The ethos of Creazioni is eclectic Italian furniture with a big twist. It’s Vintage philosophy, fine finishings and contemporary fabrics blend into a timeless style, creating a versatile product that perfectly fits different living spaces, capturing the mood of a place. Their eclectic collections include seventies style lamps, soft sofas with lion’s claw feet, sideboards and chests with metallic finishes and ethnic objects immersed in intriguing thirties atmospheres. What makes it all work is Creazioni’s ability to combine unusual shapes, crisp colour contrasts and unusual combinations of different materials. High quality craftsmanship from Italy and something that cannot always be taken for granted in every interior these days: a touch of simple good taste.

A company based in Cantù Italia the so called “City of Furniture” is now in UAE, Creazioni by Silik.

The passion to dress up the past styles with a big twist to make it modern and carefree look results the birth of the Creazioni brand in 1997.

Expert Cristina Gattei with her team sets their goal to make Creazioni brand to be known for reviving past classic styles with a unique modern fusion. The designers masterfully “dress up “ the styles in a surprising form, lively colors, interesting materials and finishes, creating a dazzling, ironic, remarkable, unique furniture in a new level of elegance without loosing its classic remarks. No wonder Creazioni caught the attention of the international market in a short span of time.

Creazioni considered today an Art of Decoration with the philosophy of their vintage finishing by using contemporary timeless styles. They bring furniture into a new level of art and creativity.  Their extraordinary collection is like living a fantasy where imagination is the limit. A pouf with an eccentric bird foot, a table with a Romanesque sculpture plinths, a pony rocking chair in a shape of a horse, a mirror with an extravagant crown, a mushroom-like table and many other classic furniture combined with a unique shape, contrasting colors and bold combination truly makes them exceptional and artistically clever.

Always governed by the high quality craftsmanship and something that cannot always be taken for granted in every interior these days: a touch of simple good taste. Their design is based on the latest technologies on furniture production and past achievements of the iconic masters. They’re using an array of wood and metals as main materials for their furniture, unusual and contrasting colors, typically with glossy or matt lacquered finish, and commonly using hand painted or with embroidery thread and cloth upholstery (customers can also use their customize their designs).

Investing and collecting Creazioni furniture is something not to be afraid of, for it  will never be out of style as a work of art is timeless. Visit House of Folly for the full collection of Creazioni, where fantasy creates home.

See some of the product range at our website.

We Invite you to join us at the Super Design Market being hosted by Dubai Design Week and supported by House of Folly.

November 13th to November 18th

Location – Building 7, Dubai Design District

We will be hosting three of our brands Vitra, Consept and I Bride, together with some of our other popular products. You can buy all our products at the Super design market or buy on line on www.houseoffolly.com

This Vitra wall clock is emblematic of the highly acclaimed work of American Modernist designer, George Nelson.

One of the iconic designs of the 1950s, this Vitra wall clock carries the spirit of that era. It represents an American way of life with a strong belief in continuous technological progress and ever-increasing economic prosperity. In the second decade of the 21^st century, Nelson’s Eye Wall Clock remains ideal for architects and homeowners seeking a refreshing alternative to the usual timepieces.

This clock is perfect for interior spaces because it resembles a sculpture more than a factory-made product.

Ever since House of Folly collaborated with Vitra a few years ago, Nelson’s clock has been among the most admired items in our online store. If you live in Dubai, you can get one of these masterpieces for yourself through our store in D3 or online store.

George Nelson

George Nelson was an American designer of Modernist art. Throughout his life, his goal was to bring modern design into American homes. Timepieces are one of his most iconic works of art.

Nelson’s work remains influential to this day. He founded an industrial design magazine, wrote extensively, and played a crucial role in legitimizing modern art. His interest in sustainability is more relevant for our era than it was in his time. He was a fierce proponent of reducing all forms of pollution, including chemical, visual, and audio.

