Latest news with #Raffoul
New York Times
05-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Lounging and Reflecting at Milan Design Week
Chairs are to design fairs what apple pies are to state fairs: comfortable fixtures with (at least) 10,000 variations. At Milan Design Week, the new introductions include some popular repeats, like Patricia Urquiola's Tufty-Time sofa for B&B Italia, now in its fourth version in two generations. Facing the future is the Psukhe armchair, an aerodynamic-looking stasis demon by Felix Godard, who is better known for designing the interiors of electric cars. A Reimagined Rocking Chair David Raffoul and Nicolas Moussallem's Loulou rocking chair was originally presented in 2014 as part of 'Loulou/Hoda,' an exhibition in the designers' native Beirut, Lebanon. The show was named after their respective grandmothers and featured pieces that, Mr. Raffoul noted, 'would be found in any Lebanese grandmother's home,' albeit reimagined for their generation. Meaning the rocking chair, Mr. Moussallem said, was 'lower and a bit more loungey than a traditional rocking chair.' 'It holds your back in a relaxed position,' he continued, 'you're not sitting straight up.' The founders of david/nicolas, who have a second studio in Milan, initially offered the upholstered rocker in an edition of 12. Two years ago, Mr. Raffoul posted a picture on Instagram of the chair in their Beirut office. The post caught the attention of Silvia Gallotti, the chief executive of the furniture company Gallotti & Radice, with whom they had previously collaborated. The rocker, she said, 'felt like more than just a piece of furniture — it had a strong personality and a unique presence that resonated with me instantly.' It is being introduced at Salone del Mobile under the assumption that it will resonate with others, too. 'Ten years ago our reach was very small,' Mr. Moussallem said. 'I'm very curious to see how the public will react to it now.' The Loulou rocking chair is on view Tuesday through Sunday at Salone del Mobile, Pavilion 9, stands E11/F10; — RIMA SUQI A Thing of Beauty and Harmony The octogenarian Swiss architect Mario Botta dug deeply into his own past and decades of furniture history for inspiration while designing fiberboard pieces for the Italian manufacturer Alias. Mr. Botta's line of Zeta stools, which have zigzagging profiles, perforated rims and palettes of yellow, black, brown and gray, riff off the sharply angular wooden armchairs in red and blue that the Dutch designer Gerrit Rietveld introduced in the 1910s. Mr. Botta said that he had long considered Rietveld 'my master of essentiality,' whose primary-colored armchair remained 'an archetype of beauty and harmony for a domestic object.' He added that in designing the stools, he also drew upon his memories of 'the poorer and cheaper seats' of rural buildings that surrounded him during his childhood in southern Switzerland. He was asked what reactions have been elicited by Zeta's shape so far. Do the toothy edges perhaps remind people of piano keys, hair combs or the punched cards used on early computers? Have the diagonal braces been likened to crisscrossing bridge railings or skyscraper reinforcements? He simply replied that he welcomed maximally diverse interpretation: 'The object of design cannot be univocal.' The new line is part of the Alias presentation on view Monday through Sunday at Fondazione Luciana Matalon, 67 Foro Buonaparte; — EVE M. KAHN New Directions in Woodwork 'Bentwood was a new direction for them and for me,' said Yves Béhar, the Swiss-born designer whose San Francisco firm, Fuseproject, is better known for technology-driven work. He was referring to a stool he recently designed for Zanat, a 105-year-old Bosnian woodworking company that has reinvented itself by collaborating with leading international designers. Orhan Niksic, Zanat's chief executive, had known and admired Mr. Béhar's work but only recently met him through the designer's wife, Sabrina Buell, an art consultant Mr. Niksic knew from their college days at Stanford University. 'It did not worry me that Yves has not designed much wooden furniture,' Mr. Niksic wrote in an email. 'What mattered was that we had a shared design vision and values.' The stool started as a bench, changing in scale and shape as Mr. Béhar's and Zanat's artisans worked together. Its round legs split and bend into arches supporting a solid wood seat. 