Designers' Open 2009

Our new flash has arrived .... and that just in the nick of time. (As the name tends to imply ;) ) For this coming Friday the 2009 Designers' Open will once again present the finest selection in contemporary design from 150 international designers. And that right here in Leipzig. In addition, a series of lectures, workshops, discussions and "hands on" events will not only wonderfully complement the exhibition, but, hopefully, invigorate, motivate and illuminate both industry professionals and

ICFF 2010 : Call for entries

With the clocks all across Europe preparing to be turned back an hour and so cast us all into that unlit world so beloved of poets, painters and cat burglars; a ray of light comes from the US of A. The organisers of the 2010 ICFF have issued a call for entries for the ICFF Studio and ICFF Design School. We had a fantastic time at ICFF in 2009 and are thoroughly looking forward to returning to the Big Apple in May 2010. And so, by way of supporting and helping the organisers of ICFF we would

Choose smow, vote Moormann

Back in June we started a campaign to encourage election officials to improve the furnishing of their polling stations. We can't claim a great deal of success, or indeed any, but we remain committed to the cause and so will be using Sundays General Election here in Germany to further promote our demand for more stylish and aesthically pleasing polling stations. However, in comparison to the local election where we made use of the practical Eames Elephant from Vitra as our urn, for the more

Light up your life ...

It's Dumfries Show on Saturday. That won't mean much to the most people, but for us it is a sure sign. Winter is coming. We know, we know. Barely have we got use to remembering to take our sunglasses to work, buying ice-creams for lunch or waking up at 5 am because we forgot to shut the curtains - again - than the Dumfries Agricultural Society hold their annual show. And after the Dumfries show the evenings get shorter with increasing rapidity and before you know it the ground will be brown

new at smow: Eileen Gray

As we stood looking at some mighty fine, but horribly over-carved, wooden furniture at the Salone in Milan a female colleague confided in us that all she needs is some leather straps and a few bits of bent metal. Trying not to show our horror at this outburst of candour, we asked if she had a meeting with El Presidente that evening. "No, no" replied our erstwhile colleague, "Bauhaus. That's my idea of good design" Eileen Gray (1878 -1976) We recite this tale here principally to amuse

Our new home....

As hopefully been noted we've been away for a week or so, but not on holiday ... rather moving into our new house: We wish. Now we're not big on flash harry design, we like it simple, as in the simpler the better, but we are impressed by this. And really impressed that it is used as an ... urban planning display venue. A) We've never known a local authority take such pride in the displaying of urban planning plans B) We don't know anyone, apart from a few grumpy pensioners, who are

smow design spring Top 5: Chairs

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

new at smow: Liesmichl by Moormann

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

Joe Colombo: Observing Inventing the Future

Joe Colombo: Understanding The Future

The influence that our industrial society is exerting at a high technological level could lead to a global transformation of our ecological balance Joe Colombo

Joe Colombo: Predicting The Future

In agreement with the predictions of futurologists, we see the house as an instrument of life that can satisfy a number of precisely defined needs Joe Colombo

Joe Colombo: Inventing the Future

The possibilities presented by the extraordinary development of audiovisual processes are enormous…… Distances will no longer have much importance; no longer will there be any justification for the 'megalopolis'….Furnishings will disappear…the habitat will be everywhere... Now, if the elements necessary to human existence could be planned with the sole requirements of maneuverability and flexibility...,then we would create an inhabitable system that could be adapted to any situation in space

smow design spring Top 5: Lamps

The Top 5 Lamps from the smow design spring. In no particular order. Kete by David Turnbridge. One of the first lamps we saw in Milan, and probably that which left the greatest impression on us. And not merely on account of its size. For us the principle beauty of Kete is the atmosphere it can create in a room with it 7W LED element. And despite their overproprtionality Kete doesn't domiante the room. Honest. Kete. Anything but dull. moooi. Beach Ball Lamps by TOBYhouse. When we first

smow design spring Top 5: Tables

Lets get the tricky one out the way first. The Top 5 Tables from the smow design spring. In no particular order. Liesmichl by Nils Holger Moormann for Moormann. If there's one thing Moormann excel at it's producing book friendly furniture. From the outrageous Bookinist over the classically overtoned Bookstabler and onto the book-friendly desk Kant, the Allgauer always seem to have readers at the forefront of their thoughts. And Liesmichl is no exception; space for books your going to read, a

smow design spring: aufgetischt

The NYC Post Police - tailed our every move and word Your (smow)blog team didn't become the internationally feared and monitored crew we are simply because we travel the world fearlessly attending opening night parties. Oh no! We achieved our notoriety on account of our excellent network of contacts among designers, producers, critics and delivery drivers. Nothing but nothing passes us by. As observant readers may have noticed, during our visit to the ICFF we did spend quite a lot of time

smow design spring: Review

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

DMY Berlin: be Berlin(4)

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

DMY Allstars: Design Apparat

What first attracted us to the work of Jason Miller at ICFF was the fact it was dirty. Obviously not pysically grubby, but dirty. As in a get down, funky, sort of dirty. Downtown Manhattan circa 1976 dirty. And we liked that. A lot. A similar emmotion grabbed us here at DMY Berlin as we walked past the stand from Design Apparat. The furniture was filthy. Again not in a grubby, don't sit down you'll ruin your jacket sort of way; rather in a "did you find that in Warsaw Pact appartment

DMY Berlin: be Berlin(3)

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

Vote smow

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

DMY Berlin: be Berlin(2)

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

DMY Berlin: be Berlin(1)

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

Montana Design Challenge

In 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

We've Arrived!!!!