February 2012
3 posts
9 tags
1972 Munich Olympics Posters
What you get when Graphic Designer Otl Aicher is head of your Olympic design committee: A series of promotional posters created for the games with artists ranging from color theorist Josef Albers to African American folk artist Jacob Lawrence and everyone in between.
Pierre Soulages
Piero Dorazio
Eduardo Chillida
Hans Hartung
Serge Poliakoff
Fritz Winter
Victor Vasarely
...
Commune Fireplace Tools
We’ve been working on a set of fire tools. We wanted to reduce them to their most basic form and create something that could work in any given environment.
Here are a selection of some of the very tempting finishes that we considered. We ended up going with the bronze coat because it was more ubiquitous, less stylized, and would obviously hide the soot.
We worked hard on getting tong...
6 tags
Robert Maillart x Max Bill
Robert Maillart (1842-1940) a Swiss civil engineer from the future and Max Bill (1908-1994) a Swiss typographer from the Bauhaus came together to make (what we think) is one of the most beautiful books around. Printed in 1934 and reprinted in 1956…We just got our copy.
photographed on our awesome table made by Sculptor Alma Allen
January 2012
5 posts
11 tags
La Ciudad Universitaria - Caracas,Venezuela
Carlos Raul Villanueva designed a small utopia of art and architecture for the students of La Ciudad Universitaria In Caracas, Venezuela. In a pretty forward thinking manner (or ancient) He approached design/art holistically: working artists and artisans directly into various functional roles within his design…Including acoustical paneling by Calder and stained glass windows by Leger. The...
11 tags
INSTANT ART
A small selection of some great punk posters…In a way, they are examples of perfect graphic design: They have a point of view, hold information, look pretty, and were done in 15 minutes.
14 tags
Tower of Power
Around 1922 when Mussolini (full title: His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism, and Founder of the Empire) had hit his stride in political power, he had personally taken over the ministries of the interior, foreign affairs, colonies, corporations, defense, and public works. In true Fascist form all public utilities, as well as art and architecture, were controlled and...
9 tags
Turkey Part 2
More inspiration from a recent trip to Turkey.
Turkey Part 1
Some inspiration from a recent trip to Turkey.
December 2011
4 posts
30 tags
MASTARNAS SIGNATURER
A collection of unique signatures by Swedish furniture designers from 1650—1850 used to brand their wood furniture.
24 tags
MEXICO ILLUSTRATED
1938
1921
1926
1922
1927
1931
1922
1922
1944
1926
1943
1939
1935
1950
1942
1922
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GLASS EYE FOR ACE
Steve Halterman takes us through the process of creating and installing his new stained glass piece for Ace Palm Springs.
Poster board inserts cut to the size of each window — and the drawing begins
Inserts with the completed design drawing are assembled on the windows to fine tune the design and ensure a perfect fit
Glass cutting begins
All pieces of the design are cut from the glass
...
10 tags
Super Choc-o-Food
Our second collaboration with Valerie Confections: Super Choc-o-Food. Each and every label was hand stamped….a true labor of love. Taste the finished product at communeshop.com
November 2011
1 post
6 tags
Paolo Soleri
“The fullness of man’s life may lie in the balance between instinctive longing that reaches down through the flesh of ancestry and an intellectual unrest that seeks an etherealized universe.” - Paolo Soleri
October 2011
2 posts
6 tags
D.H Lawrence at the window
On a recent trip to New Mex, we stumbled upon some fantastic hand painted windows by D.H Lawrence in the bathrooms of the Mabel Luhan house.
4 tags
Steve Jobs (1955-2011)
”In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains of the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.” - Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011)
September 2011
5 posts
6 tags
Zumthor & Bourgeois Witch Trial Memorial
E.R Butler New York
Welcome to E.R Butler’s incredible studio in Red Hook. We dropped by on a recent trip to New York and were given a personal tour by Mr. Butler himself. It’s the Willy Wonka factory of beautifully hand crafted hardware.
What’s Rhett up to next?….How about a swimming pool for the studio
Check out the the stacking candle sticks we made together at...
14 tags
Allen Jones
Lately Allen Jones has been popping up on our radar, and being big fans of his work, we thought it would be a good opportunity to do a post on him. Here is a little crash course.
