A perfect Wedding Gift...Smilow Glass now available at the MAD Museum Shop

In coordination with Tabletop Week and the exhibit "Against the Grain" Wood in Contemporary Art and Design, a terrific show at the MAD Museum, in NYC. Smilow Glass "Faux Bois" Pattern in both green and brown and our "Plaid" Pattern in both gold and platinum variations are now available for purchase in the MAD (Museum of Art and Design's) gift shop at Columbus Circle.
Now that we are headed into Mothers Day and Wedding Season , consider Smilow Glass.

ANNOUNCING the Smilow Furniture re-launch!

This spring, look for and visit the re-launch of Smilow Furniture at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair...booth # 2039!

Rush Woven Lounge Chair part of the WR Collection, Made in Solid American Walnut, design c. 1955

So pleased to announce that we have chosen reGeneration to host the re-launch of the Smilow Furniture line in their booth 2039 at ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) May 18-21 in New York City. In addition, at an event co-hosted by Dering Hall, reGeneration will be featuring an additional selection of Smilow Furniture at their 38 Renwick Street showroom concurrent with the show.

Smilow Design has sourced a 50-year old family-run factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where the furniture will be hand crafted and made from the original Mel Smilow drawings.

reGenerations's 20 year reputation selling the finest vintage mid century modern furniture as well as their keen eye for the current market (they have their own line of contemporary pieces, "re") make them a perfect fit to partner with, for the reintroduction of the Smilow Furniture line .

"Mel Smilow's iconic work is familiar to design enthusiasts and collectors, but because most of it was unsigned, we are particularly excited to let people know whose work this is after so many years of misattributions". - Val Guariglia, co-owner reGeneration

The same Rush Lounge chair as it appeared on the cover of the New York Times Home Magazine in 1975

Between the store on Renwick street and the booth at ICFF, there will be a selection of Smilow Furniture on view, both vintage and new, including lounge chairs, tables, sofa, table and pillows with Smilow Textiles. 

Appropriate for residential, hospitality, contract, institutional and retail applications, Smilow Furniture is fully customizable and made to order.  It will be available beginning this spring to consumers and design professionals through ReGenerationFurniture, and Smilow Design.

Register for ICFF and visit us at the booth or email me if you'd like an invitation to the Smilow Furniture launch party at reGeneration on the evening of Monday May 20th. 

 

More of the  furniture that will be on view from the Smilow Furniture RB Collection. design c. 1950
These pieces will all have upholstered cushions with Pollack Fabrics inspired by the mid-century 

smilow glass...back to the beginning and new again

Back in the mid 80's, while experimenting with sandblasting on metal and glass, an idea for a tabletop line of decorated bent glass serving pieces was hatched. smilow glass started out with handmade pieces made one by one.  Soon after this I found a factory in Pennsylvania that could produce them in quantity. Bending factories were once more common in America, but by the time I found this one in Pennsylvania they were one of the last remaining factories.

   My first glass design, Dots and Dashes, 3 Piece Plate Set

   Platinum Plaid

   Fern Pattern

Over the years, my glass designs sold in many shops, a few fancy hotels (the Four Seasons is my favorite) and even found their way into some museum collections including the Cooper Hewitt National Museum for Design, Yale University Art Gallery and the Brooklyn Museum.

Except for half a dozen years at the beginning, smilow glass had been licensed to another company that marketed for me under their own name. Since last spring, I have been gearing up to reintroduce the line.

I'm excited to once again be offering my glass line under the smilow glass name.  I wanted to share that here first.

So. . . If you're reading this and are interested in purchasing the glass, Please contact me!

You can also like my page on facebook and
as soon as there are additional ways and places to find smilow glass, you'll be the first to know.

To see the whole collection of smilowglass check the smilowdesign website

   NEW for 2013:  Faux Bois in green and brown

Who says you can't go home again?

 A couple weeks ago, my sister Pam and I got invited to lunch at the house we grew up in.

