Red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and blue..... Life is so simple as a child. Yet whereas in almost all other respects the progression to adulthood is one of simplicity to complexity, in terms of our understanding of colour we never lose our inner child. With the exhibition Breathing Colour at the Design Museum London the Dutch designer Hella Jongerius encourages us to sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow new. Noon colour catchers, as seen at Breathing Colour
read more
In our recent interview with the Danish designer and author Thomas Dickson, he discussed the relevance of 1968 as a year of revolution in Danish design. Founded in 1967 Design School Kolding grew up against the background of that revolution. An indication as to if that spirit lives on as the institution celebrates its 50th could be found at the 2017 Design School Kolding graduation exhibition. Koldinghus Kolding. Location for the Design School Kolding Graduate Exhibition 2017 Established
read more
She came from Greece, had a thirst for knowledge, studied sculpture at St Martins College and, according to Jarvis Cocker, had no understanding of the brutal realities of late 1980s British society. Thirsty to know if the 2017 Central St Martins design graduates were more grounded in their contemporary reality, our 2017 #campustour headed to North London.... Central St Martins,London. The Granary Central St Martins, London Tracing its origins back to the late 19th century, Central St
read more
With the exhibition Panorama. A History of Modern Design in Belgium, the ADAM, Brussels Design Museum present an exploration of design in Belgium from the 1880s until the 1980s: and in doing so not only explain the development of design in Belgium, but provide for new understandings of that development. Panorama. A History of Modern Design in Belgium at ADAM Brussels Panorama. A History of Modern Design in Belgium Curated by the design historian Dr Katarina Serulus and design critic Thierry
read more
It is fair to say that Malmö University wasn't on our radar before we began our 2017 #campustour. Which is in no way to detract from the institution, far from it, much more it highlights our ignorance. And also one of the aims of our tour, achieving a better understanding of contemporary European design education. Form/Design Center Malmö Malmö University School of Arts and Communication Established in 1998, partly in context of a Swedish government higher education initiative, partly in
read more
The exhibition Much More Than One Good Chair. Design & Society in Denmark at Felleshus Berlin explores the development of Danish design, and by extrapolation Danish society, since the end of the Second World War. To find out a little more we spoke to the exhibition's curator, the Danish designer and author Thomas Dickson. Much More Than One Good Chair @ Felleshus Berlin A graduate of both the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Copenhagen and the Danish School of Journalism Aarhus, Thomas Dickson's
read more
The Swedish town of Lund is famous as the birthplace of the Tetra Pak packaging system, and thus of a global revolution in food and drink distribution systems and consumption patterns. If the new crop of Lund University School of Industrial Design graduation projects reached conclusions as simple, logical and resource efficient, if arguably, and ideally, without the associated post-use recycling problems, could be assessed at the institution's 2017 Degree Exhibition. Lund University School
read more
As the apostle Paul once wrote to the people of Galatia, "for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The manifestation of that wisdom can be observed in the twisted reality of our contemporary farming and food production systems. What we could, should, sow in order to reap a more sustainable and democratic future harvest, and for all the role our personal relationships' to food plays in approaching such an answer, is explored in the exhibition Food Revolution 5.0. Design for
read more
Until Sunday June 4th state of Design, Berlin 2017 is presenting projects from over 80 international creatives, supported by films, lectures and workshops, in the Vollgutlager in Berlin-Neukölln. Viewing the 2017 edition it occurred to us there is a lot of charming ambiguity about the name state of Design, Berlin....... Folding Chair Arena by students from the Inside interior architecture masters course at the Royal Academy of Art The Hague. The main discussion forum at state of Design
read more
In northern hemispheres June marks the start of both astronomical and meteorological summer. In southern hemispheres June marks the start of both astronomical and meteorological winter. The one rejoices, the other laments .... and we don't even notice, far too busy as we are perusing architecture and design exhibitions. Our five recommendations for June 2017 features new shows in Den Haag, Frankfurt, New York, Leipzig and Brussels. "Architecture and Interiors. The desire for Style" at the
read more
Inaugurated in 2016 state of Design Berlin is a festival which seeks to explore the experimental, critical, social character of design as much as present the industrial and commercial: and by extrapolation explain not only that design is all these things, but that the various aspects of design's character needn't be contradictory, far less conflicting or contrary. The 2017 edition of state of Design Berlin opens on Thursday June 1st state of Social Design Initiated by the German designer
read more
'tis a curious thing time. It has accompanied our universe since the instant of its creation, has allowed for the development of our civil and social society, is the bedrock of our economic, industrial and commercial systems, guides us through every day, week, month, year, life. Yet it is questionable if it actually exists. And if it does exist. In what form? How can we visualise and document it? Does it have an inherent value? Clues towards some possible answers are provided by the
read more
