Posts
In our post about Diogene by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Vitra we noted that a Jean Prouvé house could currently be marvelled at Design Miami Basel 2013. And we obviously don’t want to deny all who weren’t there the chance to do just that. Presented by Galerie Patrick Seguin the “Maison des Jours Meilleurs” [...]
Since establishing their own design studio in Stuttgart in 1994 Markus Jehs and Jürgen Laub have quietly gone on to become two of the busiest and most successful German product designers of their generation. With a client portfolio that includes the likes of Thonet, Wilkhahn, Fritz Hansen, Authentics or Belux Jehs+Laub are just at home [...]
If you thought you’d seen the epitome of kitsch, we give you….. An olive bowl in the shape of Celine Dion’s swimming pool. Just writing that sentence makes us want one. And of course the accompanying bowl for sun-dried tomatoes in the shape of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s swimming pool. Created by Zurich based [...]
“You can’t lose ideas in a small space” with this simple piece of almost Confucian wisdom Italian architect Renzo Piano explains part the deeper philosophy behind Diogene, his collaboration with Vitra. And the latest object on the Vitra Campus. Following quickly on from the public presentation of the SANAA Factory Building – unquestionably the biggest [...]
Design arithmetic is very simple: June + Berlin = DMY And since Wednesday evening DMY Berlin 2013 is in full swing. In addition to the Central Exhibition at Tempelhof Airport and the numerous satellite events scattered throughout the city this year’s programme also features a series of events dedicated to 3D printing. Something we fear certain [...]
We first came across the work of Polish born, Swiss based designer Oskar Zieta at DMY Berlin 2009. And in 2010 wrote in the context of DMY’s Swiss country focus: One of the biggest Swiss stands was that from ETH Zurich with their FIDU technology. Which was displayed at DMY 2009. We like it, find [...]
Despite a very personal, and very, very, old, aversion to all things Chemnitz – a situation we really should start getting over – the Chemnitz based Marianne Brandt Contest is without question one of our favourite international design competitions. We know of no other design competition that could crown an origami hummingbird with a paperclip [...]
The first object to attract our attention on Atelier Bonk’s stand in the Ventura At Work exhibition in Milan was the candle stick holder. That is until it was pointed out to us that it is actually a potato masher. It’s a very simple mistake to make. Especially if you’re as daft as us. Bruges [...]
With DMY Berlin standing in front of the door like some excited child waiting to be taken to its chums birthday party, all eyes are slowly turning to to the German capital. The first Berlin design events are already running and until June 9th the gallery “Haus am Waldsee” is presenting the exhibition “Home of [...]
We quote: “It’s probably fair to say the biggest surprise at Salone Satellite 2012 was seeing Rui Alves aka My Own Super Studio. Because we thought 2011 had been the last year he was allowed to exhibit.” Fast forward 12 months later. And guess what the the biggest surprise at Salone Satellite 2012 was…. ? He has [...]
Updates
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Jetzt auf Deutsch: Diogene vom Renzo Piano Building Workshop und @vitra http://t.co/Ho6v2VqtBD
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Jetzt auf Deutsch: Diogene vom Renzo Piano Building Workshop und @vitra http://t.co/i94swF3V9n
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"...ultimately manufacturers commission us to produce successful products..." http://t.co/pv3AkviEEW #jehs+laub
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Orgatec 2012 Interview: Markus Jehs and Jürgen Laub http://t.co/t8bB3SPOgC
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Shoes, screws and swimming pools. A few impressions from the Swiss Design Awards 2013 exhibition in Basel. http://t.co/yfjErG4jK6
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Diogene by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. The @vitra story continues to develop in ever new directions.... http://t.co/0LNwMKFs4M
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Swiss Design Awards 2013. Prizes for @depotbasel and Michel Charlot. But sadly not for Celine Dion's swimming pool! http://t.co/aDmubQw6ML
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Diogene by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Vitra http://t.co/z1UHLnf3ws
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Yesterday @vitra & Renzo Piano presented their joint project, the micro-House Diogene. Our post & a few photos http://t.co/DzlwHNf5sP
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RT @minimum_berlin: Our @dmyberlin coverage is approaching full steam.... http://t.co/C6Wz0jGejq #dmy #berlin
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Oskar Zieta – Zukunftsnomaden, Polish Institute Berlin http://t.co/KY1rMvItF1
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Internationaler Marianne Brandt Wettbewerb 2013: Interview mit Linda Pense und Stefan Hannig http://t.co/QMn2GNv1Pr #design #chemnitz
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Until 26.05 applications are being accepted for the International Marianne Brandt Contest 2013. Our interview with... http://t.co/UQ1SeO8N5l
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International Marianne Brandt Contest 2013: Interview with Co-Organisers Linda Pense and Stefan Hannig. http://t.co/PcmkdVVjUy
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Marianne Brandt #Design Contest Deadline extended till 26.05 - Don't be late !!! http://t.co/SnNhWDHLYG
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And for all looking to undetrstand the full glory of Workbay..... http://t.co/W09c3Iw5zC
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RT @vitrauk: Welcome to #ClerkenwellDesignWeek 2013. Come settle into one of our Workbays and tell us what you think http://t.co/s7TLAAuwQV
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RT @designmuseum: New Design Museum vacancy | Curator: Permanent Collection Display http://t.co/r0PFllk8Hl
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Milan Design Week 2013: Atelier Bonk http://t.co/cWMpwkBovl
Posts
In addition to the film showing the creation of the Pressed Chair prototype, 20th Century Moormann have also released two films showing the stress tests Pressed Chair was subjected to.
