Form Plus Function

I was leafing through the most recent copy of Metropolis Magazine when I came across an article about a fabulous new restaurant in Philadelphia: Mark Vetri’s Amis Trattoria. The reason for my interest (aside from being an absolute fan of great food ) is the fact that we provided the Ingo Maurer Campari Lights for the restaurant.Will have to make a trip to Philadelphia to visit the place!!

“Marc Vetri, one of Philadelphia’s most celebrated chefs, had a somewhat atypical goal in mind when he sat down with the architect Michael Gruber to plan Amis, his newest addition to the local food scene. “I really wanted to create a neighborhood gathering place, a social space,” Vetri says.

Located in an old factory due east of Rittenhouse Square, the 90-seat restaurant has the look, and the slightly worn patina, of a place that’s been around for decades, instead of months. “The typical trattoria is very undesigned,” says Gruber, a principal at Jagr: Projects. “We don’t know how to do anything with no design what-soever, so what we worked for was something that wasn’t overwrought.”

Amis is a collage of the reclaimed and repurposed. “The building itself
is an old warehouse,” says Gruber, who had previously collaborated with Vetri on the restaurant Osteria. “The concrete, cement, and original windows were all retained. The artwork is old industrial molds that we found. Some of the lighting fixtures we got from architectural salvage yards. The communal tables are scraps of wood from a cabinetmaker’s shop that we glued together into butcher block.”

The restaurant’s spatial cues—clear sight lines, a wide bar suitable for dining, communal tables, and an open, convivial kitchen—all contribute to the social atmosphere. “Certain restaurants are like coffee shops,” Vetri says. “You don’t really go to a coffee shop for coffee. You go to hang out, to meet people. They’re about creating community. Recently, I think, restaurants have taken on that role.” —Martin C. Pedersen

Chandelier of Twigs and Branches

Found this on the blog of one of my favorite magazines: Mountain Living.

This creative chandelier, made from a tangle of natural branches  fits perfectly to the rustic country style surroundings without being massive and overwhelming.

Alchemy Copper Outdoor Wall Lights

These beautiful wall lights are made right here in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The range of designs and shapes spans from traditional Southwestern themes to  contemporary.
They have a unique, warm glow from the  copper that is left untreated on the inside of the sconces. Lots of sizes, finishes  and designs are available.

After having sold copper sconces in our Santa Fe showroom for the last 24 years we are now adding the Alchemy Lights to our site as we speak.
The craftsmanship and the prices are amazing!

City Contemporary Ceiling Fan

Minka Aire has joined forces with Kathy Ireland Home Collection to design the City Contemporary ceiling fan.
This modern ceiling fan is available in chrome.  What I like about this fan is that the light fixture is not just an afterthought, but an integral part of the design.

Varaluz Fascination Chandelier

This striking pendant light by Varaluz is made almost entirely of recycled materials:
A hand forged frame holds circles of varying sizes filled with  recycled glass discs that reflect the light in a unique way.
All of the steel used in the iron in the fixtures is 70% or greater recycled content. .
Recycling glass uses less energy than manufacturing glass from sand, lime and soda. Every ton of recycled glass saves 315 kilograms (or about 695 pounds) of carbon dioxide.

Varaluz Rainy Night

“We loved sudden thunderstorms while growing up. There’s nothing quite so relaxing as seeing and hearing rain pelt against the window panes and on the tin roof (rusted!).”
This was the inspiration for the designers from Varaluz. The result is a charming pendant light with a unique organic touch.

To recreate the impressions of beads of rain upon a window,  the glass of this unique island light by Varaluz is hand-pressed . The Rainy Night finish is made from streaking an eggplant-black glaze over silver.

“At Varaluz we believe lighting should not only be interesting, but sustainable. For instance, most of our fixtures use steel that has 70% or greater recycled content, and glass that is 100% recycled. We use reclaimed materials in our glass and shades.”

Soji Outdoor Lantern

I know, I know, it is a blatant copy of one of my favorite Le Klint lamps, but nevertheless – it’s a really neat garden light.
Modern design meets sustainable solar for the ultimate in elegant outdoor lighting.  Created in a layered wave-like form, Soji Modern lanterns are unique, portable, efficient and will never require stringing of unsightly electrical wires. Creating the effect of a solar powered chandelier the Soji Modern lantern will turn itself on at dusk to cast a stunning golden glow night after night.

Soji Outdoor Solar Lantern

aurora Light String

Light strings can be more than Christmas lights!

The hand-crafted Aurora Glow string lights are beautiful wrapped amidst the greenery of an arbor, archway, tree or deck railing.
Perfect for an outdoor room or beneath an umbrella! Equipped with a photo light sensor, the lights will turn themselves on at dusk and off at dawn. Totally sustainable, hang beautiful Aurora Glow string lights once and enjoy their artisan glow every night!

Luceplan Solarbud

The little light accompanies your footsteps in the dark. SolarBud needs no electric wiring because it is powered by a battery recharged by sunlight. With exactly the right brightness, it picks out paths, tracks, swimming pool edges, doorways etc, that would otherwise be hard to recognize in the dark.

The solar energy, collected by a polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic cell, powers two rechargeable nickel cadmium batteries. After sunset, they can yield the energy accumulated from the sun to spontaneously turn on the high efficiency leds. The duration of the light when fully charged is between 13 and 15 hours. The sun exposure time necessary to reload the energy expended after 13 hours of lighting is about 5 hours.

I want this chandelier!!! Then again- it looks just fantastic where it is!
I stumbled across a this chandelier as well as a  wonderful assortment of “Things to bring home from the shops” at Home Envy.