Tuesday, November 27, 2012

padded Neve dining chair by Piero Lissoni for Porro
 In stock at Graye in black.






Contact the showroom for information.


Saturday, September 22, 2012

A TV GOES THERE

-- A TV goes there --
A/V system designs by Porro



The TV monitor evolution brings welcome change to home design.

 
The scale of the television up until the 90’s prohibited integration into most cabinetry systems, even into a wardrobe, usually requiring a special depth unit. Personally, I could not be happier that those days are long past being someone who has designed client storage solutions for the last 2 decades. Additionally having a cabinetry partner on the caliber of Porro completes the package of being able to design to meet the lofty dreams of any client.

At the helm for both design and engineering, architect Piero Lissoni and his firm design solutions to the newest challenges of the day. No gimmicks here, just clean, simple, intelligent solutions to make life easier, not more complicated.

A quote from Lissoni describing his process I think applies to his work at Porro: “The works are primarily about creating a visual silence, concentration on proportion and detail rather than a specific form. Lines and planes are carefully resolved into volumes, which in turn creates a visual harmony. “

If you prefer to hide your components or display them proudly,
Porro offers a solution to fit any need.
TV behind a sliding door or placed prominently on a special surface, ancillary components behind leaf/flap door, housed inside a special cabinet outfitted with signal repeaters to allow function even with the doors closed.

Whether you are looking for a grand statement, or a simple gesture Porro has done the study, engineering and hand fabrication to bring satisfaction to any A/V enthusiast. Proprietary materials, hardware, finishes and mechanisms ensure a Porro system will last the test of time, not only with its design, but its lifetime of usefulness.


Below are various examples from Porro of systems to house audio/video. Please enjoy and send a comment if you like.



MODERN boiserie system




LOAD-IT / MODERN systems integrated



MODERN SYSTEM


MODERN SYSTEM


FLAG UNIT 2012


FLAG UNIT 2012


FLAG UNIT 2012
MODERN SYSTEM + PANCA

MODERN SYSTEM + SLIDE +SIDEWALL


SYSTEM + SLIDE + AV_BRIDGE


SYSTEM + HEMLOCK SLIDE + LIBRARY


Graye in Los Angeles is the exclusive dealer for Porro in Southern California and works with not only architects and designers but end users. So if an AV project is in your future stop by with your architect, designer, AV consultant, or if you are working on your own, Graye has specification experts on staff to assist.

 

Monday, July 16, 2012

NEW LIGHTING COLLECTION AT GRAYE

Scheduled to be here in a few weeks, Graye is pleased to present
Prandina lighting from Italy. With a general focus on modern blown glass
with a simple elegant feel, generous proportions and weighty
designs all speaking to the quality of the hand production.
Recently they have added a few outdoor lights that are particularly
impressive, namely the equilibre tall floor lamp and room light/seat seen below.



Prandina designs are rarely complicated, but simply rely on time tested modern
form with at times a flourish of color or irregular form. All in all the fine
quality of the line is what impressed us here at Graye and hope you
enjoy this selection.


Gong pendant in blown glass


Tiara pendant in layered blown glass



 
ABC floor lamp in blown glass with hand etched pattern



Bloom pendant in copper and black blown glass




Bloom pendant in white blown glass




Platone sconce



Room floor lamp




Labelle pendant in colored thermoformed PMMA








Saturday, June 30, 2012

Porro has finalized the wood selection available on the new
version of BALANCING BOXES by Front!
RED GUM

SANTOS



TINEO

Previously only available in black or white welded plate steel, Porro is now
offering these handmade tables in wood for a limited time. Not pictured
is the new wood for all Porro systems, smoked eucalyptus.
For further information please inquire at Graye

Saturday, May 12, 2012

ROD seating series from Living Divani


Essential beauty
ROD
Piero lissoni 2012 for Living Divani



The news from the Milan furniture fair never fails to excite, some years more so than others. 2012
may have had less flash but the offerings from GRAYE makers still rose to the occasion
and exhibited sophisticated objects of clean modern form. The concepts of subtle detail, precise
and delicate engineering were prominent both at Living Divani and Porro. Being very much
into the technical area of design myself, I never mind when a new collection holds mostly
technical improvements and upgrades to existing product. New woods, new lighting
and sensors in cabinetry, updated and improved lacquer techniques and innovations in
upholstery frame construction shown here with the newly released ROD sofa.



In my last posting I featured a new cabinet from Piero lissoni for Porro which shares some
traits with the ROD sofa also by Lissoni. Both perched, almost stilted, clean
simple structures with some heft atop misleadingly delicate legs. Using the strength
of steel for their framing, the Tiller cabinet leaving this structure somewhat visible while the ROD
sofa buries its steel into the frame, hidden from view. This inner frame of tube, bar and
 drawn steel provides the perfect opportunity to push past other steel framed sofas.
Allowing the supporting body to be minimized in thickness and mass, giving up the invitation
of supreme comfort to the cushions, plush and supportive with a simple design detail.
A smart, fashionable seat tuft finished with a matching garment button.





Dealing with steel framed European upholstery for the last decade I often am surprised
with what this type of construction allows a sofa form to become. At times allowing the
designer to create avant-garde and sometimes outlandish forms, and at times as with ROD
to bring a form with an unreal lightness. A piece that for a split second makes you hesitate
to really drop down onto the seat for fear of hearing a crack or snap. The ROD stability calms
your nerves after first sit and with detail rich cushions of multiple foams and goosedown
 topping the sturdy frame eliminates any lingering skepticism.


