Back in February the participants of the exhibition "Trading Places. Designers meet the collection" at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden spent two days trawling through the museum's depots looking for objects with which to work. During the tour Daphna Isaacs and Laurens Manders, aka Eindhoven based studio Daphna Laurens, were shown inside a drawer. Walked on. Stopped. Walked back. Looked inside the drawer again and asked Herr Knorr, Head of metal, glass and ceramics at the Kunstgewerbemuseum,
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No sooner had we published our post on the innovative high-tech world of silbærg snowboards, than we received information on a fascinating project producing older than old skool skateboards. Initiated by Royal Academy of Art, The Hague graduate Bastiaan van Druten, Woody skateboards are created from elm trees which had to be felled in Amsterdam and Utrecht "...because of disease or because they were in the way of capitalism" Which is a turn of phrase almost as exquisite as the skateboards
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It is very apposite that the Grassi Museum for Applied Arts Leipzig is currently hosting a special presentation dedicated to the designer Rudolf Horn: for here began the story of one of Rudolf Horn's more interesting projects, the somewhat unfortunately named Conferstar club chair. And yes it does look like Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Chair. It's supposed to. In 1962 Rudolf Horn was sitting in his office in Leipzig and was, by his own admission, fed up. And so decided to visit the Grassi
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In our post from the excellent exhibition Croatian Holiday at Vienna Design Week 2012 we questioned the curators assertion that through incorporating contemporary designers into a nation's tourist industry one could help that nation promote a contemporary national identity abroad. Our scepticism wasn't levied at the employment of designers in, for example, creating furniture for hotels, the interior design of tourist attractions or promotional material, but much more about employing designers
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Any self-respecting modern conurbation needs a moniker. An evocative tag line on which to hang its city marketing strategy and attract tourists. Paris is of course the City of Love, Rome the Eternal City, Prague the City of a Hundred Spires while Edinburgh, whether advisable or not, regails as simply Auld Reekie. In 1998 the southern German town of Weil am Rhein re-christened itself "City of Chairs" If we're honest the reason why escapes us, for aside from Vitra there is, as far as we are
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As previously noted in these pages the (hi)story of modernism is largely one of successful male/female partnerships, the most famous questionably being Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich or Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand in the main period of inter-war European modernism and Charles and Ray Eames in context of the post-war American adaptation. Yet it is also a (hi)story with only very few identifiable female leads. From the examples above Lilly Reich, Charlotte Perriand and Ray
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"Plastic was equivalent with America for us. Only Bakelite came from Europe. Right? But after the war, everything plastic came to Italy from the States. Purely commercial stuff, but every year a new material came on the market", recalled Italian architect and designer Anna Castelli Ferrieri in a 1997 interview, "We wanted to try out what all can be made with these new materials"1 And try she did. With an élan that resulted in an enviable portfolio of products that have not only become
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One of the most mundane, yet important, aspects of any designer or architect's training is sketching existing buildings and products. Observing. Studying. Forming. Learning. Developing. Hans J Wegner, for example, drew, drew and redrew the furniture in the Danish Design Museum Copenhagen, Louis I. Kahn spent his formative years sketching the ruins of European churches and cathedrals, while a young Le Corbusier regularly crossed the Swiss-Italian Border to undertake study tours of locations
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As we noted in our post from the recent Burg Giebichenstein Halle summer exhibition, the institution is currently one of the more interesting design schools in Germany. That it is is largely on account of the conscientious work done and reputation established during the days of divided Germany, and the way that work has subsequently been carried on through into the unified days. One of the most interesting, if not influential, members of the Burg Giebichenstein staff during the DDR days was
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In 2011 a group of Dutch artists and designers established the Orangemann Trust and set about converting an old, abandoned house in the centre of Oranienbaum into a gallery for contemporary art and design. That Oranienbaum is a village of some 3000 inhabitants situated 150 kilometres south of Berlin, 80 kilometres north of Leipzig and 4 light years from the next railway station, the location could appear somewhat questionable. Could. Were it not for the fact that modern Oranienbaum was
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24 hours after Hella Jongerius crossed our paths at the Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin Rundgang 2014, and 48 hours after finding ourselves in the same corridor as Axel Kufus at the Universität der Künste Berlin Rundgang 2014, Stephan Schulz cycled past us as we walked to the 2014 summer exhibition at Burg Giebichenstein Halle. Its just the way we rock. Sorry....... As we've noted before Halle should be Vienna. It's certainly a much more attractive, imposing and interesting city than its
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Some 24 hours after finding ourselves in the same corridor as Axel Kufus at the Universität der Künste 2014 Rundgang our paths crossed that of Hella Jongerius at the Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin Rundgang. It’s just how it is in Berlin…… And as with the UdK Rundgang, in terms of product/industrial the 2014 show at Weißensee was/is, in our opinion, somewhat smaller than in previous editions, did/does however present a highly entertaining review of the past years work and so neatly explains