Vitra

Vitra is a family-owned firm of furniture and retail environments from Switzerland. It has its own Campus, with many world-leading architects working for it. House of Folly is a distributor of Vitra wall clocks in the UAE.

Homeowners and architects can get Vitra products in the UAE through House of Folly’s online or physical store.

From shop floors to boutique hotels, homes, workspaces and more, DESKi, ZIGGi and CLASSi have been created with a vision to transform and harmonise any space; while adding an artistic element, memorable design and magical ambience to the room. Each flat LED “by BULBING” lamp is made from a thick and strong sheet of acrylic glass that has been accurately laser engraved to create a classic lampshade silhouette. By etching dozens of intricate lines onto the acrylic sheet, we are able to create a sense of dimensionality, as LED light travels through the lines illuminating the design and creating a powerful optical illusion. Full range available to purchase at www.houseoffolly.com.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As the pioneer in developing an architectural style that strove for an “organic architecture” in building design, Frank Lloyd Wright remains a profoundly influential American architect who developed a distinctly unique style. He designed numerous iconic buildings, including the building Fallingwater which has been called “the best all-time work of American Architecture.” He was a leader of the Prairie School movement and his creative period spanned more than seventy years. Already well known during his life, he was recognized as “the greatest American architect of all time” by the American Institute of Architects in 1991, and he remains an influential figure to this day.

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT BIOGRAPHY
Frank Lloyd Wright was born June 8th, 1867 in Richland Center, Wisconsin. His father was an orator, music teacher and itinerant minister. His mother was the member of a large family of Unitarians, and both his parents were strong-willed and passed their interests and beliefs down onto the young Frank. In 1870, the family moved to Weymouth for Frank’s father to minister a small congregation.

In 1876, his mother visited the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia and saw an exhibit of educational blocks created by Friedrich Fröbel, which was an integral part of his kindergarten curriculum. Frank’s mother became excited by the possibilities and bought a set of blocks, allowing the young Wright to play with them as much as he’d like. These geometrically shaped, three-dimensional blocks allowed the user to assemble them in different configurations to form compositions and Wright described the influences that these blocks had on him in his autobiography:

“For several years I sat at the little Kindergarten table-top … and played … with the cube, the sphere and the triangle—these smooth wooden maple blocks … All are in my fingers to this day…”

When Frank Lloyd Wright turned 14, his parents split up, and he took on the mantle of financial responsibility for the family.

He completed high school and joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a special student in 1886. There he joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and took part-time classes for two semesters while working with a professor of civil engineering, Allan Conover. While leaving the school without taking a degree, he found employment in Chicago after the great fires raged through the city, and found himself in the midst of a plethora of development work.

He joined the firm Adler &Sullivan in 1888 where he remained for some time, developing his skills and building concepts and also progressed to his desire to search for new and appropriate styles of Midwestern architecture. This lead to the coining of the movement “Prairie School” of architecture and by 1900, the movement was mature, with Frank Lloyd Wright, almost entirely self-taught, being its chief practitioner. The school used a radical approach to building homes, utilizing mass-produced materials and equipment, and discarded elaborate compartmentalization of rooms in favor of bold, plain walls and roomy family areas. The designs emphasized comfort, convenience and spaciousness all within affordable metrics.

Frank Lloyd Wright would repeatedly lecture during this time, and his most famous talk, The Art and Craft of the Machine was first printed in 1901. By this time, Wright’s practice dealt with everything from apartment houses to group dwellings and recreation centers.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
In the late 1920s and into the 30’s, Frank Lloyd Wright’s organic style had fully matured, and can be evidenced by the works Graycliff, Fallingwater and Taliesin West.

The Graycliff estate is located near downtown Buffalo and is sometimes called, “Jewel on the Lake.” It stands as one of the most ambitious and extensive summer estates that Wright ever designed and is a complex of three buildings inside an 8.5-acre landscape. It is notable for its largest building, which incorporates a two stone veneer covered sections that frame a central pavilion-like center of transparent glass walls, allowing visitors to see through the building itself, to the lake beyond.

