The familiar nature of Group D was continued with this meeting of two grandees of the international designer furniture circuit: Eero Saarinen and Alexander Girard. With both still having an outside chance of qualifying for the semi-finals the start was edgy and imprecise. Alexander Girard however was first to find his rhythm and came close with an intricate Names fabric. Eero Saarinen responded with a clever Grasshopper chair, a move which produced the most delightful Millerstripe
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On several occasions in the past month we have repeatedly seen a similar scene. A scene that has made us cry. Lovely houses, truly wonderful, carefully considered constructions in idyllic locations - and then in the garden, furniture that the owners have obviously bought, possibly as an after thought, from their local garden centre. Just looking at some of the chairs made our upper thighs go numb from discomfort. And as for that recliner yesterday in Berlin!!!! People, gardens are there to
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Although always a hard fought encounter this Holland - Germany match had an added edge; the winner proceeding to the semi-finals of the 2010 (smow) designer furniture World Cup. Ahead of the match the Dutch decided to switch Hella Jongerius for Marcel Wanders; hoping that the creative force behind moooi and droog could better counteract Grcic's clear, linear forms. And the tactic worked. With first his Knotted Chair and then his New Antiques combination for Capellini, Marcel Wanders took a
read moreFor both Canada and Spain the tournament was already over before this match kicked off. Despite that both sides contributed to a high quality and keenly contested match. Although on paper Patricia Urquiola was the favourite, she was unable to properly take advantage of her greater repertoire, preferring instead to rely on fairly large scale, prestige projects. Although Frank Gehry remained true to his non-linear form he surprised Urquiola late in the match with a left twist cube for Heller.
read moreKnowing that they needed to defeat Fritz Haller's stable and flexible USM Haller system in order to advance the Italians choose to stick with Antonio Citterio for this all or nothing encounter. Setting quickly to work Antonio Citterio rolled out a succession of office chairs; including the Oson CE, Axess and T-chair for Vitra. However regardless of what Antonio Citterio tried, Fritz Haller always found a combination to match and ultimately took a 1:0 lead with a beautifully finished Haller
read moreFollowing Verner Panton's red card against Fritz Haller, Denmark were forced into a change and so Arne Jacobsen lined-up against Maarten Van Severen. And although this was never going to be a high-tempo encounter the crowd in Johannesburg did become somewhat impatient at the incredibly slow pace of the competition. With both designers endlessly reworking and perfecting their pieces it was well into the second half before the first attack developed: a neat Ant Chair from Arne Jacobsen giving
read moreAlthough the majority of Ron Arad's work could squash most of Isamu Noguchi's, he played fair and held back from producing a Well-Tempered chair, preferring instead to work on variations in plastic. Despite some good Infinity Bottle Rack, Lovely Rita and Bookworm work for Kartell, Isamu Noguchi's constantly high standard Akari lamp variations held the Israeli at bay and the final 0:0 was a just result. The Group C table and all Group C results can be found
read moreFor Charles Rennie Mackintosh the 2010 (smow) designer furniture World Cup may have been over; but matches against England always have their own incentive. With Tom Dixon replacing Jasper Morrison, the English took an early lead with the Dixon Bronze Copper Shade and moved further ahead with a beautifully worked Off Cut stool. In the second half Charles Rennie Mackintosh narrowed the gap with his Hill House chair; however Tom Dixon responded with a quick Wingback Chair and Spin candelabra
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After the strenuous match against Alexander Girard, France decided to rest Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for the match against Eero Saarinen. Their replacement, the enfant terrible of contemporary French design Philippe Starck however failed to match the old Finnish master; too often Philippe Starck strove forward with fairly predictable and poorly considered approaches. Eero Saarinen was able to make use of the gaps produced by Philippe Starck to good effect scoring with his Tulip Chair and a
read moreCharles Rennie Mackintosh was greatly influenced by Japanese design and this encounter against Isamu Noguchi quickly developed into a masterclass of subtle, self-confident, organic design. Charles Rennie Mackintosh took an instant lead with his complete interior ensemble for the Willow Tea Rooms. In particular the Willow Chair seemed to distract Noguchi through its familar, yet foreign narrative. Isamu Noguchi recovered however and drew level with his Freeform Sofa and Ottoman before moving
read moreDespite the rumours flying around ahead of this match, England stuck with Jasper Morrison rather than pitting Tom Dixon against Ron Arad. Whereas many would have relished the opportunity to have witnessed the two masters of "real" industrial design going head to head the Morrison/Arad encounter was every bit as entertaining. Unmoved by Ron Arad's Bookworm, Jasper Morrison concentrated on his chair work and took the lead with his Basel chair for Vitra; a simple move that produced the deserved
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The (smow)blog team outing to the cardboard furniture workshop was coupled with a visit to the current Vitra Design Museum Exhibition: The Essence of Things. Design and the Art of Reduction. We must admit to finding it more than a little ironic that an exhibition on "Design and the Art of Reduction" should be taking place in a building designed by Frank Gehry, especially when Tadao Ando's Conference Pavilion is only some 10m away. And after the long journey to Weil am Rhein this thought
