Good morning, this is Johanna speaking. The annual design extravaganza ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) kicked off yesterday and the city is buzzing with local creativity and visiting Europeans in fancy glasses.

The buying and editorial departments at Fab.com took a taxi downtown to spend the day exploring the off-site venues (which are the most exciting, in my personal opinion). Our first stop of the day was the American Design Building, a beautifully raw and almost Dickensian warehouse in Noho that formerly hosted a lumber company. During ICFF all of its four floors are occupied by some of the most interesting underground design forces in the country, including the American Design Club, Noho Design District, Sight Unseen and Areaware.

Work by insanely talented duo Iacoli & McAllister. Don’t miss their upcoming Fab.com sale!

Our very own Bradford Shellhammer was judging the exhibition Use Me! Functional Designs for the New America, organized by the emerging designer network The American Design Club, (a Fab.com favorite that you will see lots of in our future sales).  45 designers had submitted innovative and unapologetically utilitarian products that ranged from a bar doubling as a desk (or vice versa) to a toothpick container.

American Design Club’s Kiel Mead, Dan Rubinstein, Bradford and Laura Young in deep deliberation.

Dan Rubinstein and Bradford getting down.

Bradford and fellow judges Dan Rubinstein (Surface magazine editor and Fab.com curator) and Laura Young from NYC design company Areaware carefully considered each object and, after much deliberation, emerged with three winners. See below for pictures of the victorious objects and stay tuned for our next report from the trenches of the Javitz Center. In the meantime do stop by the American Design Building for an inspiring dose of what’s new and what’s next in contemporary US design.

The American Design Building

45 Great Jones St. (between The Bowery and Lafayette St.)

First prize went to this ingenious table by Taylor McKenzie-Veal. It does double duty as both a dining and coffee table, as the legs can swing around to raise and lower its height.

This handy ice pick/bottle opener by Brendan Keim won second prize. It’s almost reason enough for a Basic Instinct 3.

Third prize went to this clever rubber band and pencil holder by Craighton Berman. It’s a great example of how a functional item can be unexpectedly decorative.