One of the early highlights of our 2017 #campustour was the Arc Collection by Marie Hesseldahl & Nanna Neergaard created in context of their Diploma project at Design School Kolding. Consequently it was a particularly pleasing mødes igen with the Arc Collection at IMM Cologne 2018 where it was launched as a product family by Danish manufacturer Le Klint. Arc Pendant Lamp by Manér Studio for Le Klint, as seen at IMM Cologne 2018 All Diploma projects at Design School Kolding are undertaken
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"Have you ever laid out all your plates like a carpet, or piled furniture into a tower?", asks the introduction to the Technical University Dortmund's project, Alles, was ich habe [Everything that I possess] Our answer to the last question is a categorical, yes. It was one afternoon during our final year at secondary school, and together with a few chums we stacked all the common room furniture up against one wall. Just to see if we could. We could. Alles, was ich habe is a little more
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In his 5th century BC text "The Art of War", the Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu notes: There are roads, not to take. There are armies, not to attack. There are towns, not to besiege. There are terrains, not to contest. There are ruler's orders, not to obey.1 Were Sun Tzu's metier the furniture fair rather than the warfare, we feel certain he would have added: There are objects, not to produce. IMM Cologne 2018 is awash with such. It's not IMM's fault; rather is endemic of an industry
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As regular readers will appreciate, we're no great approvers of lumping individual creatives together under one umbrella term; always strikes us as being an unnecessary distraction, and (more than) a little counterproductive. We are however most appreciative that following an inaugural presentation at Kazerne Eindhoven during Dutch Design Week 2017, the showcase Generation Köln is now being presented, as it were, on home turf. Generation Köln. A Family Portrait Organised by Passagen
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As in art, music or literature, the path in design from an idea to its realisation is rarely straight. And not always achieved. Or at least not immediately. Consequently every designer, as with every artist, every musician or every author, has projects which began their journey's full of hope,but, then, for whatever reason....... With the showcase "in Arbeit" Cologne based designers Thomas Schnur and Klemens Grund present some of their projects which are, still, "in Arbeit" In Arbeit.
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One of Germany's leading post-war architects and architectural theoreticians, Egon Eiermann was also one of post-war Europe's most important chair designers, not just in context of what he realised, but also in context of what he worked towards realising and the reasons why. With the exhibition Cologne celebrate that legacy. Der Stuhl des Architekten - Sitzmöbel von Egon Eiermann @ Ungers Archiv für Architekturwissenschaft Cologne Although Egon Eiermann's career as a designer of
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With his two faces the Roman God Janus looks simultaneously forward and backwards, standing in constant watch over transitions, the passage of time, beginnings, ends. The easy connection to make is with January, that month of the year when we are invariably reflecting and hoping in equal measure: the more complex connection to make is with a well-crafted architecture and design exhibition, one which effortlessly links reflections of the past with proposals, visions and excitement for the
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While preparing our 5 New Architecture & Design Exhibitions for December 2017 post we spent a not inconsiderate amount of time contemplating the exhibition Cupboard Love at the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur, in particular the fact the while it promises to explore cupboards in their metaphoric manifestations as expressed in film, literature and art, they appear to have overlooked the use of cupboards, closets and other storage units in music. We just had to rectify that....... Cupboard Love at the
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On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a ticket for a design exhibition. On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two tickets for two design exhibitions, and a ticket for a design exhibition. On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me...... You get the idea. Our five goohoold rings for December 2017 are new architecture and design exhibitions in Winterthur, Barcelona, New York, Munich and Moscow. "Cupboard Love" at the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur,
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Whereas exhibitions featured in these pages are normally still in the first flush of youth, having recently enjoyed their vernissage and thus making their first public appearance, the presentation of Two German Architectures 1949-1989 at the Technische Universität Berlin is much more a finissage. After a 13 year, 26 city, global tour, the exhibition has, in many regards, come home to retire. Two German Architectures 1949 - 1989 @ the Technische Universität Berlin Organised by the German
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Artefacts are generally considered remnants of societies and civilisations long past. Remnants which act as chroniclers, guides and reminders of societies and civilisations long past. Artefacts however needn't be ancient. Nor the society they document. With the exhibition Von Ata bis Zentralkomitee the Kulturhistorisches Museum Rostock explore daily life in the DDR through everyday objects, artefacts, and thereby the nature and reality of state influence and control on everyday life. Von
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The first metaphors may, or may not, have been animal based, but materials are just as adaptable. And few are as adaptable as glass. The Glass Ceiling as the impenetrable, yet invisible boundary. The Heart of Glass as a state of extreme emotional weakness. While in most glass metaphors the focus is an inherent property of glass: transparency. With the exhibition Welt aus Glas. Transparentes Design the Wilhelm Wagenfeld Haus Bremen abstract that metaphor to explore the link between
