NYC's cityscape inspires Micah Rosenblatt's whimsical 'City Block' collection

As alluded to in the title of the debut collection of furniture and lighting designs by Brooklyn-based designer Micah Rosenblatt, the slender curlicues on the chairs and lamps, the translucency of the glass blocks, the juxtaposition of the blocky glass and the slender steel evoke the imagery of a city skyline. This interplay of forms and materials encapsulates the essence of a vibrant metropolis, blending industrial strength with artistic elegance. Experimenting with steel, illuminated glass blocks and upholstery, the 16-piece collection named City Block reflects Rosenblatt’s play on “New York City’s enduring architecture and skyline while considering its future legacy. City Block explores the intersection of modernity and myth, how ‘the contemporary’ phases into antiquity; or if we can bear witness to this in our own lifetimes,” the press release mentions.

“I love walking around New York City, getting lost, and simply looking up at the architecture in dialogue. There are so many weird facades, architectural compositions, and connections. I wanted to take this dramatic and industrial scenery, and bring it to a smaller, domestic scale,” explains the metalworker who grew up in Gainesville, Florida.

In City Block, Rosenblatt explores the possibilities of metal through an upholstered steel loveseat, an archway, a glass block chair design, sculptural floor lamps, and a dining table design appointed by eight tall chairs. Where the chairs’ backs and the floor lamps’ frames are designed in blackened steel depicting oversimplified outlines of a classical Ionic column, sliced steel cylinders form the nine-foot-long dining table’s cylindrical legs with brushed aluminium for its top.

Further, steel spheres embellish the top of the glass block floor lamp and the steel circular arms of the loveseat. In the loveseat, they are encased in a spiral frame, appearing as if suspended and providing an almost surreal form to the design. “For the City Block collection, I especially wanted to play with its delicate nature what I could achieve via absence,” says Rosenblatt, explaining his choice of steel. “I removed volumes and reduced the steel to simple lines as if it were a sketch,” he adds. This is most evident in the slender chairs accompanying the dining table and the floor lamp designs, seemingly echoing the silhouette of the Ionic column.

The use of glass blocks is another lighthearted architectural reference for the furniture designs. These blocks, framed in steel, diffuse natural and artificial light that passes through them, creating a whimsical effect. “Glass blocks have all these qualities I’m drawn to. They are beautiful architecturally, but kitsch. Almost cheesy. Remixing and pulling them into design allowed me to add a sense of humour to the pieces,” mentions Rosenblatt. The steel-bodied floor lamps and the glass block chair are coated in automotive sea green to accentuate the radiating trace-uranium hues of the blocks.

City Block was displayed at the New York-based contemporary art gallery The Front from May 23 - June 23, 2024, as Rosenblatt’s solo exhibition. The collection combined classical elements at new scales and forms to fabricate intriguing sculptures which seemingly question the built environment. Describing his work as an escape from the mundane, the product designer emphasises that his creations are not conceived to provide solutions but to stimulate thought and add complexity to their surroundings, as seen in City Block, which transcribes the cityscape into a domestic scale.