"We are red, we are white, we are Danish dynamite!" So sang the Danes their national football team to victory at the 1992 UEFA Euro tournament. Another example of "Danish Dynamite" is/was on display at Ventura Lambrate as part of the Design School Kolding's Milan 2014 show. If we were slick professionals we'd now say something along the lines of, and it isn't red and white. But green!!! Created by Interaction Designer Alexander Muchenberger and essentially nothing more technically advanced
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Preparing for his solo exhibition "Pinned Up at the Stedelijk, 25 years of design" clearly helped Marcel Wanders tackle, and defeat, his inner demons. We can find no other explanation for the transformation from the darkness of Moooi's 2013 Milan show to the lighter, happier, untroubled, feel of 2014's. The formats were and are essentially the same, both based around room contexts backdropped by large format photos of heavily stylised spaces, but whereas last year's presentation was a
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Exhibitions in which designers present objects that inspire them are nothing new. But are by their very nature exhibitions that are always new. No two being the same. A fact that always makes them worth visiting. During Milan Design Week the Kaleidoscope Project Space is showing "Source Material", the latest such exhibition. Presenting objects submitted by 45 creatives from across a range of genres, Source Material claims to be an exploration of how the creative process is both "informed by
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As regular readers will be aware, unlike The Kinks we are no dedicated followers of fashion. Millinery is another matter altogether. There is little that excites us quite as much as a good hat. And so we were obviously instantly taken by what we took to be an over sized Fes on Cologne designer Thomas Schnur's stand at Salone Satellite. It was of course not a Fes but "Felt Stool", one of Thomas's newer projects. And a project that is exactly what it claims to be. A stool made of felt. Not
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"With Milan design week, as with life", we noted in our Milan Design Week 2014 preview, "the best, most interesting, most enjoyable discoveries are invariably to be made on the by-ways. And often as the result of spontaneous, unconsidered, chance, decisions." And so it came to pass. On the Sunday before Milan design week we were busy completing all those important, unacknowledged, thankless, tasks without which this all wouldn't be possible, when by pure chance we walked past the Milan
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"Okay so is there ANYTHING interesting happening in Milan this year?" asked dezeen founder and Editor in Chief Marcus Fairs in a recent tweet, "Judging by my inbox so far, the answer is no" The real answer of course is: ignore your inbox. As a Marcus Fairs must surely know. But which is admittedly easier said than done. With Milan design week, as with life, the best, most interesting, most enjoyable discoveries are invariably to be made on the by-ways. And often as the result of
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After the relative calm and civility of July and August, September sees a more than inconsequential upping of our professional pensum. In addition to our regular pilgrimage to Vienna Design Week, September 2013 also saw the opening of Lightopia at the Vitra Design Museum, Made in Slums - Mathare Nairobi at the Triennale Design Museum Milan, the International Marianne Brandt Contest in Chemnitz, and the acquisition of Finnish manufacturer Artek by Vitra......
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Industrial design as any fool know is a prime example of the North's cultural superiority. Nurtured by science and encouraged by wealth traditional crafts moved ever more towards industrial production to meet the ever more complex wishes of society until the creation of goods for mass production became an industry in its own right. That this is absolute tosh was made perfectly clear by Charles & Ray Eames in their 1958 "India Report" in which they describe a burgeoning industrial production
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A few weeks ago in our post on the opening of the Droog Lab exhibition The New Original in Guangzhou, China we noted, "....knowing Droog we’re fairly certain that “The New Original” will be presented in Europe before too long. " Droog didn't disappoint and the objects were displayed in Milan as part of the show "Droog 20+, Up to a beautiful future", 20 years of Droog celebrated by looking forwards rather than the more conventional backwards. The background idea to The New Original is
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Probably on account of all the wood, upcycling and back-to-basics on show at Milan Design Week 2013, Granoff Sofa by Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) alumna Scot Bailey, Taylor McKenzie-Veal, Ian Stell and Yumi Yoshida stood out like a burger bar in Rovaniemi on Christmas Eve. An unexpected, inignorable and ultimately very welcome delight. And that despite, or better put because, we completely misunderstood what was on display. Created for the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts at
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For us one of the true highlights of Saloni Milano 2009 was the kkaarrlls showcase from students at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe. Not least because in comparison to many of the student shows at Milan 2009, the kkaarrlls show displayed some real potential. And talent. And so excellent to see the project rolling on again for Milan 2010. As ever we'll have to wait until we've actually seen the items before deciding. However from the photos we like the look of "Screw
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The Top 5 chairs from the smow design spring. In no particular order. We lie: there is a slight order. First up is our favourite chair from the smow design spring: Stuart Miller's unnamed foldable cardboard chair from the designersblock showcase in Milan. Over the course of the smow design spring we didn't see any thing that even came to close to capturing Stuart's simple, practical and comfortable chair. We've sadly lost sight of the project a little, and lack the requisite degree in
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Just in time for the official start of the balcony reading season in Northern Europe, (smow) is proud to announce the arrival of Liesmichl by Nils Holger Moorman. Without a doubt one of the freshest and most inventive reading/side table design of late, Liesmichl is also an expression of Nils Holger Moormann's love affair with the written word. And a rare excursion by the southern German firm away from 100% wood furniture. The genius of Liesmichl is not the wonderful holder on the top where
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Before we start slowing down and head outdoors to enjoy the summer we want to take the opportunity over the next couple of weeks to look back on the smow design spring; namely our trips to Milan, New York, Brühl, Basel and Berlin ... as well as to start looking forward to the forthcoming smow design autumn. And no we won't just be re-visiting old ground, we have saved a few treats from USM Haller, Vitra, ICFF, DMY Berlin and Salone for those long summer evenings on the balcony with a good
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Every month Jasper Morrison sends a photo to the Vitra Magazine. And every month Vitra publish it. Every month we send a photo to the Vitra magazine. And every month they don't. Whereas the good Jaspers photos are always entertaining, this months entry was a lot more thoughtful and thought provoking. Taken in Indian Pondicherry the photo shows a chandelier made from old PET bottles and Christmas lights. "If this was an exhibit at the Salone del Mobile in Milan I wouldn’t give it a second
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