As you know we here at smow(blog) aren't fans of complicated designer furniture. Really aren't. Less is more - so the grand theologian of post-war European design Dieter Rams - and let form follow function. That's us. A side table or bedside unit need, normally, do nothing more than support a cup, glass or magazine. Now you could add numerous extras to your table or you could - as with Müller Möbelfabrikation - bend some steel into the shape you want. In 1926 Mart Stam bent some steel
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The snow is finally gone from the streets of Leipzig and that can only mean two things. Dangerously large holes in the roads. And Leipzig Buchmesse. And as in 2009 (smow) is once again taking part in Leipzig Liest - Europes largest public book reading. (smow)liest begins on March 18th with Grillsaison from Philipp Kohlhöfer. Less related to the Cobb Pro, Grillsaison is a humorous, occasionally deeply ironic, journey in search of the real Germany. David Hasselhof included. On March 19
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They say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. They, however, have obviously never spent hours, weeks and years sweating over a project until it is perfect. And so whether it is furniture designs, web site concepts or literature, they simply copy. In January the winners of the 2010 Plagiarius Competition for excellence in copying the work of others were announced. Among the happy winners a Chinese imitation of a German ice tray and Polish rip-off of a German toy combine
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As many of you will be aware, the construction of the VitraHaus was not without it's controversy. For all the decision to paint the outer walls black. We at (smow)blog can however exclusively reveal that other options were considered. And below we publish exclusive pictures of the rejected colour schemes. Berlin based, Dutch designer Hella Jongerius has created the Vitra Colour Laboratory to help encourage VitraHaus visitors to be more imaginative and creative in their use of colour. One
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If a picture really does paint a thousand words; a dozen VitraHaus photos here saves us an awful lot of typing. Below a few of our favourite images. And if you have any of your own photos that you would like to share with us, please email them to blog@smow.de Full credit will naturally be given for any photos used.
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Some 285 journalists were present for the press preview of Herzog & De Meuron's new VitraHaus in Weil am Rhein on February 12 2010. 285 journalists who were then obliged not to breath a word about what they had experienced until Saturday 20.02.2010...... Lets get the obvious point out the way first. The VitraHaus is magnificent. We approached Herzog & De Meuron's construction on foot from Mühlheimerstrasse and the first view over the car park was every bit as wonderful as we had expected.
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When we were still young, fit and healthy, towns and cities existed. Just existed. These days in order to exist a city needs to be the city of something. And so as one drives along a German motorway, every ten metres or so comes a large brown sign announcing the next conurbation as "Chemnitz - City of the Modernity", "Pied Piper City Hameln" or "Prien am Chiemsee - City of the criminally lazy taxi drivers". Not wanting to be the outsider in this age of claims making, Weil am Rhein has
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Despite the many disadvantages, problems and general chaos budget airlines have brought into our previously well structured and ordered lives, they have brought one clear advantage: The opportunity to visit really remote airports. More through necessity than freewill, thousands of air travellers now find themselves avoiding the likes of Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle or Frankfurt am Main Airport, and instead experiencing the delights of Klagenfurt, Tampere or Altenburg. At least in all modern
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While we are enjoying ourselves at the #VitraHaus preview in Weil am Rhein, the good people of Weimar will be getting their first chance to view the exhibition "In Sand gezeichnet – Entwürfe von Alvar Aalto" (Drawn in Sand - Sketches by Alvar Aalto) at the Bauhaus Universität in Weimar. Featuring over 100 sketches and 18 models of never realised projects, the exhibition promises an interesting insight into the process behind the design of the man who led Scandinavian architecture into
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Following our visit to the #VitraHaus this coming Friday, the (smow)wintertour 2010 then proceeds, by ski, along the alps to Aschau im Chiemgau, Bavaria and a visit to Nils Holger Moormann and the, so-called, Moormann Haus. Constructed in 1859 by the Bavarian star architect/stage designer team of Christian Jank and Eduard Riedel, who later went on to find wider acclaim with the construction of Schloss Neuschwanstein, the Moormann Haus was built to commemorate the presentation by Maximilian
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9th February 2010, Brussels Under the motto "Think before you Post" the from the EU funded Safer Internet Day 2010 is focused primarily on how one deals with privacy in the internet, especially as concerns young people, photos, social networking sites and chatrooms. Which is naturally a positive thing. In essence one of the core reasons that people for all kids, run into problems on the internet is because they blindly believe everything they read. Previously "the camera never lied", we
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In the wake of our "warehouse" post we have received numerous emails along a similar vein: "It's OK for yous and your highly trained Eames Elephants; but how do we get our USM Haller furniture into our flat?" The simple answer - assuming you live in Germany - is "PREMIUM delivery" Under normal conditions the Schenker delivery crews are only allowed to deliver to the door of your building. It's a legal thing. With "PREMIUM delivery", however, for a small additional fee not only will the
