soft maps

about Soft-Maps:

Soft-Maps are quilted maps of cities and neighborhoods that represent someone's unique place in the world. As a keepsake, a Soft-Map serves as an intimate reminder of home: where you’re from and where you belong. In a world that is increasingly digitized and remote, a quilted Soft-Map provides an expressive way to reconnect with your surroundings.

Soft-Maps are the 2x winner of the 2009 Apartment Therapy Design Showcase and have been featured in Coolhunting, PSFK, Brooklyn Based, L.A. Times and the Cooper Hewitt's 2009 Reader's Choice National Design Awards.

Haptic Lab offers three different types of Soft-Maps, all available at spring

readymade Soft-Maps (or made-to-order quilts of select cities) are produced locally using a novel combination of machine and hand-stitching methods. Each readymade quilt is produced in collaboration with master quilter Ruth Miner of Stamford, Connecticut. Ruth has 40+ years of quilting experience and her painstaking attention to detail makes every quilt truly special. Readymade Soft-Maps are made with 100% cotton and can be machine-washed for everyday use.

custom Soft-Maps can be commissioned for any place on earth, at any scale: the small town you grew up in, the city or country you're lonely for, or the college campus where you met your mate. These functional art pieces make unforgettable wedding and anniversary gifts and are heirlooms meant to last for generations. Each custom quilt is crafted entirely by hand in Brooklyn and takes 200+ hours to complete. Lead times for custom orders run between six and twelve weeks.

baby Soft-Maps are custom printed, hand-knotted baby quilts made of natural cotton- now available as maps of 20+ cities in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe! City landmarks unique to each place are stitched with brightly-colored contrasting thread. Additionally, each baby quilt can be customized with the child's name and birthdate, along with three different locations.

New York Times 06.17.10

Steve's 'dismembered flatware' was one of Ron Gilad's picks for the shopping with Ron Gilad piece in the New York Times today.

"Ron Gilad, the Israeli product designer, based in Brooklyn, buys locally whenever possible - even when it comes to furniture and home accessories. On a recent shopping trip, he found a number of pieces made by New York designers and companies that suited his taste for pared-down but playful products." - New York Times

UPCOMING EVENT

spring has been invited to participate in Makers Market at Socrates Sculpture Park - now in it's second year

Conceived as a forum for artists and fabricators who create small run and hand made functional objects, Makers Market will be an open air marketplace featuring a curated selection of skillfully crafted products presented in a series of large tents within the Park's spring exhibition.

With a focus on design excellence, technical expertise, and quality of materials, Makers Market has been organized as a partnership between Socrates Sculpture Park, American Craft Magazine, The Noguchi Museum and R20th Century and will include approximately 30 makers selling a broad selection of products including textiles, ceramics, turned wood bowls, glassware, bicycles, jewelry, furniture, motorcycles, accessories and many unique items.

NEW SHOW

busy with design week in NYC, ICFF at the Javits Center for the last week, spring gets colorful with the new show coloring featuring work by Nina Bovasso, Charles Lahti, Peter Cole among others

JGT

nice to see long time friend Jim Thirlwell visiting spring - with orange crush T shirt and super scoop suitcase I couldn't resist a photo against the new 'Albers' wall. Check out his excellent new release Manorexia and upcoming performance of steroid maximus in Prospect Park on June 18th

Don Ervin

We were saddened to hear that Don Ervin died on March 10th resulting from a car accident. We were introduced to Don and his wife Wilma's world through a good friend Gretchen, their daughter. Even before we opened spring, we knew that we wanted to show his amazing cars made from household parts and we were happy to be able to present them in FASTFORWARD in 2005. These pieces reflect Don's character in their inventiveness, skill and sense of humor.

Working with George Nelson and referred to as a design god by his peers but always modest about his past, his skills lay in design - from creating the titles to 'The Misfits' to logos that included UA and 3M among many others. article by Steven Heller for more

The New Yorker magazine 3.8.10

we always like it when Patricia Marx pays us a visit - this time she fell for tamsin's serenely beautiful bone china light shades from our WHITEOUT show - The artful objects at spring always tempt me. This time, I desired a lantern made out of crumpled bone china" - $200BOROUGH HAUL - are you hip enough to shop in Brooklyn? Patricia Marx - The New Yorker