We’re three days into NYCxDesign, and our calendars couldn’t be more packed! Although we haven’t hit ICFF yet, we’ve discovered plenty of smaller wonders around the city. There’s so much going on that if you haven’t visited our NYCxDesign Map, we suggest you do so before you get too overwhelmed. Below is a list of our favorite shows so far:
WantedDesign Brooklyn
We’ve got two words for you—Baby. Gym.If you’re looking to visit an exhibit that explores the past, present, and future (or even parallel universes?) of design, WantedDesign Brooklyn would be a good bet. With exhibitions like Oui Design, which features several prominent French product designers, you get a look into the trends of the design world today. Student presentations such as SVA’s “Radical Times” exhibit that explores speculative pasts and futures or Carolien Niebling’s “Sausage of the Future”, however, present something more surreal that will force you to ponder the numerous ways in which designers play a role in shaping our culture and future.
Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.
Furnishing Utopia 3.0
The elegant “Hands to Work” installation is a Design Week treat tucked away in Soho
Jamie Wolfond’s “wandering planter” is based off of the form of a traditional hand truck.
This piece by Pat Kim is a Roomba vacuum cover made from cherry and leather.
A glass “all-purpose set” by designer Sophie Lou Jacobsen, meant to encourage people to make and use their own non-toxic cleaning products.Who said chores had to be boring and mundane? The third edition of Furnishing Utopia asked 26 international designers to explore and reinterpret the focused work and cleanliness of the Shakers, which they regarded as a path to enlightenment. Holding things such as spray bottles, watering cans and handles in high regards, this exhibition will make you crave cleaning your home, making the “Sensory Isolation Booth” at the back of the exhibition extremely fitting. In the booth, visitors are asked to test out the various brooms in the exhibition by sweeping up different materials.
BALANCED/UNBALANCED at Colony
The pieces on display at Colony in Soho, including these “Bumpy Growers” by Poritz & Studio, play around with the theme of Balanced / Unbalanced. The show is a relaxing escape from the busy streets of SoHo (especially Canal Street), and will remain open all the way until the 24th.
Ladies & Gentleman Studio for MUJI
Ladies & Gentleman Studio for MUJI 
MUJI Ceramics intertwine with raw slabs of clay
Ladies & Gentleman Studio’s installation for MUJI isolates the beauty of the materials used in iconic products from the Japanese retailer. The unassuming materials heaven takes MUJI products and displays them atop their raw materials. for instance, ceramics are placed on raw slabs of clay and wooden bookcases are rested on wood shavings. If you need a zen moment, stop by this installation, touch the raw materials and instantly feel revived.
Sight Unseen Offsite
A cozy installation in OFFSITE in collaboration with Levi’s Made & Crafted with pieces by Cold Picnic, Moving Mountains x Giselle Hicks, and Syrette Lew.
Sight Unseen Offsite’s main location may have downsized, but the quality of works shown at the crowd favorite show remain strong. This year’s show is heavily focused on unexpected collaboration pairings, including the mini show-within-a-show Field Studies, which paired celebrities with designers to create surprising results. Think a mirror designed by Bower and Seth Rogan and a piano designed Wall for Apricots and Jason Schwartzman.
The Future Perfect
The Future Perfect installation for design week is both opulent and offbeat
A centerpiece of Wolston’s show is his powder coated steel cabinet made with riveted metal detailing and a rattan interior.
A sand-casted end table with playful, artistic detailing.
A sand-casted and anodized aluminum vessel by Wolston.The Future Perfect is putting on quite the show at 55 Great Jones Street. The dark, dimly but beautifully lit space highlights tropical designs from Chris Wolston among a few other furniture and lighting designs with lavish materials.
Patrick Parrish
Carl Emil Jacobsen’s sculptures are coated in pigments made from crushed found materials such as bricks and stones.At Patrick Parrish Gallery on 50 Lispenard in Soho, a series of sculptures by artist Carl Emil Jacobsen exhibit an earnest passion for material exploration. Jacobsen’s work involves gathering found materials such as tiles, stones, volcanic ash, and chalk to make his own bespoke pigments, and the pieces serve to highlight the beauty of color that derives purely from nature.
American Design Club Presents: Built at Canal Street Market
BUILT is an exhibition of projects curated by American Design Club in the Canal Street Market space in Soho.
Incense burners by Hamilton Holmes
Two inventive stools by GMB Studio (left) and Turnidge Industries (right)
A glass lamp that shows all the inner workings by Zac WeinbergAmerican Design Club has set up post toward the back of Canal Street Market, featuring an exhibition packed with design inspiration. From fuzzy chairs to quick 3D printed planters, you’ll keep discovering more and more gems in this small corner of Design Week.
Curious to see more from NYCxDesign? Follow our stories & posts this week on Instagram and plan your visit with our NYCxDesign Map!
Source: core77