In 1981 Irish stadium rockers U2 noted of October: "And the trees are stripped bare, Of all they wear" That of course was 1981, before the, then approaching but much less tangible, irreversible consequences of climate change meant that the trees in Ireland, and across Europe, still proudly wear their leaves throughout October. A new reality that, we'd argue, may soon see U2 forced to rename the song 'November'. A reality, and a coming renaming, that sets the final line of the opening verse:
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If the Light + Building trade fair in Frankfurt is home to exhibitors the majority of us have never heard of, Passenger Terminal Expo as Europe's leading trade fair for airport infrastructure is home to exhibitors you never knew you were aware of: the developers of airport signage systems, for example, or manufacturers of airport security gates, baggage carousels, airline ticketing systems or self-check in terminals, and of course that sweet female voice who informs you that your gate has
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One could be facetious and say that organising an exhibition looking at "the creative potential triggered by crises in the history of Italy" is akin to organising an exhibition presenting an unbroken chronology of Italian creative potential since time immemorial. But that is exactly what the Triennale Design Museum Milan have undertaken for their seventh edition. Under the title "Autarky, Austerity, Autonomy" the Triennale Design Museum have, however, chosen to focus on just three periods of
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With autum's algid wind in our faces and the promise of mince pies and Glühwein in our tails we approached November and a design tour through Brandenburg, met Napoleon in Erfurt and discovered that the Eames plastic armchairs and plastic side chairs used to be steel......
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When we met Italian designer Alberto Meda at Orgatec 2010 he told us that he was working on his next project for Vitra. And that it would be a chair. And that was all he told us. At Orgatec 2012 the secret was revealed when Vitra released the office swivel chair Physix. Presented as a continuation of an idea began by Mies van der Rohe with his MR20 cantilever chair and continued by Charles and Ray Eames with their Aluminium Chair collection, Physix adds a new dimension to a familiar form
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We suspect the reason we write so much about designer furniture in an airport context is simply because of the amount of time we spend in airports. And consequently the amount of time we spend thinking about and analysing what we are being offered. If you're going to be delayed at Frankfurt for five hours. You want to make sure that your seat is comfy. If you're going to have to spend the night at Copenhagen Airport. You want to make sure your seat is comfy. If you're... you get the idea.
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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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One of the real joys of spring is that two of our favourite worlds nearly, but very nearly, collide - books (Leipzig Buchmesse) and designer furniture (Saloni Milano) On April 10th in Milan they will collide with the opening of the exhibition to the new Moleskine edition "Hand of the Designer". Containing 462 hand drawn sketches from 150 designers - including Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Hella Jongerius, Antonio Citterio or Alberto Meda - Hand of the Designer is intended as an intimate look
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W've all been there. We've all suffered. And so we can all wonderfully identify with Michael #57's winning entry in the designtagebuch.de Christmas designklassiker Medapal competition. The judges were praised not only Michael's concept but also the excellent photo re-working and the wonderful little story that rounded the entry. Congratulations Michael and hopefully in January you can donate your torture chair to some museum or chamber of horrors and enjoy the ergonomic and
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Bosses are without doubt the best reason to set up your own business. Bosses, however, buy your office chair when you work for them. Set up on your own and you are forced to buy your own seat. And for far too many of us the first steps in an independent working life lead us to a supplier of cheap mass-produced furniture. The normal reason given is cost: well made and intelligently designed furniture costs more than a generic piece loosely based on the form of the well made and
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In a recent article wired magazine presented their own take on the evolution of office furnishing. From the introduction of the vast, cattle-shed like offices that characterised early office design through the cubicles and "virtual offices" of the 1980s and 90s and onwards the text makes one thing clear: Too many office workers have suffered through bad office design concepts. But one needn't work from home in order to benefit from the advantages of a convivial and stimulating office
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