"Colour contributes towards enriching the sensitivity, the poetic resonance and harmony of architecture. Colour means a considerable extension of the functional precision of architecture towards psychological and human aspects", so begins colour designer Fritz Fuchs a letter to Stuttgart architect Günter Behnisch, as reproduced in Behnisch & Partner's 1993 book "Über das Farbliche / On Colour" Produced in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name "Über das Farbliche / On Colour"
read more
On Friday November 22nd Depot Basel open their new exhibition, Changes – Chancen. At the beginning of September 2013 the Depot Basel collective brought together five Swiss creatives for a discussion aimed at exploring aspects of Switzerland as a location for "work, production and design." Consisting of product designer Jörg Boner, Stefan Rechsteiner from footwear company Velt, architect and author Claude Lichtenstein, product designer Meret Probst and interior designer & author Verena Huber
read more
"The new Eames plastic chair is a dream fulfilled"1 While one can, should, accuse the Walker Art Centre Minneapolis of being somewhat hyperbolic in their 1950 guide to "Useful Objects", there is no arguing with the fact that with their family of moulded fibreglass chairs Charles and Ray Eames took furniture design into uncharted territory. Or as Peter Smithson writes, "Before Eames no chairs (of the modern canon) were many coloured, or really light in weight, or not fundamentally rectangular
read more
"Guten Abend Berlin" Boing Boing "Street's like a jungle, so call the police.... " That is how one opens an event. Sadly it appears that noone from the Bundespreis Ecodesign and/or the German Federal Environment Ministry saw Blur at the 2013 Berlin Festival. And so rather than an inspiring sonic boom, the Bundespreis Ecodesign 2013 Awards ceremony in Berlin opened..... by firstly inviting all nominated companies/individuals onto the stage. One at a time. Awards ceremonies are by their
read more
In 1808 Napoleon had a problem. Or better put, in 1808 Napoleon had a whole continent of problems. Spain, Austria, Finland, England, Russia, Germany, Turkey. Noone it seemed was behaving in a manner that fitted with Napoleon's grand, global plans. How, for example, was he ever to find the time to conquer India if Europe wouldn't just quietly accept French domination? In an attempt to, at least partially, find a way out of the chaos a meeting was organised with Tsar Alexander I of Russia to
read more
As part of the bi-annual Europalia Arts Festival the Belgian cultural institute Grand Hornu is currently presenting the exhibition "Living Objects - Made for India" Curated by London based design studio Doshi Levien "Living Objects" is, as the title cleverly implies, an exploration of everyday Indian objects, everyday Indian design as it were, and an exhibition that in the words of Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien should be seen as "...a vehicle to discuss Indian culture, Indian values and
read more
Among the more memorable moments in our long, if troublesome, tenure at and of (smow)blog is the day we took possession of our new 1m x 2m USM Haller table. Less on account of the object and more on account of the looks of fear and trepidation that crossed the faces of those forced to share an office space with us. "Given the chaos created on their Eiermann Table", their pained expressions screamed, "what will they achieve with 2 sqm of finest Swiss fabrication?" The answer was as swift as
read more
Do designers always know best? No, do they....? Back in July we celebrated the 60th anniversary of Arne Jacobsen's Ant Chair for Fritz Hansen, including mention of the heavy criticism that greeted its presentation, in particular the criticism that it only had three legs. Criticism that didn't concern Arne Jacobsen one jot. For Jacobsen the Ant Chair was conceived as a three legged chair, functioned as a three legged chair and would always remain a three legged chair. Eventually however
read more
As we are sure you will appreciate we tend to shy away from recommending anything we haven’t seen and/or tested ourselves. That said, the following five exhibitions, all opening in November, caught our attention. And certainly seem worth checking out..... "mein reklame-fegefeuer. herbert bayer. werbegrafik 1928 - 1938" at Bauhaus Archiv Berlin, Germany Appointed in 1925 as the first director of the printing and advertising workshop at Bauhaus Dessau the Austrian artist and typographer
read more
There is currently a lot of "buzz" in the contemporary furniture and interior design communities about bringing nature in to domestic spaces, of finding ways of integrating plants with furniture and furnishings, softening our harsh, uncaring modern world if you will. In recent months we have posted, for example, on Stephan Schulz's Domestic Landscape project, Green Lamp by Zuzanna Malinowska or Werner Aisslinger's Bikini Island concept for Moroso. While at the recent Designers' Open Leipzig
read more
Expansion. It's not always good. Waistlines. Overdrafts. Weeks since you last phoned your mother. For example wouldn't be good. Business expansion is however good. And the best news is that (smow) continues to expand. Following on from the "original" (smow)rooms in Leipzig and Chemnitz, the (smow) online designer furniture store opened its virtual doors in 2008 before in 2012 (smow) Stuttgart joined the family. 2013 has already seen the launch of (smow) Erfurt, and since early October
read more
Although, according to our strict definition of "design" the work of Leipzig ceramicist Claudia Biehne must be considered handwork, we're delighted Porcelain Studio Biehne & Passig are taking part in the Designers' Open 2013 Spots. When we dropped by the studio Stefan Passig asked how we first got to know the studio's work, and unlike the romance of a casual meeting under an escalator in a former department store, with Studio Biehne & Passig we really can't recall. Suspect however it was at
read more
