One of Germany's leading post-war architects and architectural theoreticians, Egon Eiermann was also one of post-war Europe's most important chair designers, not just in context of what he realised, but also in context of what he worked towards realising and the reasons why. With the exhibition Cologne celebrate that legacy. Der Stuhl des Architekten - Sitzmöbel von Egon Eiermann @ Ungers Archiv für Architekturwissenschaft Cologne Although Egon Eiermann's career as a designer of
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With his two faces the Roman God Janus looks simultaneously forward and backwards, standing in constant watch over transitions, the passage of time, beginnings, ends. The easy connection to make is with January, that month of the year when we are invariably reflecting and hoping in equal measure: the more complex connection to make is with a well-crafted architecture and design exhibition, one which effortlessly links reflections of the past with proposals, visions and excitement for the
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In our post The Sedentary Workers: Orchestra Musicians we explored the unique world of orchestra musicians' chairs. One of Europe's largest, and most experienced, manufacturers of orchestra and musicians' chairs is Esslingen based Wilde+Spieth. Who thus seemed an ideal address to learn more about the orchestra chair and the orchestra chair market..... Musicians Chair by Wilde+Spieth, based on the SE 68 by Egon Eiermann (Photo Wilde+Spieth) Originally a manufacturer of window shutters, in
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Although the evidence is not, yet, conclusive, recent years have seen an increasing confidence in the theory that sitting for too long can have a negative impact on health, and that all whose job involves prolonged sitting should regularly stand, move and generally change their body position. But what about those workers who can't? What about those workers whose job is defined by long periods of sitting? Orchestra musicians at work. Seated. Specifically, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with
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Back in February we spoke with Richard Lampert and he told us he was planning exhibiting at Orgatec. Had a few ideas he said. Boy, did he have ideas......... Orgatec Cologne 2016: Richard Lampert Established in Stuttgart in 1993 the first product in the Richard Lampert portfolio was Eiermann table frame, and thus, in many respects, the company began as an "office furniture" manufacturer. If largely furniture for architects' offices. The great architect's table frame quickly establishing
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According to Brigitte Eiermann her late husband, the German architect and designer Egon Eiermann, would work so long on a furniture design project until he could say "Das ist nicht besser zu machen" - "That cannot be improved". It was, so Frau Eiermann, rare that he said such, so great was his striving for perfection. Everything could, somehow, be improved.1 However we imagine Egon Eiermann would be very satisfied with the new table trestle Egon from Stuttgart based manufacturer Richard
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On March 10th 2015 a jury at the Central District Court of California in Los Angeles concluded that Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke had relied a little too heavily on Marvin Gaye's 1977 hit "Got to Give It Up" when composing their track "Blurred Lines". For infringement of Gaye's copyright the court ordered Williams and Thicke to pay Marvin Gaye's estate $7.4 million dollars. Responding to the judgement Pharrell Williams mused in the Financial Times that "the verdict handicaps any creator
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Established in 1993 with a primary focus on producing the designs of Egon Eiermann, including most famously the re-edition of Eiermann's 1953 table frame, Stuttgart based furniture manufacturer Richard Lampert have quietly developed over the intervening twenty plus years into one of Germany's most distinctive and idiosyncratic furniture producers, and a manufacturer with a portfolio that effortlessly mixes contemporary design with older, established, pieces. Often in the same object. Whereas
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Following on from the relative inactivity of August September saw us wind back up towards the 2014 autumn design festival season. But before everything kicked of in Vienna, we enjoyed the exhibitions Okolo Offline Two – Collecting at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden, Useful Exhibition by Sanghyeok Lee at the DMY Design Gallery Berlin, Alvar Aalto – Second Nature at the Vitra Design Museum and enjoyed a lovely chat with architect Eberhard Lange on the restoration of Egon Eiermann's Wohnhaus
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On Friday September 26th the Egon Eiermann Society will present the inaugural "Egon Eiermann Chair" Award at a ceremony in the Neue Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche in Berlin. Initiated to recognise those individuals or organisations who have made an especially valuable contribution to the maintenance and preservation of Egon Eiermann's works the first Egon Eiermann Chair will be awarded to Barbara and Eckard Düwal for their restoration of the so-called Wohnhaus Matthies in Potsdam-Babelsberg.
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In numerous mythologies heroes are whisked through space and time on a magic carpet. The carpet project that took Alexander Seifried to Afghanistan may or may not have been magic, but it has treated us to one of the most unique, and hardest to ignore, moments at IMM Cologne. The full story is a little long for a compact blog post; however, in brief, researching carpets Alexander Seifried came across North Afghani yurt designs and was suitably inspired to develop his own yurt, the Kargah Tent.
