What the war on terror being won and everything, it appears Barack Obama has turned to his Secret Service to help save the American economy. We know its a weak joke, but they sadly didn't seem to understand what we meant when we asked what the delivery time is for
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As our old snowboard buddy used to say "Beaten tracks are for beaten men". And as everyone who deliberately strays from the conventional path knows sometimes you push it too far, take too many risks, lose control, break several limbs, are out of action for months and must begin all over again. Or if you know what you are doing, the conditions are right, you have the talent and just that pinch of luck you might just have the ride of your life - a ride that leaves you longing for the same,
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At the kkaarrllss showcase we couldn't help noticing that the students were using a copy of "Das Kunstwerk" [The work of art...] by Walter Benjamin to support the lamp. A subtle critic on Benjamin's Marxist ramblings, a rejection of modernism or just typical student forgetfulness. Fascinating
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Having re-read the first two "off-Salone" entries, we fear that it could be interpreted that we are not doing very much here. To correct that view, we must point out that you are only getting the pick of the crop; by the time a text reaches the (smow)blog we have already sorted out the rotten, misformed and unripe fruits. After leaving the after-hours-acid-jazz-cafe ambiance of the Zona Tortona press room, we headed of north towards the Piazza Moscova. First port of call was Established &
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Picture taken on Corso Garibaldi north of Piazza Moscova. The building in the middle is the "Centro Bonsai" - and the tallest building in the block. Italy - great at design, rubbish at artificially restricting vegetative
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We must say it is good to get back to the comfort of the Zona Tortona press room and an ice cold cola - although we must report that the focaccia's sadly seem to be finished :( The first port of call for our second "off Salone" sojourn today was "Fake it Easy" Czech design studio Koncern who have produced a range of products with the - alleged - aim that they should be copied. In the smow(blog) we have often discussed the subject of original and copies and we would loved to have discussed
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After 3 days at the Milan exhibition centre we're giving it a miss today and spending the whole day "off-Salone" Currently enjoying the splendid hospitality in the Zona Tortona press room and will try to ignore the film crew next to us who are working on "The First Design Movie" - coming to specialist film shop near you in September and try to order our thoughts from the first part of our tour. We were up and about early, far to early for most designers but that didn' stop us making a small
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Looks like it could be a new seating system by Ron Arad - it is in fact a safety barrier inside the main exhibition
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Here in Milan we have the main trade fair in the exhibition centre, the main "off-site" around the Via Tortona, and then the more extensive off-off-site which encompasses more or less the whole of the city. And so it was that we ventured yesterday evening into the wilds of north Milan in search of the designersblock showcase - the 9th of its kind organised by the London based collective After the compulsory getting lost and walking in the wrong direction we eventually arrived ... and quickly
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Graffiti is the plural of the Italian word graffito meaning "writing" and as already reported is a highly regarded art form in Leipzig which we at smow like to export. And so when we saw a blackboard and chalk at Tom Dixons stand in Superstudio Pia how could we
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As a long-standing Vitra partner the (smow)blog team naturally paid an early visit to the Vitra stand. Vitra's principle new project this year is the Vegetal by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec ... over which we have previously written. This time however we can also say that we have sat in a Vegetal and can report that it is much more stable than it looks in the pictures. The result of four years research, and a lot of trial and error, Vegetal is firm without being uncomfortable and - despite
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Milan may be Italy's second largest city and an important industrial centre ... but it also lies close to both Lago di Garda and the Alps. And as this photo from the exhibition centre parking level shows, not matter how stressful the Salone is, serenity is never far
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British designer Tom Dixon's Milan 2009 show is taking place under the motto "Back to Basics - Utility". A title that refers less to a return to minimalistic design - Dixon never was one for the overly ornate - and more to the materials used in the design; in the designers words "the collection uses some of the most basic and primitive of materials, re-thought for the modern age" Among the new items that caught our attention was "Screw Table". Constructed from "one bomb proof heavy cast
