Singgih Kartono Mango Radio

This way cool radio is the perfect gift for Misterarthur. It’s cool looking. No one else has one (yet). It’s made of wood. Best of all, it will pick up weird radio stations from around the world.

Designer, Singgih Kartono, kept eco-ethics in mind when creating this series. The radio is manufactured in Indonesia (thus helping employ local workers), from sustainably grown woods. The radios are mp3 compatible, and contain an AM/FM and shortwave radio. They’re a bit pricey – starting at $200. But Arthur’s worth every penny. You can find these at Design Public.

Chair of the Day: from IKEA Hacker

Here’s a fantastic IKEA hack to inspire you. It’s an IKEA Terje chair refitted with hockey sticks. I notice, however, that they left out the Red Wings. Oh well, it’s pretty cool anyway. I found this over on IKEAHacker – a very fun site.

Men in the Kitchen

It seems that Misterarthur left a week early. Porche and Poggenpohl have teamed up to create a Man Kitchen. Poggenpohl says, “Our kitchen P’7340, is a minimalist tribute to the increasing number of men showing an interest in kitchen and cuisine.” The new kitchen will release this Summer, 2008.

“Our co-operation with Porsche Design enabled us to design a kitchen whose sleek and functional design language specifically addresses male customers,” says Elmar Duffner, managing director of Poggenpohl. Anyone named Elmar must know what he’s talking about. The kitchens come complete with Meile appliances (good for heating things up I guess) and, of course, a state of the art audio/visual system . Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?

If most men were decorators (Part Three) by Misterarthur

Please don’t get me wrong. Most of the best furniture designers in history were men: Mies, Noguchi, 1/2 of the Eames, Corbusier. But that doesn’t let us off the hook. Men are also responsible for some exceedingly odd, though enduring, designs, too. Case in point: The classic “Let’s saw a couple of logs into pieces, and voila, furniture”.

That bench will last forever. Who cares if it weighs 700 lbs? That’s why they make pickup trucks, dang it. Durabililty is important for men and design, I think. Men would be delighted to have this as a cocktail table, for example.

And why not? You can’t break it, and you could probably use it to move engine blocks around your (no doubt beautiful) garage, should that become necessary.

If most men were decorators, (Part Two) by Misterarthur

I have found (through completely anecdotal evidence) that with almost every hetero couple, the woman takes on the responsibility for decorating the house. (Please don’t call painting the walls the color your wife chose “decorating”) Slowly, the man’s stamp of decor is reduced to one or possibly two “rooms”. The basement. And the garage. There you can see the man’s full decorating ability come to the fore. Here are some visual stimuli if you’re having trouble imagining what might happen with a man as decorator.

First, the basement. Please note the wall color. As I predicted yesterday, it’s white. I think this design is called modern hurricane.

Next, the only other room open to a man’s personal touch, the garage. I found this photo online, and I’m using it for illustrative purposes because the owner of this garage wrote: “I’m quite proud of it.” I think that’s because the owner can see the floor. I like the “wall treatment”.