We don't suppose it will come as any real surprise that we were taken by Axel Bjurström's Dolly Table. Part Gangsta Lean, part Collecteur, part Liesmichl, part inspired genius - we really couldn't not like it. A graduate of Konstfack, Stockholm's renowned design university, Axel Bjurström established his own studio Bjurström Design in 2004. Although much of his work until now has been interior design Axel also creates his own pieces. And that with a wonderfully light yet self-confident
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It's fair to say that for us the real shock of IMM Cologne 2011 was the number of senseless sofa combinations and truly, truly, hideous leather cantilever dining chairs on show. And that despite that fact we were expecting such. It of course wasn't all cheap pointless tat, there were also some wonderful young designers on show and one or two brave producers with genuinely interesting, innovative and aesthetically coherent product ranges. They were sadly in the minority - and we fear that in
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Ida Engholm, forskningslektor ved Dansk Center for Designforskning er kurator for den akutuelle Pantonudstilling på den danske ambassade i Berlin. Forud for åbningen talte vi med Ida Engholm om Verner Pantons karriere og indflydelse, og om Verner Panton ville have taget digital design til sig. (smow)blog: Det indlysende første spørgsmål er, hvor starter man når man skal kuratere en udstilling om en designer som Verner Panton? Ida Engholm: Udgangspunktet for denne udstilling var en ung tysk
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At the risk of repeating ourselves - one of the main reasons to visit a design week is the chance it offers to visit locations that one otherwise probably wouldn't. And we've had some truly wonderful experiences: but only a few that top 20 designers at BIOLOGISKA. Officially Biologiska is a natural history museum. Officially. Based on the form of traditional Norwegian stave churches the quaint if unassuming exterior cannot, simply cannot, prepare the visitor for what is inside. Climbing
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As part of Stockholm Design Week 2011 Kartell presented the magazine rack Front Page by Stockholm design studio Front. Clever word play and all..... Although formally launched at Milan 2010 Front Page is only now making it's way into the shops and as such presented a wonderful excuse for a Front "home gig". Having already worked with producers such as Moroso, Established & Sons or moooi, Front Page is Front's first product for and with Kartell. At the product launch in the Stockholm
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Anyone who understands our biography will appreciate that a German who spent some time studying in Edinburgh and now lives in Helsinki will be of interest to us. But it wasn't Florian Ganter's biography that drew us to him and to his tool-free adjustable shelf system Air. Or at least not directly. Displayed on the Aalto University School of Design stand we initially thought - in a very lazy fashion - there's a nice bit of Finnish design. And then - considering it a little more seriously -
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Guest of Honour at the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2011 is the Israel born / Paris based designer Arik Levy. In addition to being the public face of the the furniture fair, Arik Levy is also responsible for designing the lounge area and will hold an hour long lecture and question/answer session. Ahead of his opening speech we spoke to Arik Levy about his decision to come to Stockholm, Swedish design and the all pervasive secrecy in the design world. (smow)blog: Why have you agreed to be
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The similarities between Vienna and Stockholm are not limited to the architecture per se. But also to the architects who open the Design Weeks. At least for us! For just as at Vienna Design Week, so was our first Stockholm Design Week vernissage Vindobona by Claesson Koivisto Rune. It may not have been in quite so splendorous a setting as the Palais Liechtenstein; however the showrooms of Stockholm art dealer Åmells were a more than fitting location for Claesson Koivisto Rune's entrancing
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I 1962 mødtes Verner Panton og Marianne Pherson Oertenheim under en ferie på Tenerife, og to år senere blev parret gift i Basel. Udover at være Verner Pantons kone, var Marianne Panton også hans de facto-direktør, og hun arbejdede tæt sammen med sin mand i alle aspekter af hans arbejde. Forud for udstillingen på den danske ambassade talte vi med Marianne Panton om Verner Pantons arbejde, og om hvad der i sin tid havde indflydelse på dette - og om hvordan hun blev den første fotomodel for
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The first thing to say about Designers Fair 2011 is that it was smaller than last year. The second point to say is that the location was a lot poorer than last. The first point is in itself no bad thing - the second is. Now you know us. For us one of the genuine joys of a design week is the chance it offers to explore a city and to visit those areas that one otherwise wouldn't see. And the 2011 Designers Fair location in Ehrenfeld was in that sense good as it provided a focal point for our
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Just as Hannibal always loved it when a plan came together - so for us it is always a moment of extreme satisfaction when a product really is as good as we thought it probably would be. We first saw SuperSputnik by Stuttgart based designer Ahmet Sismanoglu a.k.a Sisman at DMY Berlin 2010 However owing to an, as ever, over-filled schedule never got round to more than admiring it from afar. And so at Designers Fair in Cologne we briefly ignored our schedule to grab a few words with Ahmet and
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At IMM Cologne Finnish producer Artek continued their 75th Anniversary celebrations with a small show at Droom/Design Your Room in Cologne's Belgian Quarter. We'll write more on the Artek story from the Stockholm Design Week; but for now a few impressions from Cologne.
