In his ca. 75 CE work The Life of Theseus, the Greek biographer, historian and Delphi priest Plutarch notes that the ship with which Theseus returned to Attica having slain the Minotaur in its labyrinth on Crete, "was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place", meaning that over time the ship of Theseus "became a standing example among the philosophers, for the
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In the exhibtion A Chair and You at the Grassi Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig, there is more than A Chair and You can look at them, study them, explore them, converse with them. But not sit on them. In the presentation Stühle zum (Be)Sitzen on the first floor landing of the Grassi Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig, there is more than A Chair and You can look at them, study them, explore them, converse with them. And sit on them. Thirteen chairs which unite more than just thirteen
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Thonet A Michael; A Twist; A Portfolio of Patents According to the Felsbilder of the Nymphs of Loreley, that most important of sources of information of the earliest (hi)story of the contemporary Rheinland, the Thonet arose in the community of Boppard, a community framed on the one side by a series of swinging aqueous curves as the Rhein meanders its way slowly through the metamorphic rock of the Rhenish Massif, and on the other by a range of peaks of that Massif on whose flowing curving
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"Wij hebben de nieuwe wereld te scheppen" wrote a, then, 19 year old Mart Stam in 1919.1 "We have to create the new world" And subsequently spent the following decades developing, explaining and demonstrating his understandings of what that meant...... Mart Stam (1899 - 1986) Martinus Adrianus Stam was born on August 5th 1899 in Purmerend, a community to the north of Amsterdam, and which, not uninterestingly, is also the birthplace of Stam's contemporary J.J.P. Oud. Following an initial
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"In many workshops and offices it is regularly attempted to achieve both direct and semi-indirect lighting by means of large, single, light sources, that is, to work only with ample general lighting. Yet as pleasant as this type of lighting may be, in many cases it proves unsatisfactory on account of certain inherent shortcomings"1 So opined in 1926 the German engineer Curt Fischer. Rhetorically. For in 1919 he had already patented his first solution to resolving such "inherent shortcomings".
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Apart from the chance to peruse and consider the collections and new products of and from a wide variety of manufacturers and labels, one of the real joys of visiting any furniture fair is the opportunity it allows to observe designers in conversation with manufacturers and labels. For all in pairings that currently don't formally exist. We never eavesdrop on such conversations, that would be rude, and to overplay our prowess as spies; but we do enjoy imagining what may arise from those
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The long and winding (hi)story of furniture design is largely one of evolution not revolution, largely one of innumerable, often imperceptible, social, cultural, economic, technical, et al transformations, movements, hindrances and undulations which slowly, continually, combine and interact to widen and deepen the river as it flows. A process aided, abetted and accelerated by irregularly arising confluences where a new tributary flows into the unflinchingly onwards rolling mainstem. One such
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The German town of Boppard sits on two of the most pronounced and prominent curves on the Mittelrhein. Can it be a coincidence that Boppard's most famous son, Michael Thonet, is most popularly known for his curving bentwood chairs? Can it really be a coincidence? Possibly. Almost certainly. What is less contentious is that the flow and meandering of first Michael Thonet's creativity and vigour and subsequently that of the company Thonet has carved its mark not only on the Rhenish Massif
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While the shortlist of exhibitions for this column is regularly long, that for May 2019 was particularly so. And particularly tricky. Perusing it we saw no realistic chance of getting it down to five, all made good claims for inclusion, none deserved to be ignored...... Then we noticed that, with a little bit tweaking, we could get two lists: one featuring those exhibitions directly connected with Bauhaus/Inter-War architecture and design, and one featuring those less directly connected. 💡
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"I first saw resilient tubular steel furniture designed by Professor Mies van der Rohe in September 1927 at the exhibition "Samt und Seide" in Berlin, objects which made a very deep impression on me, because I felt and saw that here, for the first time, was a meaningful way to utilise the forces inherent in tubular steel." Anton Lorenz, 27th March 19391 Because discussions on the steel tube furniture that, in many regards, characterises the inter-War period tend to focus on the designers and
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On December 10th 1869 Gebrüder Thonet voluntarily relinquished their 1856 Privilege in respect of "The manufacture of chairs and table legs made of bent wood, the bending facilitated by the action of steam or simmering liquids"; thereby ending not only a thirteen year monopoly during which time Thonet became a firmly established global brand, but also the culmination of a neigh on three decade story which highlights the importance of patent protection in the furniture industry. Biegen oder
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It's probably fair to say that no object at IMM Cologne 2018 confused us quite as much as the new 118 chair by Sebastian Herkner for Thonet. Not in bad way. Just in a confused way. We know, we know, what sort of being gets confused by chairs. Us. Regularly. It's why our lives' are such a mess. 118 by Sebastian Herkner for Thonet, as seen at IMM Cologne 2018 The quadratic wooden side chair is one of the true archetypes of chair design. Arguably tracing its history back to the Klismos of
