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Welcome to the best in design for modern living. Our latest essential edit includes cutting-edge upcycling, modular elegance and the new black architecture

004 Flow lamp by Normann Copenhagen is cleverly constructed out of four modular elements with three discrete joints. These allow its shape and lighting direction to be infinitely adjusted, while still appearing as a seamless, single piece.

FLOW

NEW

BLACK

TOP HOUSE BLACK DESERT, YUCCA VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, USA, 2014, OLLER & PEJIC. IMAGE COURTESY OF OLLER & PEJIC ARCHITECTURE / MARC ANGELES / PHAIDON

BOTTOM HOUSE CONCRETE HOUSE II, MADRID, SPAIN, 2011, A-CERO. IMAGE COURTESY OF A-CERO ARCHITECTS / LUIS H. SEGOVIA / PHAIDON

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The graphic intensity of all-black architecture makes for a startling and sometimes confrontational silhouette. These bold statements may feel daring and contemporary but black architecture has a surprisingly long and diverse history. Black: Architecture in Monochrome, published by Phaidon, is a fascinating survey of over 1,000 years of monochrome structures, with 150 examples sited all over the globe. From the eleventh-century, tar-treated building on the Faroe Islands to the brooding, Modernist bunkers by today’s auteurs, it explores the history, cultural significance and primal relationship with the colour black in our constructed world.

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This starkly elegant lighting and glassware is by the brilliantly-named Western Trash, based in Berlin. Each of their designs is created by slicing through a discarded bottle at a different angle. The idea may seem simple but this is upcycling at its most technical, with used bottles sliced by diamond saw, polished, ground then sandblasted to finish. It takes a steady hand but the results are both beautiful and ecologically sound.

CUT

GLASS

IMAGES COURTESY OF FRENCH & TYE / HARRISHARRIS

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Harris & Harris are an interior design consultancy with a holistic approach, also crafting their own furniture and lighting to feature in their schemes. Their Uley sofa comprises of four remixable pieces, offering all the flexibility of modular furniture but with an added elegance created by square stitched panels. This detail not only adds a touch of restrained glamour, but also smartly disguises where combined pieces meet.

HARRIS &

HARRIS

Advances in the formulation of concrete have evolved it into a surprisingly versatile material. Beloved by brutalists for its raw, monolithic qualities, it's now moved indoors to create some surprisingly fine homeware. The Karin tray from Ross & Brown manages to feel both stark and warm at the same time and comes in a trio of complimentary tones.

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SOFT

MINIMAL

'No two materials are alike. No two sites on earth are alike. No two buildings have the same purpose. The purpose, the site, the material determine the shape. Nothing can be reasonable or beautiful unless it’s made by one central idea, and the idea sets every detail. A building is alive, like a man.'

The Fountainhead

TheModernist.House by Mark King at MDKtm

EDIT ARCHIVE

MADE IN LONDON BY MARK KING