» ducduc in the press 2011

ducduc in the press 2011

January 23rd, 2012 § 0 comments

ALEX LOFT BED | ALEX DESK | AUSTIN CHAIR

The New York Times 2011-12-14

JASON MILLER, the industrial designer who is chief executive and creative director of the lighting company Roll & Hill, believes that when designers become parents, one of two things happens. “Some people make things for their child,” he said. “And everything becomes a kid’s something. Others rebel and say, ‘I’ll never do a kid’s bed, I’ll never do a toy.’ ” Which camp does he fall into? “I think I probably fall closer to the ‘I’ll never do that’ category,” said Mr. Miller, 40, who has a 17-month-old daughter named Tuesday. She still sleeps in a crib, but her father predicts she will need a real bed in the next year or so, and is already exploring the options. When it comes to children’s beds, Mr. Miller’s taste is wide-ranging, from what he calls “uppity modern design” to “pink princess.” But he is less concerned with the bed itself than with the environment he will be creating for his daughter. Lately he has been thinking about “what I’d envision her room looking like, and how that would affect her,” he said. “Would it be fun for her, or boring for her? Or would she get sick of it in a month?” Tuesday seemed to enjoy the environment at Ducduc, in SoHo, where she spent some time running around before gravitating to a four-poster bed with a hot pink canopy. Her father preferred the Alex bunk system, which combines a platform bed and a loft bed. “There is a whole lot of plywood furniture out there,” he said. “But I think Ducduc is the best of that genre. The architecture of the products and colors they use gets it away from that cut-up plywood feel that, frankly, feels very student-project to me.” In the “designer beds” category, Mr. Miller liked the Junior Bed by Piet Hein Eek. “It’s a good way to give a child something a little different that’s not ridiculously expensive,” he said. He also liked the Camillo bed by Achille Castiglioni for Gavina, though he admitted: “This isn’t something I’d really want for my child. But if you want to spend a ton of money on your kid, and have a more formal, grown-up bedroom, it’s a very good bed.” Many of the beds Mr. Miller favored were of the low-to-the-ground, modernist variety. “There’s something about that vibe I like for a kid’s room,” he said. Like the Dodu, by Blu Dot: “Having an upholstered structure, as opposed to a wooden or metal one, is nice,” he said. “I can imagine climbing or crawling all over it. It feels friendly.” He felt the same way about the Daybed by Rachel Whiteread, at Artware Editions. It wasn’t the most practical bed, he noted, but it had other advantages. “If you want to expose your kid to something different than regular furniture, I think this is a great way to go,” he said. “I think it would be great to put a sleeping bag on top of it and not put any sheets on it. Although that won’t really work if they’re wetting the bed.” – The NY Times