'When you look at it from the top, it feels like a continuous pattern of curved, structural bentwood pieces like a cloverleaf,' Mr. Niksic said. Named Rye, the stool is available in both counter and bar heights in a variety of woods. It is on view at the Salone del Mobile, Hall 22, stand A11; — ARLENE HIRST An Evolution of Sitting in Comfort When B&B Italia introduced its Tufty-Time sofa in 2005, the Patricia Urquiola design was meant to court a younger audience with a modern silhouette. The piece was inspired by Mario Bellini's Camaleonda sofa, which had been out of production for more than 25 years, and featured similar, albeit less voluptuous, square tufts. Tufty-Time has been a best seller ever since. This year, a fourth iteration, called Tufty-Time 20, will be introduced in honor of the sofa's 20th anniversary. Previous versions, which appeared in 2011 and 2015, are still in production. Demetrio Apolloni, B&B Italia Group's chief executive, was with the company when Tufty-Time made its original entrance. Last year, after stints at Vitra, Cassina and Knoll, he returned. It was his idea to approach Ms. Urquiola about an update. (He recalled that she joked that as she was now in her 60s, it would be nice to have a version with a higher seat, making it easier to rise.) Tufty-Time 20 in fact has a seat that is two centimeters (0.8 inches) loftier than previous models. The fatter cushions are a sandwich of polyurethane foam, recycled polyester batting and fabric. The sofa can be fully disassembled, meaning each component and material has the possibility of a second, post-Tufty-Time life. The modular group also includes a new, curved section that the company is betting will be popular with hotel designers. 'It's like sitting at a circular table versus a rectangular one,' Mr. Apolloni said. 'Everybody can see each other and have a conversation. It's more social.' Tufty-Time 20 will be displayed with other B&B Italia designs from Tuesday through Sunday at the company's showroom at 14 Via Durini; — RIMA SUQI Furniture Born of a Work of Fiction Felix Godard, the French designer who has created interiors for electric vehicles at Tesla and Porsche, pushes himself to imagine designs that could exist only far in the future. 'After I reach the impossible idea, then I turn into an industrial designer who is trying to bring this idea back to life,' he said. His first home furnishings for a collection called Psukhe, which will debut at the LABÒ Cultural Project, were initially born of a work of fiction — part art book and part sci-fi novel — called 'Psukhetele' that Mr. Godard has been working on since 2008. The book was initially created to inspire a movie or a video game. But after working to design and develop concept cars, Mr. Godard realized he had the expertise to bring some of his futuristic conceptions into reality. 'In this world, I imagine a lot of things,' he said of the book, 'but furniture felt like the most natural thing to apply from my experience.' The armchairs, which will be presented in a deep gray-blue as well as a white with hints of lavender, evoke the sleek trains and cars Mr. Godard is known for. They also share elements of Scandinavian design, which he described as 'serene.' Clever engineering was used to balance the weight distribution, giving the seats the surreal effect that they're balancing on their armrests. 'When you see the chair,' Mr. Godard said, 'you feel like it's almost flying.' The exhibition is open Monday through Friday at 6 Via Biella; — LAUREN MESSMAN
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Edge Fest moves indoors this April, piloting program with crowd favorite Raffoul brothers
CHEYENNE — After 10 years of free concerts, Dave Teubner, Edge Fest founder and owner of Warehouse 21, announced last March that the summer of 2024 would be the final year for the annual event in Civic Commons Park. This decision was made due to it being 'too expensive to maintain' and taking up 'too much time and too many resources' from the community and local businesses who were helping raise the money, he said. 'As it grew, the burden got larger, and that's why we sunsetted it,' Teubner told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Warehouse 21 would raise more than $150,000 in cash for staging, lighting, sound and paying the artists. This amount doesn't include the money they needed for the food and drink carts at the event as well as paying for the Warehouse's labor. On Tuesday, Edge Fest announced that they're going back to their roots from before they moved the festival outdoors, and piloting a ticketed event called Edge Fest Indoors, starting with 'A Night with the Raffouls' on April 10 at The Lincoln. The Raffoul brothers, Billy and Peter, have played at Edge Fest in 2019 and 2024, respectively. Both of them will perform 45-minute sets and then an encore with five songs together. Teubner told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle how he and the team at Warehouse 21 have been exploring the idea of moving Edge Fest indoors for over a year and 'kind of crashed into' the event coming in April. He saw that the Raffoul brothers were playing together, knew they were crowd favorites in the capital city, and reached out to them to see if they would play in Cheyenne. Once they secured the Raffouls, Teubner reached out to The Lincoln, and Edge Fest Indoors was underway. 