| EVENT REPORT 03.21.06 12:00 AM |
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| Diffa Showcases New Design Ideas in New Venue |
| This year's inspiring Dining by Design benefit filled the Waterfront with additional tables and stunning designs. |
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| Professionals from the worlds of interior design, architecture, fashion, and home furnishings gathered for the annual Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS' Dining by Design benefit this year at a different venue that provided more room—and an interesting way of viewing the fantastic creations. The designer showcase moved from the Hammerstein Ballroom to the Waterfront, a block-long warehouse space in west Chelsea. David Sheppard, Diffa's executive director, called the new venue "a loftlike, blank canvas," and its long corridor made it possible for a single, organized avenue of 69 tables inside 11- by 11-foot dining spaces. |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | | The Savannah College of Art and Design's senior vice president of college resources, Glenn Wallace, designed a white carriage—emblematic of Savannah—modified as a dining banquette. Parked on chalkboard tiles embellished with drawings of the city by SCAD students, the carriage sat in front of an illuminated wall that depicted Savannah's Forsyth Park. |
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 | | Todd Merrill showcased the modern antiques sold in his downtown shop with a lush, over-the-top setting with mid- and late-70's furnishings. To fit with one of the dinner's sponsors, French vodka Jean-Marc XO, Merrill chose all European pieces, including a French Lucite table with a fishbowl in the center. The Toso chandelier had 750 glass links that had to be individually wrapped and linked before the event. |
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 | | Designer and artist John Findysz of Fin Design took an autobiographical approach, incorporating personal references as well as work he shows at galleries, including an assortment of iconic modern chairs with collages of images from vintage fashion magazines, 70's Playgirl issues, men's fitness manuals, and Abercrombie & Fitch ads. On a table strewn with old snapshots, magazines, and books, Findysz filled a glass with screws, a reference to his late father, who owned a hardware store. |
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 | | The clean, simple table from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's Ted Allen and his partner, interior designer Barry Rice, was a pleasant break from the event's fussier looks. The space's centerpiece was 451 red tulips from Holland, each set in a hole drilled into a square Lucite box, topped by a large lampshade four feet in diameter and printed with six photographs by photographers Masood Kamandy and Peter Ross that merged into a continuous image. |
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The long hallway setup made for more orderly viewing and allowed most of the designers to build rooms around their tables. Perhaps for that reason most of the designs felt more like dining rooms than event tables. (The prevalence of interior designers over event designers probably influenced this, too.) But with so many creative minds working so hard to show off there were plenty of design ideas for other events.
The most noticeable trend this year was the use of black and white, in everything from table and chair linens, stemware, fabrics, feathers, and floor coverings. Philip Gorrivan had an elegant space that mixed elements of various eras with fabric that he designed for Quadrille Fabrics & Wallpapers—in a pattern reminiscent of 18th-century, Moorish fretwork—draping the space. A 1970's chandelier echoed the pattern and had black-and-white plumage on top—a historical reference to the Prince of Wales and the royal connection to the extravagant pavilion in Brighton, England, which inspired his overall design. Michael Tavano's table for F. Schumacher and Company not only made use of the company's line of black-and-white fabrics, but also featured a white gravel floor that tied in to the garden feel of his dining area.
Unique floor treatments were all over the place—from Tavano's gravel to the wooden planks, sea grass carpets, and sand that embellished Nautica's beachy dining room. The sparkling white setting that Gabellini Sheppard Associates created for Swarovski and B&B Italia featured shimmering silver carpet, and Ted Allen and Barry Rice's setting had a floor covering made of moss. The Savannah College of Art and Design's (SCAD) beautiful white carriage was not only one of the most memorable tables (the carriage had been cleverly modified into a dining banquette), but it too had unique flooring; it sat upon chalkboard tiles with drawings of the Southern city done by SCAD students.
References to nature were everywhere—particularly in the use of branches, which showed up as stacked driftwood lamps at Artistic Tile's table (the company's dining room also had suspended displays of branches over tables), and in rows of birches along the walls of Vicente Wolf's wintry, white setting. Branches loosely covered the enclosed Baker Furniture dining lounge and had origami cranes hanging from them. More birds popped up in patterns and references on chair seats and napkins (Scrapile for Designtex and Terratex), vintage glassware (John Derian), and gilded nests prominently featured on the Profiles for Christofle table. Other elements of nature included the large fish tank built into the back wall of Eric Cohler's design and the live fish that swam in Todd Merrill's Lucite table.
Asian influences also abounded. A trip to Thailand inspired interior designer Jamie Drake's table for Bergamo Fabrics, utilizing the company's rich patterns to execute a look that included golden references to Thai temples. Elle Decor editor in chief Margaret Russell put a brightly colored spin on oft-used Asian accents like vases and paper lanterns at the tables hosted by the magazine, one of the evening's main sponsors, along with GE.
In addition to the new venue, this year's three-day event also added a cocktail party on Saturday night during the weekend that the exhibit was open to the public before Monday night's gala dinner. This gave Diffa the chance to raise additional funds (all in all the organization raised $500,000) and gave eventgoers a cheaper option to the gala dinner. "People loved it and danced all night," Sheppard said. "I had to turn off the music. I think the venue and the whole atmosphere contributed to the fun." Lady Bunny was the DJ on both nights, and Creative Edge Parties catered each event. Monday's dinner for 700 guests featured 20-spice duck breast, grape and zinfandel sauce, and toasted walnut spaetzle served with roasted vegetables.
—Chad Kaydo, Mark Mavrigian & Anna Sekula
Posted 03.21.06
Photos: Jeff Thomas/Image Capture
More From Diffa's Dining by Design Event
Diffa Showcases New Ideas (Part Two)
Diffa Showcases New Ideas (Part Three)
Diffa Decor Trend: Black-and-White Tables
Diffa Decor Trend: Ethnic Influences
Diffa Decor Trend: Wooden Branches
Diffa's Tabletop Ideas
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Diffa Shows the Next Decor Trends
Diffa's Dazzling Table Designs
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