As we believe we've noted before, the joy in that exhibition format in which designers present objects which are important and/or relevant to them, is that no matter how often it is repeated it is always new. Same, same, but different. For their 2017 show Dutch Invertuals are presenting collections of objects from 45 alumni which have an importance to/relevance for them, or which simply represent an object of wonder and inspiration to the relevant designer. And because it's Dutch Invertuals
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"The problem of the construction of affordable housing for the lowest earning sections of the population is currently a primary concern in almost all civilized countries." Thus invited the Congrès internationaux d'architecture moderne to their second congress, a three day event which opened on Thursday October 24th 1929 in the Palmengarten Frankfurt am Main, and which saw some of the leading protagonists of inter-war architecture discuss potential solutions for that most primary of concerns.
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The Ecole Cantonale d'art de Lausanne, ECAL, isn't actually in Lausanne, but the community of Renens on the western edge of Lausanne. Édith Piaf famously opined that, je ne regrette rien, but how many of this year ECAL graduates would be singing, je regrette Renens? Or perhaps better put, how many of this year's graduates would Renens regrette? To gauge the mood, we anchored on the shores of Lac Léman to visit the 2017 ECAL Graduation Show......... Ecole Cantonale d'art de Lausanne ECAL
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Ukrainian designers haven't featured often in these pages. Arguably never. And may never have, had it not been for the exhibition Transformation staged at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre during Paris Design Week 2017 The installation Pulse of Life by Nikolay Kabluka & decoruznetsov studio, as seen at Transformation, Ukrainian Cultural Centre, Paris Design Week 2017 Embassy and Cultural Centre presentations are a regular feature of design weeks, and as a general rule are awful. As in truly
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Whereas most design schools stage their annual exhibition at the end of the summer semester, there are exceptions, such as the Folkwang Universität der Künste, Essen, who present theirs just before the start of the winter semester. And so nigh on three months after all others have ended. Because, one wonders, they fear its brilliant glow would place all other schools in its shade, and they want to remain fair to their colleagues elsewhere? Because they have something to hide, and hope by
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"October is the month of painted leaves. Their rich glow now flashes round the world. As fruits and leaves and the day itself acquire a bright tint just before they fall, so the year near its setting. October is its sunset sky; November the later twilight" ‡ Before Henry David Thoreau's twilight comes, our five painted leaves, flashing their rich glow round the world from Nürnberg, Lausanne, Hamburg, Eindhoven and Barcelona. "On the art of building a teahouse" at the Neues Museum Nürnberg,
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With their 1997 exhibition The Work of Charles and Ray Eames the Vitra Design Museum staged one of the first major Charles and Ray Eames retrospectives Twenty years later they return to two of the 20th century's most important creatives with An Eames Celebration: less of Charles and Ray, and more of the diversity, depth and continuing relevance of their work. Charles & Ray Eames. The Power of Design, Vitra Design Museum That it is 20 years since the Vitra Design Museum last dedicated an
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As regular readers will be aware, for us there is little more elegant and logical than the modular shelving system. And in the variety of systems developed, little which better illustrates both the multitude of options available for the seemingly most simple of functionalities, and thereby the talent required, or perhaps function, of the designer in developing something meaningful, interesting and, ideally, attractive. Of late we have seen several interesting new modular shelving
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Paris Design Week is largely about brand in-store and similar PR driven presentations. An extension if you will of Maison et Objet into the city, and thus predictably prosaic. Largely. Not exclusively. Throughout the city there are/were stimulating and challenging presentations to be found and interesting designers and manufacturers to be discovered and enjoyed. Among the new discoveries we made at Paris Design Week 2017 was Paris based studio woodmade. Mali à bascule by woodmade, as seen
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As the old proverbs teach us, Waste Not, Want Not! And, all that (g)litters is gold! With the exhibition Pure Gold. Upcycled! Upgraded! the Museum für Kunst & Gewerbe Hamburg not only demonstrate the inherent value that can exist in apparent waste, but also how understanding that inherent value could help us reduce future waste problems. Pure Gold. Upcycled! Upgraded!, at Museum für Kunst & Gewerbe Hamburg Realised in context of the 100th anniversary celebrations of the German cultural
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Back in June 2016 we included the Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch's exhibition Nacho Carbonell – On the Origin of Pieces amongst our five new architecture and design exhibition recommendations, noting that, for us, the exhibition appeared to offer "an excellent opportunity to, finally, get to know the man and his work. And for all to understand his cocoon constructions, works which terrify us as much as they fascinate us." We sadly never did make it to On the Origin of Pieces; however, the
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If Milan marks the start of summer, Paris marks the end: the gentle warmth of the Lombarden sun and the fresh alpine breeze blowing over the Saloni ceding as it invariably does, nay must, to the brisk crispness of Maison et Objet. C'est la vie! The September 2017 edition of Maison et Objet was a disconcerting mix of baroque revival and picturesque, fantasy, Scandinavian, as if late 1980s Philippe Starck discovered hygge. And over large stretches Maison et Objet 2017 is/was just as terrifying
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Designers are prone to spending inordinate amounts of time shaving a millimetre of a surface thickness. Or trying to increase the distance between two points by a couple of millimetres. Occupations which to the uninitiated can appear just a tick obsessive. In how far however relatively small changes of scale, differences of a few millimetres, can alter not only the physical appearance of a product, but the very character of a product, was elegantly explained by Danish manufacturer Houe at
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Whereas other cities get by with a design week, Brussels has a whole month: which shouldn't be taken as an indication Brussels is four times more design than say Milan, Eindhoven or Vienna. It isn't. It just takes its time. Doesn't rush. It is Belgium after all ...... For Brussels Design September 2017 MAD Brussels is hosting Belgitude & The New Belgians, two exhibitions of contemporary product design curated by the federal platform Belgium is Design. Belgitude @ MAD Brussels MAD Brussels
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The 2017 spoga+gafa garden trade fair in Cologne hosted the 5th edition of the unique youngstar outdoor living design competition. Open to current design students, or those who have graduated within the past three years, the 2017 unique youngstar attracted a recorder number of 81 entries from 18 countries, from which a shortlist of 15 nominees was selected and presented in an exhibition at spoga+gafa 2017. At an awards ceremony on Sunday in Cologne the prize winners were announced......
