Although it would be wrong to say that we misled you in saying that there would be no Moormann furniture at IMM Cologne. There was one piece. A brave, young Strammer Max Not in Cologne however as representative of his designer or producer, but as the Global Ambassador of an idea so genial, so eye wateringly simple, so necessary, that we're more than a little twisted with jealousy at not having thought it up ourselves: World Furniture Day. Looking to put the fun back into furniture the
read moreAlthough officially a company fete at which Moormann wanted to thank their partners, dealers, designers et al for the good cooperation over the previous year; Die Hölle von Aschau was much more a family fest at which one could really feel the warmth that exists between the company and all they work with. And that despite the sleet and wind. This warmth was particularly evident as Nils Holger Moormann himself took to the track and was immediately surrounded by the sort of camera scrum more
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Away from the race track a real highlight of "Die Hölle von Aschau" was the Concours d'Élégance. Ahead of the event Moormann sent out miniature Bookinist kits to their clients, partners and chums with the request that they be "pimped" and returned. If we're honest we don't think that they expected to get that many back. And so they were genuinely all the more impressed with not only the response but the very high quality of the responses. From a Gingerbread Bookinist over Popemobiles and
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Where photographic evidence exists that indicates the possible existence of the Loch Ness monster or the Yeti, until recently no photos existed of a mythical beast twice as shy and eight times as hirsute. The simple reason being that with over 60 years experience and a natural mistrust of cameras, the (smow)blog photographer can hear a lens cap being removed at over 1 kilometre. However during the Hölle Von Aschau, Siebenschläfer designer Christoffer Martens managed the unmanageable. As a
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Twenty four hours before Sebastian Vettel sealed his second F1 drivers title in Japan, Markus Jehs and Jürgen Laub were securing victory in an event that stands a vertical cliff face higher than F1 on Mount Motor Sport and to which Vettel himself hopes to ascend, once he gets a bit better at driving: The Bookinist Cup. For many the Bookinist was developed as an armchair in which one could sit and read; surrounded by your favourite literature. This however is one of the crueler droplets in the
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As we stood in a cold-storage centre in west Vienna looking at Ljod by Copa, somehow we knew it was also training for the rapidly approaching winter. We just didn't realise how quickly it would come. A mere 72 hours later we found ourselves standing on the station platform at Prien in Chiemgau. Air temperature 4 degrees. By the time we reached Aschau, the first snow of the winter was busy dusting the tops of the Chiemgauer Alpen. And we began considering if it wasn't, slowly, time to swap
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At Fuori Salone Milano 2011 we helped Moormann construct their stand. And of course took the opportunity to chew the fat a little with company founder and eponym Nils Holger Moormann. Variously described as being an autodidact, pioneer or provocateur, for us Nils Holger Moormann is simply pleasant company and the guarantee of well considered and soundly opinionated discussion. In the course of the Milan interview we covered the new products, the current state of the furniture industry and,
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Once a month we visit a trade fair. We don't always want to - but we always have to. We look at furniture. We think up some cheap jokes. We take some out of focus photos. We come home. But what is actually involved in organising a trade fair stand? How important are trade fair stands? Is our weak humour and poor photography disrespectful? In an attempt to try to answer these and similar questions we helped Moormann with the construction of their stand at Milan 2011 Although "helped" is
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A quick tram and S-Bahn ride from Rundgang at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee brought us to Rundgang at Universität der Künste Berlin. Similar concept. Different worlds. Whereas Weißensee exudes an almost parochial innocence, the UdK feels like The New York School of the Performing Arts in the early 1980s. At any minute a nimble framed, leotard and leg-warmer attired youth could leap down the stairs and complain about Mr. Shorofsky not understanding the modern world before pirouetting
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Luddites! Not a phrase normally associated with (smow) To the best of our knowledge no (smow)employee has ever smashed an iPad or capped a WiFi service in protest at the creeping and increasingly obsessive proliferation of technology into our lives. Despite that, the early summer weeks in the (smow)HQ were dominated by the preparation and production of the very first (smow)catalogue. That's print catalogue. So on paper. With ink. Luddites? Au contraire nos amis! Not only is the
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Name: Christoffer Martens Born: Bremen, 1975 Alma mater: Product Design, University of Applied Science, Potsdam Internships: Alfredo Häberli, Zürich Products: Siebenschläfer for Nils Holger Moormann, Aschau im Chiemgau Spross for Nils Holger Moormann, Aschau im Chiemgau Obstrutsche for emform, Bockhorn Buchhalter Potbase (smow)blog: How did you arrive at product design? Christoffer Martens: I initially trained as a graphic designer and then worked in a media agency for a few years.