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As announced yesterday we sadly cannot attend this years Stockholm Furniture Fair - because we have to go to Switzerland, and then quickly back over the border to Germany, or better put: The Official Preview of the Vitra Design Museum complex in Weil am Rhein's newest attraction. The VitraHaus. Designed by Swiss star architects Herzog & de Meuron - perhaps best known for the Beijing National Stadium or the extension of the Tate gallery in London - the VitraHaus is principally conceived as an
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This coming Tuesday - 09 Feb - sees the opening of one of our favourite furniture events. The Stockholm Furniture Fair. Sadly on account of events happening elsewhere in Europe next week - watch this space - we now cannot make it to Stockholm. And so an appeal: Is anyone going to the Stockholm Furniture Fair who can send us a few photos and a brief report on how you found it? Or do you live in Stockholm and would you like to visit the Fair. We know it's cheeky, but if you can help dig us
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The last couple of days have seen an endless stream of emails into the (smow)blog bunker asking if we are OK. And if we're OK, why aren't we posting anything? Can't we be bothered? Are we bored? Have we finally be rumbled by the (smow)boss? Far from it, the sad truth is we've been forced into doing some real work for change. We know, we can't believe it either! (smow) ... in stock and ready to go.. The combination of Christmas holidays and heavy snow throughout Europe has meant that
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Zeeland, Michigan, 1969 Ten years ago Charles and Ray Eames revolutionised the world of chair design with their "aluminium Chair" range. And now they hope to do it again. In one of the most eagerly anticipated announcements of the year, Charles and Ray Eames today unveiled their new product range: soft Pad “soft Pad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device” declared a proud Charles Eames as he unveiled the new range to the specially invited journalists in the
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G'day! What with all the excitement about the new iSlate, we missed Australia Day yesterday. And so wanted to use today to write a post involving words like "Sheila", "Sheila", "I can see the pub from here!" and "Sheila" Then we discovered that we'd also missed the announcement of the shortlist for the 2010 Australian International Design Awards. And that seemed a much better subject than lazy international stereotypes. The "Architectural and Interior" products section of the 2010 Awards
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In what is quite possibly the most eagerly anticipated announcement of 2010, Apple Supremo Steve Jobs will unveil the companies latest product in San Francisco on Wednesday. Rumoured the be called iSlate, or possibly iPad or iTablet, the product is expected to combine the functionality of the iPhone with that of the iMac in a flat, transportable, keyboardless computer; thus allowing the user to write, draw and calculate anywhere. In effect a chalkboard for the 21st century. Hence the name.
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Fear not, we've still got a duffel bag full of products and stories from our week in Cologne to bring you. However we feel it only right to quickly review the 2010 IMM Cologne. Elsewhere we've read that there were no trends to be found at IMM. Which for us is positive. Trends have no place in the furniture business. Trends imply that the role of furniture is to meet some pre-ordained assumption on the part of the consumer as to what their furniture should look like, how it should behave
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It's not often a product impresses us so much it causes us to swear; but Becherlicht by Martin Neuhaus had such an affect on us we spent our first four hours at Designers Fair cursing like trawlermen who had just hauled a case of whisky on board. Honestly the looks we got. But it was worth it. Because Becherlicht is already well on its way to being our product of the year. Light shining though a plastic beaker throws a coloured shadow onto a surface. The idea is so simple, yet only works
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There is little doubt as to who the most popular furniture producers with the exhibitors here in Köln are.... Vitra and Kartell. Two producers whom the Messe Köln sadly can't attract to the show in their own right. And that despite the fact that all the snack bars here in Köln Messe use Maarten van Severen's genial .03 On the stands here however we've seen, for example, Panton Chairs being used to augment otherwise tasteless bedroom suites and the classic Vitra DSR by Charles and Ray Eames
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"You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in" Arlo Guthrie's quote features on interror.be in conjunction with the product sevenup - a light that ironically proves that although a dark can be helpful to a light ... it aint a pre-requisite. Reminiscent of Rody Grauman’s 85 lamps for droog - just with only seven bulbs and with the bulbs elegantly held apart form one another - sevenup is a wonderful modern interpretation the classic chandelier. Stripped to the bare essentials - cables,
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To celebrate their 50th birthday the German furnishings magazine "Schöner Wohnen" have produced a small book entitled "Das Buch der Klassiker“ ("The book of classics") in which the magazine present their 400 furniture and accessory classics. And an exhibition of the selected items forms the basis of the Schöner Wohnen stand here in Cologne. Aside from familiar faces such as Vegetal by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec from Vitra or the Castore lamp by Huub Ubbens und Michele De Lucchi for
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In a previous life Patrick Frey created one of our favourite Moormann products: Kant. And we think he may have done it again with Nook his new stool for vial. Manufactured in a single piece from VarioLine - an injection moulded plastic - the folded form is held together by an aluminium catch in the base. The tension generated in the VarioLine give Nook its stability and durability. In addition, thanks to the nature of the VarioLine Nook is weather and UV resistant and so can be used just
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