Milan Furniture Fair 2018, at least amongst those more design led manufacturers, is/was largely about consolidation, largely about new materials, new colours, slight changes to existing objects, with one or the other family proudly presenting their latest members. Which is no complaint, far from it, Milan's speciality traditionally being the new for the sake of the new, that misguided belief that one has to present something new every year. You don't. Present something new when you've got
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Whereas exhibitions in which designers show prototypes and discontinued projects by way of explaining who they are, where they come from and how they work, are a, relatively, regular occurrence, exhibitions in which manufacturers do such are much, much rarer: with the exhibition Typecasting Vitra make a very rare and very welcome exception And in doing so don't just present an image not only of Vitra past, but also take a look into the future..... Vitra -Typecasting, as seen at Milan Design
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Curated by Carwan Gallery Beirut co-founder Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte, Unsighted presents projects by eight international designers; the title making reference to the fact that the designers weren't told for what they were being commissioned, had no external context; were working, as it were, Unsighted. During Milan Design Week 2018 all became clearer... Unsighted, Milan Design Week 2018 As we've oft noted in these pages, in terms of furniture and lighting design, context is important,
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"Shake of all the props - the props tradition and authority offer you - and go alone - crawl - stumble - stagger - but go alone", encouraged the Scottish architect, designer and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh his audience during his 1902 lecture Seemliness.1 How Charles Rennie Mackintosh himself attempted to do just that can be explored in the exhibition Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Making the Glasgow Style. Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Making the Glasgow Style @ Kelvingrove Art Gallery and
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According to the German philologist, mythologist, folklorist and definer of the Germanic Umlaut, Jacob Grimm, an old belief states that the Cuckoo never sings before the 3rd of April; and, "should you have money in your pouch when you hear him sing the first time, you will be well off all that year, if not, you will be short the whole year" 1 Much like the cuckoo, our five new architecture & design exhibitions recommendations for April 2018 begin with their songs after April 3rd; and should
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Following on from the Collective in 2015, Movement in 2016 and Substance in 2017, the Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau's annual theme for 2018 is the Standard; a central component of the teaching at Bauhaus Dessau yet one which is and was freely open to artistic, technological and functional interpretation. And one the Bauhäusler freely interpreted artistically, technologically and functionally The first exhibition in context of the annual theme explores the work of the German architect Carl Fieger,
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1918 was a bad year for the Wiener Moderne, losing as it did with the deaths of Koloman Moser, Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and Otto Wagner four of its leading protagonists. To mark the centenary, and help underscore the important role Vienna played at the turn of the 19th/20th century in the development of art, architecture, music and literature, museums across Vienna are staging a wide range of specially themed exhibitions throughout 2018; the Hofmobiliendepot - Imperial Furniture Museum -
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While it is generally the case that the development, evolution, of product design is dependent on the development, evolution, of technology, such is particularly the case in context of lighting design: ever since a burning stick was first employed to create a relaxing evening atmosphere in a neolithic cave, technological developments have been the driving force behind the development of lighting design, be that formally, functionally or technically. The nature of Light + Building Frankfurt,
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Nightclubs and discos are not only about entertainment and sensory overload, but also provide a society with means of expression and reflection. With the exhibition Night Fever. Designing Club Culture 1960 - Today the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein explore five decades of club culture. Night Fever. Designing Club Culture 1960 - Today, Vitra Design Museum One of our worst ever disco experience's was in Weil am Rhein. And we weren't even there. It was a couple of years ago, we were in
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In front of the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich stands a Futuro House by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen, a work realised in 1968 as his response to considerations on questions concerning our future society. And an object which resembles a flying saucer. And arguably does so more now than it did then. Then it was a bright new future enabled by contemporary technology: now it is a piece of late 1960s science fiction. Inspired by the Futuro House 28 students from the Industrial Design and
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Following three years of renovations and redesign the principle house of the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich is once again open for visitors. Three years which have not only seen the physical structure renovated and redesigned, but also the presentation concept and foci. Museum für Gestaltung Zürich Established in 1875 as an applied arts and crafts museum, the contemporary Museum für Gestaltung initially served, and as with so many of the early applied arts and crafts museums, as a material
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In context of the renovation of the historic Falkenhütte alpine hut, Munich based StudioFaubel were commissioned to develop a formally appropriate, contemporary lighting solution. During Munich Creative Business Week 2018 the Alpines Museum Munich are presenting with Gentiana Alba - Tradition und Design, not only the result of that commission, but an insight into the development process. Gentiana Alba by StudioFaubel, as seen at Tradition und Design, Alpines Museum Munich Completed in 1923