Fallingwater was a house designed as a weekend home for Edgar Kaufmann and is located in southwestern Pennsylvania. It is considered Wright’s most famous work, and has won numerous awards. The way it elegantly integrates itself into the landscape, almost becoming a part of the waterfall itself, is a marvel to behold, and the cantilevered engineering is a brilliant addition to home that is clearly too large for the small plot of land it was originally intended for. By stretching the house over the water, the size requirements of the buyer could be met.

FUN FACTS
Frank Lloyd Wright was “one of the original hippies, a touchstone figure who brought us out from behind the walls of closed-in rooms and back into the embrace of nature,” wrote T.C. Boyle of Wright’s love for the natural.
His buildings were notorious for maintenance difficulties, and many had, for example, leaking roofs and too-narrow doorframes that did not allow furniture to pass through. Wright remained indifferent to such complaints, deeming them inevitable in the sight of serious experimentation.
He developed concepts for the single-family home for the average citizen, and would devise ways to let families get good design on a budget.
A lover of poetry, specifically the poetry of Whitman and Emerson, Wright himself considered his buildings poetic and would obsess over incorporating his buildings harmoniously and artistically into the surroundings.
He was not a fan of New York City, or any other city because he felt they were much too cramped and crowded, lacking in cultural and social enrichment. Mostly, however, he believed them to be badly designed.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
Frank Lloyd Wright received a great deal of recognition in his lifetime, and many honors for his achievements. He received Gold Medal awards from The Royal Institute of British Architects in 1941 and the American Institute of Architects in 1949. His contributions to the 20th and 21st-century architectural movements are massive, and his influence will resound for decades to come.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

WHO WAS CHARLES AND RAY EAMES?

Charles and Ray Eames, the mid-20th century geniuses who developed and contributed greatly to the movements of modern architecture and furniture design, are extremely influential in their spheres and well known for their work such as the Eames Lounge Chair. They dedicated a career to modern design, but also to practicality, simplicity, and aesthetics, which is easily visible in their most famous constructions. Not only did they create and contribute to their most important fields (architecture and design), they also dealt extensively in fine art and film, and industrial and graphic design. Charles and Ray Eames took the idea of modernity and shaped it into a beautiful personal vision which remains to this day.

CHARLES AND RAY EAMES BIOGRAPHY
Charles Ormond Eames, Jr was born on June 17, 1907, in St. Louis, Missouri, and was the younger of two children. He developed an interest in architecture in high school and then went on to work at the Laclede sSteel company, where he learned more about the fields of engineering, architecture, and drawing. He received an architecture scholarship and attended Washington University at St. Louis after graduating high school, but left after two years of instruction.By 1930, he had established his own architectural firm in St. Louis with his partner Charles Gray and was then later joined by an additional member named Walter Pauley. He soon after received a fellowship to Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, where he eventually rose to the head of the design department.

Ray Eames was born Bernice Alexandra Kaiser in Sacramento, California in 1912. She moved to New York in 1929 and graduated from the Bennet Women’s College in Millbrook, New York in 1933, where she studied abstract expressionist painting. From this time, one of her paintings resides permanently in the Whitney Museum of American Art.
She eventually enrolled at the Cranbrook Academy in 1940 upon recommendations from a friend, where she met Charles Eames and the two quickly began collaborations. They married in 1941 and established a lifelong partnership – both romantically and artistically.

Charles and Ray Eames then moved to Los Angeles and opened up their own design studio, and eventually received work from the Navy wartime effort, where they enjoyed the opportunity to experiment with new methods of bending and forming plywood. Everything from plywood airplane parts to molded leg splints was being designed by the two and contributed significantly to the war effort.

After decades of successful collaboration and creation, Charles Eames died of a heart attack on August 21, 1978, with his wife Ray passing on exactly ten years to the day, in 1988. The two are interred together next to each other at the Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.

