Given that Cologne is geographically closer to Brussels than Berlin, there probably should be more Belgian designers exhibiting at Cologne Design Week than there actually/normally are. Also because a Belgian Frites seller can be found on near every street corner, thus ensuring no Belgian - or indeed Dutchman, Scot or Australian - need go hungry. Among the Belgians who are here this year are old (smow) blog favourites Tim Baute and Stefaan De Croock aka Atelier Bonk who are presenting their
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Aside from death, taxes and heartbreak, the only other certainty in life is that you will, with an unnerving regularity, need new furniture. Not because the old furniture is damaged or no longer en vogue, but simply because your needs and requirements have changed. A furniture system that can adapt to these changing needs is thus obviously advantageous. Developed in the early 1960s by Fritz Haller and Paul Schärer, System USM Haller is such a system. Composed of a steel tube frame
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For us one of the stand-out projects submitted to the 2013 International Marianne Brandt Contest was without question 2tables by Chemnitz born, Dresden University of Applied Sciences educated, Berlin based, designer Anna Albertine Baronius. And no, we're not just saying that because it won the (smow)/USM Haller/Vitra Special Award, that decision was made by forces much wiser than us. We do our thing independently. However just occasionally we all arrive at the same conclusions. As the name
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On Monday January 13th the European design circus rolls into the new year with the opening of IMM Cologne 2014 and Passagen 2014, and against our natural inclinations we'll be there, or as Ride so nearly put it; "If we've seen it all before, Why's this train taking us back again? If we don't need anymore, Why's this train taking us back again?" Yes, the rent has to be paid. But there are easier ways to earn a living than spending a week in January on the banks of the Rhein questioning your
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What with mince pies to be eaten, Glühwein to get drunk and travel plans to misco-ordinate, December is generally a very quiet month. However despite all other distractions, in December 2013 we still managed to visit the opening the exhibition "Mensch Raum Maschine Stage Experiments at the Bauhaus" at Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau and the far to brief Rethinking The Product – Design “Made in Italy” showcase in Berlin. In addition December 2013 saw the launch of the Vitra Design Museum's book "The
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With autum's algid wind in our faces and the promise of mince pies and Glühwein in our tails we approached November and a design tour through Brandenburg, met Napoleon in Erfurt and discovered that the Eames plastic armchairs and plastic side chairs used to be steel......
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What with the sweet afterglow of Vienna Design Week behind us we entered October 2013 full of enthusiasm - not least because it meant the opening of the new (smow) Cologne store. The month nearly nose-dived on account of a hideous plagiarism in Leipzig, but was more than rescued by Alison and Peter Smithson at the AIT ArchitekturSalon Cologne.......
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After the relative calm and civility of July and August, September sees a more than inconsequential upping of our professional pensum. In addition to our regular pilgrimage to Vienna Design Week, September 2013 also saw the opening of Lightopia at the Vitra Design Museum, Made in Slums - Mathare Nairobi at the Triennale Design Museum Milan, the International Marianne Brandt Contest in Chemnitz, and the acquisition of Finnish manufacturer Artek by Vitra......
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A summer silly season with 360 degree product images and handmade bottle openers explaining the difference between craft and design assumed a veneer of normality thanks to a fairytale presentation of vintage furniture in Berlin, contemporary porcelain at the Bauhaus Archiv and a little thinking about architecture in Stuttgart.........
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Visiting the HfG Karlsruhe Sommerloch exhibition was not just a memorable highlight of July 2013 - but also fitting as it marked the start of our own summer pause. Our own Sommerloch. In addition July 2013 saw us visit the Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart Rundgang, Art & Design Fit for a King @ Ampelhaus, Oranienbaum and Aus allen Richtungen. Positionen junger Architekten im BDA at Wechselraum Stuttgart......
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Those still looking for a New Year's Resolution could do worse than to promise to try to maybe visit more design exhibitions this year. And January 2014 offers a few wonderful places to start. That January is once again IMM Cologne and the accompanying Cologne Design Week we make no apologies for having selected two Rhein-side exhibitions, in addition we have an investigation of the production process and a brace of exhibitions devoted to Denmark's more important design "old masters".....