An architect 'engineered' sofa is pretty hard to beat.

Available to order soon at GRAYE Los Angeles

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Porro news from Milan - TILLER

True to the spirit of Porro and Piero Lissoni, elegance, simplicity, skill and quality
are at the center of the stage this year in Milan.





Tiller, a completely new pair of cabinets was impressive, the ease and comfort of
it's form proved a perfect platform for a new wood for Porro. A deep smoky eucalyptus
shown here at the fair.



A clean, substantial carcass perched on 4 slim steel legs, vaguely concealing its clever supporting
structure which is left visible inside the cabinet. The structure being a robust steel frame and actually a continuation of the legs, which in addition to carrying the structure also holds the thick glass shelves and
houses the door hinges. Hinges at 180 so each door opens flat to the cabinet, within
the doors are hidden magnets keeping them closed or open.

Gorgeous.

Subtlety can speak volumes

If this smart structrual design is interesting, Lissoni has
developed several series to see at Porro.com.
Glass wardrobes 'storage air'
Glass libraries 'ex-libris'

Thursday, April 12, 2012

WHEN A WALL IS NOT A WALL


After over a decade of unrivaled success of WALL, a sofa seating series by Piero Lissoni, GRAYE is excited about some news coming from Milan this month. The EXTRASOFT sofas we have had on exhibition in our windows are just getting ready to head ‘out the door’ with a reengineered version for outdoor use! GRAYE has been so very happy with Los Angeles’ interest and desire for this model we represent and are looking forward to adding it to our growing offering of luxury outdoor furnishings.



As with the standard EXTRAWALL and EXTRASOFT modular series this new model will have the same grand scale and clever ability for all parts to be freely linked to configure and reconfigure without limitation. A key feature to its amazing success, being a top seller since its introduction as EXTRAWALL back in 2002.




Another piece of great news from Living Divani concerning the EXTRASOFT is the introduction of NEOWALL last year. This news for us at Graye is especially sweet, as the interest in our EXTRASOFT units on display had many left behind due to the extra-large format size of the series modules. Happily the NEOWALL answers the desire of our clients to get the feel and look of the EXTRASOFT in a unit smaller in scale. The scale actually formatted almost exactly as the sofa that began the WALL series in 2000 simply called ‘WALL.1’, so Lissoni essentially developed a ‘soft’ version of WALL to follow the success of the ‘soft’ version of EXTRAWALL, aptly named EXTRASOFT.

WALL.1 - 2000


NEOWALL.1 - 2011



I know of no other sofa that has gone on to spawn 9 versions of itself, each one more successful, and after now 9 models of wall available I believe we can properly tag ‘wall’ as an icon of modern design. In 2005 Michele De Lucci and Interni selected EXTRAWALL for permanent exhibition in the gardens of the design museum at the Milan Triennale. Produced in fabric textured concrete, it still sits behind the museum next to 9 other icons of modern Italian design. 
 
CONCRETE EXTRAWALL IN NATURE WHERE IT BELONGS, ON THE
GROUNDS OF AN ICONIC MUSEUM


http://www.livingdivani.it/
http://www.graye-la.com/
www.lissoniassociati.com/

 

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Delinear 'Detour' carpet on display now at Graye


To follow up on my last post, here is a nice image of our Delinear space in our Los Angeles
showroom. We have full sets of material samples, color carpet charts and a few
amazing pieces on display. The red 'Detour' on the wall is gorgeous, a 50/50 mix of wool
and silk for that matte/shine pop. The 'gradient' collection has 6 standard patterns
again all adaptable in scale, orientation, size and color.


Delinear modern carpet


The graphic effect for the series is vibrant and stimulating. Design copyright Delinear Inc. 2010
Goodweave certified and numbered free from child labor.

Graye showroom
316 S Robertson blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048
310.385.7872

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Custom carpets with Delinear SF

Graye is so happy to be working with Delinear carpets out of San Francisco and it's award winning owner Chris Baisa. In addition to the normal fare of hand knotted carpets, Delinear is noted in the field for their custom creations. Whether it is a special color on a standard design or a special shape, size or design the sky is the limit with this maker. One project I just completed took Delinears 'relay' carpet in his mist collection and recolored it to exactly match a pair of bordeaux chairs.


The project completed and this one of a kind wool rug provides a sophisticated and rich base to a cutting edge home.



In addition to wool and silk, Delinear works with mohair, pashmina and many natural plant fibers including
banana, bamboo, soybean, linen, hemp, cactus and nettle. All available in his palette of 260 colors so the
choices can be a little daunting....which is what we at Graye are here for. Bring your ideas in and we 
will work with Chris to realize your dream.
Delinear rugs are all certified and numbered by Goodweave to ensure your piece 
from start to finish is free of child labor. 

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Introduced in 2011, the neowall is the latest iteration of Piero Lissoni’s widely
acclaimed WALL series of seating, an architects play on volume.
The assembled volumes keep their geometry, yet yield formality with softened
and irregular contours. Fully modular format.
Neowall 2011. Design: Piero Lissoni. Handmade in Italy by Living Divani