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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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
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One of the reasons we never pursued a career as film reviewers is that writing in the dark is so difficult. Compared to those notes that we write in darkened cinemas the Rosetta Stone appears as if it was set in Helvetica 8. And so it is that from our trip to "Objectified" at the IFC Centre in New York, the only words we can clearly read are "organic popcorn". It was, and it was lovely. Fortunately we know people who can read our hand writing and they have now finished the translation
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We at (smow)blog we have often mentioned Vitras Net'n'Nest office design concept - one the one hand because we like it and on the other because as an official Vitra partner we at smow like to draw attention to new developments and products from Vitra. We have, however, never made a secret of the fact that one can - if one wants - mix and match furniture from various producers. Which was pretty much our third thought upon seeing Adenike by Heidelberg based designer Bao-Nghi Droste at DMY
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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
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It must be a summer thing. Not only are our newspapers and magazines full of authors recommending their chums books, but first design observer portrayed their reading tips and then design sojourn brought out their "30 Essential Books for Industrial Designers" Obviously the design world is planning downing tools and spending the long hot summer that awaits us reading. Which is fine by us. For, in addition to supplying designer furniture, we at smow also stock a wide range of books on and
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About a 100 years ago we mentioned Platform 21and their Repair Manifesto. Inspired by yesterdays rant against designers who find using PET bottles a suitable demonstration of how design can help save the planet, we revisited our previous post on Platform 21 and subsequently their Repair Manifesto And still love what they are doing. Especially the Repair Hub where you can exchange addresses of skilled craftsmen and women. If you should be in or near Amsterdam you can drop by and repair
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Every month Jasper Morrison sends a photo to the Vitra Magazine. And every month Vitra publish it. Every month we send a photo to the Vitra magazine. And every month they don't. Whereas the good Jaspers photos are always entertaining, this months entry was a lot more thoughtful and thought provoking. Taken in Indian Pondicherry the photo shows a chandelier made from old PET bottles and Christmas lights. "If this was an exhibit at the Salone del Mobile in Milan I wouldn’t give it a second
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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
read moreyoutube contains a lot more than trampolining bears, illegal music videos and "ooh so clever" advertising virals. It can also be useful and informative. Honest. Among the youtube channels we like - and one of the few we actively follow - is that from Vitra. Recently a new film appeared on the Vitra youtube channel; a short review and history of the Aluminium Chairs by Charles and Ray Eames. Not only is the film a wonderful introduction to the Aluminium Chairs, but also allows a rare
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Not good As everyone know everything in America is bigger. Everything. From bagels the size of Jupiter to the level of manipulation undertaken to justify invading Iraq. Everything in America exists on a larger scale than you thought possible. Except furniture trade shows. In Milan, Artemide's stand, for example, was so big it was not only dissected by a time zone, but in the north east corner biologists found two previously unknown primate species. Meanwhile Kartell, following the
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Not good. For some reason which escapes us there are no tables in the press room. That's NO TABLES IN THE PRESS ROOM AT A FURNITURE TRADE SHOW. And to think we complained in Milan once when the beer in the press room fridge was too warm!!! Is there not a producer out there who could sponsor a few for next year. Vitra? Kartell? Lampert? The conditions here are worse than at the Magdeburger Volksstimme or any other village rag. Oh, how we yearn for our asymmetric Eiermann II table.....
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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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Following the successful visit to USM Haller the (smow)team headed on to Basel and Vitra HQ. The contrast in the external appearances of the buildings could hardly be greater. As a company Vitra don't just engage designers to create furniture for them, they also encourage them to design buildings. The finest example being the Vitra Design Museum complex at Weil am Rhein; but in interests of chronological correctness more on that later. The original Vitra building in Basel building was
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We've previously stated our quiet dissatisfaction with awards ceremonies and for all there omnipresence. But love 'em or loath 'em when they are good they are one of the best ways to help consumers separate the chaff from the rye - or at least from amongst those producers who pay the entrance fees.... One of the most renowned awards in Europe is the red dot Awards organised annually by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen. And while the red dot Awards fulfill almost all the criteria that we
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As a long-standing Vitra partner the (smow)blog team naturally paid an early visit to the Vitra stand. Vitra's principle new project this year is the Vegetal by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec ... over which we have previously written. This time however we can also say that we have sat in a Vegetal and can report that it is much more stable than it looks in the pictures. The result of four years research, and a lot of trial and error, Vegetal is firm without being uncomfortable and - despite
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Firstly apologies for the small delay... the internet connections in Milan aren't all they could be :) A couple of months ago we mentioned the Terminal trade fair and introduced Vitra's range of public seating solutions. And so it was with a particular joy to experience the chairs in action this morning at both Munich and Leipzig airports. Wheres in Munich we just saw Sir Norman Foster's "Airline" system, in Leipzig we saw both the "Airline" and .03 from Maartin Van Severen. Both airports
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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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We at (smow)blog make no secret of our admiration for the work of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and so were especially delighted to receive confirmation of the "new" projects they will be displaying at the Salone Mobile in Milan. In addition to their Vegetal Chair for Vitra and Clouds for Kvadrat, both of which we have already mentioned, les frères Bouroullec will also be premiering their Quilt sofa for Established & Sons and Steelwood coat hanger for Magis. For us the real charm of the four
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Over Easter we had hoped to hoped to get to Karlsruhe to have a look at the exhibition: Interface Desk, or against Thinking in Categories. Billed - quite rightly - as possibly the first exhibition in history solely devoted to desks, the exhibition examines the role and function of the "desk" and in doing so possess the question "what is a desk?" But we didn't. Instead we were in Bad Muskau- which was also fantastic. And now we are back at our desks.... and still thinking "what is a desk?"
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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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Nice chair...and for free As a general rule we don't pay any attention to our (smow)boss; however, as the news fluttered in that Vitra are giving away 20 Vegetal chairs from Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec even we were forced to listen. The Vegetal chair is the culmination of four years development and follows in the tradition of their Algue room divider by combining synthetic materials with natural forms to create a functional, attractive addition to any home. Weather resistant and specially
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