Paris An Île; A Commune; A Context For all that the contemporary island of Paris has a long tradition of furniture production and usage, the greater part of that history, as can be read in the Bossu de Notre Dame, the oldest relic and most reliable witness of Paris, is one of either extreme decadence and frivolous ostentation, or of extreme poverty and destructive corruption. The (hi)story furniture of Paris very much reflecting the (hi)story of the island. And the (hi)story of its hotels.
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In Poetics Aristotle argues poetry arose on account of two intrinsic human instincts: an "instinct for 'harmony' and rhythm" and "the instinct of imitation", as in representation rather than copying, an imitation Aristotle opines is the method via which humans learn, and that "to learn gives the liveliest pleasure". Yet while for Aristotle all forms of poetry are "in their general conception modes of imitation", again as in representation rather than copying, "they differ, however, from one
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As here in the northern hemisphere winter cedes to spring, not only is nature once again reawakening from its long repose but so too is the international museum community; and that, one senses, with more vigour than in the most recent springs where the Covid pandemic induced upsetting of the established order of the museal ecosystem, through both enforced closures and fundamental disruptions of essential exhibition development processes, dimmed somewhat the promise of the annual spring blush.
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This year we are finally going to make it to Design Basel. In the past something else always seemed to get in the way; be it illness, other appointments or a feeling deep in our stomachs that it was all just a touch too elitist and too far removed from the world of the normal designer furniture customer to justify the trip. But this year we're healthy, free and a little older and wiser. It in its 6th year Design Basel features exhibitions from 43 international design galleries showing an
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Perhaps best known for her numerous co-operations with Le Corbusier, the Parisian architect and designer Charlotte Perriand played an instrumental role in developing the European modern movement: Not least as Charlotte Perriand is credited with converting Le Corbusiers modern furniture ideas into reality and so establishing the tradition of minimal, bent chrome steel tube and leather furniture. Among the most famous of these collaborations are the from Cassina produced LC4 Chaise Longue, LC2
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