As we stood in a cold-storage centre in west Vienna looking at Ljod by Copa, somehow we knew it was also training for the rapidly approaching winter. We just didn't realise how quickly it would come. A mere 72 hours later we found ourselves standing on the station platform at Prien in Chiemgau. Air temperature 4 degrees. By the time we reached Aschau, the first snow of the winter was busy dusting the tops of the Chiemgauer Alpen. And we began considering if it wasn't, slowly, time to swap
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There is nothing a newspaper sub-editor loves more than photos of an ice sculpting contest: blue sky, shimmering ice, chainsaws. And indeed nothing the manager of a 5 star hotel restaurant loves more than a well sculpted block of ice to crown an obviously over-priced buffet. However, ice isn't just chipped for the sculptural; it is popular as decorative bar furniture in winter climes and could arguably also be used for public furniture in those parts of the world where the winter temperatures
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We traditionally start our Vienna Design Week Passionswege tour at J. & L. Lobmeyr. And it is always an appointment that fills us with trepidation. Not because we fear J. or indeed L. Lobmeyr. Put it this way. A shop. Full of exquisite bone china. Full of exquisite crystal. Us. What could possibly go wrong ? And so maybe Philippe Malouin had us in mind when developing his project for Vienna Design Week 2011. And incorporated wood into his hourglasses. "Time is a quality that makes
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At Fuori Salone Milano 2011 we helped Moormann construct their stand. And of course took the opportunity to chew the fat a little with company founder and eponym Nils Holger Moormann. Variously described as being an autodidact, pioneer or provocateur, for us Nils Holger Moormann is simply pleasant company and the guarantee of well considered and soundly opinionated discussion. In the course of the Milan interview we covered the new products, the current state of the furniture industry and,
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In a New York Times piece by Alice Rawsthorn1 we read that Enzo Mari once said that he wanted to make things that factory workers would like to produce. In his UdK Berlin talk, Enzo Mari touched on a similar vein describing, in the course of various monologues, the drudgery of badly paid workers in factories producing goods that no one finds attractive and the majority of which are in any case destined to become waste. When I see an object he said, I ask who will this make happy? People
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Under DMY Berlin 2011 lancerede Daniel Wahl aka Weltunit sit nye skrivebord Wilbur. Bordet er specielt designet til den klassiske Egon Eiermann bordramme, og Wilburs primære funktion er at hjæpe brugerne med at genvinde kontrollen over deres arbejdsareal. Hvad de fleste ikke ved er, at Egon Eiermann udelukkende designede bordets ramme, da det var meningen at brugeren selv skulle levere eller fremstille deres egen bordplade - mange af Eiermanns studerende brugte eksempelvis gamle døre på
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We've long since accepted that there are more design weeks in a year than actual weeks. But we still can't accept the poor coordination between the various festivals. June, July, August.Basically nothing. September, October. Every day Copenhagen, London, Brussels, Budapest, Istanbul, Vienna, Eindhoven, Leipzig, Lodz, Zürich.... Every 2 years Orgatec in Cologne. And in the midst of all this Berlin sprouts Qubique. Hallo! We however have no choice. Or at least little choice. Our October
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As if it wasn't hard enough to keep up with the various project strands that twine together to form Droog. They've launched an imaginary brand. We did consider marking the moment by penning an imaginary post. But that would be to completely miss the point. Again. Created from the Moscow leg of the Droog Lab "Here, there, everywhere" project, Fantastical Investments is both a response to consumer habits in Russia and a vision of how the world of the future could look. The Droog Lab team
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One of the more interesting anomalies about Bauhaus Weimar is that it never had an architecture department. Despite Walter Gropius' desire to unite the arts and crafts with, and in the service of, architecture. The modern Bauhaus University Weimar does have an architecture department. A very good and award winning architecture department. At Summaery 2011 the faculty presented the results of numerous research projects: including, greenhouse - globally the first building constructed from a
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For a publication renowned for the quality of its authors, the Spiegel press department write press releases that repeat themselves a lot. That said we were delighted to receive the one that reached us at the start of the week. If less delighted to read it. And not just on account its cyclical nature. Unquestionably one of Verner Panton's most famous interior design projects, his 1969 work for the Spiegel publishing group's HQ in Hamburg is a monstrous testament to.... well Verner Panton.