CHARLES AND RAY EAMES CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
From this experience with the military, the designers went on to utilize plywood for furniture design, and began creating pieces such as Dining Chair Wood (the DCW), and the Lounge Chair Wood and Metal (LCW and LCM respectively). This utilitarian philosophy can be understood in their goal, which was that they saw upholstery as unnecessary, and by molding a shell as the seat to fit the contours of the body, one wouldn’t even need cushioning.

Of course, not every design of theirs would be without upholstering, and in fact, one of their most famous pieces, the Eames Lounge Chair would be not only one of their most popular designs, but also their most expensive. This simple black leather and brown plywood construction is not only elegant in its simplicity, but also generously luxurious. Charles’ stated vision for the chair was to capture, “the warm, receptive look of a well-used first baseman’s mitt,” and the designers seemed to execute that idea entirely. Of course, since the utter success of this style of chair and due to the impact that the designers had in their lifetimes, examples of the chair can be permanently found in galleries across America – a rosewood Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman permanently in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, one in the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan, and another in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
The simple fact that one can get a chair and ottoman combination permanently placed in Museums speaks highly of their accomplishments and their contributions to our daily lives!
Of course, many of their other designs are almost invisible nowadays due to their ubiquity. Charles and Ray Eames Molded Plastic chair, for instance, graces everything from cafes to schools and everywhere in between, almost becoming the de-facto seating choice all across North America. It, likewise, is true to Charles and Ray Eames philosophy of simplicity and functionality, while still maintaining comfort.

FUN FACTS
They turned down an opportunity to redesign the Budweiser label, because of their commitment to the notion to only, “innovate as a last resort.”
They loved the circus and especially clown acts. Because of their love of entertainment that combined fun and effort, they deeply respected the performers and their routines, and Charles himself eventually became a school trustee at the Barnum and Bailey Clown College.
Charles designed a series of churches in the 1930’s to support himself.
They were good friends with Billy Wilder and Charles was quoted saying that he and Ray “learned more about architecture from watching a Billy Wilder film than talking to most architects.”
They wrote the India Report, which invigorated industry and design in India.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
Ray and Charles Eames have contributed much in the time they spent on this earth, from architectural and design revolutions to film and exhibitions, they truly had their hands in all kinds of creation and business. They have been heavily awarded, including being the recipients of the Royal Gold Medal and the Twenty-Five Year Award from the American Institute of Architects. They have even been immortalized on June 17th, 2008, in the form of a pane of 16 stamps created by the US Postal Service. Musart is proud to present Charles and Ray Eames work and designs on our website, due to their innovation, their creativity, and their brilliance.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I’m sure everyone who has been home furnishing shopping have seen these objects, but did you ever ask who was behind it or where did it come from? It was started by an Italian man called Alessandro Mendini who is a postmodernist making witty designs which are inspired by art.

Decades before the phrase ‘design-art’ become ubiquitous, Alessandro Mendini(1931) was doing his own version of the idea. In the late 1970s and early 80s, when Milan was emerging as the new design centre of the world, he put forward a postmodernist vision that borrowed from disparate sources, such as  mass-produced pieces and historical styles.

He played an important part in the development of Italian design. He also worked, aside from his artistic career, for Casabella, Modo and Domus magazines.

His design has been characterized by his strong interest in mixing different cultures and different forms of expression; he creates graphics, furniture, interiors, paintings and architectures and wrote several articles and books; he is also renowned as an enthusiastic member of jury in architectural competition for young designers. Along with Branzi and Sottsass and with his presence in Global Tools and Radical design, he was the main force behind the renovation of Italian design in the 80’s. In the late 70’s he went back to designing and various projects and in 1979 joined the Alchimia Studio. This group of radical designers in the 80’s in Memphis had upset functionalist designers by designing objects for sheer artistic pleasure and by referring to popular culture and kitsch. This was well outside the norms of industrial production and practicality. With Alchima he created objects, furniture, environments, paintings, installations and architectural works. Among his most significant works during this period were the Groningen Museum and the reinvention of the Alessi image for whom he is meta-projectual consultant. In 1989 he opened the Atelier Mendini in Milan with his brother Francesco and continued his career as a sophisticated, pop designer. The key element is always a clever hybrid between art and design resulting in popular objects that achieve great commercial success.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Danish architect Louis Weisdorf says that he ‘specialises in versatility’ : he’s worked in almost every field of design, but it’s his lighting that we really admire. He uses moveable elements to create multifunctional pieces that always shield the eye from the glare of bare bulbs. His masterful ‘Multi-Lite’pendant lamp, recently released by Gubi, was first sketched in 1972 and consists of cylinder enclosed by two semi-spherical shade and a brass hoop.

