Inaugurated in 1997, Tallinn Applied Art Triennial is a curated platform for contemporary creatives of all hues staged around, in dialogue with, a unifying theme/topic, and which presents itself as both a central exhibition and a series of satellite events throughout the Estonian capital. A platform that after being open to creatives based globally for its first 8 editions, was restricted for its 9th edition to global creatives based in the Baltic and Nordic nations. Why the change? We no
read more
The cover of Walter Gropius's 1919 Bauhaus Manifesto, that rallying call for what would become the three Bauhauses, is famously graced by Lyonel Feininger's woodcutting Kathedrale, an ideogram for the "Wundertat der gotischen Kathedrale"1, the 'miracle of the Gothic cathedral', that archetype Gropius borrowed from John Ruskin to explain what good architecture is, why it is, how it arises, and thereby to visualise the path to the 'building of the future' via a 'new guild of craftsmen'2 Gropius
read more
The month of March takes its name from the Roman month of Martius which in turn takes its name from the Roman God of War, Mārs. As does the planet Mars which a small group of individuals appear phenomenally keen to get to as quickly as possible. Ideally quicker. If that is because they suspect the presence of rare earths, are looking for new regions to fight over by way of honouring Mārs, or simply read far too many comics as children and believe it is the unavoidable fate of humans to visit
read more
Born in Rotterdam in 1989 Sabine Marcelis counts among the most innovative designers of her generation, not least through her talent for playing with light, colour and form; a talent that has has brought her international attention and acclaim. Marcelis' work is characterised by a special examination of perception and materiality - a focus that she developed during her studies at Design Academy Eindhoven and which enables her art and functional design merge to create furniture, installations
read more
Museums are popularly associated with Pasts. In their current exhibition the Grassi Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig, concern themselves with Futures, specifically with the Material and Design of Tomorrow....... Futures. Material and Design of Tomorrow, Grassi Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig There can be little argument, OK given the contemporary state of what passes for global discourse there can be an awful lot of very virulent argument, backed up with aggressive online trolling
read more
Once upon a time in a land far, far away there was cafe called Pasaka, Fairy Tale, a cafe designed for children. With the exhibition Fairy Tale. Childhood in Lithuania during the late Soviet era Kaunas Picture Gallery take that cafe Pasaka as the starting point for a multi-disciplinary exploration of the degree to which childhood in the Lithuania of the 1960s, 70s and 80s outwith cafe Pasaka was of the joyful fairy tale type, a land of magic, plenty, positivity, and dreams coming true and/or
read more
"Mis on disain?" What is design? asked once the Estonian designer Bruno Tomberg.1 What is Bruno Tomberg?, we, essentially, asked in context of the exhibition Bruno Tomberg. Inventing Design at the Estonian Museum of Applied Arts and Design, Tallinn. What is Bruno Tomberg in 2025 and beyond? was, essentially, the question posed by and off students from the Textile and Furniture Departments of Pallas University of Applied Sciences, Tartu, in context of the project Mõtestades Brunot,
read more
Stockholm's Konstfack university of arts, crafts and design used the occasion of Stockholm Design Week 2025 to present the results of a number of semester projects including, for example, Innovation for Resilience which concerned itself with questions of circularity and sustainability in the infrastructure of camps for the displaced; Half Past Five at our Place, a cooperative project involving kitchenware undertaken in conjunction with pupils at Stockholm's Kung Saga Gymnasium; or Air Ship.
read more
Y Chromosome A mix of DNA and proteins; A design position; A design problem As can be read in all reliable and verifiable sources of information on the (hi)story of furniture design, at its genesis furniture design was a universal practice, one in which all cooperated as equals; however, around the same time as furniture design materialised in society, the American based Welsh researchers Mawr Hill and Tene Brio discovered that in addition to the known X chromosome some humans, not all
read more
In 1958 the French sociologist Roger Caillois opined that "L'esprit du jeu est essentiel à la culture"1, 'the spirit of play is essential to culture', an opinion that finds an echo in a Charles Eames' "toys are not really as innocent as they look. Toys and games are the preludes to serious ideas".2 A position that, in many regards, underscores the argument made from and by Design for Children at the Bröhan Museum, Berlin, that design for the playful world of the child is the best location to
read more
Over the years Stockholm based design studio Front a.k.a. Anna Lindgren and Sofia Lagerkvist (and, back in the day, also Katja Sävström and Charlotte von der Lancken) have oft employed chance as a design tool, have oft employed an essentially surrealist approach to design: they have, for example, let a rat gnaw wallpaper by way of creating a pattern, they've they let a fly buzz around a light bulb to create lamp shades, they've frozen an explosion in time to create a lounge chair, they've
read more
Tracing its (hi)story back to 1920, and having featured over the years and decades works by some of the more prominent and important designers, applied artists and crafters of the 20th and 21st centuries, Leipzig's annual Grassimesse has not only an established place in the international creative calender but an established reputation for the quality of the works it presents. And you can be part of the 2025 edition. If that is your application is accepted by the Grassimesse Jury, that
read more