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"Herr Mies van der Rohe proposed to close Bauhaus. The proposition was unanimously approved".1 With this sober protocol dated July 20th 1933, but referring to a meeting held on July 19th 1933, the closing of Bauhaus Berlin, and so the end of the Bauhaus story, is formally confirmed. Present at the meeting on July 19th, and so unified in their responsibility for the decision were, in addition to Mies van der Rohe, Josef Albers, Ludwig Hilberseimer, Wassily Kandinsky, Walter Peterhans, Lilly
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One of the highlights for us of the student summer semester showcase season is always the annual Rundgang at the Universität der Künste, UdK, Berlin. And while the Product/Industrial Design presentation at the 2014 Rundgang is/was somewhat smaller than usual, it was/is still the expected, and entertaining, mix of the theoretical, the conceptual and the practical. In addition to the chance to once again experience projects such as Clair Obscur, a project which can of course also be viewed as
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As is becoming customary Design Miami Basel 2014 provided the backdrop for the presentation of the Swiss Design Award. And an exhibition of all nominated projects. Inaugurated in 1918 the Swiss Design Award is organised by the Swiss Federal Culture Agency - the Bundesamt für Kultur - and seeks to reward and recognise particularly outstanding contemporary design by both Swiss designers and Swiss based international designers. The 2014 edition attracted 252 entries for the four competition
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On the evening of Thursday July 10th the annual Bauhaus University Weimar "Summaery" student showcase exhibition opened for its 2014 edition. In terms of product design, and without meaning to be disingenuous, it wasn't the strongest Summaery we've ever been to. There were however a few projects that allowed us to leave without the feeling of having completely wasted our train fares. And so, and in no particular order..... WOob by Lisa Kästner (Realised in context of the class: MACHEN? -
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Back in November the winners of the 2013 German Federal Ecodesign Award - the Bundespreis Ecodesign - were announced at a slightly less than glittering ceremony in Berlin. In February 2014 an exhibition featuring the 12 winners and further 19 nominated projects opened in Ludwigsburg. Following a brief stop at the designforum in Vienna the Bundespreis Ecodesign 2013 exhibition is currently being presented at the headquarters of the Umweltbundesamt - the German Federal Environment Agency - in
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By way of a final addendum to our "5 New Design Exhibitions for July 2014" post, the Design museum Gent are currently hosting an exhibition devoted to one of the true masters of 20th century design, Finn Juhl. A designer who, as regular readers will be aware, we yield ground to no man to in our admiration for. Born in Frederiksberg, Denmark in 1912 Finn Juhl studied architecture at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. Following his graduation in 1934 Finn Juhl took up a
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As if to help underscore the assertion in our "5 New Design Exhibitions for July 2014" Post that July and August tend to be quiet months in terms of design and architecture exhibitions because near everyone is on holiday, Berlin's Direktorenhaus Gallery have titled their 2014 summer exhibition "Summer Break VA". The VA being shorthand for "various artists". "We're not here" they seem to be saying, "but if we were here, these are the sort of delights you could enjoy" Established in 2010
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When we met up with Katharina Mischer and Thomas Traxler aka mischer’traxler ahead of the exhibition Castling. Designers meet the collection at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden, we also briefly discussed their "It takes more than one" project which was presented at Design Miami Basel 2014 by Victor Hunt Designart Dealer. Created in context of the studio's tenure as the 2011 "W-Hotels Designer of the future", It takes more than one is a mirror that requires two people for it to function. And as
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"Weltstadt – Who creates the city?", we wrote in our review of the eponymous exhibition at the Deutsches Architektur Zentrum, DAZ Berlin, "is about promoting a dialogue, of encouraging discussion and for all about motivating each and every one of us to think about our own communities and our own cities and to consider what could be improved. And for all how." Practical examples of just how projects to achieve such could be organised and what they could, potentially, achieve can currently be
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Tradition being the predictable beast that it is, July and August tend to be quiet months in the design universe – most everyone taking themselves off to their Gîtes, Dachas, Ferienwohnungen, Vakantiehuis and lakeside bungalows for a few weeks of quiet reflection ahead of the autumn trade fair and design week season. Most. But not all. A few hardy souls remain, stocking the furnaces of creative culture with architecture and design based exhibitions intended to inspire, excite and entertain.
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As we noted in our original post on Niek Wagemans' nachBAR project for the Dutch Embassy in Berlin, we sadly had to depart Berlin before construction was finished. "What we’ve seen so far however impresses.", we noted, "And we can’t imagine our position will change dramatically." It hasn't. A delightfully compact, well proportioned and very welcoming object, nachBAR proudly presents it origins and with its sheet steel cladding and rounded edges radiates something of the aura, and arguably
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In our post on the Pulpo Galerie in Lörrach we noted that "you don’t get your products shown in the VitraHaus just because you happen to have the correct postcode……." Being local doesn't count. Isn't an advantage. Your work must be good. And as if to prove our point...... Jason Miller's postcode is New York 11232 and his Modo chandelier for Roll and Hill can be found in the VitraHaus. Lars Beller Fjetland's postcode is 5032 Bergen and his Re-Turned birds for Discipline can be found in the
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