The Sidebar Project by Teroforma and urbancase

Presented at the ICFF in New York last month, The Sidebar Project was a collaboration between two American design studios: modernist tableware manufacturers Teroforma and furniture brand urbancase. The studios, who are based on opposite coasts of the US, share a passion for well-crafted furniture and this cocktail bar and collection of barware is the first in a planned series of collaborations called Crafted.

HBL Tradeshows: DMY Berlin 2011

UDK Berlin at DMY Berlin 2011

The DMY International Design Festival is a five-day exhibition featuring both emerging and established designers and their latest products, prototypes and projects.

HBL Analysis: Hong Kong Art Fair 2011

Huang Yong Ping, ART HK11

With over 260 galleries from 38 countries represented, the fourth edition of the Hong Kong Art Fair continued to build on its reputation as Asia's foremost contemporary art fair. This year, one of the key themes to emerge at the fair was that of beautiful decay.

Fuzz by Study O Portable

London-based design practice Study O Portable created the Fuzz series of bowls by building up layers of coloured ceramic resin over a wax mould. WGSN-homebuildlife spoke to Bernadette Deddens, one of the practice's founders, to find out more about the project.

Yi-Cong Lu at DMY Berlin 2011

Leipzig-based designer Yi-Cong Lu showed a collection of adaptable furniture at DMY Berlin this week which enables the user to "individually adjust living spaces".

The designer's minimal, problem-solving approach mirrors our autumn/winter 12/13 macrotrend Radical Neutrality, which sees the design industry "balancing extremes, dissolving dissonance, and creating with moderation and reason. Radical neutrality is the design version of fashion's new modesty. This serene revolution focuses on intelligence, function and subtle decoration."

HBL Analysis: Young Israeli designers find a voice

Talila Abraham at PromiseDesign

Israeli design was impossible to overlook at this year’s Milan Design Week. Two poignant exhibitions - Thinking Hands by Bezalel Academy and PromiseDesign, a government-supported show highlighting Israeli designers - left many visitors in Milan pondering not Italy, but Israel, a country that seems to be bursting at the seams with young design talent.

In a major new report, WGSN-homebuildlife looks at the impact of up-and-coming Israeli designers on the international design scene.

HBL Blog of the Week: Etymologie

Etymologie

US lifestyle store Anthropologie's blog, Etymologie, takes an unusual approach to blogging: one word is chosen, and posts are then made which represent or reflect that word. The current choice is "legacy", with posts on the topic ranging from family tartan to a series of photographs of abandoned buildings in the Yugoslavian landscape.

HBL loves: that everything, from theme to layout to colour palette, fits so precisely with the image Anthropologie has engineered for its brand - and yet feels fresh.

HBL Retail News: Kingfisher sets to double store count in Poland

Ian Cheshire Chief Executive Officer of Kingfisher (eastern European nation)

Bloomberg reports that Home improvement retailer Kingfisher plans to double the number of Castorama stores in Poland. Kingfisher which also owns the B&Q chain in the U.K, intends to increase store numbers from 60 to around 120 and convert its Brico Dépôt stores to the Castorama banner.

“We will continue to build stores because there’s a lot of unoccupied market space [and] there’s evidence of a more sophisticated, decorative and aspirational customer, so we can see top-line growth in that.” said Ian Cheshire Chief Executive Officer of the eastern European nation, Kingfisher’s third-largest market.

HBL News: Winners announced for Hands on Door Handles

Twitts by Tomo Kimura

The four winners of designboom competition Hands on Door Handles, run in collaboration with Colombo Design, have been announced. Fighting off more than 6,000 other entrants to claim the prize, the winners are Alexander Hoffart, Mattia Albicini, Kliment Ivanov and Tomo Kimura - whose Twitts design was "the free-style winning entry".

HBL Retail: DB in Station, Tokyo

DB in Station, Tokyo

Japanese product label D-Bros has opened its very first shop, inside JR East’s Ecute Shinagawa station in Tokyo.

HBL Retail News: Ikea plans for its largest store in Oslo

Ikea plans for largest store in Oslo

 Market.se reports, Ikea is considering the expansion of its Oslo store from 21,500 square metres to 59,000 square metres. The extension would make it the largest Ikea store and also house Norway's largest restaurant with 890 seats.

The Oslo branch located in Furuset, currently has one of the highest sales turnovers of any Ikea store worldwide. Håvard Løkke, a Spokesperson for Ikea in Norway, said: “The point is that we want to offer customers in Oslo a full Ikea catalogue. We cannot today. The matter is up for discussion in the Oslo municipality.”

HBL Events: Gardens by Nuala Goodman

London hotel Andaz Liverpool Street is hosting Gardens, an installation by artist Nuala Goodman, for the duration of this month. Goodman has worked with Italian design brand Moroso to upholster a selection of its pieces, adorned with floral and nature-inspired motifs, which are arranged through the Andaz's main lobby area.