When we first viewed the exhibition Full House: Design by Stefan Diez at The Museum für Angewandte Kunst Cologne, it was was still being assembled. Objects were missing, set-ups not in their final composition, lights not yet properly positioned. As such we didn't get to form an opinion on the final, complete, intended exhibition. Did however mange to take some truly awful photos. Fortunately we have now had a second chance to view the exhibition. And it is every bit as good as we assumed it
read more
With the exhibition Much More Than One Good Chair. Design & Society in Denmark, the Danish Embassy in Berlin present an exploration of the evolution of design in Denmark since 1945. And by extrapolation of the evolution of society in Denmark since 1945. Much More Than One Good Chair @ Felleshus Berlin As regular readers will be very aware, we have an uneasy relationship with the term Danish Design. Or perhaps better put we don't believe in it. We believe in design from Denmark, but not that
read more
On May 1st 1851 Queen Victoria opened The Great Exhibition in Hyde Park London: the first "World's Fair", an event which celebrated the advances of the industrial age, and whose influence on industry, engineering, science, architecture and society was to resonate globally for decades, acting as it did as the motor for the quickening technological advances of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. While the profit generated from the 6 million visitors allowed for the construction of London's
read more
"The handicraft training in the Bauhaus workshops was not an end in itself, but an irreplaceable educational tool. The aim of this training was to create designers who, thanks to their precise knowledge of materials and processes, were able to influence the industrial production of our time." Walter Gropius, 1955* The tensions caused by the practical question of how this influence was to be expressed, and the parallels with the industrial production of our time, are explored in the exhibition
read more
Backrests appeared to be a major feature of those new products Konstantin Grcic presented at Milan Furniture Fair 2017. Or perhaps better put, from those new product we saw by Konstantin Grcic, we interpreted the backrest as being central components. But it wasn't all about backrests, a few thoughts on new products for Magis, Plank, Flos and Mattiazzi. Noctambule by Konstantin Grcic for Flos, as seen at Milan Furniture Fair 2017 Monza Bistro Chair for Plank Although an addition to the Monza
read more
Much as we moan, moan, and moan about Milan Furniture Fair, it is a rare opportunity to get a snapshot of where individual designers are currently at: differing products for differing manufacturers being displayed in relatively proximity allowing for a nice overview. A few considerations on the latest projects by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra, Magis, Flos and Mattiazzi. Verticale by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec for Flos, as seen at Milan Furniture Fair 2017 Softshell Side Chair for Vitra
read more
As older readers will be well aware, little gets us down quite like Milan Furniture Fair. Every year our only wish as we cross the Alps is that we will find something to make us thankful that we did. Milan Furniture Fair 2017 produced more such moments than the average year, which we suppose means we'll be back next year!! Our Milan Furniture Fair 2017 High Five!! Linea Perch Stool by Wesley Walters & Salla Luhtasela for Nikari Back at Neocon 2016 we bemoaned the lack of objects in public
read more
While it’s hard to feel anything even vaguely resembling joy in a month which sees the UK start its senseless and cowardly, withdrawal from the European Union … life goes on!! Our five top distractions for April 2017 features new design and architecture exhibitions in Berlin, New York, Paris, Dessau and Milan. "Otto Bartning (1883–1959). Architect of Social Modernism" at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany Born in Karlsruhe in 1883 the architect and theoretician Otto Bartning was, and
read more
Thingness. Noun. [ˈthiŋ-nəs] The quality or state of objective existence or reality1 Thingness. Exhibition. [ˈthiŋ-nəs] A comprehensive Jasper Morrison retrospective currently on show at the Bauhaus Archiv Berlin. Jasper Morrison. Thingness @ Bauhaus Archiv Berlin Originally conceived by and presented at the Centre d’innovation et de design, CID, Grand-Hornu, Belgium, Jasper Morrison. Thingness presents a chronological excursion through three decades of Jasper Morrison design. We first saw
read more
It may lack the Unicorn Horn that graced so many Renaissance era Cabinets of Curiosities, but with The Room of Desires Keum Art Projects present a collection of objects with just as much beauty, mystery and grace as could be found in the Wunderkammer. And yet which are grounded much more in reality. The Room of Desires @ Raumwerk Munich Back in the day we once received an almighty thump from a very good friend for suggesting that the fact her mother had adorned their living room with so many
read more
The exhibition Divine Golden Ingenious. The Golden Ratio as a Theory of Everything? at the Museum for Communication Berlin featured two projects by Berlin based designer Mark Braun, projects which, largely, if not exclusively, owe their form to deliberations on and experimentation with the Fibonacci number. A state of affairs, we considered, makes Mark Braun an ideal person with whom to speak to about the role, attraction and relevance of the Fibonacci number and Golden Ratio in product design.
read more
The Bayerischer Staatspreis für Nachwuchsdesigner is one of the more interesting international design prizes. Not only because it is biennial and thus steadfastly refuses to play with the "every year new" ethos of the contemporary design industry, nor only because it is exclusively for young designers, but also because in addition to the "usual" categories it also recognises Design Research and Applied Crafts. And thus promotes a pleasingly healthy and positive understanding of the term
read more
