"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 moreStockholm'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 moreIn 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 moreOver 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 moreTracing 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 moreFor 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 moreLaunched 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 moreWe 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 moreWoven 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 moreAmongst 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 moreAt 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 moreIn 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 moreIn 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 moreAmong 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 moreFor 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 moreCologne'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 moreAs 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"Man schnitzte das Holz nicht mehr, man spann nicht mehr, man webte nicht mehr die gute Leinwand wie früher"1, 'No-one carved wood, no-one spun, no-one wove the good linen as before', lamented Henry van de Velde in 1898 the English society of the second half of the 19th century that stood proxy for large parts of Europe as industrialisation became the established norm in ever more arenas, continuing, 'the machine, which turns imbecilically around itself and moves thanks to the pestilential
read moreIn the fickle and vainglorious world of cinema January is a so-called Dump Month, a month when all those films studios have lost faith in get released en mass without publicity in the hope that no-one will see them. Far less remember them. Which is not only extremely arrogant, a belief that just because you don't appreciate something no-one else will, but an outrageously decadent waste of a month when, certainly in the northern hemisphere, most people are looking for spaces in which to not
read moreIn his ca. 75 CE work The Life of Theseus, the Greek biographer, historian and Delphi priest Plutarch notes that the ship with which Theseus returned to Attica having slain the Minotaur in its labyrinth on Crete, "was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place", meaning that over time the ship of Theseus "became a standing example among the philosophers, for the
read moreUntil the introduction of the Julian calender in 45 BCE December had but 29 days, meaning two less days to explore, challenge and enjoy architecture and design exhibitions. Imagine! How horrible!! We don't say it often, but Thank You Julius Caesar!!!" Our locations for taking advantage of all 31 glorious days of December 2024 can be found in Herford, Philadelphia, Bratislava, Berlin and Caesar's native Rome....... "Luigi Colani – Shapes of the Future" at Marta Herford, Germany While never
read moreThere is an old saying that whoever has visions should consult a doctor.1 With Building Worlds. Visionary Architecture in the 20th Century the Archiv der Avantgarden – Egidio Marzona, Dresden, employ the visions of 20th century architecture as the basis for a probing examination of both the built environment and the condition of contemporary architecture....... Building Worlds. Visionary Architecture in the 20th Century, Archiv der Avantgarden - Egidio Marzona, Dresden Formally opened in
read moreVery much in keeping with Zagreb Design Week 2024's theme Breaking the Glass Ceiling Instituto Cervantes, Prague, used the occasion of Designblok Prague 2024 to open Diseñadoras. (Re)diseñando el mundo, a showcase introducing and discussing the work, positions, approaches of 12 contemporary Spanish diseñadoras, female designers, that is and was also an exploration of questions on and of contemporary design....... Diseñadoras. (Re)diseñando el mundo, Instituto Cervantes, Prague Or perhaps
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