As we've already admitted the first time we saw a Dutch Invertuals exhibition we didn't hang around very long. Since then however we have matured a lot and the show has become a regular feature of our visits to Eindhoven and Milan. Simply put, one always finds something challenging, exciting and beautiful at a Dutch Invertuals show. And invariably something you don't really understand, no matter how often it is explained to you. But that itself is for us reason enough to go. In 2012 Dutch
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Although proud of the number of "issues" we have with Milan design week and furniture fair. It does of course also have its positive sides. Most of which are to be found down quiet, unassuming side streets. Last year we discovered Azucena. This year Villa Necchi. Built in the first half of the 1930s by Italian architect Piero Portaluppi on behalf of a (very) rich Milanese industrial family, Villa Necchi is just about the most "In-your-face" building you are ever likely to set foot in. In
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At the end of March the V&A Museum London opened the exhibition "British Design 1948-2012. Innovation in the Modern Age", their major summer exhibition and a central pillar of their celebration of all things British throughout 2012. Documenting the story of design in the UK since the last London Olympics, "British Design 1948-2012" begins in an era when Britain as a nation was recovering from the trauma of the Second World War, yet understood that in the rubble of the war lay the chance to
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A common misconception is that the term "designer" in "designer furniture" means "exclusive". It doesn't. It just means that a designer has invested time in creating a product that does something new or which represents a further development of existing concepts. Designer furniture is however meant to be used everywhere, everyday, by everyone. Such as the Tom Vac by Ron Arad for Vitra. You could just use it in your dinning room or on your balcony. Or.....
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Much like those who doubted that the Stone Roses would ever get back together; there are also those who doubt we will ever make it to a Depot Basel show. Until now it was the case that the shows inevitably fell at periods when we were otherwise engaged. And the opening of Depot Basel No. 5 on March 23rd was no different. However, this time we're hopeful we can make it, because the show runs until May 5th. Longer than usual, but then they are also showing more than usual. The "main"
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On March 20th the Bauhaus Archiv Berlin opened their spring exhibition "Stühle ohne Beine - Chairs without legs" Dedicated to the development and diversity of the cantilever chair, Stühle ohne Beine is a fairly simple exhibition concept with an equally simple message: designing a chair without legs doesn't mean limiting your possibilities. Less is more not being just a design maxim but also a design challenge. Featuring 25 chairs from the collection of Die Neue Sammlung - The International
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On Thursday and Friday March 15th/16th the ETH Zurich is holding a two day symposium looking at the life and work of Fritz Haller. And we won't be there. Scunner. There are a lot of reasons to want to be there; but the principle one for us is that despite his universally recognised System USM Haller, Fritz Haller himself remains something of an enigma. And so the chance to spend two days listening to experts discuss the man and his work in detail is technically something we shouldn't miss.
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On March 4th 2012 the Grassi Museum for Applied Arts Leipzig opened the final part of their permanent exhibition. An exhibition very close to our hearts. Now you know us, we 've nothing against baroque or ancient Japanese furniture and objects. But our hearts do beat a little faster when we get to the late 19th century. Mies van der Rohe bending metal. Alvar Aalto bending wood. Verner Panton bending plastic. Axel Buether bending light. It's all there in “Art Nouveau to Present” Plus a
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On Wednesday February 29th the Hofmobiliendepot Vienna open their 2012 spring exhibition. We had hoped to make it to the opening; but life being what it is. We wont. Sadly. Not least because the exhibition explores, for us, one of the most interesting periods of design - The Sixties. Not interesting as in, "Wow! Look how bright, spacey and groovy everything is!!!" Obviously. But interesting in terms of what it brought into the design vocabulary and the doors that it opened. And because it
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During the "Summaery" exhibition back in July 2011 we asked Professor Bernd Rudolf, Decan of the Architecure Department at Bauhaus Uni Weimar, about the motivations of the modern architecture student. "It is still the case", he answered playfully, "that they all want to make the world a better place. That remains the principle reason for studying architecture..." And designers ? Can designers make the world a better place? Do they even want to ? What motivates contemporary designers ? At
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For all in our near Copenhagen, and who aren't planning travelling to Weil am Rhein in the coming months, the Designmuseum Danmark is also currently offering the chance to view an exhibition that highlights the role of art in the design process. But featuring works from Finn Juhl. Not Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. One of the most important, if not so universally well known, Danish furniture architects of the mid 20th century Finn Juhl would have celebrated his 100th bithday in 2012. And as
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Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec are without question two of the most important designers of their generation and are currently being honoured in two shows. The retrospective "Bivouac" currently on show at the Centre Pompidou Metz, and Album, an exhibition of their drawings and sketches that premiered in Bordeaux and is now on show at the Vitra Design Museum Gallery, Weil am Rhein, At the opening of "Album" at the Vitra Design Museum Gallery we spoke to Ronan Bouroullec about drawing, getting
