'Here is one I made earlier..'

An IOR Group designed reception desk. Though its geometric realisation is via CAD, and does not readily express the touch of the human hand in the same way as per yesterdays organic posting ,but its glass fibre curved and conical body does emphasis what can be achieved with this material in terms of visual mass. The white exterior has a certain porcelainesence and refinement but this IS largely due to good detailing, modern materials ( brushed stainless steel , glass with integrated feature lighting) crafted. All from a company spoilt by having its head office in Richmond-Upon-Thames who's river views were 'the first view to be protected by an act of Parliament'- Peter Ackroyd 'Thames sacred river'.

Tinker, tailor, soldier, sculptor

For this posting we will have to create a new genus - deceptioni deskium. Is it a bird , is it a plane no it's a reception desk and not a left over alien egg prop from a Quatermass series. A reception desk never to forget. Who needs DDA or practical visitor surfaces when you have art, but this time by a real artist - sculptor Stephen Broadbent ( student of Arthur Dooley). There won't be any student pranks fulfilled in the lifting of this desk as it is made from cast aluminium and not fibre glass as you would suppose. Once you have got over from being hit between the eyes with its apparent mass you need to get up close, don't be shy, to see surprisingly, the finer detail - 'low relief imagery of Liverpool Docks throughout the centuries'. We will definitely be booking a place on the ferry to visit this and hopefully get some further detail to share with you.
Stephen's enlightened client for these objects is the Beetham Organisation in the West Tower, Liverpool.

Yes Minister

The surface of this piece of furniture brings to mind The Boyle Family's artwork in the form of the shroud of the reception desk, a snapshot of its former existence warts and all. Maybe it has been constructed from salvaged timber dragged up from the quay along the harbour front. All down to the adept hands of the first minister of Ministry of the Interior ,designer and entrepreneur, Jason Macisaac, the brains behind the " funky (but not cheap) furniture and design store -( see Blogto) " in downtown Toronto on Ossington Street. First seen @ Mocoloco, a wonderful muddle of an interior for Film Producers Soft Citizen.

Bob the builder

Ah, back down to earth with a reception desk by the Brussels and Paris based unusually monickered Architects Bob361. The project is VDAB Office building in St Niklaas and the specification is 19mm thick polished edged glass mortared and sandwiched between concrete tiles. The cantilevered desk top is in two tiers for functionality and capped off with a glass high level counter top. An honest and refined design , quite sculptural. Look up the article in Archinnovations.com for further info especially for the interesting supporting structure . Photograph by Frederik Vercuysse and view his website for his use of coloured interior lighting .

For porcelain dolls

We have been fired up by Architect and designer Giorgio Borruso and his design for the reception area of offices at the fashion and apparel house Fornari Spa moulded from the former home of china ware maker Richard Ginori . No hierarchy of planes here ,where the division between furniture and structure has no real distinction; the vertical and horizontal surfaces all slip seamlessly together. We enjoy the play of level change from building element to work surface which add to an overall visual disorientation as you swirl through this space past the almost invisible reception desk. His design ingenuity always demands a second look to understand his detail, standard is not in his repertoire. Visuals seen @ Interior Design. Photography by Alberto Ferrero (sadly no website)

Order Order

Let's stretch the truth and call this piece of furniture a reception desk. Possibly the least interesting from a great photo shoot as it doesn't feature a bear in a fez, a man in a check shirt or a Flaming Lips tour poster but we do enjoy its lush use of reclaimed timber, steel conduits, unfussy metal work, and a working environment that has a sense of cabin 'joie de vivre'. If you read the comments in the Contemporist it's interesting to see how an interior design can create such emotive comments.
Thanks to Lincoln Barbour for images and get down to the wood shed @ Parliament Design who's office is featured and view their inventive graphics and their blog too.
'Man, smell those trees..'

I conic

An example of a reception desk as an after thought. Although these striking images celebrate the beautiful interior structures, they also emphasise how this orbitless piece of furniture is lost in space.That said ,we do find it novel and intriguing enough to wish to up the magnification to see this reception desk's irregular seed like design.

Set the controls for Camenzind Evolution Architects fluid website and enjoy their Google project.
Photography by Ferit Kuyas and see his powerful as well as humorous images of China.

First seen at the Contemporist for full project details.

The Right Chemistry

We get the feeling that this reception desk has something of the architect/engineer collaboration influence about it .This hasn't come out of the house of the light weight. A considered design for a complex client where proportion and detail lend weight to the space that houses it, corporate, scale and quality cabinetry. From the big boys in Pennsylvania Kling Stubbins and thanks to senior project designer Kai Olsen for sending the images. I can see this reception desk inspiring a few designers in the future. We look forward to posting more from these architects.

'Goodness Gracious Me'

This piece of furniture reminds us of Ron Arad's Rover chair and maybe this why we like it plus the way the translucent light box is stitched improbably with what would appear to be a bent scaffold pole. Also our excuse to include it in 'It could be a reception desk' is because it was created by Artist Metal Worker Andy Webb and all you architects and designers out there should commision his work. No website so contact him at awebb.3d@virgin.net .

In memory of Sarratt Sardana and his input into a bit of classic TV history.

For Khairunnisa

I am as much intimidated by attempting to say something about this interior for the Maxxi National Museum by Architect Zaha Hadid as I would be by the colossal mass of staircase snaking down from above to the reception desk nesting below. So for me the high priestess of architecture has created aesthetically the Queen of reception desks , sculpturally beautiful , but is it functional ? Don't know until we get down to Roma. View Dezeen for more of the building.

I was going to rave about some other photography but then I came across Iwan Baan's images of this space and subsequently flicked through his portfolio and melted at his travel photos of Mongolia or Columbia and else where in between ,my this man LOOKS.

This posting is dedicated to our first bona fide follower.

One Percent Mission

The reception desk might not be the the main focus for the photographer in these shots but it should make you want to look up, Cary Bernstein Architects for the rest but that is all there is. A little distant, a glimpse, just a small walk on part, yes, but who cares? What a sophisticated collage of finishes, a little tantalising abstract of the white monolithic desk set within the greater abstract of this interior ( the bottom image) . A composition of elements, angles ,slabs of muted soft form pattern ( the tiles) and veneer work that leads you from space to space.

I have even warmed to hot pink !

All this quality for the deserving client Product Designers One & Co

Thanks to Cary for sending the images but also for introducing us to the artisans of Sausalito @ Heath Ceramics (for the 'crease tile' and like their blog too) and to learn about the One Percent Scheme.

H 2 O @ 0 Degrees C

And a big WELCOME ( in black plastic composite letters , sitting on the front of the reception desk) back after a couple of months temping. Here's an appropriate one fired off from poor little England caught in the evil grip of the snow queen for a week ! It's a mixed bag from the ice photo bucket but what a great material to use and I'm sure we'll be featuring it again.

A must for ice aficionado's is Daniel Rosenbaum's website for some chilling inspiration and please book a room @ the Ice Hotel to complete the experience (and these people did). Also when googling ice designers type in -Ake Larsson, Mikael nille Nilson and Sofi Ruotsalainen , Sweden's 'a la Icecreme'.