For some July is all about relaxing, enjoying the sun and drinking G+Ts under a Droog Shadylace parasol. For the (smow)blog team July means art and design college annual exhibitions. However for reasons unfathomable to us most Germanic colleges insist on holding their exhibitions on the same weekend. Obviously Germany design schools can develop everything: except a joined-up, national student exhibition plan. Fortuitously amongst the shows that have caught our attention this year there is a
read more
Following his ankle injury Cesare "Joe" Colombo was replaced for this match by Antonio Citterio, one of the most experienced designers in the Italian squad. Opening with a quick Mobil for Kartell Antonio Citterio quickly reinforced this with a Follow Me for Vitra. Despite the intensity of the opening Citterio couldn't break Maarten Van Severn's legendary calm and the doyen of Belgian furniture design responded with an elegant LCP for Kartell and MVS Chaise for Vitra combination and so
read more
The theme of the 2010 Designpreis Halle is and was "travel" For us travelling to Halle has a special meaning as in a previous life we used to regularly travel to Halle, experience all sorts of perverse inhumane horrors and then travel back to Leipzig glad - once again - to have escaped from the banks of the Saale with our lives. That was then. But since then not only has our life changed but we now see and understand Halle in a completely different light. Thanks largely to another tour;
read more
One of the high points of Verner Panton's career came in Switzerland when in Vitra he finally found a producer for his Panton Chair. Today however there was no room for sentiment and Panton came out fighting. Picking up where he left off against Joe Colombo Verner Panton attempted a quick plastic combination, his Barboy however going just wide. Fritz Haller remained as composed and sturdy as ever, the flexibility of his classic USM Haller system allowing him to respond to whatever move Verner
read moreThere is a very familiar flair to Group D and this opening encounter pitted three old friends against each other; Eero Saarinen and Charles and Ray Eames. The three have been close friends since the start of their careers and the common influences and experiences were clearly visible in many of their early approaches. The longer the contest ran however the more the differences appeared and the more each side could set their individual tone and make use if their individual strengths. For all
read more
It may not be the most universally recognised example of either Charles Eames' nor Eero Saarinen's canon however their 1940 "Conversation Chair" is without doubt one of the more important examples of 20th century furniture design. Designed for the New York Museum of Modern Art's "Organic Design in Home Furnishings" competition the Conversation Chair was a concept piece and Eames' and Saarinen's first attempt at moulding synthetics. At that time however the technology lagged somewhat behind
read moreAlthough stylistically worlds apart both Ron Arad and Charles Rennie Mackintosh are united by their individual and uncompromising style and approach to design. As expected it was Charles Rennie Mackintosh who made the stronger start, taking a 1:0 lead with his Argyle Chair - a brave break form contemporary convention and a deserved lead. Ron Arad's attempts at stemming Mackintosh's dominance largely lacked the required precision and all landed wide of their intended target. Late in the second
read moreFor 26 years James Irvine has been quietly and unassumingly influencing European industrial design. Immediately after graduating from the London Royal College of Art in 1984 James Irvine moved to Milan to take up a position with the Olivetti design studio. And has pretty much been in the north Italian metropolis ever since. In 1992 James Irvine left Olivetti and since then has worked with companies as varied as Artemide, B&B Italia, Whirlpool, Magis and WMF. Among his most public projects is
read more
With Royal Ascot in "full flight" and the All England Championships at Wimbledon beginning om Monday, the summer season is here and with it long evenings in the garden, on the terrace or on the balcony. Lovely. And so it was guaranteed no coincidence that we saw the wonderful Shadylace by Chris Kabel for Droog at DMY Berlin last week. For having reached a comfortable, and somewhat overweight, middle age we now feel justified in owning such a treasure. Not only does Shadylace stylishly
read moreThe first meeting between Jasper Morrison and Isamu Noguchi proved to be a truly one-sided affair; a result that although deserved, seemed unfair on the old master of Japanese design. Despite a few brave forays with his coffee table or rocking stools, Isamu Noguchi was unable to get away from his Akari Lamp stereotype. Jasper Morrison was more than able to profit from Noguchi's alleged monotypology and through some clever chair and crockery combinations was soon leading 4:0. Towards the end of
read more
On June 26th the (smow)blog team befind themselves in Weil am Rhein and a workshop in cardboard furniture production at the Vitra Design Museum. The plans for our new piece are relatively well advanced, that said we did take the opportunity to check out some of the cardboard furniture on display at this years DMY Berlin. Below a small selection of some of the pieces that especially caught our attention. Edge Table was the first collaboration between father and son team Cameron and Martin
read more
Of course it wasn't a UFO at DMY Berlin Oh but how we laughed. The structure was the so-called "Tape Installation" by the Austrian/Croatian design team For Use/Numen. First presented at the 2009 Vienna Design Week the installation was in Berlin as advertising and an invitation for the 2010 Vienna Design Week. Which makes it all the more amusing that it won a DMY Award. In Vienna it was an original installation, and importantly an installation in context that demonstrated to visitors what