For all that nature is based on, dependent on, carefully formed patterns, repeating order, an efficiency of structure, it is invariably a lack of pattern, order or structure, a randomness and serendipity, that brings about the most fundamental changes, that drives developments in individuals, populations, communities, societies. And for all that the human spirit is naturally drawn to, and naturally delights in, carefully formed patterns, repeating order, and efficiency of structure, do we
read more
Launched in 2002 by Stockholm Furniture Fair as a fringe accompaniment to the manufacturers presenting their wares in Stockholmsmässan's halls, Stockholm Design Week has, of late, become ever more a Stockholm Furniture Fair satellite as ever more manufacturers choose to present their wares in their flagship stores in downtown Stockholm rather than in Stockholmsmässan halls. A shift that, arguably, is partly responsible for the amount of space within those Stockholmsmässan halls, space that
read more
We all know that we should eat more healthily than we do. We all know that all packaged foods, regardless of type, contribute to our current ecological malaises. We all know we needs must do more ourselves, be more proactive and vigorous in questions of our food and nutrition and the environment. But it's all so complicated, all sooo difficult, all soooooooo time-consuming....... Really? Realised by Ebba Lönn in context of the project Earth 2 Earth at Lund University School of Industrial
read more
Woven cord of various types is a common material in furniture, has been used for generations, centuries, has more than proven its worth over those generations, centuries, not only as a structural material but as an aesthetic material and as an ambient material; however, when used woven cord is, invariably, used as a component of an object, as a means of providing a particular functionality, most probably a seat or storage option. And more often than not the woven cord is an interchangeable
read more
Amongst our reference projects, those projects to which we return whenever the relentless flood of lifestyle, t**** and commerce masquerading as design, being popularly acclaimed as design, pushes us to the edge of an existential crisis, those design projects that revive our spirts and our hopes, remind us that it is all worthwhile and there is a purpose in continuing, is Herbert Hirche's 1953 lounge chair, a work in steel tube and upholstery that not only carries that novel material of the
read more
At Stockholm Furniture Fair 2023 we came to conclusion that furniture trade fairs aren't for the likes of us. They're not staged for the likes of us. And also aren't our thing. We're back in Stockholm for Stockholm Furniture Fair 2025. Why? As we left for Stockholm we were unsure ourselves. But if felt right, felt what we should be doing. And now we're here. And is it right? Is it what we should be doing? Is it what anybody should be doing? In the coming days and weeks we will bring you
read more
In his 1973 article Mis on disain?, What is design? for the magazine Pioneer, the official organ of the Pioneer Organization of the Estonian SSR, Bruno Tomberg opined that “Kõikjal - kodus, koolis, tööl - oleme ümbritsetud esemetest, mis moodustavad meie keskkonna”1, ‘everywhere - at home, at school, at work - we are surrounded by objects that form our environment’, continuing, ‘the environment, however, must satisfy our diverse and very different needs. Almost all of these objects, from
read more
"Ich habe mit der Designwelt ja eigentlich nicht zu tun", opined once Luigi Colani, 'I have nothing to do with the design world', continuing that, 'I would locate what I do very close to the philosophy of form'.1 With Luigi Colani – Shapes of the Future, Marta Herford allow one to not only approach a better appreciation of Luigi Colani's formal philosophy, but in doing so to both question Colani's relationships with a design world he rejected, and that regularly rejected him, and to question
read more
In Fortnight, a tale of the solitary suffering of impossible love, a tale involving some truly unnecessary violent fantasies that don't seem to fit easily with friendship bracelets, glitter and rainbows, Taylor Swift laments, "All my mornings are Mondays, stuck in an endless February". If only that February were February 2025 Taylor!!! For then the wealth of new architecture and design exhibitions opening would not only lift your spirits, but through the stimulation and exploration thereby
read more
Among the myriad advantages of global industry that are also problems of global industry is, inarguably, that of centralised production with subsequent international distribution. And that of a popular unquestioning, unthinking, blithe acceptance of the products of global industry. Problems Essen based platform Verlag der Dinge allow one to better approach and challenge. Problems Essen based platform Verlag der Dinge approach and challenge. Established in 2021 by Maximilian Clauß, an
read more
For all that interior design is often popularly considered as being about buying ever new things to place in a space, a popular appreciation of interior design many exhibitors at Passagen Interior Design Week Cologne appear determined to reinforce and encourage all to believe as an absolute truth, a lot of interior design is actually about creating custom solutions. And always was: as a concept, as a profession, interior design arises from the craft of the decorator, an individual who united
read more
Cologne's Design Post is, arguably, one those institution's that would have been shocked at the previously discussed cancellation of IMM Cologne 2025. Sited, one feels very deliberately, across the road from the Cologne trade fair complex, as a permanent showroom space for more design orientated furniture and lighting publishing houses, if one so will, a shop for contract customers, a B2B shop, Design Post exists during IMM and Orgatec as an unofficial exhibition hall, not only hosting those
read more
As all familiar with the annual cycle of the European furniture industry know, the first half of January is IMM Cologne, one of Europe's largest furniture trade fairs. It's an established, and inalienable, fact. January ≣ IMM Cologne There is no IMM Cologne in January 2025. News that came as a bit of a shock. Not least to a Cologne hotel industry that has long laboured under the impression that its rooms were a lot, lot, lot, more expensive to maintain and run in the first two weeks of
read more