Despite the unnecessary unpleasantness on show at Leipzig Messe, (post to follow, awaiting legal clearance) the 2013 Designers’ Open Spots program provides more than enough reasons to get out and explore Leipzig creativity. One particularly good example is Plagwitz Village based collective diefabrik. Our introduction to diefabrik came via their cardboard furniture collection, including the shelf system “Constructo” and the Lounger “Chair777″, shown at Designers' Open 2009. An introduction
read more
There are only very few furniture manufacturers who can claim to have been major players in two fundamental furniture design revolutions. Thonet is one of them. And if we're honest, the only one we can currently name. Although the Thonet story begins in 1819, the story only really begins to "pick up steam" in 1859 when Michael Thonet perfected his warm wood bending process. The result of over twenty years development, heartbreak, experimentation, bankruptcy, fleeting success and brutal
read more
When the yellowing leaves of passing like a carpet over Leipzig lie..... it must be time for "Leipzig Creative Autumn", as the town's marketing bods will no doubt eventually get round to calling it. On Friday we'll be at Designers' Open, the start shot however is traditionally made by the Grassimesse at the Leipzig Museum for Applied Art. Which is only fair. On the one hand Grassimesse is older - tracing its history as it can back to the 1920s and counting many a Bauhaus student and
read more
We’re almost too late, almost, but until November 8th the AIT ArchitekturSalon Cologne is presenting the exhibition, Alison and Peter Smithson – The Art of Inhabitation. A reworked version of the London Design Museum’s 2003 exhibition “Alison and Peter Smithson – From the House of the Future to a House of Today”, “The Art of Inhabitation” explores the work and legacy of two of the most important post-war British architects through just one facet of the extensive canon: private houses. A facet
read more
In our post from the exhibition Made in Slums – Mathare Nairobi at the Triennale Design Museum Milan we referred to the Belgian author and curator Max Borka and his theory that the unique accent of Berlin design is largely a result of the near continual crisis the city has had to endure over the decades; a reality that has resulted in a very site specific response from designers and architects alike. During Vienna Design Week 2013 Max Borka launched a new book that explores where such a
read more
Hot on the heels of Vienna Design Week 2013 and its very successful "Passionswege" programme news reaches us from Florence of an alternative approach to rejuvenating and invigorating traditional handicrafts. One that involves nothing more complicated than leaving the craftsfolk to do what they do. One of the confusing aspects about Florence is that despite the 8 billion tourists who visit the city every year, the streets of the town centre are still largely populated by small trades
read more
"How did the elephant get its trunk?" "How do you get concrete and mortar on to the upper floors of buildings? While you don't need to know the answer to the first question to answer the second: if the elephant didn't, the answer to the second would be a lot less convenient than the modern reality. The idea of using a trunk-esque system to transport concrete and mortar to higher floors was developed by the Stuttgart engineer Karl Schlecht in his 1957 diploma project at Stuttgart University.
read more
Back in October one of the joys of Orgatec 2012 in Cologne was watching visitors reactions to Hella Jongerius' Sphere Table for Vitra. Most were highly amused and assumed it was a new kids product. An opinion that quickly changes when you learn the background to the object. Developed for Hella Jongerius' recently completed redevelopment of the North Delegate's Lounge at the United Nations in New York, the Sphere Table is a response to a brief that said the lounge could contain no internal
read more
One of the take home messages from the Vitra Design Museum's Lightopia exhibition is that lighting design is rarely about the form of the final object - that is often little more than an expression of the designers artistic sensibilities - and much more is about, for example, the utilisation of materials in the construction or the method by which the light is generated and the luminescence distributed. This reality was wonderfully underscored by Austrian designer Sebastian Zachl's Passionswege
read more
When we spoke to Marc Zehntner and Mateo Kries, the joint heads of the Vitra Design Museum, they told us that they hoped to make the institution "... a much more vibrant location that doesn’t just present exhibitions exploring the most important design themes and topics but much more asks question of the visitors and so becomes more of an experience." The fringe programme to the current Vitra Design Museum exhibition Lightopia wonderfully demonstrates just what they meant, featuring as it does
read more
"How did you first hear about kkaarrlls?" It's perhaps not quite a question on a par with "Where were you when Kennedy got shot?" or "How many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man?", but when asked by Volker Albus, Product Design Professor and Prorector at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe and, together with Stefan Legner, co-founder and "boss" from kkaarrlls, you really have to respond. "Pure chance", being our less than brilliant answer. "Milan 2009, too early for a
read more
Vienna's fine, the sun shines most the time The feeling is "laid back" Plane trees grow and Herr Gruber's beer prices are low But you know we keep thinkin' about Making our way back Well we're Leipzig City born and raised But nowadays, We're lost between two shores Vienna's fine, but it ain't home Leipzig's home, But it ain't ours no more......... Which, and with obvious apologies to Niel Diamond, is a somewhat long, involved and frankly unnecessarily depressive way, of saying that the time
read more
