"Colour contributes towards enriching the sensitivity, the poetic resonance and harmony of architecture. Colour means a considerable extension of the functional precision of architecture towards psychological and human aspects", so begins colour designer Fritz Fuchs a letter to Stuttgart architect Günter Behnisch, as reproduced in Behnisch & Partner's 1993 book "Über das Farbliche / On Colour" Produced in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name "Über das Farbliche / On Colour"
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We’re almost too late, almost, but until November 8th the AIT ArchitekturSalon Cologne is presenting the exhibition, Alison and Peter Smithson – The Art of Inhabitation. A reworked version of the London Design Museum’s 2003 exhibition “Alison and Peter Smithson – From the House of the Future to a House of Today”, “The Art of Inhabitation” explores the work and legacy of two of the most important post-war British architects through just one facet of the extensive canon: private houses. A facet
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"Do the books that writers don't write matter?", asks Julian Barnes in his 1984 novel Flaubert's Parrot. In a similar vein, do the posts that bloggers don't write matter? Among Julian Barnes' arguments for not disregarding the unwritten novel is that, "Besides, an idea isn't always abandoned because it fails some quality control test. The imagination doesn't crop annually like a reliable fruit tree. The writer has to gather whatever's there: sometimes too much, sometimes too little, sometimes
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On September 3rd the Ungers Archiv für Architekturwissenschaft Cologne present the latest edition of their Ex Libris series. This time Ex Loco. In Bremen. As we noted in a previous Ex Libris post, "... much as the Internet is full of spam until you start looking for something, so to is a library just a lot of old paper until you read the books". And in this sense the Ungers Archiv für Architekturwissenschaft Cologne regularly invite architecture luminaries to select a work from the archive's
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On Friday March 22nd the Ungers Archiv für Architekturwissenschaft Cologne present a new edition of their Ex Libris series. We first discovered Ungers Archiv when we visited the exhibition Stool 60 by Alvar Aalto during IMM Cologne 2013. And we're very impressed, especially by the library, or as we put it "...one of the most comprehensive and enchanting private architecture libraries you’re likely to come across." However much as the Internet is full of spam until you start looking for
read moreThere are some design blogs who simply retype press releases, resize press photos and abracadabra - a blog post. Our standards are a little higher. Which is why we visit design fairs, design weeks, design competitions and design exhibitions. Because only by talking to designers, talking to producers and by actually testing the products can you decide if the PR hype is justified. The minus is of course that design fairs being the new film festivals - our schedule is an absolute nightmare.
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We travelled on a tram for the first time this morning. Now we know that Cologne is the universal centre of oh-so insane fun, practical jokes and dressing up ; and certainly wherever you go in the city you find old women dressed as clowns, young women dressed as cats and men all ages dressed as policemen... However. One can take organised daftness too far. According to the poster we saw in our tram this morning the local transport company here in Cologne are looking for students to drive
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With the Christmas pounds still causing us to sink deeper into the January snow than we find attractive, it is with relief that we look forward to next weeks trip to the IMM in Cologne. Because what with all that running about we wont have time to eat :) In addition to its role as diet-helper,a s the first international furniture trade fair of the year IMM always offers a wonderful opportunity to both reflect on the good and the bad from 2009 as well as to try to size up the coming year. And
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