Berlin didn't become the pulsating metropolis its is by blithely doing what everyone else does. Oh no, Berlin became Berlin because it was Berlin. And now so that we all can bathe in wonder of what "Berlin" means, the city marketing authorities have started an education programme, "be Berlin", in which they instruct us all how we too can be like them. And in conjunction with the DMY design festival, (smow)blog can exclusively reveal a few secrets as to how you too can "be Berlin" be Berlin
read moreIn the past few months we've had the privilege and misfortune of viewing several student showcases. These have ranged from the wonderful, such as the kkrraalls show in Milan from the students of the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe, over the disappointing (Cranbrook College in New York) and not especially good (Weimar Uni. Milan and Berlin) onto the outright pointless - in particular we think on the show in Milan by a nameless north European-based college. The show from the
read moreWhile the "big name" designers show their wares at the IMA Village, the future stars are grouped together as DMY:Youngsters in the Treptower Park Arena Admittedly the classification is based on the organisers own perception and marketing concept - why, for example should the students from Bauhaus Uni Weimar be considered "Allstars" while those from Burg Giebichenstein in Halle are classed as "youngsters"? It makes no sense. Especially given that the Burg Giebichenstein show considerably
read moreBerlin didn't become the pulsating metropolis its is by blithely doing what everyone else does. Oh no, Berlin became Berlin because it was Berlin. And now so that we all can bathe in wonder of what "Berlin" means, the city marketing authorities have started an education programme, "be Berlin", in which they instruct us all how we too can be like them. And in conjunction with the DMY design festival, (smow)blog can exclusively reveal a few secrets as to how you too can "be Berlin" be Berlin
read moreThe good news is that there are plenty of tables in the press room. And some excellent stuff on show from ETH Zürich, Fischerundfritze and Design Apparat, among others. More information and photos will follow soon. And Bauhaus University Weimar are here again with their "my bauhaus is better than yours" exhibition. It still isn't, but "their birdhaus maybe better than yours"
read moreIn the world of designer furniture the word "individual" is regularly used; with everyone conveniently forgetting that if we all buy the same furniture, nothing is individual. Unless that is we all furnish our homes and offices with products from Danish producer, and smow partner, Montana. According to the good folks over there at Montana there are 5 billion possible combinations of their products - we've not counted, and we're not going to count, but you can check for yourself in the
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