A Mid Century Time Capsule

This weekend we attended a cocktail party at the home of a friends friend in the Hollywood Hills. The house is a gem, complete with its original furnishings, and a breathtaking view.

Living Room with updated media center and the never outdated built in bar..

The powder rooms infinity mirror

A bowl of photos

Separate from the main bar was the Absinthe bar

and Michael, taking it all in.

Featured Items of the Week

Despite the chaos we have some great new items in our inventory. Of note, a vintage Bertoia "Bird Chair" and Ottoman priced over 35% less than a comparable one currently on 1stdibs!

Renovation Update

We will continue to open while under construction and are making lots of progress......


We are also making a mess!

Our New Mascot: Milo!

We've added a new employee to the payroll! Milo is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and he's already eager to get to work. Chewing things........

Do You Love Pattern?

Modern, contemporary and austere. All these adjectives have significant and important differences. I think this pattern from super cool site COLOURlovers is modern and contemporary but not austere.

7920

Behold! The new space we have leased adjacent to our main showroom on Beverly Blvd. Stay tuned for its makeover as well as updates about our grand opening this summer. The store will now offer more custom Empiric furnishings and prints as well as our much sought after vintage and industrial pieces.

Eisler & Hauner

I am still discovering old designers that inspire me that I have never heard of before like these guys Eisler and Hauner who worked together to make the chairs shown in the pic below for Forma. To me it shows a beautiful balance between efficient use of material and the beauty of form. And I love the contrast of warm rich organic wood and cold rigid steel.

Picture from MetHome.

New Items This Week

We also have added some great accessories over the past two weeks......





more smalls here.

Comparative Shopping - Maple Arm Chair

Maple Arm Chair by Paul McCobb for Planner Group


Apsara Price: $1100
Empiric Price: $475

The Science of Product Design

Rarely applied to items for which sales are driven by fashion and fickle trends, there are many rigorous methods that have been developed to make products better. Better is usually wisely defined by customer satisfaction over the entire life of the product.

In my early years as a design engineer, the American manufacturers were just learning, or re-learning about Statistical Process Control, "six Sigmas", Concurrent Engineering and Value Engineering. We were desperately trying to catch up with the quality of our Japanese and German counterparts. Harley Davidson began applying modern principals like Just-In-Time manufacturing and the quality and reliability of the American classic began to rise from dismal levels.

Later while working for a division of Sony Electronics, I learned about a product design method called Quality Function Deployment. It includes a rigorous vetting and evaluation of all of a products characteristics from the point of view of the customer as well as the organization making the product. One tool in the process is something called the House of Quality.
It requires more patience than most people have but it is really effective and one of the reasons you don't see a lot of Toyota's on the side of the road. I mean really.....sometimes I think I could design the whole product before I finished building the House of Quality.

At Empiric when we say,

[that we] "...apply analytical and rational values to the often elusive, vague and ambiguous world of furniture. Determining the merit of a particular piece of furniture would focus on observable qualities like materials, construction quality, functionality, condition and value. Fashion and feng shui would take a back seat."

this formal application of design methodology is an example of what we are talking about.

New Custom Colors

For a new era....

Empiric Magazine Rack in Trailing Vine DE5541

Vintage Stool with Aged Eucalyptus Base

More products from this color palette to come.

Jacques Adnet

Jacques Adnet (1900-1984) was a French art deco modernist designer, architect and interior designer. He is known for his furniture designs in leather. (from Wikipidia) Jacques pieces have become increasingly collectible lately as people realize both the lasting beauty and the importance of his contributions to the modern design movement. You can see his influence in our line of furniture as we share his fondness with the juxtaposition of warm organic materials like like leather against cooler, more industrial steel.

This chair was in the inventory of ModernOne, one block down from us. Ben has the eye of a passionate collector and seasoned curator.

He designed for Hermes and, in my opinion, helped define what makes them great.

I dare you!

To find a better modern railing that complies with California building code. This house is featured in the April '09 issue of Luxe magazine. Modernism is alive and I will install a railing like this before I die......even if I have to do it on a doll house for a little girl named Dahlia.

New Oversize Prints!

Sometimes bigger is better. In the past we were restricted to printing only 34" x 46" prints but we now have the capability to make and mount prints up to 60" x 100". The giant sepia-toned 1929 image of Los Angeles City Hall is printed with UV stable pigmented inks, mounted, laminated and sells as shown for only $875. You can also get any of our other images printed large like this.

Frank Lloyd Wright

No true modernist can get through the day without being influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright. And can that man make a drawing......



I don't care what the floor plan looks like, Ill live in anything that he designed. In my mind, this is one of the most compelling reasons to visit Chicago and the surrounding areas.

One of my favorite quotes of his (and don't get me wrong, I respect Dorthy Draper and really like her work) is when he called Ms. Draper an "inferior desecrator". Maybe I'm reading into it but it seems to me like FLR had a little ego, was perhaps a little bit of a professional misogynist or maybe just a stubborn designer who felt he knew what was best for everyone. It just sums up all the "glamour" of the design world doesn't it?

I heart 3D Modeling of furniture

dff

Good CAD software has always been something I have sacrificed when I gave up my PC to become an all Apple household in 1996. It's been a long wait but I don't feel I'm making a sacrifice any more. Google acquired a company called @last software and has continued to improve the sketch-up modeling software. This software removes so many tedious communication barriers with clients and manufacturers that I cant say enough good things about it. And if you want, you can even model your own house and upload it to Google Earth.

Robsjohn-Gibbings Walnut Slipper Chairs

This man is the master of taking everything good about the past and making it even better. Seriously, a moment of silence for our favorite English designer. Deco on its way to austere modernism.....thanks dude with three last names.

Canyon House

Italian dining chairs from Empiric as seen in Angeleno Interiors and coffee table book High Style.

Captain's Mirror

The iconic captain's mirrors designed by Jacques Adnet for Hermes have regained popularity and can be found on sites such as 1st dibs (Adnet above for $3200), high end retailer BDDW (their design below for @ $1500),


and now at Empiric for a fraction of the price.

Round leather mirror with adjustable 3"W strap

16"D $325. & 26"D $575.

more info here

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