Films that beautifully underline the humour, passion and spirit of adventure that defines Nils Holger Moormann as both designer and producer.
It could be the perfect accompaniment to Schwarz auf Weiss by Jenni-Fee Hahn.
Kaffee-Dusche by Christopher Supardjo is a coffee maker where time isn’t of the essence. And the coffee brewed definitely isn’t “to go”.
Crafted from wood and brass Kaffee-Dusche offers not only the olfactory experience of the coffee being prepared, but you can also visually follow the process.
And with its oil burner you also have that congenital security and tranquillity that fire brings to the human soul.
Light the burner, brew some coffee, write a letter …. Facebook can wait!
Kaffee-Dusche by Christopher Supardjo was created as part of the “Aufgebrüht” course at the UdK Berlin and was displayed as part of the Rundgang 2012.
No it’s not a typo.
It is weightlifting with books.
Created as part of the UdK Berlin’s “Design Basics” course which all students have to go through, we really liked this set of dumbbells where you add your own weight in the form of books.
Not only do we like the fact that it is a convenient set of dumbbells, nor that it is a resource light, sustainable set of dumbbells. It is also a really, really nice book storage system.
And so if you get tired of weightlifting…. you’ve still got an attractive bookcase.
We sadly couldn’t find the name of the responsible designer. Apologies.
Created as part of the “Lernen Kochen und Essen” module which concerned itself, more or less, with how one could integrate school meals more into the wider curriculum, Seviri by Ronja Leine & Elisa Kirbst is the most ingenious tray design we’ve seen for a long time.
But to be honest, we don’t see that much tray design work.
If you’ve got an institution such as a school - or any works canteen - chances are all your glasses and crockery have the same dimensions.
Seviri takes this point and transforms the dimensions into a simple tray made out of bent 5mm wire.
Genius.
Less resources required, less storage space required, less washing of trays required.
And we believe it ticks all 10 of Dieter Rams boxes….
The Egon Eiermann table frame is without question one of the simplest designs you can imagine.
Which makes it all the more fascinating that students at the Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin managed to find an alternative way to use it.
The photo isn’t the best, but we’re sure you get the idea…..
Until July 4th .hbc Berlin is hosting an exhibition dedicated to New Order - or better put dedicated to Kevin Cummins’ photography of New Order and Peter Saville’s art work for New Order.
We’ve got something very special planned for (smow)blog next week… but here a few quick impressions from the exhibition.
We first met Eva Marguerre at DMY Berlin 2009 where she was presenting her NIDO stool.
An object that was subsequently to stalk us for the next 12 months.
Wherever we turned up. There it was.
Wonderful as it is. You can have too much of a good thing.
After moving to Hamburg Eva established Studio Besau-Marguerre with Marcel Besau, and the pair have gone on to develop some very interesting projects.
The MOA collection, for example, only just missed out on the DMY Award 2011, was however snapped up by Paris based manufacturer Petite Friture.
And their “Greenhouse to go” has now been nominated for the Designpreis der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
A new take on the somewhat jaded terrarium, the press material to “Greenhouse to go” tells a wonderful tale of it being developed so that in the future we can transport plants to other planets.
That as may be.
We’re just enjoying the delightful aesthetic of the object - we’re thinking faux Victorian - and the consideration if one could also use it to keep stick insects and ladybirds in…..
Tic-Tac box v2.0. As it were.
