tobias wong

Design World Mourns The Too-Brief Life of Tobias Wong

The design world lost one of its brightest young stars recently. Tobias Wong was just 35 and had been turning out pieces that combined art, design and a dose of irreverant wit for years. As the NY Times reported in a comprehensive obituary, Wong first got attention after turning a Philippe Starck Bubble Club chair into a lamp. A lot of his best pieces were riffs on other designers' work or taking an existing concept and tweaking it in his own unique way. He created an engagement ring with the diamond turned so it was more of a weapon than a piece for admiration, a usually fragile crystal chandelier took on a new resilience after being dipped in rubber and the concept of remote-controlled lighting got an elegant lift with his vitrine-encased light switch. He took particular aim at our concepts of luxury with pieces like a gold-plated McDonalds coffee stirrer, a stack of $1 bills bound together like a notepad and capsules filled with edible gold leaf. Wong's death has been ruled a suicide. Many design blogs including Core 77 have written tributes to his one-of-a-kind talent.

Tags: design, designer, tobias wong

Limited Edition On/Off Light Switch For Gadgets

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Gadgets

It's cool to spend lots of money on fancy electronic gadgets but it's totally not cool to spend several minutes fishing around for a remote control to (gasp) actually have to get up off the couch in order to turn them on manually. Of course The Clapper could do the trick but who needs such a startling way to adjust the mood when you could have this gold (that's one of the last places you thought you'd see bling, isn't it?) electricity switch by Tobias Wong. Put it wherever you want (it works wirelessly) and you'll be having lights, music, and whatever else whenever and where ever you want -- no fumbling required. $150

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Tags: gadget, gadgets, gold, gold-plated, switch, tobias wong, TobiasWong, wong

Rubber Chandelier by Tobias Wong

by Star Sutherland (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Art

I'm not sure if this Rubber Chandelier sets out to solve a problem (eliminating the breakability factor) or just strives to be unique and kooky. Either way, if you want a showstopping conversation piece for your home, voila! Designer Tobias Wong adds his personal flare to the age-old chandelier by encapsulating each crystal in an thick coat of industrial grade white rubber. My theory is why mess with perfection...and to me, chandeliers are pretty perfect, but I must admit this thing is kind of cool. I'm dying to know if it bounces. Rubber chandeliers don't come cheap, this quirky collectible will cost you $4,499!

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Tags: chandeliers, decor, lighting, rubber chandelier, RubberChandelier, tobias wong, TobiasWong

Golden Pills

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Gold is a beautiful thing, so when we think of things that we'd like to do with it, ingesting it is not at the top of our list. Granted, a little bit of gold leaf on a chocolate cake makes a great presentation, but would you really want to eat golden pills? Designer Tobias Wong specializes in turning everyday objects into objects of desire for the man (or woman) "who has absolutely everything" and these pills fit the bill nicely. The little capsules are filled with 24K gold leaf and dipped in gold. While 24K gold is safe to eat, at least in very small quantities, we're not sure that this is such a good idea. Price: $275.