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On Monday September 5th the Universität der Künste Berlin designtransfer centre hosted a talk with the Italian designer, design critic, design linguist and, somewhat paradoxically, design disdainer, Enzo Mari. Preparing for the event we read page upon page about the man, his ideas, his work but mainly about his well documented rants against.... well pretty much everything as far as we could ascertain. Which made the sight of a gentle, elderly man, walking amongst the audience, shaking hands
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Last August we made an ill-fated trip to Copenhagen and CODE 10. A trip that caused us to ponder the question if Danish furniture design is still relevant. To help us explore this point a little further we decided to speak to two young Danish designers and ask them for their views and opinions on the current state of furniture design in Denmark. Monique Engelund and Jonas Pedersen both studied architecture in Aarhus, graduating with a degree in furniture design. And no they didn't change
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Once a month we visit a trade fair. We don't always want to - but we always have to. We look at furniture. We think up some cheap jokes. We take some out of focus photos. We come home. But what is actually involved in organising a trade fair stand? How important are trade fair stands? Is our weak humour and poor photography disrespectful? In an attempt to try to answer these and similar questions we helped Moormann with the construction of their stand at Milan 2011 Although "helped" is
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Much as we'd all like to believe product and furniture design is only about aesthetics and "form follows function". There's also a bit of dull old bureaucracy involved. Why do office swivel chairs have a five-foot base and not a four-foot base? Why do all aircraft seat belts have the same fastening system? Why can you plug your headphones into any portable device? The answer is Norms, or Standards - guidelines that define how things should be constructed and tested. Norms aren't,
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Until August 27th Galerie dieschönestadt in Halle is presenting an exhibition of works by Burg Giebichenstein students/graduates. Featuring works from Jan Bernstein, Caspar Huckfeldt, Sebastian Müllauer, Hiroko Oda, David Oelschlägel, Stephan Schulz and Katharina Schwarze, "Addicited to Love" is a delightful mix of what product design is and can be. Regardless if a multi-plug that you want to show the world, a shelving system that you can take with you when you leave a room, a lounge chair
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Following our visits to the Bauhaus University Weimar, Fachhochschule Potsdam, Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee and Universität der Künste Berlin the final stage of our 2011 summer tour was Burg Giebichenstein Halle. It may just be us, but we are firmly of the belief that Burg Giebichenstein students complete more, and more varied, seminars than students at any of the other schools we visit. At least based on the presentations at their end of year show. Be it designing record sleeves,
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The winner the Dark Lime Vitra Panton Chair Summer Cocktail Competition is Alessandro Barison. Congratulations !!! His "Spritz Upgrade" - essentially a classic Spritz with sparkling water and orange juice - or a Bucks Fizz with Aperol as one jury member commented - was the unanimous victor. The principle reason given being that the addition of the orange juice and water lightened the drink, or at least the perception of the drink, making it a wonderful accompaniment to a hot summers
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Tilbage i februar fejrede VitraHaus i Weil am Rhein sin første fødselsdag. Vi talte med Vitras chefdesigner Eckart Maise om VitraHaus og om planerne for fremtiden. (smow)blog: VitraHaus er nu ét år gammelt, er du tilfreds med det første år? Eckart Maise: Ja, VitraHaus har været en stor succes og 'resonansen' har været meget positiv, både med hensyn til antallet af besøgende samt den feedback vi har fået. Eksempelvis er besøgstallene for 'Vitra Campus' nu tredoblet i forhold til tiden før
read moreAs already mentioned one of the projects that most appealed to us at the Universität der Künste Berlin Rundgang 2011 was Scolyt from Marco Merkel. The modern world being what its is - Marco's iPad presentation is available on vimeo. Because it explains everything much better than we ever could, we post it here. And recommend it heartily. (From about 1 min 30 onwards you can see the technique(s) employed by Marco)
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A quick tram and S-Bahn ride from Rundgang at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee brought us to Rundgang at Universität der Künste Berlin. Similar concept. Different worlds. Whereas Weißensee exudes an almost parochial innocence, the UdK feels like The New York School of the Performing Arts in the early 1980s. At any minute a nimble framed, leotard and leg-warmer attired youth could leap down the stairs and complain about Mr. Shorofsky not understanding the modern world before pirouetting
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Returning to Berlin from Einblick at the Fachhochschule Potsdam the next stage on our 2011 summer tour was Rundgang 2011 at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee. The 2011 Product Design Graduate Show was staged in a former supermarket under the title "Kaufhalle wird Kunsthalle" - a name which translates as "A Supermarket becomes an art gallery" and which for us was a very fitting title because although there were a couple of projects that we enjoyed looking at, there was nothing that we would
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London based design studio Barber Osgerby stands as a testament to the fact that high quality work will always win through, with or without the media status "star designer" While its fair to say that many of their contemporaries have been placed on international glossy magazine pedestals, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby have remained largely in the shadows, quietly producing consistently high quality work for both international producers and private customers. That is however slowly changing
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Until July 31st we are giving readers the chance to win a limited edition Dark Lime Panton Chair. In effect we are swapping a Dark Lime Panton Chair for a summer cocktail/mixed drink recipe. The best wins! In order to give you some ideas and inspiration we have asked several Vitra VIPs for their favourite recipe. Today Vitra Chief Design Officer Eckart Maise shares his Caipirinha recipe He obvioulsy can't win - but he can share a recipe!!! As the man who commissioned works such as Tip Ton
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Following on from Summaery at the Bauhaus University Weimar our summer tour 2011 took us on to Einblick at the Fachhochschule Potsdam. Or FHP:-) to give it its formal title. One of Germany's newest design schools - the first communication design course at the FHP:-) began in 1992, product design joining in 1993 - the college has quickly built up a strong reputation for the quality of its teaching and research. But not for its logo. Or FHP;-) as witticisms are presumably supposed to be
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