read moreBack at Qubique Berlin we spoke to Nils Holger Moormann, and in addition to discussing the number of days spent in bed with fever following the Bookinist Cup - three appeared average amongst all participants - he also mentioned that he was busy redesigning a car. At that point he couldn't say more; but in December the results of the project were displayed in Bilbao during the launch of the new Renault Twingo. Inspired by Wagon-Lit, the French for sleeping car and a term that conjures up the
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Having got up in the middle of the night to travel through the depths of the European winter just to get to Weil am Rhein for the "Album" opening, you can imagine our joy when we heard that Erwan Bouroullec had frozen to his core while waiting to board the 6.15 Basel bound TGV. Not because we're cruel, heartless beasts who take pleasure in the suffering of others. At least not on this occasion. But because it is one of these nice reminders of how "normal" the design world is and designers
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As we admitted, "time management challenges" saw us visiting Design braucht Täter 2012 in Cologne before it officially opened. And before all exhibitors had arrived. We know it's not good. And we're still not sleeping properly. And so it was especially nice to receive an e-mail from Julia Pfizenmayer from jp designs - one of those exhibitors we never got the chance to see - introducing us to her modular storage system Outsider. Because it means that the exhibitors don't hold it against
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For a decade and a half the unofficial start to Cologne Furniture Week has been the honouring of the "A&W Designer of the Year" Awarded by the German magazine "A&W Architektur & Wohnen", the prize was inaugurated in 1997 to honour a designer whose work has particular defined the home furnishing style of our time. Previous winners including Philippe Starck, Antonio Citterio or Tom Dixon. To name just three from 15. The A&W Designer of the Year 2012 is the Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola.
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Following on from last years "Kids Only" collection, Richard Lampert was/were back at Cologne 2012 with a collection of new outdoor furniture And just as "Kids Only" clearly wasn't. So too can "Living Outdoor" clearly also be used for "Living Indoor" Which is important if you live north of Alicante and can't guarantee your summer will be in any way summary. Featuring four new products from three of the company's roster of young design talents, the new collection can be seen as an extension
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A drawer. Honestly that is all it takes and you’ve got us. A desk with a drawer. Or even better multiple drawers. As if Müller Möbelfabrikation could read our minds, we were met on their stand in Cologne by the most fantastic sheet steel desk. With soooo many drawers. If that's not a guaranteed to way to get our attention! If we did have one slight criticism it would be the decision to display a version in orange. If there is one colour that is real hard to photograph under exhibition
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In addition to showing "From Aalto to Zumthor Furniture by Architects" the Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln is also showing off it's new acquisitions: 10 early Michael Thonet stools and a rare work from Jacob and Josef Kohn. Plus 2 monumental pieces of modern abstract metal furniture: "2 R Not" by Ron Arad and "Bell Metal Horse Chair" by Satyendra Pakhalé The Thonet chairs are currently being displayed in a special showcase that wonderfully portrays the development of Michael Thonet's work.
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Although it would be wrong to say that we misled you in saying that there would be no Moormann furniture at IMM Cologne. There was one piece. A brave, young Strammer Max Not in Cologne however as representative of his designer or producer, but as the Global Ambassador of an idea so genial, so eye wateringly simple, so necessary, that we're more than a little twisted with jealousy at not having thought it up ourselves: World Furniture Day. Looking to put the fun back into furniture the
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As tradition demands the Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln (MAKK) have organised a furniture themed, special exhibition to coincide with the Cologne Furniture Fair. Under the title "Von Aalto bis Zumthor: Architektenmöbel" ("From Aalto to Zumthor: Furniture by Architects") the MAKK is presenting over 120 examples of furniture designed by professional architects. As older readers will have long since accepted, the "Furniture Architect" is a pet subject of ours. Not just because the architects
read moreAlthough officially a company fete at which Moormann wanted to thank their partners, dealers, designers et al for the good cooperation over the previous year; Die Hölle von Aschau was much more a family fest at which one could really feel the warmth that exists between the company and all they work with. And that despite the sleet and wind. This warmth was particularly evident as Nils Holger Moormann himself took to the track and was immediately surrounded by the sort of camera scrum more
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On December 17th 1961 the New Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche in Berlin was officially consecrated. Designed by Egon Eiermann the new church was and is a very self-confident, modern replacement for the Old Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche; a building that to the regret of many Berlin residents fell victim to an allied bombing raid in 1943. In keeping with all his projects up to that period Egon Eiermann didn't just create the building but also designed the furniture and fittings for the new
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Away from the race track a real highlight of "Die Hölle von Aschau" was the Concours d'Élégance. Ahead of the event Moormann sent out miniature Bookinist kits to their clients, partners and chums with the request that they be "pimped" and returned. If we're honest we don't think that they expected to get that many back. And so they were genuinely all the more impressed with not only the response but the very high quality of the responses. From a Gingerbread Bookinist over Popemobiles and
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