Humanscale and Todd Bracher Team Up at DIFFA’s DINING BY DESIGN
Installation from Todd Bracher and Humanscale Design Studio to Celebrate Nature and Well-Being in Annual Fundraiser to Help Combat HIV/AIDS
This March, DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS will host its marquee event DINING BY DESIGN for the 20th year to support its mission to raise funds for HIV/AIDS prevention, education and direct care. One of the design industry’s premier fundraisers, it offers over 40,000 attendees a look at innovative and inspiring table-top designs from local and international designers, architects, manufacturers and retail brands. Blending nature with ergonomic design, Humanscale will partner with celebrated designer Todd Bracher to create an installation that reflects the principles of well-being and biophilia in a setting that is as simple and functional as it is beautiful. Bringing the outdoors in with living green walls and natural elements, the exhibit, titled Greenhouse, invokes a healthy, sustainable lifestyle in a refined and calming space. The design incorporates Bracher’s Vessel light and Trea chair, in addition to air-purifying plants, cork floors and an oak Fritz Hansen dining table, all offering a nod to nature.
“Greenhouse is designed to represent nature, not as a cosmetic choice, but as a scientific way to support and accommodate human needs and promote comfort and well-being,” says Bracher. “In developing the installation for DINING BY DESIGN, we set out to create something that is in tune with the human body and reflects that, down to the smallest details. The quality of light produced by Vessel and the intuitive recline mechanism in Trea are about responding seamlessly to human needs. Both designs incorporate physics in an effort to match the way nature addresses a need or solves a problem. This is in tune with Humanscale’s overall approach to design, and my own. We design to create solutions in the simplest and most functional way possible, informed by nature not because it’s beautiful, but because it is honest and truthful. A tree is the result of an ecosystem, not a cosmetic choice. As such, Greenhouse was designed to celebrate nature’s honesty, simplicity and functionality.”
DINING BY DESIGN offers a perfect opportunity to see Humanscale’s ergonomic designs in a new context. The Vessel pendant light will take center-stage in the installation. Born from challenging ideas around light quality and working to achieve the highest possible quality of light, Vessel was created based on complex optical physics. It offers perfect diffusion, is well balanced, has a high color rendering and is totally glare free. Thus, the true beauty of Vessel lies not only in its form but the quality of light it produces. Bracher’s Trea chairs, designed for Humanscale, will also feature in the installation. Trea matches Vessel’s clean aesthetic and exhibits a curvilinear design. Its form derived from an investigation into nature’s response to integrated articulation and is inspired by the lobster shell: an exoskeleton that moves in harmony with the living organism it protects. By following the cues of natural design, Bracher developed a solution that accommodates the body’s movements without knobs, dials and levers.
Four Trea chairs from the exhibit will be donated to the annual DINING BY DESIGN silent auction. As with all of DIFFA’s efforts, the auction is another avenue to fund preventative education programs targeted to populations at risk of infection, as well as treatment and direct-care services for persons living with HIV/AIDS and public policy initiatives that add resources to private sector efforts.
DINING BY DESIGN combines a worthy cause and exceptional design into a 5-day event (March 16-20). Raising $800,000 in 2016, the event has contributed an impressive $13 million to HIV/AIDS organizations across the country in its twenty-year history. Held at Pier 92 in NYC, this year’s Dining By Design is co-located with the Architectural Digest Design Show at Pier 94. One ticket allows access to both events.
The table displays are available for viewing from Thursday until Sunday afternoon, and set the stage for two fundraising parties: Cocktails By Design (Thursday, March 16) and the DINING BY DESIGN Gala Dinner (Monday, March 20).
Here is a schedule of events with more details:
COCKTAILS BY DESIGN
Thursday, March 16, 6:30-9:30PM
Designers and guests will mingle and explore the dazzling installations while sampling treats from NYC’s top restaurants and gourmet food purveyors. Patrons will pair food with delicious wine, as well as cocktails. Guests will have the opportunity to bid on the silent auction featuring a wide array of art, photography, travel, hospitality experiences, and more.
