Mondo Collection

a contemporary design showroom with global reach

3-Ruby-Glass-Pendant-size‘Confetti Glass Pendant’ by Andreea Avram Rusu

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If you’ve been reading my blog, you may remember me talking about Mondo Collection – the Flatiron district showroom that houses the contemporary home furnishings of no less that 61 artisans and designers – from nearly every corner of the globe.  I’d happened upon them quite by accident while visiting another showroom in their building.  Last week, having heard it was their first year anniversary, I decided to pay them a second visit.  You may also remember I reported I liked the collection.  This week, I’m giving them an even more enthusiastic thumbs up.

The first thing you’ll notice inside the airy loft that houses Mondo Collection is the relative cohesiveness that owners Mario Elcid and Hany Boutros have created with the varied pieces they’ve curated.  Set up in several vignettes, the furnishings from far-reaching locals meld seamlessly as if the craftsmen speak a single language.  Even more fascinating and unique is that nearly everything available is exclusive to Mondo Collection, so you’re seeing designs not available anywhere else in the US.  Along with ‘Confetti Glass Pendant’ by Romanian born architect Andreea Avram Rusu (shown above), here are some of my favorite pieces.

‘Folded Stool’ by Jack Craig

With a Masters Degree in 3-D design, Detroit artist Jack Craig utilizes industrial PVC water mains in an unimaginable way – heated, bent, and manipulated into sculptural seating.  The effortless shape belies the complex process of establishing the bends in the uber-short window of time it’s molten and mailable.

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‘Weder Concrete Credenza’ by Patrick Weder

This astonishing repetition of boxes within a box within a box consists of a wafer-thin shell of waxed concrete – within which a wafer-thin walnut cabinet frame is recessed.  The drawers have been subsequently inserted and finished with walnut veneer cut from a single cross-section of wood, the edges of which act as pulls.  The pencil thin legs are lined with steel.

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‘Turquoise Transformations’ by Jose Sanint

This monumental tapestry by Colombian architect Jose Sanint represent a jigsaw study chronicling his self-imposed exile in Tibet to study Buddhism – through the use of indigenous cloth.  This piece is 74″ x 66″, and is only one of 4 on view in the showroom.

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‘Origami Console’ by Nada Debs

Nada Debs was born in Lebanon, raised in Japan, educated in architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design, and settled in the UK before starting her furniture design firm.  The Origami Console is an amazing piece (shown above in a press photo in solid red), but the piece in the showroom with an oiled walnut finish on the outer plains and the juxtapositional white lacquer inner reveal (below) was even more breathtaking.

 I was completely fascinated by Nada Debs work, so Lindsay Bailey (MC’s charming and knowledgable showroom manager) showed me some additional tear-sheets of her pieces…. the Hexagonal Coffee Table below is another beautiful piece.

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As I mentioned, Mondo Collection has only been open for a year, and has limited floor space, so don’t expect to see all of the pieces in the collection on the showroom floor.  That said, I’ve only touched on my favorite finds – there are many more designers represented.  The user-friendly website will give you an overview, but go visit in person.  The showroom’s got huge windows with 2 exposures that makes seeing the pieces in person (and in glorious sunlight) all the more enjoyable.

20 West 22nd Street    Suite 1501    New York, N.Y. 10010    212-675-8155

http://mondocollection.com/web/index.php