To close the group phases of the 2010 (smow) designer furniture world cup one of the most anticipated contests: Charles and Ray Eames against Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. With everything to play for the Bouroullec brothers opened with an adventurous Slow Chair for Vitra before producing a wonderful Alcove Sofa. Neither attempt was quite good enough to break through a solid Eames defence; although were good enough to keep Charles and Ray Eames on the back foot and so prevent them making any
read moreThe familiar nature of Group D was continued with this meeting of two grandees of the international designer furniture circuit: Eero Saarinen and Alexander Girard. With both still having an outside chance of qualifying for the semi-finals the start was edgy and imprecise. Alexander Girard however was first to find his rhythm and came close with an intricate Names fabric. Eero Saarinen responded with a clever Grasshopper chair, a move which produced the most delightful Millerstripe
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On several occasions in the past month we have repeatedly seen a similar scene. A scene that has made us cry. Lovely houses, truly wonderful, carefully considered constructions in idyllic locations - and then in the garden, furniture that the owners have obviously bought, possibly as an after thought, from their local garden centre. Just looking at some of the chairs made our upper thighs go numb from discomfort. And as for that recliner yesterday in Berlin!!!! People, gardens are there to
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Although always a hard fought encounter this Holland - Germany match had an added edge; the winner proceeding to the semi-finals of the 2010 (smow) designer furniture World Cup. Ahead of the match the Dutch decided to switch Hella Jongerius for Marcel Wanders; hoping that the creative force behind moooi and droog could better counteract Grcic's clear, linear forms. And the tactic worked. With first his Knotted Chair and then his New Antiques combination for Capellini, Marcel Wanders took a
read moreFor both Canada and Spain the tournament was already over before this match kicked off. Despite that both sides contributed to a high quality and keenly contested match. Although on paper Patricia Urquiola was the favourite, she was unable to properly take advantage of her greater repertoire, preferring instead to rely on fairly large scale, prestige projects. Although Frank Gehry remained true to his non-linear form he surprised Urquiola late in the match with a left twist cube for Heller.
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Effortless and relaxed as this all seems, our reality is a life in constant motion as we move from one appointment to the next. As one press release closes, another opens. As it were. And along the way we meet an awful lot of excellent design from designers who simply can't command the publicity of a Philippe Starck, Verner Panton or Jasper Morrison. Which isn't really fair as the work is often just as good. And so in our new, irregular, series (smow)Introducing we aim to present some of
read moreKnowing that they needed to defeat Fritz Haller's stable and flexible USM Haller system in order to advance the Italians choose to stick with Antonio Citterio for this all or nothing encounter. Setting quickly to work Antonio Citterio rolled out a succession of office chairs; including the Oson CE, Axess and T-chair for Vitra. However regardless of what Antonio Citterio tried, Fritz Haller always found a combination to match and ultimately took a 1:0 lead with a beautifully finished Haller
read moreFollowing Verner Panton's red card against Fritz Haller, Denmark were forced into a change and so Arne Jacobsen lined-up against Maarten Van Severen. And although this was never going to be a high-tempo encounter the crowd in Johannesburg did become somewhat impatient at the incredibly slow pace of the competition. With both designers endlessly reworking and perfecting their pieces it was well into the second half before the first attack developed: a neat Ant Chair from Arne Jacobsen giving
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Having decided on our concept, all we had to do was ensure that the structure had enough stability. And although we knew that stability was going to be a problem, it always is with cardboard, we had seriously underestimated just how difficult it was going to be to incorporate stability into our plan without compromising weight, volume or indeed the very fabric of our concept. It took about four minutes before our carefully considered sketches were consigned to the bin. 3D reality and 2D
read moreAlthough the majority of Ron Arad's work could squash most of Isamu Noguchi's, he played fair and held back from producing a Well-Tempered chair, preferring instead to work on variations in plastic. Despite some good Infinity Bottle Rack, Lovely Rita and Bookworm work for Kartell, Isamu Noguchi's constantly high standard Akari lamp variations held the Israeli at bay and the final 0:0 was a just result. The Group C table and all Group C results can be found
read moreFor Charles Rennie Mackintosh the 2010 (smow) designer furniture World Cup may have been over; but matches against England always have their own incentive. With Tom Dixon replacing Jasper Morrison, the English took an early lead with the Dixon Bronze Copper Shade and moved further ahead with a beautifully worked Off Cut stool. In the second half Charles Rennie Mackintosh narrowed the gap with his Hill House chair; however Tom Dixon responded with a quick Wingback Chair and Spin candelabra
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Parallel to its exhibitions the Vitra Design Museum organises workshops designed not only to accompany the exhibitions but much more to expand on them and so offer participants a new, active, insight into the theme. Or at least an aspect of the theme. For the current exhibition "Essence of Things. Design and the Art of Reduction" this means, among others, workshops on cardboard furniture production. Cardboard is without question one of the more challenging products that one can choose for
