PSFK did the rounds this weekend taking in the fifth annual BKLYN Designs show. Overall it was a nice way to ease in to the coming NY Design week.
Friday night we stopped by Design Within Reach in Brooklyn Heights for the opening party. The shop is located in a turn of the century converted two-story brick building. The location is unique as seemingly the original room plan was left in tact. So you get a sense of what the furniture will look like in a residential scaled spaces. They’ve even displayed some pieces in closets like the Philippe Starck’s Bubble Club Armchair.
Saturday started at the show’s main space St. Ann’s Warehouse. Highlights there were small tables from Pryor & Williams, transformable furniture from Elucidesign, and a chair/footstool design from Brave Space Design. Two new sites also featured work this year. The Smack Mellon gallery featured interesting CNC fabrication work from 4-PLI. Also added was an annex space on Front Street. This space featured the small but likely to grow design market. Also displaying at the annex was clean and modern wood furniture from Platform.
Saturday evening the show hosted a panel titled Focus: The Future of the BAM Cultural Arts District. It was moderated by Susan Szenasy, editor-in-chief of Metropolis magazine. The panel Joe Chan, president, Downtown
Brooklyn Partnership; Danny Simmons, artist/owner, Corridor Gallery; and Bruce Fowle,
principal, FXFOWLE Architects; each contributed details to what the development of the area near downtown Brooklyn would look like and the kinds of events it would stage. Most controversial by association was Bruce Fowle presenting the new Forte luxury condominium project. BAM will attract a lot of people and likely be another model for other cities looking to develop condensed arts and culture districts. But the reality is that buildings like the Forte will make it difficult for the artists to stay in the neighborhood. Susan Szenasy mentioned that most of her staff at Metropolis can’t even afford to rent in Manhattan anymore. So while it’s great that BAM will be a fantastic arts center, the adjacent development is increasingly likely to push the artists who contribute there out of the area. Creative class zoning anyone?
The weekend finished up with a trip over to the Forte for a tour and party. The building is only maybe half complete but represents a lot of the style of development going on in the city right now. The model apartments were all shown with contemporary furniture and artwork. Still the units lacked any character and felt more like hotel anywhere. Bruce Fowle did mention that 20% of the units in the building would be offered to medium income families.
We’re looking forward to next year. BKLYN Designs is developing more and more each year to address topics relating to larger design issues like sustainability and development. If we had a wish, it’d be that the show itself increase it’s focus more on cutting edge work and prototypes.
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