For people who spend most of their working lives sat at desks, publishers and authors have a frightening disregard for comfort when it comes to chairs. Or at least they do if the furniture we saw at the 2010 Leipzig Buchmesse was a measure of the industry norm. Cheap folding chairs, cheap copies of designer furniture classics being presented as originals and general cheap tat as far as the eye could see. Fortunately one or two of the exhibitors seemed better informed. Below a few snapshots
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As you know we here at smow(blog) aren't fans of complicated designer furniture. Really aren't. Less is more - so the grand theologian of post-war European design Dieter Rams - and let form follow function. That's us. A side table or bedside unit need, normally, do nothing more than support a cup, glass or magazine. Now you could add numerous extras to your table or you could - as with Müller Möbelfabrikation - bend some steel into the shape you want. In 1926 Mart Stam bent some steel
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When we were still young, fit and healthy, towns and cities existed. Just existed. These days in order to exist a city needs to be the city of something. And so as one drives along a German motorway, every ten metres or so comes a large brown sign announcing the next conurbation as "Chemnitz - City of the Modernity", "Pied Piper City Hameln" or "Prien am Chiemsee - City of the criminally lazy taxi drivers". Not wanting to be the outsider in this age of claims making, Weil am Rhein has
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In what is quite possibly the most eagerly anticipated announcement of 2010, Apple Supremo Steve Jobs will unveil the companies latest product in San Francisco on Wednesday. Rumoured the be called iSlate, or possibly iPad or iTablet, the product is expected to combine the functionality of the iPhone with that of the iMac in a flat, transportable, keyboardless computer; thus allowing the user to write, draw and calculate anywhere. In effect a chalkboard for the 21st century. Hence the name.
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Richard Lampert promised a celebration of Herbert Hirche's 100th birthday here in Cologne; and in the end could "present" the late Prof. Hirche with an award for "Classic Innovation" in the 2010 Interior Innovation Awards. The jury, featuring amongst others the Milan based British designer James Irvine and the London based Japanese designer Tomoko Azumi, selected Hirche's 1957 "GFK Schalensessel für die Interbau Berlin" ( a fibre glass armchair Hirche created for the 1957 "Interbau"
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Our preparations for the 2010 IMM in Cologne are advancing apace and one particular highlight looks like being the Richard Lampert stand which will be celebrating the 100th birthday of Herbert Hirche. Born in Görlitz Hirche is in many ways the "forgotten" Bauhaus student; and that despite his considerable contribution to post-war architecture and design in Germany. After completing his carpentry apprenticeship Hirche enrolled in Bauhaus Dessau in 1930 and moved with the school to Berlin
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As traditional as roasted chestnuts and corked sherry, gift recommendations are what make Christmas for us. This year, however, we start with a friendly warning. The lead times for many of our suppliers are creeping upwards - and although we have a well stocked and bountiful warehouse; should you want to order something extra special as a gift for a loved one, and we have to order it - it's getting tight. The "traffic light system" in the (smow)shop provides an instant guide to availability;
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We're just a touch late with this one, but since July 22nd the Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin has been showing the exhibition "Bauhaus. A Conceptual Model". For the first time, the three German Bauhaus institutions - Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin, Museum für Gestaltung, Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau and Klassik Stiftung Weimar - are uniting to present a comprehensive Bauhaus retrospective. “Bauhaus. A Conceptual Model” recounts the story of the Bauhaus in a comprehensive presentation of the works of its
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As a Europe-wide active business we at smow take Europe very seriously. We must, it is our home. And naturally for us the European elections are an important event for which we are more than happy to sacrifice a couple of hours of our time in which to go voting. But don't you also agree that polling stations are frightfully dull locations? We're not snobs, but, you know, one could at least try to, you know, make a little effort. So smow spoke to the responsible authorities in Leipzig and
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Despite Lufthansa's best effort we made it back to Leipzig yesterday evening. We only hope our luggage will arrive this evening. And despite the joy at being back in our green oasis with our wonderful view over the romantic historical ruins of East Plagwitz, Milan remains very much in our thoughts and we will continue to intersperse the blog with news and updates. As we never tire of telling anyone who will listen to us, furniture needn't be complicated. The design process can be
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Attractive, practical and child friendly furniture is rare; the new furniture series from Lampert is a welcome exception - not least because the furniture grows with the children. The Egon Eiermann children's desk can be set to a height of 550m (for 5 year olds) and then raised as the child grows. Also the Children's Chair Turtle is height adjustable – being suitable for users between 1,10 and 1,60 m. As companion piece to the desk and chair Lampert also produce the mobile storage container
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Within the next 48 hours all christmas presents must be bought. Or else it’s back to writing vouchers for your nearest and dearest. And so before it’s all too late a few final gift ideas from smow. In particular we present here the Eiermann desk, the miniature chairs from Vitra and the La Bohème "Vases" from Kartell. Or in other words Christmas gifts for workaholics, designer furniture afficienados and aesthetes... Number 1: "Desk perfection" Designer Egon Eiermann was a perfectionist who
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To end 2008 some tips – and inspiration? – regarding some of the new products that will be gracing the smow selection in 2009. Sadly we can’t present all our new products here – because at this stage even we don’t know how the year will develop. However, by subscribing to the (smow)blog RSS feed or simply regularly visiting smow.com you won’t miss out. Rattan chair from Lampert The rattan furniture from Lampert is the perfect companion for the long winter months. In, for example, the
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