Back in October one of the joys of Orgatec 2012 in Cologne was watching visitors reactions to Hella Jongerius' Sphere Table for Vitra. Most were highly amused and assumed it was a new kids product. An opinion that quickly changes when you learn the background to the object. Developed for Hella Jongerius' recently completed redevelopment of the North Delegate's Lounge at the United Nations in New York, the Sphere Table is a response to a brief that said the lounge could contain no internal
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When we spoke to Marc Zehntner and Mateo Kries, the joint heads of the Vitra Design Museum, they told us that they hoped to make the institution "... a much more vibrant location that doesn’t just present exhibitions exploring the most important design themes and topics but much more asks question of the visitors and so becomes more of an experience." The fringe programme to the current Vitra Design Museum exhibition Lightopia wonderfully demonstrates just what they meant, featuring as it does
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"My, my, my, Delilah! Why, why, why, Delilah!" The morning of Friday September 27th 2013 was one of those misty autumn occasions that cause SANAA's immense new Vitra Factory Building in Weil am Rhein to merge, almost unseen, with the grey background. Even Herzog & de Meuron's new Basel Messe complex was reduced to nothing more grand than a continuation of the uncaring monotonous sky. The glitzing, shimmering palace of high summer just the weak shadow of a memory. And so it was perhaps fitting
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Until September 29th the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein is presenting the exhibition Learning from Vernacular. Curated by Prof. Dr. Pierre Frey from the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Learning from Vernacular presents forty architectural models in 1:20 scale: forty architectural models which either present examples of local, traditional construction materials and principles or, and this is for us the most
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With our trademark "almost too late, but just sneaking in on time" we bring you Prima by Zaha Hadid. Conceived and realised in cooperation with the Austrian crystal concern Swarowski, Prima is a five piece installation based on Zaha Hadid's sketches for her 1993 Vitra Fire Station project. At the moment Prima is a very expensive, and very, very heavy installation on show in front of said Fire Station; however, if we know Vitra we can well imagine what the next step is... We have no formal, or
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"You can't lose ideas in a small space" with this simple piece of almost Confucian wisdom Italian architect Renzo Piano explains part the deeper philosophy behind Diogene, his collaboration with Vitra. And the latest object on the Vitra Campus. Following quickly on from the public presentation of the SANAA Factory Building - unquestionably the biggest building on the Vitra Campus - Diogene is equally unquestionably the smallest. In fact, if our maths are correct you could fit around 2,600
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In December 2012 Vitrashop, the shop fitting arm of the Vitra Group, and of course the original rock on which the Vitra seed germinated and grew, took formal occupation of their new distribution centre. Conceived by Tokyo based architects Kazuyo Sejima & Ryue Nishizawa aka SANAA, the imaginatively titled "SANAA Factory Building" is the latest addition to the Vitra Campus and was officially presented to the public on April 19th 2013. Vitra CEO Rolf Fehlbaum first approached Kazuyo Sejima &
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Back in March 2011 we bemoaned the position of the fence surrounding the Vitra production facility in Weil am Rhein, and for all the disruption to the view across the Vitra Campus. Before the construction of the VitraHaus the fence offended no one, but since.... "Mr Fehlbaum, tear down this wall! Or at least move it a little bit. Please.", we cried. Paraphrasing the lonesome cowboy. And much like Mikhail Gorbachev needed two and half years to respond to Ronald Reagan, so too will it take
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On Friday February 23rd the Vitra Design Museum open their 2013 spring/summer exhibition, Louis Kahn - The Power of Architecture. Organised in conjunction with the Netherlands Architecture Institute "The Power of Architecture" is the first major Louis Khan retrospective in over two decades and promises to present the most comprehensive study ever of one of modernism's more interesting and alluring sons. Albeit a son of modernism we suspect many of you will never have heard of. Born in
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The MoMa in New York famously houses some of the most famous works of Pop Art. And just as famously some of the most famous pieces of mid-20th century design. They are only separated by one floor; however, the layout and curation are very much of the infamous "ne'er the twain shall meet" style. And given the size and configuration of the MoMa it is inconceivable that any normal visitor would be able to consider what they are currently viewing on one floor in the context of what was viewed half
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Post-DMY commitments in Berlin sadly meant that we couldn't attend the "Confrontations – Contemporary Dutch Design Live" event at the Vitra Design Museum. Fortunately the Vitra Design Museum and their partner, the Dutch design platform Premsela, have released videos of the five projects, through which of course one also gets a feel for the sixth project - the exhibition design by catalogtree. Shot by the experienced hands at designguide.tv the films offer a wonderful insight into the
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Parallel to "Gerrit Rietveld – The Revolution of Space" the Vitra Design Museum Gallery is staging an exhibition exploring some of the central themes of the great Dutch modernist's work: experimentation, recycling, working in unison with your materials. Under the title "Confrontations - Contemporary Dutch Design Live", five Dutch design studios will each collaborate with a company from the Basel metropolitan area to develop an object or installation using the respective firm's principle
