In the exhibtion A Chair and You at the Grassi Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig, there is more than A Chair and You can look at them, study them, explore them, converse with them. But not sit on them. In the presentation Stühle zum (Be)Sitzen on the first floor landing of the Grassi Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig, there is more than A Chair and You can look at them, study them, explore them, converse with them. And sit on them. Thirteen chairs which unite more than just thirteen
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Amongst the many developments that have influenced and informed the path of furniture and interior design in the past 120ish years one must, without question, count developments in context of colour. Whereas in previous centuries colours were limited in their availability, range and durability, recent decades have seen not only progress in that availability, range and durability, and as such ever more possibilities in our use of colour, but also seen increasing study of psychology and colour
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"Space and form are important elements in the creation of the [interior] environment", opined the Danish architect, artist and designer Verner Panton in 1969, however, he continues, "colours are even more important". And no-one, even those with but the briefest familiarity with Verner Panton, can oversee the colour in Verner Panton's work. Yet important as colour and space and form were for Panton, "in the creation of the [interior] environment", "l'homme reste l'élément central", man remains
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According to the 6th century CE antiquarian John the Lydian, "the oracle recommends drinking milk for the sake of good health all through the month of September".1 And while milk may have advantages in terms of your physical health, for your spiritual and intellectual health, we'd recommend the following quintet of new architecture, design and art exhibitions opening in September 2021. Whereby, exhibitions and milk aren't mutually exclusive, you can partake of both if you so wish......
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"One sits more comfortably on a colour that one likes" declares Verner Panton in his 1997 book Lidt om Farver/Notes on Colour.1 A succinct expression of an understanding of colour as more than just a decorative element, and one of many reflections on the function and relevance of colour beyond the merely decorative which, in a myriad guises, pervade the history of furniture and product design. And contrasting, if at times complementary, reflections, pun intended, we will consider in the
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"The placing of foam mattresses, spring mattresses, and the like, on bed frames made of wood or metal is familiar", notes a July 1966 patent application, and it was. However, it continues, "bed frames of this type are heavy, continually take up one and the same space in a room, must be dismantled if they are to be moved to a new location, and represent a major obstacle in context of cleaning the bedroom."1 Which, certainly in the early 1960s, they were and did. But what is one to do? Verner
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Qu'est-ce que le design? What is design? A question as old as the word itself, arguably older. But one with an answer? In an attempt to approach one the Musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris asked Charles Eames, Verner Panton, Roger Tallon, Joe Colombo and Fritz Eichler, Qu'est-ce que le design?...... A view of Verner Panton's installation at Qu'est-ce que le design Musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris 1969 (Photo Pierre Jahan © and courtesy Musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris) Organised in context of
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Escalating tension between the nuclear powers, public discourses on gender equality/respect, racial equality/respect, religious equality/respect, thousands displaced through war and conflict in South East Asia, destabilising wars and conflicts in the Middle East, warnings about irreversible environmental stability and the long-term habitability of earth, thousands on the streets demanding change..... And the situation in 1968 wasn't very different. With the exhibition 68. Pop und Protest the
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According to the German philologist, mythologist, folklorist and definer of the Germanic Umlaut, Jacob Grimm, an old belief states that the Cuckoo never sings before the 3rd of April; and, "should you have money in your pouch when you hear him sing the first time, you will be well off all that year, if not, you will be short the whole year" 1 Much like the cuckoo, our five new architecture & design exhibitions recommendations for April 2018 begin with their songs after April 3rd; and should
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As regular readers will be well aware, here at smow blog HQ we're very much of the opinion that fashion isn't design. Never was. Never will be. Design, and without wanting to wade too deep into the definition quagmire, arose from applied craft/applied art, fashion is applied craft/applied art. And so while unquestionably a creative discipline, isn't design. Neither is Graphic. Design can however inspire and influence fashion, past decades recalling numerous occasions of fashion houses being
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If the Light + Building trade fair in Frankfurt is home to exhibitors the majority of us have never heard of, Passenger Terminal Expo as Europe's leading trade fair for airport infrastructure is home to exhibitors you never knew you were aware of: the developers of airport signage systems, for example, or manufacturers of airport security gates, baggage carousels, airline ticketing systems or self-check in terminals, and of course that sweet female voice who informs you that your gate has
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Parallel to the exhibition Konstantin Grcic - Panorama, the Vitra Design Museum is revisiting perhaps the daddy of all explorations of our possible futures, Verner Panton's 1970 Visiona 2 exhibition. Lacking a three story Rhine cruiser on which to present the complete exhibition, the Vitra Design Museum are instead presenting a recreation of the fabled Fantasy Landscape installation from Visiona 2 in the Vitra Design Museum gallery. A recreation which one can enter and so experience with all