Rob Mandolene photographer

The house is located north of New York City in a Frank Lloyd Wright community called Usonia. Usonia Homes was founded In 1945, a 100-acre rural tract was purchased by a cooperative of young couples from New York City, who were able to enlist Frank Lloyd Wright to build his Broadacre City concept. Wright decided where each house should be placed. Wright designed three homes himself and approved architectural plans of the other 44, which were designed by such architects as Paul Schweikher, Theodore Dixon Bower, Ulrich Franzen, Kaneji Domoto, Aaron Resnick and David Henken - an engineer and Wright apprentice.

The layout of the community was planned by Wright with circular plots, preserving most of the original trees and "encouraging the flow of the land". The community was named "Usonia" in homage to Wright, whose ideas on the way Americans should live together guided their plan.

My family moved to Usonia in 1962. It was the first resale of a home in Usonia and for my parents it was like winning the lottery. The house designed by Aaron Resnick, was everything a modern enthusiast could dream of. Resnick summed it up nicely in this New York Times piece. ''We were united on several concepts: we wanted natural or organic houses, we wanted a sense of community spirit and we needed homes that could be built inexpensively. And, of course, we were all admirers of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.''

 Smilow Home, Usonia, 1965. 

The new owners had generously offered to have us over for lunch. They were curious what it had been like to grow up in the house they now owned. As the day approached I was nervous to visit and remembered how hard it had been to leave this wonderful house and community.

My sister Pam is an artist and I am a product and graphic designer. Pam and I  count Usonia, both for its architecture and for the close knit community as a major influences in our lives, art and style. Obviously the fact that we were surrounded by our father, Mel Smilow's furniture (Smilow Furniture) and artwork–as seen in the above picture–was also a major influence. 

Here I am, on the right, with my sister Pam, sitting on the concrete ledge (our favorite spot in the house) in front of a roaring fire. After a really lovely lunch, I was charmed and impressed by the new owners interest and dedication to the house and community. This time it was easier to say goodbye.

Smilow Chairs on Display!

We have a major milestone to report. I was excited to see the very first Smilow Furniture custom order on display today.

Last year at a museum opening I had the pleasure of meeting Adam Rolston, a partner at Incorporated. It was through that meeting that he discovered that I was attempting to reestablish and reintroduce my father Mel Smilow's designs from the mid century. Adam–an architect– was an instant admirer of the designs and has since became our first customer. These newly reissued Smilow WAC 33 Arm chairs have been installed in the model apartment of a new luxury building on west 87th street condo  in Manhattan that Incorporated, designed the interiors for. Check out the pictures below.

 

 

Photographs by Maia Schoenfelder

These gorgeous chairs can be ordered in many types of wood and custom upholstery. Pictured above in american walnut, with leather cushions.
Send us an email for inquiries.

Looking back on 2012

It's been an interesting and visually exciting year. We compiled some of the highlights below...

We finished off 2011 with a trip to Berlin-- and exciting and vibrant city. We saw some amazing street art.

I had an exciting opportunity to re-connect with the glass world through a workshop put on by the Corning Museum 'Glass Lab'. The event took place on Governor's Island in coordination with the Cooper Hewitt museum; master glass blowers partnered up with designers to create original works of art. 

In the fall of 2012 we look the designers dream trip to Helsinki Finland for Design Week-- the World Design Capital for 2012. The Design Museum is a feast for the eyes. From Marimekko and Alvar Aalto to Arabia and Kaj Franck the museum was filled with many amazing examples of design.

While strolling through a mid-city park in Helsinki we encountered a wonderful public art instillation called "Knit'N'Tag" in which trees got 'knit bombed' with gorgeous coverings. For more info on how these were made watch this video.

This past winter I had the pleasure to attend the re-opening of the Yale University Art Gallery thanks to a great expansion in their collection and space. We were pleasantly surprised to find Smilow Glass on permanent display in the Decorative Arts Since 1950 section. The entire museum is filled with incredible artwork and their collection is amazing-- a definite must see. 

Looking forward to the new year and its inevitable visual finds.. stay tuned!

A New Year...

Hoping to start off the new year in 2013 with our  new blog smilow|design:notes. We plan to update and share our news, new work, experiences, design findings and visual treats with you. Welcome and happy new year!