But regardless how you view it, Greenhouse to go by Studio Besau-Marguerre is a delightful project and a worthy further development of Eva and Marcel’s portfolio.
And the evidence is everywhere.
Design is an attitude. Not a profession.
Bakzit by Fermetti for Atelier belge is without question the best chair we’ve seen at DMY Berlin 2012.
Its not big, its not clever. Its not especially innovative.
It was created for a specific function. And not only does that perfectly, but does so in a delightful style.
We couldn’t have created it.
We’re not designers………
First reports real soon.
First it turns up at Bauhaus: Art as Life @ Barbican Art Gallery London
And now at “Marcel Breuer – Design and Architecture” @ Bauhaus Dessau.
We’re off to an exhibition opening at the Bauhaus Archive Berlin soon… We admit to trepidation!
Doing pretty much what the title promises, the Bauhaus Dessau summer exhibition explores Marcel Breuer’s work in two, separate, sections.
His design work is explored more or less chronological, a concept that allows one to wonderfully follow his development from wood and onto metal.
The architecture section meanwile explores different facets of his oeuvre through representative models, photographs and sketches.
Our full report will be published at blog.smow.com very soon
“Marcel Breuer – Design and Architecture” @ Bauhaus Dessau runs until October 31st 2012
Depot Basel 08: Handwerk & Szenographie / Craft & Scenography
11.06.2012 - 11.07.2012
Opening: Mo 11.6.2012, 14.00 – 20.00
Afterparty with sausage & beer at SommerResidenz
WITH/MIT
PERSONAL CONTENTA C E, Bastard Collection, Bashko Trybek, Charlotte Talbot, Clemence Seilles, Dik Scheepers, Earnest Studio & Emilie Pallard, Johannes Nagel, Julia Walter, Kaspar Hamacher, Tina Roeder, Tobias Schäfer, Valentin LoellmannIN Residence
WITH ‘ANOTHER TERRA’
Tomás Alonso, BCXSY, Pieke Bergmans, Julien Carretero, Maarten De Ceulaer, FormaFantasma,
Glithero, Pepe Heykoop Lanzavecchia+Wai, Tomáš Libertiny, Philippe Malouin, Jo Meesters, Minale-Maeda, Mischer’Traxler, Liliana Ovalle, Raw Edges Design-Studio, Studio Besau-Marguerre, Anke WeissLIBRARY
LaVagueSELECTED
Michael Schoner, NOMAN, OSΔOOS, Giorgia Zanellato, Terrazzo ProjectINSTALLATIONS
Kasper Hamacher & John Franzen, Oeuffice, Judith SengINFRASTRUCTURE
Damien Gernay , Florian Hauswirth, Max Lipsey, Mieke Meijer, Tristan Cochrane, Camille Blin, Julien Renault, Charlotte Dumoncel d‘ArgenceSEATS
Christian Horisberger , Sibylle Stoeckli
_________PERFORMANCE
Judith Seng with dancer Barbara Berti
Monday 11 June
7 PM
Tuesday 12 June
4 PM
_________TALK
Tido von Oppeln
Judith Seng
Marcel Frey
Burkhard Meltzer
Wednesday 13 June
2 PM
_________GUIDED TOUR BY
Matylda Krzykowski
Monday 11 June
5 PM
Tuesday 12 June
3 PM
Wednesday 13 June
1 PM
Thursday 14 June
5 PM
Enjoyable as the exhibition “Bauhaus: Art as Life” at the Barbican Centre in London is…..
…..wandering round the exhibition one can’t help feeling that one is under constant observation.
Which is a little unnerving.
Our full report, and more photos, ASAP….
The things one finds in a flea market in Berlin. A fully upholstered Eames Rocking Side Chair produced by Herman Miller & “Fehlbaum Productions”
Nothing against the RAR, but this RSR was a true delight to see…
Look who fluttered into our office this morning!
Our old friend the Hummingbird Mechthild by Christoph Schmidt.
We first met Mechtchild at the Marianne Brandt Contest 2010 in Chemnitz.
And were instantly entranced.
And now with May round the corner; and appropriately enough the Bauhaus exhibition “Art is Life” opening in the London Barbican in a couple of days….Mechthild popped in to say a quick hello, on the way back to Hamburg from her winter break in Africa.
Which was as lovely as it was unexpected.
We hope she becomes a regular visitor. And brings few chums. Because in a swarm, the effect is so much better.