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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
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As a fair IMM Cologne 2017 didn't impress, but one or the other product did. Our IMM Cologne 2017 High Five!! And a few words of comfort from Epictetus. IMM Cologne 2017: High Five!! Staged as it in mid-January IMM Cologne is not only the first event in our new diaries, but, coming as it does after a period when we've been distracted by life in its full technicolour glory, often the hardest. How quickly have we come out of the post-holiday starting blocks? Are we mentally and physically
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The German architect and designer Ferdinand Kramer didn't just translate the new principles of construction and design which arose in the inter-war years into his architecture, furniture and industrial designs, he was also a very eloquent writer on such matters, and thus helped, and continues to help, explain the motivations behind, and fascination with, functionalist ideals. Chair B 403 for Thonet by Ferdinand Kramer, as seen at The Kramer Principle: Design for Variable Use, Museum
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"...the strict, logical lines which avoid anything unnecessary and which with the sleekest form and through the simplest means embodies the modern objectivity"1, with this, glowing, description of his design the Supreme Court of the German Reich in Leipzig awarded on June 1st 1932 Mart Stam the artistic copyright of the cubic, quadratic, cantilever chair, and thus settled arguably the very first legal dispute over the copyright of the form of a piece of furniture intended for industrial mass
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To the casual observer selecting five outstanding products from the Milan Furniture Fair is a neigh on impossible task, so great is the number of potential candidates. "How", asks our casual observer, "are you going to select just five?!?!" For the seasoned attendee selecting five outstanding products from the Milan Furniture Fair is a neigh on impossible task, because the vast majority of articles on show are anything but outstanding. And those which are are invariably older, established
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The Faculty of Applied Arts Schneeberg is by no stretch of the imagination Germany's largest design school; however, that in context of design education size is less important than how creativity is nurtured, supported and encouraged can currently be explored in the exhibition "Offspring – Graduates of Schneeberg present furniture and product design" at the GALERIE Rüdiger SchaackAngewandte Kunst Schneeberg in Schloss Lichtenwalde. Presenting works by eleven graduates from Schneeberg's Wood
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Born in Leverkusen Glen Oliver Löw initially studied Industrial Design at the University of Wuppertal before moving to Milan in 1986 where he completed a Masters degree at the Domus Academy. Following his graduation from the Domus Academy Glen Oliver Löw remained in Milan where he took up a position with Antonio Citterio, becoming a partner in the practice in 1990, and developing a wide range of projects for companies as varied as, amongst others, Vitra, Kartell and Flos. In 2000 Glen Oliver
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In the famous Thonet Card Catalogue from 1930/31 the image of the B 9 side table and B 25 lounge chair is augmented by a small lamp atop the B 9. Whereas the Thonet B 25 and Thonet B 9 are credited to Marcel Breuer, there is no credit for the lamp. But then it isn't a Thonet lamp. Thonet don't do lamps. Thonet do tables, chairs, shelving and other furniture. Thonet don't do lamps. Or at least didn't. In 2010 Thonet released the LUM reading lamp by Ulf Möller as a floor version, adding a desk
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As we noted in our post from the 2015 Garden Unique Youngstars competition, the contemporary outdoor furniture market is a largely forgotten world as far as quality design is concerned. And as we also noted, it needn't be. At IMM Cologne 2016 Thonet are presenting with the new All Seasons collection their alternative vision. Thonet @ IMM Cologne 2016 The (hi)story of Thonet furniture is, as with the wider (hi)story of furniture design, essentially one of indoor furniture. Although not
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We were first introduced to the work of Berlin based designer Uli Budde when we saw his "Reading Table" project at Designers Fair 2010 in Cologne. A delightfully simple object Reading Table combines table top and magazine/newspaper storage space in a manner that is as painfully obvious as it genial. An easily accessible, contemporary object the fact that no producer has seen fit to take it into production is one of those design mysteries which often keep us awake at night. Having begun his
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"The essence of the Thonetschen invention is that when bending a steamed piece of wood the neutral layer is relocated to the upper, convex, surface of the curved wood. If any cylindrical or prismatic body is bent, the upper layers are extended, the lower, concave, layer compressed, so shortened, and only one layer, namely that which passes through the centre of mass of the cross section, remains in the original length. Thus in this type of ordinary wood bending the upper, convex, lying part is
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Back in the hazy mists of 2014 the Grassi Museum for Applied Arts, Leipzig presented Sitting – Lying – Swinging. Furniture from Thonet, an exhibition which provided a leisurely stroll through 150 years of Thonet chair design and helped explain the evolution of the company's designs over the decades, including why Thonet lost their way in the 1980s and how from the late 1990s onwards they regained their position as one of Europe's leading contemporary furniture producers. And an exhibition
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