The early 1960s at the Royal College of Art in London saw the birth of British Pop Art. Allen Jones was among the group of students (including David Hockney, Derek Boshier, and Peter Philipps to name a few others) who...
The Commune Crate in Walnut
It’s a side table. It’s a coffee table. It’s a cubby. It’s a stacked bookcase. It’s a Commune crate. Made by Alma Allen for Commune…..Now in walnut. Available at The Commune Shop
Retreat Part 2
A few of our teenage bedroom descriptions, in all of their gory detail..
August 2011
6 posts
Have a nice weekend
Sincerely, Le Corbusier.
Dealers Choice
Now you no longer have to wait to be invited to Blackman Cruz’s dinner party to check out what’s going on in their house…This book takes you inside the fantastic homes of some iconic dealers to see what they ended up keeping for themselves. Published by our friends at Architecture/Interiors Press.
Alexander Stütz, Berlin
Mady Jourdan, Paris
Richard Shapiro, Los Angeles
...
6 tags
Commune Retreat Part 1
For this year’s annual Commune Retreat, we piled into an 18 passenger van, and headed out to Ojai. Miraculously the van survived the drive along the dirt road, and we were greeted with a delicious farm grown meal prepared by Olivia Chase.
After lunch, we put our skills to the test to see who could design a landing vessel that would protect an egg from breaking (using only supplies from the...
7 tags
Herman Hertzberger's Sketchbooks
The fantastic sketchbooks of the Architect Herman Hertzberger…not you average notepad
“Le Corbusier taught us always to have a notebook handy, and once you get into the habit of it, you cannot do without it. In the end it becomes an extra memory. Each notebook comes to be associated with a particular period and however impersonal they are when you buy them, they demand to be...
11 tags
Louise Bourgeois: Fabric Works
Exquisite fabric drawings by French-American artist and sculptor Louise Bourgeois. We especially love her pieces incorporating mattress ticking fabric; they remind us of our new Ticking Table Linens designed to compliment Heath Ceramics’ beautiful glazes.
Ticking Table Linens available for purchase at our online shop.
18 tags
Bread & Puppet Theater
Hidden in the picturesque hills of northern Vermont, lies the politically radical, pro-Earth, Bread & Puppet Theater. Originally founded in New York City in 1963 by Peter Schumann, the theater gained it’s name from Peter’s habit of serving fresh baked bread to his audiences. Bread and Puppet productions are often remembered as an integral part of the political spectacle during the...
July 2011
8 posts
11 tags
Designer Graves
After seeing the release of Factory Records founder Tony Wilson’s grave, we had a feeling that some of our other favorite designers wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to make their last visual statement…
Tony Wilson; founder of Factory Records. 1950 - 2007. Grave designed by Peter Saville and Ben Kelly.Bruce Goff; architect. 1904 - 1982
Alvar Aalto; architect & designer....
Mexico City
Some photos from our recent trip to Mexico City…
The Central Library at the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico designed by the great Mexican architect and muralist, Juan O’Gorman.
The Rectorate building at the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico. Mural by David Alfaro Siqueiros.
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s House/Studio also designed by Juan O’Gorman. Juan...
8 tags
Juan O'Gorman's House
Just outside of Mexico City, Mexico
Do we like Jaun O’ Gorman? Yes. Do we like Houses? Yes. Do we like moasics? Depends. Do we like Juan O’Gorman’s house built into part of a cave covered in mosaics and primitive motifs from Aztec mythology? Absolutely.
7 tags
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Erik Bulatov
“If I want to orient myself in my environment, then I have to turn to pictures for help. They will answer questions that are put properly”
- Erik Bulatov (Russian painter…and Ed Ruscha’s long lost brother)
5 tags
Pocket Size Sculptures
Minature marble scultpures by Ian Hamilton Finley. Neo-Classical perfection that fits in the palm of your hands.
7 tags
Ontology of House: Japan, 1970
Commune Studio
An amazing book from the 1970s on residential architecture in Japan. The book design and architecture are equally out of this world.
8 tags
The Plastic Tent House
Commune Studio
“This design [of the Plastic Tent House] was based upon two requirements: one, that it be a system, not particularly sophisticated, yet involving permutation; and two, that I could build it pretty much with my own hands, which over a year and a half time, I did.” - John M. Johansen
Designed and hand-built by Johansen, the Plastic Tent House is a...
