Ghost Limbs collection by 8888 studio - Courtesy of Wanted Design Manhattan 2023.d

Ghost Limbs collection by 8888 studio – Courtesy of Wanted Design Manhattan 2023.

Design – During NYCxDESIGN, New York City’s annual design celebration, we explored Design Wanted Manhattan 2023, a ‘show within the show’ dedicated to high-end North American studios and emerging international designers. We selected seven pieces of furniture and lighting designs on display.

Will Choui - Courtesy of Design Wanted Manhattan 2023.

Will Choui.

Will Choui is fond of geometry. Having trained at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), the New York-based designer bends sheet materials into skeletal, unconventional forms, which he explains as “doing what they have to do and nothing else”.

Founded by Jean-Michel Gadoua, Montreal-based 8888 studio self-defines as an antidote to industrial and impersonal manufacturing. In New York City, they present the Ghost Limbs collection, named after a medical condition where a patient can feel pain where an amputated limb once was. Influenced by the Brutalist movement and emphasising the expressiveness of raw materials, Gadoua’s seven new pieces are minimalist, monolithic and dark. “Furniture for the living and dead, visible and invisible, vessels for the afterlife.”

Nice Condo - Courtesy of Design Wanted Manhattan 2023.

Nice Condo.

Led by designer Chris Held, Brooklyn-based studio Nice Condo playfully combines minimalistic furniture, geometric forms, and common materials. In New York, they present the Jackson Highboy cabinet inspired by the Art Deco and Memphis design movements. Crafted with a practical blend of veneered ply and solid White Oak, it celebrates the arch form in monumental proportions.

David Weeks Studio - Courtesy of Design Wanted Manhattan 2023.

David Weeks Studio.

Brooklyn-based David Weeks studio is renowned for its large-scale sculptural lighting design. At Design Wanted Manhattan, they illuminated the lounge area. One-inch-thick, 80-lb welded slabs of mired plate steel powder-coated in golden yellow are pierced by a steel pole that extends upward with a five ft-long cylinder illuminated by a dimmable LED, creating a volume of light by towering over the space.

EPS Series by Madeline Isakson - Courtesy of Design wanted Manhattan 2023.

EPS Series by Madeline Isakson.

Detroit-based furniture maker and garbage enthusiast Madeline Isakson transforms found objects and materials through emerging and traditional fabrication techniques to explore our culture of consumerism. At Design Wanted Manhattan 2023, she presented the EPS Series of lamps made from aluminium and lamps part.

Hyphen Pendant lamp by D'armes - Courtesy of Design Wanted Manhattan 2023.

Hyphen Pendant lamp by D’armes.

Canadian studio D’Armes brought to New York the Hyphen lighting design collection that designates the union of two opposites in one: the warm, soft and sensitive porcelain and cold, strong, and brilliant steel. In the pendant version, two cylindrical bodies are joined by a pivot that offers several light positions and orientations, projecting a soft directional light. The collection is available in chromatic black cast steel, matte white porcelain, and sanded black cast steel.

New York City-based Bowen Liu Studio imbues the living environment with a sense of tranquillity, focusing on traditional techniques and modern production to create high-quality products. Drawing upon Liu’s many sailing journeys to Long Island, the designer’s 2023 Helle Collection includes living room pieces that reflect the view of the Hell Gate Bridge from New York’s East River.+

Helle Collection by Bowen Liu Studio - Courtesy of Design Wanted Manhattan 2023.

Helle Collection by Bowen Liu Studio.

All photos: courtesy of Design Wanted Manhattan 2023.