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It is almost certainly more by chance than design, but in the week that Verner Panton would have celebrated his 88th birthday the Vitra Design Museum Gallery opened an exhibition devoted to his inimitable Visiona 2 exhibition from 1970. Presented as part of the warm up to the forthcoming "Panorama" exhibition from and by Konstantin Grcic, "Visiona 1970: Revisiting the Future" explores the background to and realisation of the Visiona 2 showcase, including an accessible, usable, sitonable
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"Wood will be driven out of living spaces; even metal and glass, although much newer in domestic situations, are losing their importance. Plastics are on the advance....."1 What had caused the German magazine Stern to pronounce in February 1970 so unequivocally on the future of home furnishings? Stern had seen Verner Panton's Visiona 2 exhibition at Cologne Furniture Fair. And knew it had seen the future. "It is certain that a new age is rolling through our homes. What is coming is not just
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"My, my, my, Delilah! Why, why, why, Delilah!" The morning of Friday September 27th 2013 was one of those misty autumn occasions that cause SANAA's immense new Vitra Factory Building in Weil am Rhein to merge, almost unseen, with the grey background. Even Herzog & de Meuron's new Basel Messe complex was reduced to nothing more grand than a continuation of the uncaring monotonous sky. The glitzing, shimmering palace of high summer just the weak shadow of a memory. And so it was perhaps fitting
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At the same time as he was developing the Ant Chair, Arne Jacobsen created a one-off range of office furniture that arguably represents the first tangible evidence of his move away from the natural materials and traditional handicrafts of his pre-war furniture and onto the mixed media, industrial products that have ultimately come to define his work. And so can truly be considered great lost furniture design classics. Not least because they really are lost! In 1951/52 - the records are a
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On Wednesday February 29th the Hofmobiliendepot Vienna open their 2012 spring exhibition. We had hoped to make it to the opening; but life being what it is. We wont. Sadly. Not least because the exhibition explores, for us, one of the most interesting periods of design - The Sixties. Not interesting as in, "Wow! Look how bright, spacey and groovy everything is!!!" Obviously. But interesting in terms of what it brought into the design vocabulary and the doors that it opened. And because it
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If purple is the second colour of mourning; then citrus colours are unquestionably the second colour(s) of Christmas. Be it the orange of an orange, the lemon of a lemon or the dark lime of a Vitra Panton Chair. Launched by Vitra in July as a special summer 2011 edition the Dark Lime Panton Chair was released as a strictly limited edition piece. And the (smow)warehouse is down to the last few examples...... And just like mince pies - when they're gone. They're gone! Unlike mince pies
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Back in the summer we ran a highly entertaining "Summertime in Dark Lime" Panton Chair Cocktail competition. The judging was certainly highly entertaining. The winner was Italian designer Alessandro Barison aka abitudinicreative Chatting with Alessandro after his cocktail “Spritz Upgrade” was selected the winner, we discovered that while he was a student at the Scuola Italiana Design (SID) he had taken part in a workshop cum competition that involved redesigning - or better put - extending
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For a publication renowned for the quality of its authors, the Spiegel press department write press releases that repeat themselves a lot. That said we were delighted to receive the one that reached us at the start of the week. If less delighted to read it. And not just on account its cyclical nature. Unquestionably one of Verner Panton's most famous interior design projects, his 1969 work for the Spiegel publishing group's HQ in Hamburg is a monstrous testament to.... well Verner Panton.
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Last August we made an ill-fated trip to Copenhagen and CODE 10. A trip that caused us to ponder the question if Danish furniture design is still relevant. To help us explore this point a little further we decided to speak to two young Danish designers and ask them for their views and opinions on the current state of furniture design in Denmark. Monique Engelund and Jonas Pedersen both studied architecture in Aarhus, graduating with a degree in furniture design. And no they didn't change
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The winner the Dark Lime Vitra Panton Chair Summer Cocktail Competition is Alessandro Barison. Congratulations !!! His "Spritz Upgrade" - essentially a classic Spritz with sparkling water and orange juice - or a Bucks Fizz with Aperol as one jury member commented - was the unanimous victor. The principle reason given being that the addition of the orange juice and water lightened the drink, or at least the perception of the drink, making it a wonderful accompaniment to a hot summers
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London based design studio Barber Osgerby stands as a testament to the fact that high quality work will always win through, with or without the media status "star designer" While its fair to say that many of their contemporaries have been placed on international glossy magazine pedestals, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby have remained largely in the shadows, quietly producing consistently high quality work for both international producers and private customers. That is however slowly changing
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Until July 31st we are giving readers the chance to win a limited edition Dark Lime Panton Chair. In effect we are swapping a Dark Lime Panton Chair for a summer cocktail/mixed drink recipe. The best wins! In order to give you some ideas and inspiration we have asked several Vitra VIPs for their favourite recipe. Today Vitra Chief Design Officer Eckart Maise shares his Caipirinha recipe He obvioulsy can't win - but he can share a recipe!!! As the man who commissioned works such as Tip Ton
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