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Enter "Stuttgart architecture" into a well known search engine and you''ll get an awful lot of responses relating to the Stuttgart 21 Central Train Station redevelopment project. A situation which, in our opinion, does the city and its architecture a great disservice. For Stuttgart's architecture tradition is perhaps richer and more interesting than anywhere else in Europe. And yes we're talking about modern, 20th century architecture. What happened before the flushing toilet and
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In the context of another project we are currently researching various aspects of Egon Eiermann's architectural output. And have discovered the most wonderful contradictory positions as regards dealing with his legacy. Contradictory positions which pose the more general question as to how one should approach modernist architectural legacies. Should all works be saved? Are all buildings really worth saving? Are there alternatives? Stadthaus Krefeld by Egon Eiermann (Photo Source: Wikimedia
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Older readers will be aware that we have often held up the absence of some of Germany's most important designer furniture manufacturers as an unmissable indicator of an inherent weakness in the IMM Cologne brand. Those same readers will therefore understand the confusion we felt on seeing that Wilde+Spieth would, finally, be attending IMM Cologne in 2013. We were delighted they were participating. We however now have one argument less. Based in Esslingen near Stuttgart, Wilde+Spieth were
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As tradition demands the Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln (MAKK) have organised a furniture themed, special exhibition to coincide with the Cologne Furniture Fair. Under the title "Von Aalto bis Zumthor: Architektenmöbel" ("From Aalto to Zumthor: Furniture by Architects") the MAKK is presenting over 120 examples of furniture designed by professional architects. As older readers will have long since accepted, the "Furniture Architect" is a pet subject of ours. Not just because the architects
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On December 17th 1961 the New Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche in Berlin was officially consecrated. Designed by Egon Eiermann the new church was and is a very self-confident, modern replacement for the Old Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche; a building that to the regret of many Berlin residents fell victim to an allied bombing raid in 1943. In keeping with all his projects up to that period Egon Eiermann didn't just create the building but also designed the furniture and fittings for the new
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As many of you know we don't do trends. Never have. Never will. But others do. And back in 1964 the trend in West Germany was leather furniture. At least according to Der Spiegel. In "Haut und Haare", a delightful article, that admittedly probably shouldn't be read by anyone planning buying a Barcelona Chair for Christmas, the unnamed Spiegel author not only explains just how much of a trend leather had become in the West German living rooms of the day, but exhibits a wonderfully casual
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"Wooden spoon for pickled vegetables by John F. Kennedy" ? ? ? John F. Kennedy. Green Mountain Woodcrafters, Vermont. And no relation of Teddy or Robert. Still cheered us up. From March 20th until April 25th 1951 Stuttgart hosted the first post-war exhibition of modern American home furnishings and appliances in Europe. Organised by the New York Museum of Modern Art under the title "Design for Use, USA", the exhibition featured a cross section of American domestic design. And a Who's
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Under DMY Berlin 2011 lancerede Daniel Wahl aka Weltunit sit nye skrivebord Wilbur. Bordet er specielt designet til den klassiske Egon Eiermann bordramme, og Wilburs primære funktion er at hjæpe brugerne med at genvinde kontrollen over deres arbejdsareal. Hvad de fleste ikke ved er, at Egon Eiermann udelukkende designede bordets ramme, da det var meningen at brugeren selv skulle levere eller fremstille deres egen bordplade - mange af Eiermanns studerende brugte eksempelvis gamle døre på
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During DMY Berlin 2011 Daniel Wahl aka weltunit formally launched his new desk top Wilbur. Specially designed for the classic Egon Eiermann table frame, Wilbur's principle function is in helping the user regain control of their workspace. For all cable organisation. Unbeknown to many, Egon Eiermann only designed the table frame - the intention was that user should supply their own top. And indeed many of Eiermann's students simply used old doors on top of their frames. Back then everything
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Richard Lampert is no newcomer to the world of kids designer furniture: products such as the Eiermann Children's desk - a reduced, child friendly version of the Egon Eiermann table frame - or the Turtle kids swivel chair by Peter Horn having become established family favourites. However, irritated by the general lack of high quality, designer furniture available for children, Richard Lampert decided to initiate his own range - with the help of a wonderful array of young international design
read moreBack in October 2010 the design blog pixelgangster.de ran a competition with a Richard Lampert Egon Eiermann desk - supplied naturally by (smow) - as the first prize. Entrants were asked to say why they deserved the desk. In his winning entry Benjamin asked his friends why he deserved the desk - would your friends be so generous? Ours probably wouldn't. But then we already have an Eiermann Desk! Benjamin's winning video (in German with English
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As already stated our visit to Copenhagen and CORE 10 was without question one of our more disappointing trips. Largely because of the complete lack of imagination, innovation or indeed quality that we found. It's certainly a phenomenon in all walks of life. What do you mean? Well, at one point, you've got it, then you lose it. And it's gone forever. All walks of life. Georgie Best, for example, had it, lost it. Or David Bowie or Danish design. Danish design. Some of their modern stuff's
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Because our article on the new London bus has been delayed by a broken water main at Tooting Bec, we've decided instead to do an impression of a typical London bus user. "Typical, wait ages and then two come along at once! I blame Ken Livingstone!" Ahead of the opening of the Dieter Rams retrospective "Less and More: Das design ethos von Dieter Rams", yesterday saw the opening of a second exhibition dedicated to the life and work of a former Braun designer. The Werkbund Archive Berlin's
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