April 28, 2016
The Wheel
‘The Wheel’ is an out of the ordinary magazine rack by the celebrated US designer Vladimir Kagan in collaboration with H Furniture, originally produced for Wallpaper* Handmade during Milan Design Week 2016.
Vladimir Kagan was a titan of mid-century modern design, and he was one of the most fêted and enduring furniture designers in the US. Kagan was inducted into the Designer Hall of Fame in 2009, by which time he’d been creating his sinuous, playful and highly collectable furniture for over 60 years. The dramatic, one-off piece pays loving homage to the London Eye, a gently rotating home for eight double sided magazine racks, made from solid oak and red metal plate. It can turn both ways, with each rack housing eight magazines — four on each side. ‘The Wheel’ has a certain simple, brutal beauty, with clearly visible mechanics and fixings.
The collaboration with H Furniture on ‘The Wheel’ was fitting. Kagan’s hugely impressive body of work was based on his philosophy of “purity of design and integrity in manufacture”. Similarly, H Furniture believes in fostering design talent, in uncompromising production values and single-minded vision to create original, meaningful pieces of furniture that enhances people´s lives. As a unique collector’s piece, ‘The Wheel’ certainly embodies the spirit of its creators.
Vladimir Kagan was a titan of mid-century modern design, and he was one of the most fêted and enduring furniture designers in the US. Kagan was inducted into the Designer Hall of Fame in 2009, by which time he’d been creating his sinuous, playful and highly collectable furniture for over 60 years. The dramatic, one-off piece pays loving homage to the London Eye, a gently rotating home for eight double sided magazine racks, made from solid oak and red metal plate. It can turn both ways, with each rack housing eight magazines — four on each side. ‘The Wheel’ has a certain simple, brutal beauty, with clearly visible mechanics and fixings.
The collaboration with H Furniture on ‘The Wheel’ was fitting. Kagan’s hugely impressive body of work was based on his philosophy of “purity of design and integrity in manufacture”. Similarly, H Furniture believes in fostering design talent, in uncompromising production values and single-minded vision to create original, meaningful pieces of furniture that enhances people´s lives. As a unique collector’s piece, ‘The Wheel’ certainly embodies the spirit of its creators.