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Richard Lampert is no newcomer to the world of kids designer furniture: products such as the Eiermann Children's desk - a reduced, child friendly version of the Egon Eiermann table frame - or the Turtle kids swivel chair by Peter Horn having become established family favourites. However, irritated by the general lack of high quality, designer furniture available for children, Richard Lampert decided to initiate his own range - with the help of a wonderful array of young international design
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One of the things that separates the world of independent product designers from the commercial giants is the level of cooperation and community that exists. Whereas one can't really imagine, for example, Vitra and Fritz Hansen jointly presenting Verner Panton re-issues at a trade fair; among young and independent designers there are fewer such hang-ups. And even a few "cooperatives" - for want of a better phrase - who regularly put on collective shows during design weeks and on the fringe
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One of the unfortunate weaknesses of IMM Cologne is the general lack of new products on show - either at the fair itself or out and about at the fringe events. That's not 100% IMM's fault rather the collective failing of a furniture industry that continues to focus, almost paranoid, on the Milan Design Week. Fortunately there are one or two producers who are prepared to use IMM to launch new products - including Augsburg based Müller Möbelfabrikation. Perhaps most eye catching of Müller
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As with all furniture trade fairs IMM annually gives part of the floor space over to young, up and coming, designers. In three themed sections "d3 Design Talents" offers space for design colleges - d3 Schools - those further on the way to establishing themselves - d3 Professionals - and a competition - d3 Contest. "Space" is however not only a relative term - but one that cannot be defined by physical measurements. As we learned on the journey to Congress-Centrum Ost! d3 Design Talents : d3
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PANTON in the wonderful Felleshus, Berlin This past Friday the Danish Embassy in Berlin opened an exhibition devoted to the work of Verner Panton - from his early works up to his influence of today's young Danish designers. The first exhibition of Verner Panton's work in Germany for 10 years, PANTON is largely based around the collection of André Barss - a young Berlin Panton collector. A few years ago André was at an exhibition, saw a Panton Chair - and was so irritated by the fact that he
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While critics denounce such as an easy and obvious way to generate content - for us reviewing the past year is an important step in planning our activities for the coming year: where to go, who to talk to, what to sit on and, just as importantly, what to ignore or give up. The only real problem for us is that in preparing such we realise just how much material we haven't had the chance to use - and so receive an impression of how much more material we will acquire in the coming year. Heck!
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We first saw Becherlicht by Martin Neuhaus at Designers Fair 2010 in Cologne. And are still in awe. Our interview with Martin Neuhaus from Designers' Open will be published soon; but for now a few images.
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The Vitra stand at Orgatec 2010 was dominated by the work of two design studios: Antonio Citterio and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. In addition to presenting new variations of their Alcove Sofa and Playns workstation, Vitra also unveiled the Bouroullec's new Communal Cells modular partition/interior architecture system and their High Meeting Table Apart from discussing the brothers forthcoming yacht project, we also talked about, the new Vitra products, what the Bouroullec's own office looks
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Although he was not showing any new products at Orgatec 2010 Alberto Meda used the show to catch up a little on what other designers were up to. And when we caught up with Alberto Meda on the Vitra stand we learned something wonderful: Alberto Meda uses the same office chair as the (smow)blog crew... (smow)blog: Unless we've missed something you aren't showing anything at Orgatec 2010? Alberto Meda: No, but I am working on a new product with Vitra, but that is not yet ready and so I am
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Although the public face of Vitra is unquestionably their "Home Collection", for decades the backbone of the company has been their office furniture division. Consequently a central feature of Vitra's daily work involves developing new approaches to office design and attempting to predict what will be important for office workers in the coming years. In 1991 Vitra commissioned the designers Michele de Lucchi, Ettore Sottsass and Andrea Branzi to develop some plans for future office design.
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At Designers' Open 2009 (smow) first discovered Austrian producer Perludi, who were making their first appearance in Leipzig. Since when their wonderful MAXintheBOX has been part of the (smow) kid's collection. And obviously Designers' Open 2009 was generally a good one for Perludi, because they came back to Leipzig for Designers' Open 2010. On the (smow)blog desk we use a mini MAXintheBOX as a visiting card holder. In real-size MAXintheBOX can be more or less whatever your child wants
read moreAt Orgatec 2010 we spoke to USM Haller CEO Alexander Schärer about the company's return to Orgatec after a 12 year absence, their new "Living Essentials" collection and what his own office looks like....
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