Mechthild by Christoph Schmidt getting to know the (smow) office….. …. System USM Haller…. … catching up with an old chum… … and enthralling us all with photos from her flight over SachsenComing back from the preview of “The Essence of Things: Design and the Art of Reduction” at the Grassi Museum Leipzig yesterday we stumbled across what is without question the biggest Tag we have ever seen.
Now it may look opulent and expansive; but as anyone in Leipzig can confirm, compared to the normal ORG Tags… this is pure reduction.
The initial rooms in MOST Milan were given over to the concepts founder - Tom Dixon.
In itself no bad thing. Especially when one found oneself confronted by rooms full of delightful objects such as Etch Light Web Copper.
We’re planning publishing our MOST review for next week - we need to finish typing up a couple of interviews first - but didn’t want to deny you a further impression of what was on display.
Although the Nils Holger Moormann stand in Mian was very much an homage on Pressed Chair by Harry Thaler … there were also a couple of other new products.
Including Paul & Paula by Matthias Ferwagner.
Looking a bit like a cross between Kampenwand and the Eames LTR Paul & Paula are two folding, occasional side tables.
Nothing complicated. Nothing clever.
Just a good practical design and a product that really no home should be without.
Apart from the fact they always throw an excellent party during Stockholm Design Week, Swedish producer Offecct are worth keeping any eye on because they produce some really interesting furniture from a very good pool of international designers.
Among the products Offecct presented in Milan, Smallroom by Ineke Hans particularly caught our attention.
Our picture probably isn’t the best, but we’re sure you get the idea.
In addition to being perfect for lobbies/waiting rooms, shops or in an open office space, Smallroom is available with an optional in-built plant pot holder.
Need we say more?
Audio
Photos
Posts
On April 26th the next Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec exhibition opens, this time at the Museum des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
Under the title Momentané, the brothers promise an exhibition that will present their complete production over the past 15 years, including prototypes, films, videos and drawings.
Ahead of the opening the brothers have released a few photos of the preparations.
Photos we need to share..... And once we've seen the exhibition we'll share the details!
Just as night follows day and Michael Knight follows KITT so to are we innately obliged to reduce any event we can down to a very weak joke at Chemnitz's expense.
And so while it would be a lie to claim the highlight of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar's new exhibition "Henry van de Velde: Leidenschaft, Funktion und Schönheit" is the model of and lamp from Chemnitz Lawn Tennis Club.
We did spend an awful lot of time imaging an age when something as refined as lawn tennis was played in Chemnitz.
We did however spend even more time perusing the rest of the exhibition and our full report will be published very soon at (smow)blog.
But for now here is the model, of the sadly no more, Chemnitz Lawn Tennis Club as designed and built in 1906-1908 by Henry van de Velde. Complete with unashamed nod to Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
Almost certainly because we didn't include it in our interview with Wilde+Spieth CEO Thomas Gerber, Typus by Edelhoff & Nettesheim has been recognised with a red dot product design award 2013.
To taunt us you understand.
Although there are numerous excellent reasons to celebrate the success, for us the most important is the path Typus took to reach production. And so ultimately the award.
In our conversation with Thomas Gerber he told us, but we didn't tell you, that in the beginning Typus was just an idea, a concept that instantly fascinated Wilde+Spieth and which led to the construction of the very first prototype and subsequently the development of the object.
As such Typus is an excellent example of what can be achieved when manufacturer and designer approach a project together, with open minds and for all with the intention of actually bringing a project to completion.
A situation that in contemporary product design is becoming ever rarer. Sadly.
And so for us, deserved as the award unquestionably is from a product design perspective, it is just as well deserved from a design development perspective.
Congratulations all round!
The table Typus by Edelhoff & Nettesheim for Wilde+Spieth (Photo Wilde+Spieth)
In our post on the Porsche Museum Stuttgart we compared it to "...Oscar Niemeyer’s contribution to Berlin’s Interbau 57..."
We are more than aware that most of you have probably never seen Oscar Niemeyer’s Berlin building.
So here a couple of photos...
In our post on the book How to live in Flat by W. Heath Robinson and K. R. G. Browne we implied that one could quite easily give modernist designers and architects co-author rights for the work: It being their designs that inspired Heath Robinson to create his delightful caricature.
As a further piece of evidence we present, the SP 4 Chair by Oliver Percy Bernard and the Parrot Chair by W. Heath Robinson.
What is it they say about a picture painting a thousand words......
Our post from New York Design Week 2009 began "You couldn’t make up"
And you still couldn't.