'We knew we wanted to continue exploring and finding ways to contribute to the arts and music scene, so our thought was to try and partner with The Lincoln and do a test-run to see if we can cover our expenses from a ticketed show and see if it's feasible,' said Teubner. 'Part of the experience for us wasn't just the music, but a digital art form (with) the lights and the digital experience, so we're passionate about that.' If the pilot with the Raffoul Brothers is well received, Teubner said that they may make Edge Fest Indoors a once or twice a year event, whether they bring back more Edge Fest crowd favorites or new artists. Teubner also told the WTE that Edge Fest Indoors will likely follow suit with how their brand was 'set' when it comes to the different vibe, bands and types of music they were chasing when thinking of acts to bring to the outdoor event. He explained that they were always trying to fit a niche that Cheyenne didn't have before, and will continue to do so if the event continues. A post on the Edge Fest Instagram account said that whatever money they have left after expenses for Edge Fest Indoors will go to supporting local artists and the arts scene through the Big 8 Foundation, the nonprofit organization that started Edge Fest in 2014. Some things that Warehouse 21 and the Edge Fest team will be exploring are music scholarships for the youth, studio time for artists, future shows to feed the fund, photography projects, donations back to music and arts organizations and infrastructure projects that support downtown. They're calling it 'concerts with a purpose.' 'Giving money versus asking for money is of interest to us,' said Teubner. 'I think our fans are so great, we're just really grateful for the people that have donated, volunteered and showed up for Edge Fest. … It's a ticketed show, but it goes back to other good things and we're grateful for the support.'
The National
17-02-2025
- Business
- The National
Shadi's take on the presence of the Israeli military in Lebanon
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Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners Director: Tom Tykwer Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger Rating: 3/5 %3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKinetic%207%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rick%20Parish%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Clean%20cooking%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self-funded%3C%2Fp%3E%0A AI and humans will co-exist, not compete The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study. "In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay." Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family. "For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that's not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it's a cultural thing," he said. 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Based: Riyadh Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany Founded: September, 2020 Number of employees: 70 Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds Investors: Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices Director: Matty Brown Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea Rating: 2.5/5 2017: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-1 2016: Cleveland bt Golden State 4-3 2015: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-2 2014: San Antonio bt Miami 4-1 2013: Miami bt San Antonio 4-3 2012: Miami bt Oklahoma City 4-1 2011: Dallas bt Miami 4-2 2010: Los Angeles Lakers bt Boston 4-3 2009: Los Angeles Lakers bt Orlando 4-1 2008: Boston bt Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 %3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A Director: Kangana Ranaut Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry Rating: 2/5 %3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PlanRadar%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2013%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EIbrahim%20Imam%2C%20Sander%20van%20de%20Rijdt%2C%20Constantin%20K%C3%B6ck%2C%20Clemens%20Hammerl%2C%20Domagoj%20Dolinsek%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVienna%2C%20Austria%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EConstruction%20and%20real%20estate%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E400%2B%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20B%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Headline%2C%20Berliner%20Volksbank%20Ventures%2C%20aws%20Gr%C3%BCnderfonds%2C%20Cavalry%20Ventures%2C%20Proptech1%2C%20Russmedia%2C%20GR%20Capital%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
