Leipzig is famous for many things: Bach, Neo Rauch, Bach .... and Graffiti. We may not have as much as our neighbours in Halle, but ours has the superior quality and a higher degree of originality. Much like our designer furniture. And so when a delegation from smow paid a visit to Vitra this week it was natural that they shared this particular element of Leipzig's cultural identity with their hosts. Aside from defacing Vitra's walls, the (smow)team also visited the Vitra offices, and
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"Most people spend their lives living in dreary, beige conformity, mortally afraid of using colours. The main purpose of my work is to provoke people into using their imagination and make their surroundings more exciting." Verner Panton No one who knows the work of Verner Panton could or would argue that his work successfully achieved it's purpose. But for all his interior design projects, such as the canteen at the Spiegel headquarters in Hamburg emphasis exactly what Panton always hoped to
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A cult figure among designers, relatively unknown amongst the general public Joe Colombo is without doubt one of the most important designers of the 20th century. The Vitra Design Museum exhibition “Joe Colombo – Design and the invention of the future” is the first international retrospective of the man, his work and his influence. From April 3rd until the end of June the exhibition is on display at the Grassi Museum here in Leipzig and, as one would expect from an official Vitra partner,
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One of the brightest stars in the glittering world of star architects celebrates today his 80th Birthday. Born in Toronto as the son of Jewish migrants, Frank Gehry moved as 17 year old to America and earned his keep working as a lorry driver and airplane washer before studying architecture in Los Angeles and urban planning at Harvard. He first attracted a wider public as he “renovated” his house in Santa Monica. His neighbors “went bananas” after Gehry transformed an old, conservative
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For the first time in over 20 years London is hosting a retrospective of the work of Swiss architect and designer Le Corbusier. Without question Le Corbusier was one of the most important figures of 20th century architecture and through his five point plan for modern architecture he influenced more than one generation of architects; including Geoffry Chamberlin, Joe Powell and Christoph Bon designers of the Barbican Centre in London. Without question the most important expression of
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For those of you either living near or planning being in the vicinity of Weil am Rhein, the George Nelson exhibition in the Vitra Design Museum runs until 01.03.2009. The exhibition presents not only his famous, humorous designs but also explains Nelson's theoretical approach and presents a selection of his furniture designs, architectural models, clock and graphic designs. The retrospective is part of Vitra’s celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of George Nelson's birth. After studying
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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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