Although the rumour persists that we only travel to trade fairs and exhibitions so that we can impress people in bars with phrases such as "Last week in New York..." or "For me the real beauty of Milan is...", in truth we do do a little work. And the fruits of that work can be seen, for example, in the ever expanding (smow)collection. And punctually to the start of The Ashes season we can now offer the extended Thonet outdoor range; quite possibly the most stylish furniture for sitting in the
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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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Our (smow)twitter recently brought our attention to an article at worldchanging.com about what the author termed "Heirloom Design" In the article Adele Peters discusses sustainability, durability and for all "What makes something worthy of passing down through generations?" Peters decides that the future monetary value, the usefulness and sentimentality play a role; somewhat bizarrely in respect of sentimentality , she states: "...designers can aim to create products that inspire emotional
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To celebrate the 150th birthday of Michael Thonet's "chair of all chairs" Thonet are running a photo competition: 214x214. The rules are ridiculously simple; whoever submits the best photo of a Thonet 214 wins a 3 day trip to New York. For the second best there is a trip to Thonet in Frankenberg and the chance to build your own 214. If you don't own 214, you could always buy one - or more - from smow. Alternatively, keep your eyes open when your out and about, 214's crop up a lot more often
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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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Probably not - or at least not yet. However, during the NATO summit on 4 and 5th of April 2009 Barack Obama and the other heads of states and military present were treated to some of the high points of the smow designer furniture collection. During their working dinner in the Baden-Baden Kurhaus Obama and colleagues were supported in their discussions by Antonio Citterio's new chair for Vitra - Skape. With it's high backrest in high-grade leather and generous upholstery Skape is a
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Two days sun and we at the (smow)blog are already trying to convince the (smow)boss to let us work from the garden for the next six months. Fortunately smow can provide all that we need to both work safety and in comfort out of doors as well as to enjoy our evening. Designer furniture for outdoors: S 1043 outdoor by Thonet With its round stainless steel tubular frame, weather-proof plywood top and height-adjustable feet the S1043 is an excellent choice for all outdoor areas; regardless of
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One of Europe's most important design institutions today celebrates the 90th anniversary of its establishment. For fans of purist design Bauhaus is the first and last word. Designs such as the B3 "Wassily Chair" by Marcel Breuer, the Nesting Tables from Josef Albers or the WA24 lamp form Wilhelm Wagenfeld defining an approach to the combination of style and form that has lost none of its modernity nor individuality over the decades. Where the furniture and buildings rarely strayed from the
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Success for Konstantin Grcic. The 43 year old German was today announced as "Category Winner: Furniture" at the Brit Insurance Design of the Year 2009 and now goes forward to the grand final. “It is tough creating a design classic, but the MYTO might just have achieved this through its rigorous experimentation and research, resulting in the technically very difficult outcome of a cantilevered plastic chair.” So commented the judges of the 2009 Brit Insurance Design of the Year award their
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At the Tokyo Design Week the German furniture producer Thonet presented their classic cantilever chair in a new light. In co-operation with the Japanese retailer Muji, Thonet - the self-styled “world’s oldest furniture brand” - presented a new interpretation of the classic Bugholzstühle (chairs created from wood formed through the application of steam to aid the bending and shaping. The process was developed by Michael Thonet. The official Thonet translation of Bugholz is "bentwood",
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In 1927 at the opening of the Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart, the Dutch architect and designer designer Mart Stam presented his cantilever chair; a design which went on to became globally known as the „S 43“ from Thonet. The feeling of sitting on an “elastic column of air” (Marcel Breuer) has always fascinated producers, designers and customers alike; and with its missing back legs, sparing use of material and minimalistic form the S 43 still fits wonderfully into any home or office. Mart
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The Christmas period was cold, but not white… The snow seemingly holding off until January or February before paying us a visit. And so why not prepare now: A new addition to the smow range is the S 333 sledge from Thonet. Designed by Holger Lange the S 333 takes it inspiration form the classic Thonet cantilever style - yet is much better suited for thundering down snow covered slopes than an S 43 classic. Created from two stainless steel runners and a durable synthetic seat the S 333 is
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At the Museum der Dinge in Berlin a noteworthy exhibition/installation from Berlin based artist Carolina Kecskemethy is approaching it’s end. Until November the 10th visitors have the opportunity to view “Mobilien. 1000 Möbel auf 80 Quadratmetern” (MOVABLES. 1000 PIECES OF FURNITURE ON 80 SQUAREMETERS). Which is pretty much what it is. Using her, possibly scary : certainly unique, collection of dolls house furniture, Carolina Kecskemethy has created a tribute to the
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