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Following the pains and tribulations of Milan, June is a time to relax. To enjoy design once again. This year we did that at DMY Berlin, Design Miami Basel at with the new Vitra(mini)Haus in Weil am Rhein....
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As a general rule May doesn't exist for us... it is just a fluid continuation of April. And of Milan. May 2013 was no different, did however end with a delightful Oskar Zieta show in Berlin......
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The biggest April fool is.... us, for always going to Milan! That said, as ever, we did find a few gems amongst the senseless corporate trash..... And after Milan we had the joy of viewing the latest addition to the Vitra Campus, the Factory Building by SANAA......
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March 2013 was a month of travelling: Stuttgart, Chemnitz, Weimar, Dessau..... its amazing we found time to actually write anything.......
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IMM Cologne kept us busy into February, but the month also saw the opening of an Eileen Gray retrospective in Paris, a visit to the Louis Kahn exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum and the sad passing of James Irvine....
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January 2013 was, as every January, dominated by IMM Cologne, and all that that entails. In particular IMM Cologne 2013 brought us Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec's investiture as A&W Designers of the year and a delightful Alvar Aalto Stool 60 exhibition at Ungers Archiv für Architekturwissenschaft. January 2013 was in addition the opening of the exhibition "Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things" at the Design Museum London.....
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It is in the very nature of year ends that they tend to cause one to reflect. And so in the coming days, while we enjoy a barely deserved but jealously guarded week or two offline, we will present a reflective pictorial review of 2013. 2013 was a weird old year, and while it's fair to say that we've certainly had better, it did contain a few moments that reminded us why we do this. And made us grateful that we can. And no we're not talking about the Prada croissants at the Knoll show during
read moreOn Thursday December 12th Vienna Design Week co-founder Tulga Beyerle was officially presented as the new director of the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden. A decision that excites us as much as it surprises us. Not least because until now the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden has never struck us an institution with any ambitions above securing its own existence. For example, we can't remember any special exhibitions being organised there or to be honest any form of event that sought to actively use the
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In our recent post from Florence we reported on the attempts being made there by the local authorities to help support and advance the local craftsfolk. Since 2008 the Chambers of Commerce from five of Florence's nearish neighbours have followed a different, though just as valid path towards achieving the same. Under the title "Rethinking The Product" the Chambers of Commerce from Lucca, Pisa, Pistoia, Prato and Terni pair young designers with local businesses and set them specific challenges.
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There is an old adage about turning problems into chances, of every cloud having a silver lining, of every thorn having its rose. One of the best examples of such is the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein. In the wake of a 1981 fire at the Weil am Rhein production site, Vitra found themselves needing to quickly rebuild. And needing a fire station. The first problem was solved by Nicholas Grimshaw with his Production Hall. The second by Zaha Hadid with her Fire Station. In the intervening 30+
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By way of an addendum to our 5 New Design Exhibitions for December 2013 post....... On Saturday December 14th 2013 SWING Gallery in South-Central Italian Benevento open a solo exhibition by the Berlin design collective Shapes in Play. Under the title Hidden Patterns Johanna Spath and Johannes Tsopanides, a.k.a Shapes in Play present the latest chapter in their exploration of both the borders between digital and analogue in contemporary society and the possibilities for increasing emotional
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While we can't be certain that the artist, designer and choreographer Oskar Schlemmer would have completely agreed with the claim that "Life is a cabaret", we do know where he placed cabaret in the great scheme of cultural happenings: a little lower than theatre, but slightly higher than varieté. ""Stage" in general", Schlemmer wrote in 1925, "encompasses all that lies between religious cult and naive public amusement, both are not that what the stage is; the calculated impact on man of
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"In a best case scenario, and when the technology is advanced enough, the opaque cover can be replaced by an OLED and so become the light source itself."1 We admit to having wondered when we saw Ionna Vautrin's Binic lamp on the "Light for tomorrow" table at the Vitra Design Museum's Lightopia exhibition. "Nice lamp", we thought, "but not exactly revolutionary." First upon reading in the catalogue did we understand. Inspired by ships funnels Binic is formally very reminiscent of Vico
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