the shades can be adjusted up and down to create four different configurations.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Sue Timney formed Timney-Fowler with Grahame Fowler in 1979 after she graduated from the Royal College of Art, and together the pair went on to create some of the design world’s most enduring and evocative prints. Graphic, bold and modern with twists on neo-classical, their work flowed from the world of interiors onto catwalks and back again, as they collaborated with big names such as Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Diane von Furstenberg. The Fashion and Textile museum is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Timney-Fowler, and Sue’s career in design with a special retrospective – Sue Timney and The Design of Timney-Fowler.

So checkout our Q&A with Timney.

How would you describe your style? The most difficult question I can think of answering. Some key words would be graphic, disciplined, perhaps a sense of theatre. My influences are from so many areas of art and design history – the Renaissance, William de Morgan to Zaha Hadid as well as the street.

How do you approach a new design? With an open mind…

When you first launched Timney-Fowler, what inspired your designs? The biggest single element was travel. I was born in North Africa and travelled constantly as a child, so a lot of this experience came into the work that I did in those early days with Grahame Fowler.

And what tends to inspire them now? Everything, everyday. That’s what’s exciting, you never know where the inspiration is coming from. There is no doubt, though, that as a designer there is a huge advantage getting older as this inspiration becomes easier to translate into visuals.

What is it that makes your work so adaptable from fashion to interiors? Probably because I wasn’t originally trained as a designer – but as a fine artist, which in turn makes me probably look at things more laterally. But overwhelmingly too I’m not sure I believe in “boxes” of creative thought. One idea influences another – it’s just the way you approach it that changes.

How do you think design changed in the three decades you have been working in the industry? The biggest change for all of us in this industry has been the advance of technology without a doubt – for bad and good. It means I can network now with my team on a project, which in turn means I don’t run a huge studio (which I miss) – however it is more time efficient and it means I don’t have to be in London all the time (which I don’t miss).

What design are you most proud of? Definitely my four children, Alix, Louis, Max and Todd!

And aside from your own work, is there another design or designer you admire? I’m not sure I admire my own work, and it’s always a very hard to isolate one name as I’m daily in admiration of designers past and present. But Lucienne Day was an amazing designer and mark maker that I can relate to. Her fabrics and ceramic designs were unique and still feel contemporary. She was an independent woman who worked all her life because she believed in what she was doing.

What’s next? As well as the exhibition, I’ve also just launched a book so I’m travelling around the country and to New York to do signings. Meanwhile, I have been working with House of Fraser as it will be launching a Timney brand in the spring for home and fashion across many product areas – it’s very exciting.

What is your own home like? Well, there’s definitely black and white in it! But I am also a big collector and so I’ve got a lot of these collections from groups of ceramics to 20th century prints and boxes grouped in various places around the house. Justin [de Villeneuve], my husband’s work also has a prominent place as his past and current photography fits very well with my colours and wallpapers!

Describe your perfect room, fictional or otherwise. Somewhere I can relax and be happy with all my family – without them there is no perfect room.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I’m sure you have seen her face before, but not knowing this woman, and what is her story. Is she just a pretty face? Or has she got a darker life behind her angelic face. As we go back in time lets start with the creator.

