Black Umbrellas: Anything but Basic for Milan Design Show

The final design selections have been made for Tuttobene Milan 2009 during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, and some black umbrellas are one of the features of one of the winning international designers. "Umbrellas for the Civil but Discontent Man" were designed by Bruce and Stephanie Tharp of Materious. In a preview for the design week, the designers describe their efforts:

Sigmund Freud contends that aggressiveness is a fundamental human instinct whose inhibition is a necessary obligation of social life. These umbrellas combine a symbol of gentlemanly refinement--the full-sized, black umbrella--with an element from more manly sword-bearing times. The umbrellas offer brief psychological respite from the dictates of social amiability.

These aren't the first black umbrellas for the Tharps. In 2005, they had their concept prototype "Forecast": "Using existing wi-fi technology to wirelessly pull information from the internet, Forecast's lighted umbrella handle glows more intensely with the increased chance of precipitation offering a clear and unobtrusive signal to the user."