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👋 Gestures belong to the oldest of human actions and interactions. Have accompanied mankind through good times and bad, through its innumerate technical, cultural and social revolutions. And are so intuitive, we are often barely aware of them. With the exhibition Gestures – Past, Present and Future, the Sächsische Industriemuseum Chemnitz explores not only the (hi)story and importance of gestures, but for all their role in our smart, digital, autonomous futures. Gestures - Past, Present
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Visitors to the Grassi Museum for Applied Arts Leipzig have long been able to rest on Jasper Morrison's Vitra Bench, an object liberally distributed throughout the museum complex. With the exhibition Thingness the Grassi Museum for Applied Arts Leipzig offers visitors a deeper insight into Jasper Morrison's oeuvre, and creative processes. Jasper Morrison - Thingness @ Grassi Museum for Applied Arts Leipzig Born in London in 1959 and a graduate of both Kingston Polytechnic and the Royal
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As any fule kno, an echo requires a surface off which to reflect. Otherwise it is just shouting into the void. With the exhibition Echoes - 100 Years in Finnish Design and Architecture at the Felleshus, Berlin, that reflective surface is the traditions, cultures and landscapes of north-east Europe. Echoes - 100 Years in Finnish Design and Architecture @ Felleshus, The Nordic Embassies, Berlin On December 6th 1917 the Finnish Republic declared its independence from Russia, an event that
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The old adage that the only certainties in life are death and taxes has become (more than) a little passé of late. However even the accountants and investment bankers cannot, yet, avoid death. With the exhibition Tod & Ritual - Kulturen von Abschied und Erinnerung the Staatliches Museum für Archäologie Chemnitz, smac, explore the historical and cultural traditions and rituals of that last remaining timeless, universal, and utterly inescapable phenomenon. Tod & Ritual - Kulturen von
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Back in the day one of the joys of reading the British Yellow Pages was the entry for Boring: "See Civil Engineers"* Oh how we laughed! And still do! Partly to counter such negative associations, partly to explain what Civil Engineers do, and partly to explain just how fundamentally that what Civil Engineers do has contributed to our contemporary society, and the multitude of possibilities available to us, whether we choose to take them or not, the Oskar von Miller Forum Munich is staging the
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Architects are always very keen to stress how they are working in the interests of society, for society. Often selflessly so. Yet little polarises society quite like architecture. And no architecture polarises quite like Brutalism. Whereas in discourses on other architectural genres the middle ground is a place where those of moderate opinions can meet objectively and attempt to approach one another's position: there are no Brutalism moderates. With the exhibition SOS Brutalism - Save the
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Modular lighting is a seldom encountered genre, and when it is encountered, then invariably in a very technical form, a form that implies the computer software has taken a greater role in the creative process than the designers understanding of form-giving, There are however exceptions..... 304 by Nick Beens, as seen at Dutch Design Week Eindhoven 2017 Although we saw the 304 collection by Nick Beens' at the 2017 Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation Exhibition, it's inclusion here should in
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While figuratively "blowing the roof off" is arguably an aim of every design festival; physically having your roof blown off is not. Sadly that is what happened to Designblok Prague 2017; Storm Herwart, when not completely de-roofing the Art Deco Palace of Industry which hosted the event, causing damage sufficient to force organisers the cancel the last two days of the five day festival. A situation not only unfortunate and irksome for the organisers and exhibitors, but disappointing all
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Although as an event Dutch Design Week has always had a focus on presenting design in context, design in practice, our feeling is that of late that focus has intensified, something we thoroughly approve of as it helps make tangible that design is, can be, more than pretty objects; does however mean that you increasingly need to take more time with you to Eindhoven. Or accept that you are going to miss a lot of, potentially, interesting and thought provoking presentations. Necessity meant that
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In context of Designblok Prague 2017 the winners of the fourth edition of the pan-European design graduate competition Diploma Selection were unveiled at a ceremony in the city's Palace of Industry. Diploma Selection 2017 Winners, Nominated, Jury, Uncle Tom Cobley and all, at Designblok Prague 2017 Diploma Selection 2017 Initiated in 2014 as a joint initiative by Designblok and the European Union National Institutes for Culture, EUNIC, Diploma Selection is open to all students graduating in
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"Marcel Breuer seeing a pair of bicycle handle-bars decided to make chairs using the same industrial process", notes Jasper Morrison in his text, The Poet will not Polish, "the new world constructor seeing a pair of bicycle handle-bars decides to use them as they are and save himself the trouble and expense of bending the tube."* On seeing an aluminium tube, Eindhoven based studio OS ∆ OOS followed, in many respects, a similar logic. The result is the Tunnel collection. OS ∆ OOS @ Dutch
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Algorithms as dance, a tactile architecture guide and a future-proof flat sharing platform. On Thursday October 26th the winners of the 2017 Kölner Design Preis were unveiled at a ceremony in the city's Museum für Angewandte Kunst, MAKK; and where until Sunday November 19th the three winning, and all nominated, projects, can be viewed in a specially conceived Kölner Design Preis 2017 exhibition. Kölner Design Preis 2017 exhibition at Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln, MAKK Celebrating its
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