Tickets are available at DBD20.com for $200.
DINING BY DESIGN GALA
Monday, March 20, 6:30-11PM
At this special event, guests are invited to dine among the impressive installations with A&D industry friends and fellow fans of great design. The gala event includes cocktails and table-hopping, followed by an elegant seated VIP dinner, dancing and a silent auction.
General Admission Seat: $500 until March 13, or $600 thereafter. $1,000 Design Installation Seat (limited availability), available at DBD20.com.
PUBLIC TABLE VIEWING
Attendees can explore the latest in design trends as they view the creative installations and shop the silent auction.
Thursday, March 16, 11 AM–3 PM, Open to Design Trade and VIP Consumer Ticket Holders. All tickets include admission to the Architectural Digest Design Show at Pier 94. A portion of all ticket sales will benefit DIFFA. Admission is complimentary for design-trade members who register online (requires two forms of professional credentials) and includes a one-year digital subscription to Architectural Digest. On-site design-trade tickets are $40. VIP Consumer tickets are $95 and include exclusive access to Design Trade Day, a gift bag, a one-year digital subscription to Architectural Digest, and admission to the Architectural Digest Design Show cocktail reception from 5–7 P.M. Tickets are good for re-entry throughout the duration of the show.
Friday, March 17 – Saturday, March 18, 11AM-7PM, Sunday, March 19, 11AM-6PM. Open to the Public. Tickets are available at ADDesignShow.com for $30. On site tickets are $40. Ticket price includes free access to The Architectural Digest Design Show. Tickets are good for re-entry throughout the duration of the show.
About Humanscale
Humanscale is the leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance ergonomic products that improve the health and comfort of work life. Through leveraging new technology in functional yet minimal designs, Humanscale transforms traditional offices into active, intelligent workspaces. Committed to making a net-positive impact on the earth as well as our customers, Humanscale offers award-winning products designed with a focus on function, simplicity and longevity. For more information, visit www.humanscale.com.
About Todd Bracher
Todd Bracher Studio helps a wide variety of businesses realize strategic differentiation through design. Over the past 20 years, Todd Bracher has collaborated with some of the most prestigious brands around the world with experiences heading Tom Dixon’s design studio, acting as the Professor of Design at l’ESAD in Reims France, serving as Creative Director of the Scandinavian luxury brand Georg Jensen, and collaborating with brands such as Humanscale, 3M, Herman Miller and Cappellini. He was named one of Wallpaper* magazine’s Top 100 Global Design Influencers and in 2015 he won International Designer of the Year. His Trea chair design, created for Humanscale, won the coveted Red Dot Best of the Best Award the same year. Todd Bracher holds a Bachelor of Industrial Design from Pratt Institute in New York and Masters in Interior & Furniture Design from Denmark’s Design School in Copenhagen. He has lived in Copenhagen, Milan, Paris and London and returned to New York in 2007. For more information, visit www.toddbracher.net.
About DIFFA
DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS raises awareness and grants funds to organizations that fight HIV/AIDS by providing treatment and direct care services for people living with or impacted by the disease, offering preventative education programs targeted to populations at risk of infection, or supporting public policy initiatives. DIFFA is one of the largest funders of HIV/AIDS service and education programs in the United States, mobilizing the immense resources and creativity of the design community. Since its founding in 1984, DIFFA has emerged from a grassroots organization into a national foundation based in New York City with chapters and community partners across the country that, working together, have provided more than $41 million to hundreds of HIV/AIDS organizations nationwide. www.diffa.org.
About DINING BY DESIGN
DINING BY DESIGN is DIFFA’s marquee event showcasing designers, manufacturers and creative individuals who bring their vision and passion to the table. Running from March 17 – 20, 2016, in conjunction with the Architectural Digest Design Show at Pier 92, DINING BY DESIGN features an array of dining installations on display for four days, and includes exclusive special events. All event proceeds goes toward DIFFA’s work to fight HIV/AIDS and to raise awareness that the fight against HIV/AIDS is not over and demonstrate the power we have to combat this disease.
