to the outside of sidewall and soffit framings as a water-resistant underlayment, it can be used in both wood- and metal-stud construction, or as a substrate for a number of air- and water-resistant barriers. National Gypsum Company, Charlotte, N.C. www.purplechoice.com

Up on the roof

Developed to prevent damaging moisture conditions, Delta-Roof underlayments include Delta-Maxx Titan (left), a vapor-permeable and watertight material enhanced with a spongelike bottom layer that absorbs a surfeit of condensation or water to safeguard wood roof rafters and sheathing. Delta-Vents (left) is a multilayered underlayment for insulated pitched roofs that is not only impermeable to wind and rain but permeable to water vapor from inside the house, thus managing its evaporation. Cosella-Dörken Products, Beamsville, Ontario. www.cosella-dorken.com