When the team at Abrahams-May Architects (Scott Abrahams & Kyle May) were selected as finalists in Sukkah City 2010 they turned to JOHNHOUSHMAND to engineer and construct their ambitious, glass encased, 18-foot structure: “LOG”.
Sukkah City 2010 (organized by Reboot, the American Institute of Architects, Architizer, Dwell, the Union Square Partnership, and the City’s Department of Parks & Recreation) is an international opportunity for architects and designers to re-imagine the traditional Jewish Sukkah Hut – used for eating, sleeping, and celebration during the week-long festival of Sukkot.
Over 600 entrants from 43 different countries submitted their inspiring ideas on how to modernize the rules of Halakah, Jewish Law – which allows a Sukkah to be built in a tree, on a wagon, or out of a living elephant! Of the 12 winners selected by Thom Mayne (The New Yorker) and Paul Goldberger (NYU), “LOG” represents a true marriage between the beauty of nature and the warmth of the indoors.
If you would like to view this airy, counterintuitive masterpiece, head on down to Union Square Park, NYC on Sunday, September 19th or Monday, September 20th from dawn until dusk.
When SURFACE Magazine’s CONCEPT House in Bolinas, California was sold, this sculptural table designed by JOHNHOUSHMAND was deemed a tad too dicey for the new owners with their young children. As the adage goes, “Children change everything (especially white sofas)”.
Now, this amazing piece is back on the market, and on display at our LA showroom in the Pacific Design Center (PDC). It is truly a one-of-a-kind piece, pedigreed, signed, and numbered.
JOHNHOUSHMAND is excited to welcome a new addition to our team: Max Domingo Hidalgo!
Max comes to us from Vitra with over nine years of professional Interior Design experience and a robust background in the history of architecture and design, acquired at the University of Copenhagen and the University of Munich.
His extensive knowledge of – and love for – design is matched only by his wit and charm (see image below). Max is always quick with a joke or a story, especially one regarding his “daughter” Goldie – a prize chihuahua who is fond of wearing pearls and fashionable hats.
Max is currently representing the JOHNHOUSHMAND line at our West Hollywood location in the Pacific Design Center (PDC). So, if you are are in California and need some information on our work, a sophisticated party buddy, or a complete history of design (inclusive of juicy personal tid-bits on the great design houses) stop by the PDC and meet Max!
“Speaking of great places on Planet Earth, I just spent a night at the Cooper Square Hotel, the masterwork of my dear friend Klaus Ortlieb. The entire experience was a delight and I urge you to check it out. Great architecture, amazing interior design, wonderful service, a New York City hospitality treat. And of course our monumental benches made from recycled timbers and selectively harvested trees. Visual caviar….” -John Houshmand
Working in the north country can be a challenge in the depth of winter…. Last week’s snowstorm made for some interesting scenes….
(Needless to say, we all missed a day of work!)
Working with our friends in Nicaragua, we used an expert chainsaw craftsman to carve a dished tabletop, carefully arc-cutting the back to create an elegant shape from an otherwise cumbersome tree section….
After hoisting the components of this mammoth table up to a NYC Park Ave apartment on the roof of the elevator, the piece was assembled in situ. Engineered to come apart and back together perfectly, pitons and all, the finished piece is astounding for its design, elegance, craftsmanship, and engineering….
Unique logs are hard to find, hard to acquire responsibly, hard to take down, hard to truck, and generally a serious logistical challenge. But when the wood Santa arrives, it is so very worth it. Here two large black walnuts on the doorstep after a trip cross country. They were sourced from a homeowner who needed to take them down for a new home construction on a tiny lot. Save….!
Not content to receive nature’s blessings, we have decided to push the envelope…. Originally conceived as part of our “Retaliation Collection” (more about that later…), we have taken a selection of extraordinary slabs of wood, and made molds from them, casting them into aluminum slabs. With all the cool beauty of white metals, and the intense living information of the highly character starting slabs, these pieces merit extreme attention. They can also be shaped and folded into standing pieces, book-matched, mixed and matched, and more.
The landscape of our lives is inspirational, always. Here we have graphed it into the classic topographical map and tucked it nicely under glass…sexy legs….good color… the works. Talk about mixed metaphors!
We can of course take your backyard, your family estate, even your bedsheets and topo them. This should be fun. And serious. And beautiful. Your move….
Sukkah City 2010 (organized by Reboot, the American Institute of Architects, Architizer, Dwell, the Union Square Partnership, and the City’s Department of Parks & Recreation) is an international opportunity for architects and designers to re-imagine the traditional Jewish Sukkah Hut – used for eating, sleeping, and celebration during the week-long festival of Sukkot.