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Vicis (latin, f.): Change, variety, alteration VICIS (Munich Creative Business Week 2018): An invitation to consider such. VICIS. Always Change a Running System Munich Creative Business Week 2018 Organised by state of DESIGN the subtitle of the exhibition could be considered partly biographic, given the personnel changes that have occurred since the 2017 state of DESIGN exhibition in Berlin, and also considered partly conceptual, given the altered presentation format chosen for Munich in
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With the exhibition Hans J. Wegner: Designing Danish Modern the Vitra Design Museum Schaudepot explores the oeuvre of one of the Grand Doyens, and arguably one of the most widely misconstrued protagonists, of 20th century Danish design. Hans J. Wegner: Designing Danish Modern, Vitra Design Museum Schaudepot "If only you could design just one good chair in your life . . . But you simply cannot”1 opined Hans J. Wegner in 1952: and as if to prove his point designed over 500. And while not all
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Arguably because Passover/Easter is early this year, every, but every, museum is opening a major exhibition in the course of March 2018, in preparation for the unofficial start of the tourist season in April. A situation which leaves us with the daunting possibility of creating 5 such Top 5 lists. And still having some exhibitions left over. Faced with a similar situation back in November 2017 we referred to the abundance of options which lay before us as being akin to "gardens mottled with
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With the exhibition INSIDE architecture by Åke Axelsson, Jonas Bohlin, Mats Theselius Sweden's Konstakademien, Royal Academy, pay tribute not to the architecture of Messrs Axelsson, Bohlin & Theselius, but to the interior and furniture design work of three: and in doing so neatly underscore the function of the interior architect and the important link between interior design and furniture design. Works by Mats Theselius, as seen at INSIDE architecture by Åke Axelsson, Jonas Bohlin, Mats
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Organised by the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design, IKEA, the City of Malmö and ArkDes, Sweden's national architecture and design museum, the annual Ung Svensk Form/Young Swedish Design award/platform, premiers young design talents not only of Swedish birth, but non-Swedes currently based in Sweden, regardless of genre, but who, in the words of outgoing Swedish Society of Crafts and Design CEO Ewa Kumlin, "experiment freely, venture without fear, believe in their ideas and have the strength
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One of the most striking aspects at Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair is the way the various Scandinavian manufacturers try to impress how old they are. Arguably on account of the sheer concentration of Scandinavians at the region's premier furniture and lighting trade fair, you will rarely find so many in one place at one time, all seem locked in a battle to claim the status as oldest, to lay claim, as it were, to being the elder statesmen of the guild. Established in 1964 screams one stand.
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By way of an addendum to our 5 New Architecture & Design Exhibitions for February 2018 post, and arguably also to save us mentioning it every month, February 2018 sees the inauguration of a new design exhibition cycle in Berlin: Design Views, a cooperation between the Internationale Design Zentrum Berlin and the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin initiated with the aim of highlighting contemporary developments, thinking and directions in design. Design Views 2018 marks the 150th anniversary of the
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If academics are to be believed, which admittedly seems unnecessary given the wealth of irrefutable facts available on Twitter and Facebook, February has always been a short and flexible month. Initially non-existent - the contemporary January and February being once considered an indivisible "winter" - when the Romans decided to extend their calender, February was deliberately left shorter than all other months, largely for accounting purposes, that is, to allow it to be adjusted as the solar
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It's probably fair to say that no object at IMM Cologne 2018 confused us quite as much as the new 118 chair by Sebastian Herkner for Thonet. Not in bad way. Just in a confused way. We know, we know, what sort of being gets confused by chairs. Us. Regularly. It's why our lives' are such a mess. 118 by Sebastian Herkner for Thonet, as seen at IMM Cologne 2018 The quadratic wooden side chair is one of the true archetypes of chair design. Arguably tracing its history back to the Klismos of
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Aside from the chance to catch up with, and following the development of, familiar manufacturers and designers, one of the (all too rare) joys of a fair like IMM Cologne is being introduced to the previously unknown. Among our new discoveries at IMM Cologne was Münster based manufacturer Caussa. Wedge table/stool Andreas Kowalewski for Caussa, as seen at IMM Cologne 2018 Although only established in 2016, and making their IMM Cologne debut, Caussa bring a wealth of experience with them:
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While Georges-Eugène Haussmann is associated with the radical and unrestrained, Atelier Haußmann prefer the understated and reserved. Yet applied with the same level of conviction, self-confidence and appreciation of a well considered line. Following a couple of years absence 2018 saw Atelier Haußmann return to IMM Cologne.... Atelier Haußmann @ IMM Cologne 2018 Established, or perhaps better put, evolved in the course of the 1990s in Berlin-Kreuzberg by brothers Andreas & Rainer Haußmann,
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The English playwright and composer Noël Coward is widely attributed to have once opined that, "a perfect Martini should be made by filling a glass with gin, then waving it in the general direction of Italy" We can't confirm if Munich based StudioFaubel employed the grand raconteur's advice in the development of their Martini Sessel for Müller Möbelfabrikation. The result is however equally as satisfying..... Martini Sessel by StudioFaubel for Müller Möbelfabrikation, as seen at IMM Cologne
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