Without question the most sensible application of robotics in furniture design, the New York Table Fights Tournament is just what the name guides you to believe it is - fighting tables.
If you don't believe us, our 2009 videos can still be found on the (smow)tube channel www.youtube.com/smowblog
2012 saw the 5th Annual Table Fights Tournament. And yes, shrouded as we currently are in the comforting blanket of memory, we are considering a return to the Arena in 2013.
Watching the Tatort episode "Die schöne Mona ist tot" this Sunday past, we somewhat ruined the tension of the closing scenes for our co-viewers by leaping up and down as the victim entered her, soon to be, death chamber.
For there, against the wall, stood a PS 08 bureau from Müller Möbelfabrikation.
An object that still excites us as much as it did when we first saw it at IMM Cologne 2011
And what was especially pleasing was to see how well it worked with the Vitra Eames Lounge Chair in the context of the sleek, uncluttered living room.
We were very impressed.
And then Mona got shot.
If you're going to get murdered, then hopefully in such a well furnished room. Eames Lounge Chair and PS 08 bureau as seen in the Tatort episode "Die schöne Mona ist tot"And the photos from our visit to the Müller factory in Augsburg can still be found in the (smow)blog
A few of the reviews we've read of "Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things" at the London Design Museum have talked about the "Design and Identity" section in terms of UK national identity.
Which could prove dangerous if you were to say such in the near vicinity of London's erstwhile Mayor Boris "Boris" Johnson.
For among the exhibits is a full set of Euro notes and coins.
And we wouldn't want to tell Boris that they were a symbol of British national identity......
In our post about the London Design Museum's new exhibition "Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things" we criticised the section "Why we Collect" for not explaining, well .... why:
"There is no attempt to start a discourse on design as something that can and should be collected; on author design versus commercial design; on the current explosion in design galleries; for whom collects one?; what is even worth collecting? What counts as “authentic”?"
It took less than 24 hours for us to find an example of why such questions are important.
Clever us!
Roland Feinler from Heidelberg, Germany is selling his collection of some 1000 Braun items by Dieter Rams.
The reserve price is Euro 350,000
Focussing largely on Rams' work for Braun between the years of 1955 and 1985 the collection unquestionably provides a rare and fascinating insight into the development of both Rams' products design and the Braun legend and as such the establishment of both as benchmarks for post war German design.
But does the collection belong in a museum? Or is it just a room full of old radios, record players and razors (electric)?
OK if apple were ever to build a museum they could include the collection in a sort of "pre-history" section explaining the evolution stages leading to themselves.
But could/should/will any design or technology focussed museum buy the collection?
In order to answer the question, you'd of course need to know why a museum collects......
For all interested in the collection full details can be found at: www.braun-design-collection.com/
Roland Feinler's video presentation of his collection.
Bench2bed by Thomas Bohm is, in many ways, the proof that an object doesn't have to be brilliant itself to catch our attention.
More often than not the idea is more decisive than the realisation
When we saw Bench2bed at Design braucht Täter Cologne 2012, we were very, very impressed by the thinking that led to the object. Even if we couldn't, and still can't, see the object ever reaching a mass public.
But much as at school you always got marks for showing your workings in maths class even if you got the calculation horribly wrong, so to can we only encourage Thomas Bohm not to give up on the logic that took him to Bench2bed.
The idea is brilliant.....
Full details and photos to follow......
Owing to an imminent move we are currently being forced to clear our desks - or at least pack things into boxes.
A process which has thrown up a couple of wonderful blasts from the past, such as this promotional postcard for Welcome To The Jungle by Rui Alves from DMY Berlin 2010.
At the time Rui was in discussion with a couple of producers about bringing the series into production. But, unless we've missed something, nothing ever came of it.
Which is a real shame, because it is a truly epic piece of work. Yes, it is a series of objects based on his son's plastic animals.
But it is epic!
And really deserves to go into production.....
Somewhat unexpectedly we discovered the following quote from Marcel Proust at the entrance to the Walter Knoll stand at IMM Cologne.
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. ...
We are admittedly still trying to decipher it in the context of Walter Knoll's 2013 collection, but primarily consider it a delightful, if unintentional, commentary on "Isn’t it romantic? Contemporary Design balancing between Poetry and Provocation" at the Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln.
In the romantic era many were drawn to the raw, wilds of nature and sought in remote, "dangerous" places escape from the safety and conformity of the modern world.
According to Proust, they needn't have. They simply needed to try to viewing their surroundings in another, perhaps more positive, light.