read more
Between 1965 and 1985 the Soviet Union launched some 57 satellites from their rocket launching base on Berlin's Alexander Platz; thus, making Berlin the single most important launch site in the Soviet block. Following the disintegration of first the Berlin Wall and subsequently the Warsaw Pact, satellite launches from Alexander Platz ceased and the area was converted to a nature park for tourists and those who prey on such. In 1995 Berlin City Council erected an exact replica of a satellite
read more
At the risk of alienating the whole of Switzerland, it is probably fair to say that globally Swiss design is most successfully represented by pointy chocolate. And the font Helvetica. Although that may only be an issue to the hard working young men of Berlin-Mitte. With their Swiss focus the organisers of the 2010 DMY Berlin set out to try to introduce other facets and directions of Swiss design to a wider public. Something which they achieved; albeit with a couple of provisos. The idea
read more
Day two of the 2010 (smow) designer furniture World Cup and the first all female match: Patricia Urquiola against Hella Jongerius. As expected Urquiola started in her typical robust, voluminous fashion as demonstrated by her work with the likes of B&B Italia, Cassina or Molteni & C. Against the more wily, formally adventurous Jongerius, however, Urquiola advanced only slowly with her classic "lounge" approach. Switching to a more synthetic "Kartell" Approach seemed to offer Urquiola more
read more
It is truly the stuff of conspiracy theories. A disused US air base. An object of unfamiliar form created from a super-light weight material. We're just missing an autopsy video....
read more
This coming Sunday sees the awarding of the 2010 Designpreis Halle. We know. Designpreis. Halle. And no its not for the most passé tag scrawled with an Edding on the side of a deserted tenement. For despite all stereotypes and preconceptions about "Chemie Halle", scratch below the centuries of industrial pollution on the buildings you will find some true talent on the Saale. One reason is Burg Giebichenstein, an art and design college that regularly produces high quality graduates.
read more
Between 1965 and 1985 the Soviet Union launched some 57 satellites from their rocket launching base on Berlin's Alexander Platz; thus, making Berlin the single most important launch site in the Soviet block. Following the disintegration of first the Berlin Wall and subsequently the Warsaw Pact, satellite launches from Alexander Platz ceased and the area was converted to a nature park for tourists and those who prey on such. In 1995 Berlin City Council erected an exact replica of a satellite
read moreThe (smow) designer furniture world cup always throws up some interesting matches, and Konstantin Grcic against Frank Gehry was always going to be a highly entertaining spectacle: experience against youth, minimalist straightforwardness versus radical non-conformity. From the very first minute the inability of Konstantin Grcic to get to grips with the non-linear forms created by his opponent was obvious and Frank Gehry quickly established a 1:0 lead, largely thanks to some brilliant
read more
Between 1965 and 1985 the Soviet Union launched some 57 satellites from their rocket launching base on Berlin's Alexander Platz; thus, making Berlin the single most important launch site in the Soviet block. Following the disintegration of first the Berlin Wall and subsequently the Warsaw Pact, satellite launches from Alexander Platz ceased and the area was converted to a nature park for tourists and those who prey on such. In 1995 Berlin City Council erected an exact replica of a satellite
read moreAlthough this encounter was never going to be as extravagant as the opening match, Fritz Haller and Maarten Van Severen fought a tense, minimalist battle in Durban. Fritz Haller's style has changed little since he broke onto the international design scene in the 1960s and his trademark mini, midi, maxi approach ensured a typically solid Fritz Haller performance. Maarten Van Severen's occasional forays were always very well considered and perfectly executed; yet, despite .03 or .04 excellent
read moreThe opening match of the 2010 (smow) designer furniture World Cup pitted not only two of the great design nations against each other, but two of the most influential post-war European designers: Verner Panton and Cesare "Joe" Colombo. In a brave early move Verner Panton attempted to go solo with his Bachelor chair, Colombo managing to counter at the last minute with his Armchair Modell 4801 for Kartell. Following further good build-ups and clever uses of plastics, Joe Colombo eventually took
read more
For Berlins premier design show DMY Berlin is mighty shy: but then it is only 5. And certainly no better explanation occurs to us as to why the entrances should be so well hidden. But with the help of a man with a knitting machine under his arm we eventually found our way to Hanger 5 - and our initial grumpiness at the signage shortcomings soon passed. We've been to many a design show in our time; but never in a venue that works quite as well as Tempelhof. Despite having been an active
read more
With less than a week to go before the opening match in the 2010 (smow) Designer Furniture World Cup the 16 competing nations have been busy finalising their preparations. Co-favourites USA arrived in South Africa from their training camp in Denmark in good spirits, team manager George Nelson however avoided answering the question as to how he saw his team's chances with the answer that “the simple joy of taking an idea into one's own hands and giving it proper form, that's exciting.” For
read more