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After the strenuous match against Alexander Girard, France decided to rest Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for the match against Eero Saarinen. Their replacement, the enfant terrible of contemporary French design Philippe Starck however failed to match the old Finnish master; too often Philippe Starck strove forward with fairly predictable and poorly considered approaches. Eero Saarinen was able to make use of the gaps produced by Philippe Starck to good effect scoring with his Tulip Chair and a
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Perhaps best known for her numerous co-operations with Le Corbusier, the Parisian architect and designer Charlotte Perriand played an instrumental role in developing the European modern movement: Not least as Charlotte Perriand is credited with converting Le Corbusiers modern furniture ideas into reality and so establishing the tradition of minimal, bent chrome steel tube and leather furniture. Among the most famous of these collaborations are the from Cassina produced LC4 Chaise Longue, LC2
read moreCharles Rennie Mackintosh was greatly influenced by Japanese design and this encounter against Isamu Noguchi quickly developed into a masterclass of subtle, self-confident, organic design. Charles Rennie Mackintosh took an instant lead with his complete interior ensemble for the Willow Tea Rooms. In particular the Willow Chair seemed to distract Noguchi through its familar, yet foreign narrative. Isamu Noguchi recovered however and drew level with his Freeform Sofa and Ottoman before moving
read moreDespite the rumours flying around ahead of this match, England stuck with Jasper Morrison rather than pitting Tom Dixon against Ron Arad. Whereas many would have relished the opportunity to have witnessed the two masters of "real" industrial design going head to head the Morrison/Arad encounter was every bit as entertaining. Unmoved by Ron Arad's Bookworm, Jasper Morrison concentrated on his chair work and took the lead with his Basel chair for Vitra; a simple move that produced the deserved
read moreFollowing their defeat of Eero Saarinen in their opening match, Charles and Ray Eames found themselves up against another old companion in the form of Alexander Girard in this all important second group match in the 2010 (smow) designer furniture world cup. Opening with a classic Plywood group combination of LCW and CTM Charles and Ray Eames moved steadily towards their former Herman Miller colleague. Complimenting the LCW chair and CTM table with an LCM chair Charles and Ray Eames seemed
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The (smow)blog team outing to the cardboard furniture workshop was coupled with a visit to the current Vitra Design Museum Exhibition: The Essence of Things. Design and the Art of Reduction. We must admit to finding it more than a little ironic that an exhibition on "Design and the Art of Reduction" should be taking place in a building designed by Frank Gehry, especially when Tadao Ando's Conference Pavilion is only some 10m away. And after the long journey to Weil am Rhein this thought
read moreIf ever a designer furniture contest could be compared to a game of "rock-paper-scissors" then surely Hella Jongerius against Frank O. Gehry. The Mistress of Materials against the King of Solid Constructions. And so developed this match. Frank Gehry applied all his radical geometry to try to find a way through the Dutch defence; but found himself continually hindered by the fact that natural material forms are always more sustainable than artificially generated: Or put another way Hella
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You know how it is. You arrive early in the office..... Make a coffee..... Turn the computer on........ Check out the tabloid press websites..... And break gently into the day with stories as irrelevant and vacuous as they are compelling. It's just a comfortable and familiar way to start the day. This morning was different. The story had all the makings of normal tabloid nonsense: a pop star, a footballer's wife and a party guest list that you suspect had been thrown together by a tired and
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Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec are without doubt two of the brightest stars in the international designer furniture heaven. And two of the most omnipotent. Something which however may slowly change. Ronan Bouroullec in the VitaHaus, Weil am Rhein Following their initial breakthrough with Cuisine désintégrée ( Disintegrated kitchen ), an concept piece by Ronan Bouroullec that was taken on by Italian producer Capellini in 1998, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec went on to develop projects with companies
read moreThe careers of Konstantin Grcic and Patricia Urquiola could barely be more different; whereas Patricia Urquiola has steadily and confidently moved through the traditional Italian designer furniture producers, Konstantin Grcic has skipped from cult producer to cult producer with only the occasional diversion into the mainstream of European designer furniture producers. Opening with a Hut Ab for Nils Holger Moormann, Grcic then complimented this with an ES shelving system for Moormann before
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For the sake of completion in terms of our coverage of the Designpreis Halle 2010: The winning film Moving Family by Guy Königstein (The German version is called “Die Rückreise” the film here is the English version; hence the different title)
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Both Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec as well as Alexander Girard had to wait a long time for their opening match in this years (smow) designer furniture world cup - but for the sell out crowd in Pretoria the wait was more than worth it. Although born in New York, Alexander Girard qualifies for Mexico on account of the Wooden Doll side of his family tree. Opening up with an impressive selection of traditional southern Portuguese patterns Girard was initially confused as the Bouroullec brothers
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