Similarly today we needn't and shouldn't look for answers to our own confusion and isolation in products. The answer aren't there. Regardless how steeped in nature they are.
Rather the answers are in understanding our relationship to objects and our consumption habits.......
As anyone who knows us can confirm, we've lived hard and often at the borders of society, but even we have never considered storing books in a dish drying rack.
Fortunately the Swedish architect and designer Nils Strinning did and so his original wire dish drying rack evolved over plastic coated wire baskets for wardrobes into the genial modular shelving system String.
Or string® as the manufacturer insist on calling it.
In 1949 the Stockholm based publishing house Bonnier ran a competition looking for a cheap, simple book storing system for post-war Sweden.
Nils Strinning reconfigured his existing baskets and racks into a shelving system based on thin plastic coated wire supports and simple wooden shelves. And promptly won first prize.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s String, sorry string®, was one of Scandinavia's most successful and popular shelving systems and went on to achieve global fame. In recent years its star has somewhat waned; however, in an age of increasing domestic mobility and rising property prices the flexibility and durability of the modular string® system becomes ever more appealing.
Especially with the newish cupboard options and the ever increasing range of colours available.
Back in 2010 one of the products that most tickled us at DMY Berlin was Heimlicht by Cologne based Leoni Werle.
Combining a large lamp shade and a small, quadratic desk, the beauty of Heimlicht is that through a systems of pulleys the shade can be raised and lowered. Which, in addition to offering range of lighting possibilities, also means that the lamp shade can be used to cover the desk and thus provide - literal - closure at the end of the day.
If you've not seen it we can thoroughly recommend checking it out.
As part of d3 Design Talents at IMM Cologne 2013 Leoni Werle is presenting her latest project, the standard and table lamp "Pilu"
With an oak base modelled on sea-saw Pilu can be positioned either in the vertical or at a slight angle.
The bluebell-esque shade is attached to the stalk through a joint that means it tilts with the base meaning the illumination is always directed straight down.
Pilu is a delightful product, even if we're not sure about the big bulky wooden base.
Somehow for us that distracts from the object and makes it look a bit too much like a prototype.
But then, famously, what do we know.
And regardless of the aesthetics the idea and the thinking behind Pilu is fantastic and we hope that Leoni has the chance to develop it further.
One of the most all pervasive marketing incentives around and ahead of IMM Cologne 2013 was unquestionably that undertaken by Spanish producer BD Barcelona for the launch of Bench B, their latest collaboration with Konstantin Grcic.
The omnipresent references to it and the variety of media chosen to announce it, indicating BD Barcelona either have very high hopes for it. Or overspent on the development and are now gambling on the old publicity=sales gambit.
Following on from his Chair B and various Table Bs, Bench B is a modular bench system that can be used as a single chair or a bench so long you need to be a master of semaphore to communicate with the person at the other end.
The intriguing thing about Bench B is the form. What with BD BARCELONA being based in BARCELONA, Konstantin Grcic opted to use as the basis for Bench B the silhouette of the classic BARCELONA Chair by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
Demonstrating a well trained eye for the essential, Konstantin Grcic has reduced the somewhat decadent curves of the original Barcelona chair and given the silhouette a much more egalitarian form.
An egalitarian form that when reproduced in aluminium results in a chair that appeals greatly to us.
We just hope the investment in press releases has been worth it.
We're sure they've got a proper name, but we're thoroughly enjoying these "Stylepark Design Islands" littered throughout Hall 3.2 at IMM Cologne 2013
Each one features a different product set in scene by different design studio.
A nice, simple idea that presents products in a different, perhaps even more challenging way than the producer may choose, and as such allows a new perspective on the work.
They also make Hall 3.2 seems a lot more informal and relaxed.... break up the monotony of stand upon stand upon stand upon...
All in all a nice new addition.
Here the shelving system String in an installation by Studio 5-56 and Lotta Agathon
Amongst the projects on display at the MAKK exhibition "Isn’t it romantic? Contemporary Design balancing between Poetry and Provocation" are the light sculptures Light Blubs by Pieke Bergman.
Started in 2008 the Light Blubs project is a series of crystal sculptures fitted with modern LEDs which take her long running "Virus" project into a whole new realm.... And lighting into a whole new aesthetic.
OK to accept such one has to accept that beauty exists and can be measured.
However as an aid to understanding why design affects, amuses and involves us as it does, Alvar Aalto's quote is an excellent guide.
And we'll have a lot more from and about Alvar Aalto in the coming weeks......
