HBL Events: The Crate Series by Studio Makkink & Bey

Dutch design duo Studio Makkink & Bey have created a series of furniture using discarded packing crates as their starting point. Confirming WGSN's S/S 2011 macrotrend Fair & Square, which advocates pared-down design and an honest use of materials, the collection includes five varieties of crate-based product - BathCrate, VanityCrate, BedCrate, VacuumCleanerCrate and ClockCrate - and will be on show at Spring Projects, London, from next week.

HBL Events: Mini Scooter E at Paris Motor Show

Last week WGSN contributor Lisa White reported from The Paris Motor Show, where she commented on the wide selection of electric cars on show. However, while electric cars are going mainstream, two avant-garde economy carmakers, Mini and Smart, also exhibited new electric scooter concepts. The Mini Scooter E, shown above,was described as ' A new electric vision of the future'.

HBL Events: BCXSY at Established and Sons

 During the Frieze Art Fair in London this month, British manufacturers Established and Sons presented ‘Origin Part 1: Join’; a series of Japanese Hinoki screens designed by Eindhoven based designers BCXSY. The three elegant screens in the Join series are available in a limited edition of 8 pieces. Each screen is made by a skilled craftsman named Mr Tanaka, a master of Japanese Tategu wood joinery. The screens are made from Hinoki Japanese Cypress, which is the most luxurious type of wood used in the craft of Tategu.

You can also read our interview with Boaz Cohen, one half of BCXSY, here.

HBL Retail: Jonas Wagell

Lollipop lamp by Jonas Wagnell for Normann Copenhagen

Earlier this month we featured a designer profile of Jonas Wagell's design studio Hello Industry. The up and coming Swedish designer has also been busy working on a number of collaborations with other manufacturers and has several product launches in the pipeline. Here is a sneak preview of his Lollipop lamp for Normann Copenhagen and the childishly robust Pomperipossa tea set he is working on for Muuto, both will launch in Spring 2011. Those passing through Stockholm may also want to pay a visit to the new David Design store, designed by Wagnell and scheduled to open this Autumn.

HBL City by City: Tobias Rehberger at Setouchi Art Festival, Japan

Photo by antjeverena

German artist Tobias Rehberger has renovated a vacant house on the island of Teshima in Japan to create a restaurant which was opened at the Setouchi Art Festival. In contrast to it's humble facade, the restaurant's interior features striking walls, floors and tables covered in camoflauge patterns from World War I battleships. The restaurant is called  Called “Was du liebst, bring ich auch zum weinen" (What You Love also Makes You Cry).

HBL Events: Gareth Neal at Super Design

Last week WGSN paid a visit to the fourth annual Super Design exhibition, which brings together contemporary 'design-art'  from leading international galleries. The exhibition, set in the basement of Victoria House,  took place during the Frieze Art Fair in London and included unique and limited edition pieces from the Apartment, D&A-Lab, Mitterrand-Cramer, Tom Dixon, Gallerie Van Der Straeten, Quadridge, and Vessel Gallery. WGSN's stand out favourite was the beautifully crafted Urban picnic collection by Gareth Neal for Vauxhall Collective. The pieces feature intricate marquetry veneers that demonstrate a modern take on a traditional craft.

HBL Vintage: Brooklyn Flea

WGSN-homebuildlife's US editor, Jean Lin, paid a visit to popular weekly market Brooklyn Flea recently to gauge the most exciting current trends in vintage furniture, accessories and tableware.

HBL Creative Direction: Xujing by Roland Geissel at Art Labor Gallery, Shanghai

Xujing, Art Labor Gallery, Shanghai, China

On a recent trip to China, WGSN's editor of Macro Trends Cher Potter came across the work of German artist Roland Geissel at the Art Labor Gallery in Shanghai. Geissel has been creating and documenting site specific Spatial Drawings since 2000. These room paintings are projections of the interior space of an earlier series of work; a colleciton of solid objects collectivley called The Melusines.

HBL Designer Profile: Catherine Hammerton

During London Design Week, WGSN were happy to discover designer Catherine Hammerton's multi-textured wallpapers and accessories at the pop up design store Curiosity in Clerkenwell. Her wallpapers and home accessories feature digitally printed collages of pressed flowers, hand drawn illustrations, vintage typography and everyday odds and ends. Everything she makes is 100% designed and made in the UK and available through her website. More images after the jump.

HBL Designer Profile: Hello Industry

Odd bowl/vase/pendant lights by Jonas Wagell

Hello Industry is a Swedish design Studio that was launched last year by designer and architect Jonas Wagell. The studio describe their first collection of products as 'happy and clever'. Ranging from multifunctional pieces such as the Odd bowl/vase/pendant lights to a table lamp designed to make a aesthetical feature out of the new low energy bulbs. WGSN also loves their considered approach to packaging design, the simple but clear graphics make the packaging almost as covetable as the contents. More images after the jump.

HBL Materials: Modern Primitive Plastics by Jane Bowler

Working with recycled plastics and heat-welding techniques, designer Jane Bowler has created a collection that fuses the iconic British mackintosh with traditional Japanese straw raincoats for a modern primitive aesthetic, as highlighted in WGSN's spring/summer 2012 macro trends.

Her Fusion project explores an inventive manipulation of plastics - from shower curtains to recycled rubber flooring - that uses stitchless techniques of heat-forming and ultrasonic welding to create exciting new surfaces and textures.

View the full report here.

HBL Materials Analysis: Chris Lefteri on Reimagination

Flake textile by Woodnotes

Materials expert Chris Lefteri writes for Homebuildlife this week on the subject of 'reimagination'. This new movement sees designers reacting to the economic downturn with a mixture of ingenuity, defiance and optimism about what the future may bring.