2008 New York Design Week

The middle of May signals the return of the New York design week. BKLYN Designs annual show got the week of events off to a start with work being exhibited at five sites in DUMBO. As in past years, the show featured designers and manufacturers of contemporary furnishings who for the most part work in Brooklyn. PSFK walked the show on Saturday and while we were impressed with the continued development of the event, the work exhibited this year was pretty tame. We did see an emphasis on craftsmanship throughout the show. There were lots of examples of beautifully finished wood pieces. Also prominent among the show was explorations using reclaimed or environmentally friendly materials. Uhuru Design showed new chairs and tables fabricated from reclaimed rum barrels. Williamsburg based Takeshi Miyakawa Design presented a line of plywood storage pieces that were probably the highlight of the show. His large apartment block drawer unit might be a bit too large to fit in a typical Manhattan apartment but it drew a lot of attention.

The week’s main event ICFF takes over the Javits Center this coming weekend. While ICFF is open only to the trade on the weekend, next Tuesday it is open to the public. PSFK will be covering the show and as many of the off-site events as we can. You can find an extensive list of events happening later in the week posted by our friends over at Core77 here.