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If your going to organise an exhibition called "The Revolution of Space", there is probably no more fitting location than Frank Gehry's "revolutionary spaced" Vitra Design Museum building in Weil am Rhein. Unless that it is your exhibition happens to be dedicated to Gerrit Rietveld a man whose canon is principally defined by linear, regular, sober forms. Then you might think twice. The Vitra Design Museum have risked the contrast and consequently visitors to "The Revolution of Space" are not
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Ostensibly established as a location for presenting and archiving Vitra CEO Rolf Fehlbaum's private collection of designer furniture, the Vitra Design Museum has developed into one of Europe's most important centres for design, design history but for all, for explaining design and making design accessible. A large part of the museum's success can be credited to founding Director Alexander von Vegesack who led the institution from its opening in 1989 until the end of 2010. In January 2011 Marc
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Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec are without question two of the most important designers of their generation and are currently being honoured in two shows. The retrospective "Bivouac" currently on show at the Centre Pompidou Metz, and Album, an exhibition of their drawings and sketches that premiered in Bordeaux and is now on show at the Vitra Design Museum Gallery, Weil am Rhein, At the opening of "Album" at the Vitra Design Museum Gallery we spoke to Ronan Bouroullec about drawing, getting
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Having got up in the middle of the night to travel through the depths of the European winter just to get to Weil am Rhein for the "Album" opening, you can imagine our joy when we heard that Erwan Bouroullec had frozen to his core while waiting to board the 6.15 Basel bound TGV. Not because we're cruel, heartless beasts who take pleasure in the suffering of others. At least not on this occasion. But because it is one of these nice reminders of how "normal" the design world is and designers
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Tilbage i februar fejrede VitraHaus i Weil am Rhein sin første fødselsdag. Vi talte med Vitras chefdesigner Eckart Maise om VitraHaus og om planerne for fremtiden. (smow)blog: VitraHaus er nu ét år gammelt, er du tilfreds med det første år? Eckart Maise: Ja, VitraHaus har været en stor succes og 'resonansen' har været meget positiv, både med hensyn til antallet af besøgende samt den feedback vi har fået. Eksempelvis er besøgstallene for 'Vitra Campus' nu tredoblet i forhold til tiden før
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Back in February the VitraHaus in Weil am Rhein celebrated its first birthday. But was it all worth it? To find out more we spoke to Vitra Chief Design Officer Eckart Maise about one year VitraHaus and the plans for the future. (smow)blog: The VitraHaus is now one year old, are you satisfied with the first year? Eckart Maise: Yes, the VitraHaus has been a huge success and the resonance has been very positive both in respect of the number of visitors as well as the feedback. The Vitra Campus
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Last Friday we spent a highly enjoyable - and successful - day at and with Vitra. Texts to follow. We were just a little irritated by two demarcation issues. Like an analogy for the anthropogenic absurdity that are national borders, Basel Airport sits in both France and Switzerland. And has two passenger exits: One into France, one into Switzerland. We left through the Swiss exit. Our driver was waiting in France. Between us in the terminal building a glass wall. Outside a fence. What
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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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Parallel to its exhibitions the Vitra Design Museum organises workshops designed not only to accompany the exhibitions but much more to expand on them and so offer participants a new, active, insight into the theme. Or at least an aspect of the theme. For the current exhibition "Essence of Things. Design and the Art of Reduction" this means, among others, workshops on cardboard furniture production. Cardboard is without question one of the more challenging products that one can choose for
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The (smow)blog team outing to the cardboard furniture workshop was coupled with a visit to the current Vitra Design Museum Exhibition: The Essence of Things. Design and the Art of Reduction. We must admit to finding it more than a little ironic that an exhibition on "Design and the Art of Reduction" should be taking place in a building designed by Frank Gehry, especially when Tadao Ando's Conference Pavilion is only some 10m away. And after the long journey to Weil am Rhein this thought
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If we're honest - and when are we not - the news caused more than little unrest in (smow)blog HQ: Last Wednesday the VitraHaus in Weil am Rhein greeted it's 100,000th visitor. And that in only 12 weeks! And with the VitraHaus now looking likely to attract more the 500,000 visitors in its first year, Herzog and de Meureon's structure is well on its way to becoming one of Germany's leading tourist attractions. Lovely! Admirers and fans of the VitraHaus can interact and share photos, tips and
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On account of the horrendous hotel prices demanded during design week the (smow)blog team camp in Milan. And that despite last years near-drowning episode. This year the decision was a real blessing. Spared the torment of those trapped by Eyjafjallajokull at Milan Airport our return journey this year took us via Weil am Rhein, Vitra and the VitraHaus. What a difference the weather makes! When we were there for the opening in February architect Jacques Herzog commented, somewhat solemnly,
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