Fornasetti (10 November 1913 – 9 October 1988) was an Italian painter, sculptor, interior decorator and engraver.

He lived most of his life in Milan, attending the Brera Art Academy from 1930-32 when he was expelled for insubordination. During World War II, he went into exile in Switzerland from 1943-46. He created more than 11,000 items, many featuring the face of a woman, operatic soprano Lina Cavalieri, as a motif. Fornasetti found her face in a 19th-century magazine. “What inspired me to create more than 500 variations on the face of a woman?” asks Italian designer, Piero Fornasetti of himself. “I don’t know,” he admits, “I began to make them and I never stopped.” The “Tema e Variazioni” (theme and variation) plate series based on Cavalieri’s face numbered more than 350.

Other common features in his work include heavy use of black and white, the sun and time. His style is reminiscent of Greek and Roman architecture, by which he was heavily influenced.

Today it is most common to see Fornasetti’s style in fashion and room accessories such as scarves, ties, lamps, furniture, china plates and tables and his son, Barnaba Fornasetti, continues to design in his father’s name.

Lina Cavalieri (25 December 1874 – 7 February 1944) was an Italian operatic soprano known for her great beauty. Cavalieri, born in Viterbo, Latium, Italy, she lost her parents at the age of fifteen and became a ward of the state, sent to live in a Roman Catholic orphanage. The vivacious young girl was extremely unhappy under the strict raising of the nuns, and at the first opportunity she ran away with a touring theatrical group. Blessed with a good singing voice, a young Cavalieri made her way to Paris, France, where her stunning good looks opened doors and she obtained work as a singer at one of the city’s café-concerts. From there she performed at a variety of music halls and other such venues around Europe while still working to develop her voice for the opera. A soprano, Cavalieri took voice lessons and made her opera debut in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1900, the same year she married her first husband, the Russian Prince Bariatinsky. Eventually she followed in the footsteps of Hariclea Darclée as one of the first stars of Puccini’s Tosca. In 1904 she sang at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo then in 1905, at the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre in Paris, Cavalieri starred opposite Enrico Caruso in the Umberto Giordano opera, Fedora. From there, she and Caruso took the show to New York City, debuting with it at the Metropolitan Opera on 5 December 1906.

During her career, Cavalieri sang with other opera greats such as the Italian baritone Titta Ruffo and the French tenor Lucien Muratore, whom she married in 1913. After retiring from the stage, Cavalieri ran a cosmetic salon in Paris. In 1914, on the eve of her fortieth birthday — her beauty still spectacular — she wrote an advice column on make-up for women in Femina magazine and published a book, My Secrets of Beauty. In 1915, she returned to her native Italy to make motion pictures. When that country became involved in World War I, she went to the United States where she made four more silent films. The last three of her films were the product of her friend, the Belgian film director Edward José.

Eventually Paolo d’Arvanni, Cavalieri returned to live with her husband in Italy. Well into her sixties when World War II broke out, she nevertheless worked as a volunteer nurse. Cavalieri was killed in 1944 during an Allied bombing raid that destroyed her home in the outskirts of Florence.

La Cavalieri’s discography is slim. In 1910, for Columbia, she recorded arias from Faust, Carmen, Mefistofele, La bohème, Manon Lescaut and Tosca, as well as the song, “Maria, Marì! (Ah! Marì! Ah! Marì!).” In 1917, for Pathé, the soprano recorded “Le rêve passé,” with Muratore.

She was painted by the Italian artist Giovanni Boldini (acquired by Maurice Rothschild) and by the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury (1862-1947). The latter is now the property of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, the gift of Nicholas Meredith Turner in memory of his wife the soprano Jessica Dragonette. Hers is the face that appears repeatedly, obsessively in Piero Fornasetti’s designs. Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida portrayed Cavalieri in the film The World’s Most Beautiful Woman. In 2004, a book was published authored by Paul Fryer and Olga Usova titled Lina Cavalieri -The Life of Opera’s Greatest Beauty, 1874–1944.