Nora Blog

There are tables, and then there are tables. Husband and wife team Ali Sandifer (Abir Ali & Andre Sandifer) have made multi-functional trays for people who love food, handicraft, and can do without tablecloths. Back in 2007, the duo was in Chicago working with walnut, and they realized that plywood was not for them. The hardwood allowed for both freedom and discipline, opening a space to explore form more organically. Their first public art installation was an enormous recreation of the biblical table from the last supper. Diners were invited to then carve their name or a significant event into...

Addie Langford is named after her great grandmother from Elizabethton, TN and lived to be 103 years old. Like her great-grandmother, Addie’s work has a timeless longevity. In collaboration with Scott Hocking, Addie has created sculptural tasting cups perfect for wedding gifts, bridal showers, entertaining, anyone over the age of 21, people at Hugh, your friends, your neighbors, and anyone you’re trying to impress. After her first sleepless year in architecture school, Addie was enrolled in a ceramics class (thanks to her mother) that shaped the course of her life. She studied under the wildly surreal Estonian ceramic artist Sergei...

Alice Waters, chef, restaurateur, activist, founder of The Edible Schoolyard Project

Patrick Blanc, botanist, ecological engineer, and vertical gardener
Will Allen, pioneer of urban farming movement 

Moderator 
Stephen Henderson, Pulitzer Prize-winning editor, Detroit Free Press 

    This panel discussion focused on the idea of green urban spaces, although it seemed that those in attendance were most interested in urban farming. Coming from the east coast, and living in densely populated...

Sou Fujimoto, Japanese architect, renowned for his synthesis of nature and architecture
Walter Hood, landscape architect, specializing in the public realm and urban environment 

Moderator
Reed Kroloff, architect and urban designer, former director of Cranbrook Academy of Art 

Sou Fujimoto and Walter Hood are two seemingly distinct architects with disparate focuses, and yet they made for a fascinating pairing for Culture Lab’s second panel discussion. While I was unable to stay through the Q&A discussion, I was able to...

The Kaico kettle is a thing of absolute beauty. It is enamel-coated steel which provides ultimate durability. It’s beech wood handle and maple knob retain no heat, giving the kettle practical usability. Created by renowned Japanese designer Makoto Koizumi, the Kaico Kettle is a stunning example of lifestyle design. Its contour blends in with every décor, and the wood details lend a natural element to any kitchen. Koizumi’s versatility, as a woodworker and an architect as well as product designer, lends itself to the kettle’s clean and simple elegance. Its flat bottom and black interior give it a heft and...