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The September architecture and design exhibition recommendations are arguably the cruellest to write: the fact that the majority of the exhibitions end in the depths of the European winter meaning that as we sit here hoping that summer keeps going just a little, little, longer.... we're forced to think about winter jackets and gloves. And so before things get that far, best get out there and visit an exhibition!! Our five recommendations for September 2017 feature new exhibitions in Weil am
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Much like the aardvark, or Alvar Aalto, Aachen is always likely to find itself at the top of any alphabetical list. But aside from such orthographic deceit, would the FH Aachen be at the top of our #campustour list.......? FH Aachen Design Department @ Boxgraben 100 Aachen FH Aachen In what is becoming a popular, almost ubiquitous, sentence in these pages, and one we suspect we will return to at a later date, the Fachhochschule Aachen was formed in 1971 from the fusion of five existing
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Although Bauhaus originally opened in Weimar, the Bauhaus most people understand as Bauhaus is Bauhaus Dessau. But can the students of the Bauhaus University Weimar reclaim "Bauhaus" for Weimar? The Bauhaus University Weimar's annual Summaery exhibition offered a chance to learn more..... Bauhaus University Weimar (Photo © Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Foto: Nathalie Mohadjer) Bauhaus University Weimar In context of architecture and design the combination of "Bauhaus" with "Weimar" is not
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Without wanting to in any way detract from the work undertaken by Kunsthochschule Berlin Weissensee students in the past year, a highlight of our visit to the 2017 Rundgang summer exhibition was the thunderstorm which broke while we there. Calling it biblical would be to trivialise the ferocity with which it smit the day asunder, turning in its fury the Bühringstraße in front of the school into a Bühring Straits. And the first of three storms which broke over Berlin in quick succession, almost
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Visiting the 2017 end of year Werkschau exhibition at the Peter Behrens School of Arts, Düsseldorf we were greatly reminded of the school's eponym's own time in Düsseldorf. If not for the reasons one might assume....... Peter Behrens School of Arts Düsseldorf Peter Behrens School of Arts Düsseldorf Among the many interesting and important buildings which didn't make an appearance in our Tour de l’architecture de Düsseldorf, one of the more interesting and important is arguably the former
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Whereas the Ludwig Forum Aachen's focus is contemporary art, since March 2017 the museum has giving floor space over to contemporary designers and the project LuForm. The Design Department; thereby not only increasing the scope of the museum but also offering designers from the region a new platform. LuForm @ Ludwig Forum Aachen Ludwig Forum Aachen The Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst was established in 1970 by the Aachener art historian, and more importantly, art collector, couple,
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In 2018 the Hochschule München Design Department will move a few hundred metres round the corner from its current home, a home it has occupied for over forty years, to a new purpose built facility opposite the main college building; consequently, the 2017 Jahresausstellung was one of the last chances to experience the Design Department in its original location. But was it a presentation worthy of the moment, a fitting au revoir to an old friend..........? Hochschule München Design Department
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Established in 1992 the Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe was conceived from the off as a design school for coming realities, for a world we don't yet know. But is that a world of smart, autonomous apps? A world of intelligent and considered applications of evolving technology? Of the craft of yore? The 2017 Rundgang durch die Lichthöfe summer exhibition was a chance to glean some clues...... Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe Keen readers of our
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While it's certainly true that without having been introduced to the work of Akademie für Gestaltung der Handwerkskammer Münster alumni Florian Kallus and Sebastian Schneider a.k.a design studio kaschkasch, we probably wouldn't pay that much attention to the Akademie, that introduction was pre-kaschkasch: a project from Florian at DMY Berlin 2010 and one from Sebastian at IMM Cologne 2011. And yes we are blowing ever so gently on our own trumpet. If at the same time terrifying ourselves by the
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