read moreIf ever a designer furniture contest could be compared to a game of "rock-paper-scissors" then surely Hella Jongerius against Frank O. Gehry. The Mistress of Materials against the King of Solid Constructions. And so developed this match. Frank Gehry applied all his radical geometry to try to find a way through the Dutch defence; but found himself continually hindered by the fact that natural material forms are always more sustainable than artificially generated: Or put another way Hella
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You know how it is. You arrive early in the office..... Make a coffee..... Turn the computer on........ Check out the tabloid press websites..... And break gently into the day with stories as irrelevant and vacuous as they are compelling. It's just a comfortable and familiar way to start the day. This morning was different. The story had all the makings of normal tabloid nonsense: a pop star, a footballer's wife and a party guest list that you suspect had been thrown together by a tired and
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Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec are without doubt two of the brightest stars in the international designer furniture heaven. And two of the most omnipotent. Something which however may slowly change. Ronan Bouroullec in the VitaHaus, Weil am Rhein Following their initial breakthrough with Cuisine désintégrée ( Disintegrated kitchen ), an concept piece by Ronan Bouroullec that was taken on by Italian producer Capellini in 1998, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec went on to develop projects with companies
read moreThe careers of Konstantin Grcic and Patricia Urquiola could barely be more different; whereas Patricia Urquiola has steadily and confidently moved through the traditional Italian designer furniture producers, Konstantin Grcic has skipped from cult producer to cult producer with only the occasional diversion into the mainstream of European designer furniture producers. Opening with a Hut Ab for Nils Holger Moormann, Grcic then complimented this with an ES shelving system for Moormann before
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Both Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec as well as Alexander Girard had to wait a long time for their opening match in this years (smow) designer furniture world cup - but for the sell out crowd in Pretoria the wait was more than worth it. Although born in New York, Alexander Girard qualifies for Mexico on account of the Wooden Doll side of his family tree. Opening up with an impressive selection of traditional southern Portuguese patterns Girard was initially confused as the Bouroullec brothers
read moreFollowing his ankle injury Cesare "Joe" Colombo was replaced for this match by Antonio Citterio, one of the most experienced designers in the Italian squad. Opening with a quick Mobil for Kartell Antonio Citterio quickly reinforced this with a Follow Me for Vitra. Despite the intensity of the opening Citterio couldn't break Maarten Van Severn's legendary calm and the doyen of Belgian furniture design responded with an elegant LCP for Kartell and MVS Chaise for Vitra combination and so
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One of the high points of Verner Panton's career came in Switzerland when in Vitra he finally found a producer for his Panton Chair. Today however there was no room for sentiment and Panton came out fighting. Picking up where he left off against Joe Colombo Verner Panton attempted a quick plastic combination, his Barboy however going just wide. Fritz Haller remained as composed and sturdy as ever, the flexibility of his classic USM Haller system allowing him to respond to whatever move Verner
read moreThere is a very familiar flair to Group D and this opening encounter pitted three old friends against each other; Eero Saarinen and Charles and Ray Eames. The three have been close friends since the start of their careers and the common influences and experiences were clearly visible in many of their early approaches. The longer the contest ran however the more the differences appeared and the more each side could set their individual tone and make use if their individual strengths. For all
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It may not be the most universally recognised example of either Charles Eames' nor Eero Saarinen's canon however their 1940 "Conversation Chair" is without doubt one of the more important examples of 20th century furniture design. Designed for the New York Museum of Modern Art's "Organic Design in Home Furnishings" competition the Conversation Chair was a concept piece and Eames' and Saarinen's first attempt at moulding synthetics. At that time however the technology lagged somewhat behind
read moreAlthough stylistically worlds apart both Ron Arad and Charles Rennie Mackintosh are united by their individual and uncompromising style and approach to design. As expected it was Charles Rennie Mackintosh who made the stronger start, taking a 1:0 lead with his Argyle Chair - a brave break form contemporary convention and a deserved lead. Ron Arad's attempts at stemming Mackintosh's dominance largely lacked the required precision and all landed wide of their intended target. Late in the second
read moreFor 26 years James Irvine has been quietly and unassumingly influencing European industrial design. Immediately after graduating from the London Royal College of Art in 1984 James Irvine moved to Milan to take up a position with the Olivetti design studio. And has pretty much been in the north Italian metropolis ever since. In 1992 James Irvine left Olivetti and since then has worked with companies as varied as Artemide, B&B Italia, Whirlpool, Magis and WMF. Among his most public projects is
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With Royal Ascot in "full flight" and the All England Championships at Wimbledon beginning om Monday, the summer season is here and with it long evenings in the garden, on the terrace or on the balcony. Lovely. And so it was guaranteed no coincidence that we saw the wonderful Shadylace by Chris Kabel for Droog at DMY Berlin last week. For having reached a comfortable, and somewhat overweight, middle age we now feel justified in owning such a treasure. Not only does Shadylace stylishly
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