England An Island; A Notion; A Context According to the Folios of Shakespeare, that most reliable of sources on the (hi)story of England, the (hi)story of furniture design in the lower half of the scepter'd isle begins before the (hi)story of furniture design, almost before the (hi)story of furniture, and in the woodlands of south east England where a rustic chair based on the wheelwrights craft was produced and became known as "Windsor" after the popular actress Barbara Windsor who had
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Our deliberations on Bauhaus and music very naturally led us to a whole raft of further deliberations on the associations between music and other forms of creative expression; and for all the question, given that so many of those Bauhäusler who had/could have had second careers as musicians were artists, are there designers who have/had second careers as musicians....... .......of course there are...... 6 D 030 Z by Charles & Ray Eames for Evans for Zenith Radio. We all know that designers
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The inescapable chill in the morning air and the deep-seated boredom in the eyes of school aged children can only mean that summer is, ever so slowly, coming to an end. And just as spring beckons life to return in the natural world, so to does autumn herald a revival of activity in the unnatural world of museums and galleries. Consequently, whereas in August we only managed to find three architecture and design exhibitions to recommend, for September we have seven! A Magnificent Seven who
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At the end of March the V&A Museum London opened the exhibition "British Design 1948-2012. Innovation in the Modern Age", their major summer exhibition and a central pillar of their celebration of all things British throughout 2012. Documenting the story of design in the UK since the last London Olympics, "British Design 1948-2012" begins in an era when Britain as a nation was recovering from the trauma of the Second World War, yet understood that in the rubble of the war lay the chance to
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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
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For us one of the discoveries of the ICFF was Brooklyn based designer Jason Miller. Miller's design contains undeniable elements of contemporary European design, albeit effortlessly combined with, for our opinion, classic European stereotypes of retro-NYC style. We promised a text on post-colonialism in US design ... and like all at smow we always keep our promises. Miller's Duct Tape Chair, for example, is more than a wonderfully comfortable armchair. Reminiscent in many ways of Easy
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We came, we saw, we sat on the floor... But it needn't have been so..... Once again the Europeans show the Americans how it should be done. One of the largest stands in New York was that from the Saloni Milano -a mix of the finest Italian designers: And they brought their own press room. No electricity, no Internet...but tables. And coffee. How fondly we look back on April.... Although greatly impressed by the typewriter, we also liked Desk 51 by American producer bludot as a desk.
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A Thursday evening in New York and the finer elements of Manhattan society meet to celebrate the opening of the Smithsonian Institute's Cooper - Hewitt National Design Museum "Design for a Living World" exhibition. Your (smow)blog team are of course also in attendance. For the exhibition The Nature Conservancy sent 10 designers into rural environments and asked them develop new uses for sustainably grown and harvested materials. The aim being to tell a unique story about the life-cycle of
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Sometimes we get the feeling no one really wants us here in Leipzig. Not that we are complaining - or at least not when avoiding our company means sending us to the International Contemporary Furniture Fair and New York City. From May 14th until May 19th your (smow)blog team will bring you all the important stories, new products and general lunacy from Vitra, Kartell, Magis, Tom Dixon and all the other exhibitors at North America's premier designer furniture trade fair. And not just from
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Graffiti is the plural of the Italian word graffito meaning "writing" and as already reported is a highly regarded art form in Leipzig which we at smow like to export. And so when we saw a blackboard and chalk at Tom Dixons stand in Superstudio Pia how could we
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British designer Tom Dixon's Milan 2009 show is taking place under the motto "Back to Basics - Utility". A title that refers less to a return to minimalistic design - Dixon never was one for the overly ornate - and more to the materials used in the design; in the designers words "the collection uses some of the most basic and primitive of materials, re-thought for the modern age" Among the new items that caught our attention was "Screw Table". Constructed from "one bomb proof heavy cast
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