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Taking photographs in a moving underground train is not as easy as it looks :) But we think we just about managed it... The text on the sign says "C'e la crisi? No, c'e il Salone!" Which roughly translated means: "Is it a crisis? -- no its Salone!" ; the main PR angle of the exhibition organisers being "Crisis...what crisis?" For us in the (smow)blog team the only crisis at the moment is the length of time we have to que to get coffee here in the press
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Whereas the main Salone exhibition opened today, Wednesday; a lot of those producers and designers who are exhibiting "off-Salone" opened their doors on Tuesday evening. Among them dutch producer Moooi who launched their forthcoming selection in the Superstudio Pia on the Supertrendy Via Tortona And we must admit to being more than little impressed by many - though not all - of the designs. In particular the Eurolantern, Raimond and Tree Lamp ranges caught our imagintion. We'll let the
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During the Salone exhibition a parallel "Public Design Festival" is taking place; an event which includes many such installations. This is public nap facility on the Via
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Firstly apologies for the small delay... the internet connections in Milan aren't all they could be :) A couple of months ago we mentioned the Terminal trade fair and introduced Vitra's range of public seating solutions. And so it was with a particular joy to experience the chairs in action this morning at both Munich and Leipzig airports. Wheres in Munich we just saw Sir Norman Foster's "Airline" system, in Leipzig we saw both the "Airline" and .03 from Maartin Van Severen. Both airports
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Leipzig is famous for many things: Bach, Neo Rauch, Bach .... and Graffiti. We may not have as much as our neighbours in Halle, but ours has the superior quality and a higher degree of originality. Much like our designer furniture. And so when a delegation from smow paid a visit to Vitra this week it was natural that they shared this particular element of Leipzig's cultural identity with their hosts. Aside from defacing Vitra's walls, the (smow)team also visited the Vitra offices, and
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"Most people spend their lives living in dreary, beige conformity, mortally afraid of using colours. The main purpose of my work is to provoke people into using their imagination and make their surroundings more exciting." Verner Panton No one who knows the work of Verner Panton could or would argue that his work successfully achieved it's purpose. But for all his interior design projects, such as the canteen at the Spiegel headquarters in Hamburg emphasis exactly what Panton always hoped to
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We at (smow)blog make no secret of our admiration for the work of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and so were especially delighted to receive confirmation of the "new" projects they will be displaying at the Salone Mobile in Milan. In addition to their Vegetal Chair for Vitra and Clouds for Kvadrat, both of which we have already mentioned, les frères Bouroullec will also be premiering their Quilt sofa for Established & Sons and Steelwood coat hanger for Magis. For us the real charm of the four
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Its a few days old, but what with Easter, planning for Milan and the sunny weather we are little hinterher. Over the Easter weekend US based online magazine Yanko Design announced the winners of its "Relax" contest. First prize went to Nick Trincia for his/her "Fluid Rocker". Resembling the bizarre love child from an Eames plastic series A shell and a Panton Chair, "Fluid Rocker"is felt lined for both added comfort and to protect floor surfaces from the rocking action. For us a worthy
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Among the more interesting events taking place in Milan next week is a design forum on the subject of repairing designer furniture. Taking Platform 21s "Repair Manifesto" as its starting point the forum sets out to ask if one should repair designer furniture, where are the pros, where are the cons and in how far repairing a piece of furniture alters the owners relationship with the piece. There is of course repairing and repairing. As the Manifesto correctly points out designers should
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Only a week to go and then Europe's most prestigious furniture trade fair opens it doors. The Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan is the meeting point for designers, producers and those who aspire to such. And for the first time (smow) will also be in the Lombardy capital. While the (smow)bosses peruse the fair and negotiate with suppliers the (smow)blog team will be scouring the city for the best, the worst, the most curious and the most entertaining stories and photos. In addition
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Over Easter we had hoped to hoped to get to Karlsruhe to have a look at the exhibition: Interface Desk, or against Thinking in Categories. Billed - quite rightly - as possibly the first exhibition in history solely devoted to desks, the exhibition examines the role and function of the "desk" and in doing so possess the question "what is a desk?" But we didn't. Instead we were in Bad Muskau- which was also fantastic. And now we are back at our desks.... and still thinking "what is a desk?"
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