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Or indeed any side table from Moormann. Based in a remote alpine valley hard on the Germany/Austria border it is hard to imagine a designer furniture producer who better fit into our modern White Christmas romantic than Nils Holger Moormann. Especially given the elven-esque Moormänner who assist Nils Holger with the construction and distribution of his products. And so a few suggestions from Haus Moormann for those of you looking for wood based Christmas presents a la days of yore: Mini
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According to the ever accurate wikipedia Eindhoven has a population of some 214,000. On Sunday's the population of Eindhoven is around 214. Eindhoven on a Sunday morning is a lonely and forbidding place. Gesloten is Dutch for "Closed" The parallels - typographic as well as semantic - with Get Lost are unmistakable. Even the bakers are closed. We can't remember the last time we were in a century, sorry city, where bakers close on a Sunday. Eindhoven on a Sunday morning is not for the faint
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Following the disappointment of Burg Giebichenstein it seemed that Urðr, Shai and Nortia had once again collectively abandoned us as we strove northwards through the rain and thunder towards Berlin. Alone the fact that we were unwittingly party to that age old eastern Germanic ritual of the summer migration to the Baltic Sea keeping our mood high. From Berlin Hbf the transient throng continued on to Rostock, Warnemünde and the other traditional Sachsen summer feeding grounds on the Baltic
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Name: Stephan Schulz Born: Schwerin, 1983 Alma mater: 2003-2009 Industrial Design, Burg Giebichenstein, Halle 2007-2008 Erasmus studies at the Design Academy Eindhoven Internships: 2008 Bellini Design Studio, Milan Products: Stellvertreter for Nils Holger Moormann, Aschau im Chiemgau Concrete bowl series "frisch ausgeschalt" for Betoniu, Leipzig (smow)blog: Why Industrial Design? Stephan Schulz: It sort of just developed. I've always built things and experimented with different
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Although always a hard fought encounter this Holland - Germany match had an added edge; the winner proceeding to the semi-finals of the 2010 (smow) designer furniture World Cup. Ahead of the match the Dutch decided to switch Hella Jongerius for Marcel Wanders; hoping that the creative force behind moooi and droog could better counteract Grcic's clear, linear forms. And the tactic worked. With first his Knotted Chair and then his New Antiques combination for Capellini, Marcel Wanders took a
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You know how it is. You arrive early in the office..... Make a coffee..... Turn the computer on........ Check out the tabloid press websites..... And break gently into the day with stories as irrelevant and vacuous as they are compelling. It's just a comfortable and familiar way to start the day. This morning was different. The story had all the makings of normal tabloid nonsense: a pop star, a footballer's wife and a party guest list that you suspect had been thrown together by a tired and
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The careers of Konstantin Grcic and Patricia Urquiola could barely be more different; whereas Patricia Urquiola has steadily and confidently moved through the traditional Italian designer furniture producers, Konstantin Grcic has skipped from cult producer to cult producer with only the occasional diversion into the mainstream of European designer furniture producers. Opening with a Hut Ab for Nils Holger Moormann, Grcic then complimented this with an ES shelving system for Moormann before
read moreWe don't have to go to Milan to visit Moormann. We can just go to Aschau. But we do enjoy visiting Moormann in Milan, because they always make that little more effort. After Moormann's 2009 Saloni Milano stand with Liesmichl, Strammer Max, Steckling et al, 2010 is looking a little more reserved. That said Else is already promising to be one of the highlights of Milan 2010 for us. Else is not a Moormann employee, lovely as they all are, but a new shelving concept by Werner Gasser. As you
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Following our visit to the #VitraHaus this coming Friday, the (smow)wintertour 2010 then proceeds, by ski, along the alps to Aschau im Chiemgau, Bavaria and a visit to Nils Holger Moormann and the, so-called, Moormann Haus. Constructed in 1859 by the Bavarian star architect/stage designer team of Christian Jank and Eduard Riedel, who later went on to find wider acclaim with the construction of Schloss Neuschwanstein, the Moormann Haus was built to commemorate the presentation by Maximilian
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Just in time for the official start of the balcony reading season in Northern Europe, (smow) is proud to announce the arrival of Liesmichl by Nils Holger Moorman. Without a doubt one of the freshest and most inventive reading/side table design of late, Liesmichl is also an expression of Nils Holger Moormann's love affair with the written word. And a rare excursion by the southern German firm away from 100% wood furniture. The genius of Liesmichl is not the wonderful holder on the top where
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