May 2011
63 posts
6 tags
Superstudio
Commune Studio
We’ve always been fans of Florentine avant-garde architecture collective Superstudio. Founded in the late 60s by two radical young architects, Superstudio pioneered the idea that architectural practice could be conceptual and theoretical, concerned with cultural criticism rather than the production of actual buildings.
7 tags
New York, NY
Some iPhone snapshots from a recent trip to NYC. The new Sperone Westwater Gallery on Bowery, a crazy car on the street in Soho, the ceiling of the lobby at Rockefeller Center, and an awesome “closed” sign.
8 tags
Liza Lou Show at L&M Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
If you haven’t checked out Liza Lou’s show at L&M Gallery yet, we highly recommend going - it’s one of the best shows we’ve seen this year. The piece pictured directly above titled Gather (one million) is made from nine million beads threaded onto wire to create one million blades of grass. Liza Lou, for the past six years, has maintained...
10 tags
Commune + Decorative Carpets
Los Angeles, CA
We are excited to announce the launch of our new Commune Rug Collection. The subtly patterned rugs feature textural combinations of hand-knotted wool, hemp, and silk in neutral tones that complement both modern and traditional interiors. Sold exclusively through Decorative Carpets, Los Angeles.
To celebrate the launch of our new collection, we held an event at...
8 tags
Wolfgang Tillmans at Regen Projects
Los Angeles, CA
We walked over to our neighbor Regen Projects today to check out the new Wolfgang Tillmans exhibition. The show features a collection of images from the artist’s hometown(s) and recent world travels. Unframed and hung from bull clips, the presentation of these large inkjet prints is equally as awesome as the artwork itself. Aside from their shows, we have always loved...
7 tags
Jens Risom's Prefab Weekend House, 1967
Beautiful “Prefab Weekend House” design by Jens Risom.
Photos by John Zimmerman for Life Magazine, 1967
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Commune Designs Oliver Peoples Madison Avenue
New York, NY
The third store we’ve done for Oliver Peoples…If you could use a break from the concrete and need pair of sunglasses stop by and check it out.
Photography by Spencer Lowell
5 tags
Fascist Inspired Graphic Design in Mexico, 1940
Awesome Futuro Magazine covers from the 1940s that we found in one of our books here in the studio.
5 tags
Japan's Dekotora Trucks
Japanese Dekotora (or “decoration truck”) artists display amazing ingenuity and creativity to create the flashiest truck possible while keeping it operational and street legal. We find these masterpieces truly inspirational.
To support the Red Cross relief efforts in Japan and receive a great leather bracelet click here.
Photos by Satoshi Minakawa
"Quadtratura" by Pablo Valbuena
We love this installation we came across by Spanish artist Pablo Valbuena. Quadratura was the technique often used in Baroque architecture of painting on walls or ceilings to create a spacial illusion. Valbuena modernizes this technique using video projection and light to transform a room of the Matadero museum in Madrid.
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Miami Beach, Florida
“Story of Man” by Albert Vrana (sand cast concrete, 1962)
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Los Angeles, California
Happy Holidays in Lisa Eisner’s dining room.
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Los Angeles, California
Wharton Esherick’s (1887-1970) home in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
From Leslie Williamson’s book of photographs “Handcrafted Modern” (Rizzoli, 2010)
http://lesliewilliamsonphoto.blogspot.com
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Malibu Lake, California
A studio visit with Swiss glass artist Beatrice Tesdorpf at her home overlooking Paramount National Park.
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Los Angeles, California
Yesterday we had a studio retreat and a little contest. Six teams, a pile of recycled office supplies, and one hour to create a representation of an important architectural dwelling picked out of a hat. Here are the results…
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater…
Philip Johnson’s Glass House…
John Lautner’s Chemosphere House…
Adalberto...
7 tags
Los Angeles, California
On November 6th at Heath, Los Angeles, we will be launching a collaborative show between Alma Allen, Adam Silverman, Heath Ceramics and Commune.
An offering of containers, boxes, vessels, bowls and lids in unexpected combinations of wood, ceramic and bronze. For the occassion we will be bringing back our canisters and previewing our new Commune “nude” ware for Heath…
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