Une maison est un machine-a-habiter: a house is a machine for living in. With this pronouncement, Le Corbusier inaugurated the age of machine architecture. His goal was to incorporate mass production into design and architecture; he even approached Citroën about a factory-produced house. The man loved factories, and felt they were absolutely essential to a modern aesthetic. If only he could have seen the products Derek Chen is turning out at Urbana Design. They are obviously modern, but they have a distinctly personal feel to them (and not just because of how highly customizable they are). That's because they're all made by hand, combining warm, natural woods with bright, durable resins for an intriguing contrast. Some pieces use this contrast even more daringly, taking their color from a layer of fabric printed with a brightly hued faux-fir grain and covered in clear resin. Urbana Design makes a strong statement that modern can be slick and natural, handmade and technological, all at once.
