london
1934 born designer reinhold weiss is one of the creaters of iconic electronics manufacturer braun. this elegant piece is one of the exhibited pieces at the ‘more and less’ show at the desigmuseum.
but what is it exactly?
a hint: it’s hand-size.
london
I never met dieter rams in person. even if I would love to. recently I saw his ‘less and more’ exhibition at the designmuseum in london.
dieter was the director at the german electronics manufacturer braun and is known globally for his simple and elegant aesthetics.
there was a picture of dieter’s living room hanging on the wall. it’s exactly like I want mine to be. dieter, if you need a roommate, give me a ring.
picture of a picture of:
dieter ram’s residence, frankfurt, 2003
c-type print on aluminium by todd eberle
london
last saturday I went to the global pecha kucha for haiti night in the university of westminster in london. I have been at some pecha kucha nights and have even done a presentation (see below) last year in maastricht, nl.
when you think about london you think about a big city where creativity and design happens. but on saturday I was slightly disappointed about the organisation of the event. It meant to be be one of the pecha kucha network cities taking part to raise support in haiti but maybe 70 people appeared. I am aware of the fact that they just had 2 weeks to prepare the event but I just was hoping for a better result.
some people told me that design journalist max fraser and dezeen-founder marcus fairs brought the first pecha kucha to london in 2005. apparently these nights were sold out, unpredictable and funny. I mean, the idea is to to meet, network, and show work in public, isn’t it?
a good and funny moment was the unexpected skype call from tokyo-based architects and pecha kucha founders mark dytham and astrid klein, who thanked everybody for supporting the architecture for humanity project. I just checked the website. $5,692.60 are raised so far from all cities and presentations. hurray!
mark dytham + astrid klein on skype
‘how blogging improved my life as a student’, june 2009
london
3 days ago this year’s nominations for the brit Insurance designs of the year have been announced. I went to the press preview at the designmuseum and had a closer look at the selection.
japan-based dilight are lucky to be nominated with their bead-shaped LED lights installation. the self-claimed branding studio strung the LED beads along wires to create a display and invite the viewer to interact. an electronic current is passed through the wires, ‘which generates the lights when it is reconverted into energy by coils inside each bead’.
london
I went to the brit insurance designs of the year press preview on tuesday. the designmuseum in london shows a selection of best designs for the third time.
In june 2008 american automobile designer chris bangle introduced a car that questions the purpose of a car’s usual body. the former chief of design for bmw (he quit in february 2009) has replaced it with a high-tec fabric skin which is stretched over a moveable wire frame. check out the video below in order to see how I push my finger into gina’s fabric cover. a clever concept that shows what the future may hold.
brussels
kaspar hamacher enjoyed a protected life in the nature. his father is a forester in eupen, german speaking part of belgium. kaspar graduated in 2007 at the academy of fine arts in maastricht. during his product design studies he was often criticised by his tutors. but when it came to his actual graduation project he proofed he is capable of creating design.
since then kaspar works on his own and for belgium designer casimir. now he is presenting his latest work at the ‘craft wood’ exhibition at the kreon showroom in brussels. together himself and close friend norayr khachatryan are exhibiting their work with the support of promateria, european network of creative cities until 13th march this year.
kaspar at creative space
der hockern °7
chaise longe no 1
der hocker
der hockern°7
k-table
draw yourself
describe yourself in one word
draw your favourite object
cologne
I am in london since couple days. today I was standing in my new housemates garden. the next door neighbour had some old pitchforks standing around. It took me a while till I thought about cologne-based designer david olschewski who found a way of reusing this tool.
david olschewski at the designers fair 2010 in cologne
14.7, pitchfork + solid wood
brussels
norayr khachatrayan was born in armenia. since 1999 he has been living and working in belgium. norayr graduated in 2007 from the st-lukas Institute in brussels.
I met norayr when I went to the ‘craft wood’ exhibition at the kreon showroom in brussels last month. together himself and close friend/colleague kaspar hamacher are presenting their work with the support of promateria, european network of creative cities until 13th march this year.
I knew kaspar’s work before but norayr’s name didn’t ring any bells. when I entered the showroom I recognized the table that look like a reflection of itself. n-7 is a single piece of cast aluminium strongly inspired by the military and produced by italian brand casamania. this work was norayr’s first breakthrough, and is now followed by a bookshelf and a stool that continue his high quality of workmanship.
norary at creative space
n-7, 2008
rhombus, 2009
stool prototype, 2010
draw yourself
describe yourself in one word
draw your favourite object
maastricht
let me be a little bit sentimental. today I leave maastricht for 4 months for a ‘better’ (either more expensive) life in london. I think that’s the best moment to present you my favourite building in the in the southern part of the netherlands. It’s the fire station by rotterdam-based architects neutelings riedijk. In my world a fire station was always red. but this building consists of green-pigmented concrete panels and changed my way of looking at things.
left side view
the big ‘b r a n d w e e r’ lettering on the front facade is smashing!
corporate identity ?
amsterdam
sebastian brajkovic graduated in 2006 from the design academy eindhoven. he didn’t really like to go there because he knew what he wanted to design from the beginning. he felt that he is getting little out of his education. really, everything was already nicely put together in his head. the teachers kept telling him that he has no process in his work. no research. In contrast he said that he had the feeling that it was better for him to attend the academy twice a month than every week. he didn’t wanted to be guided into a direction that did not suit him. he felt that he is much more of a stone than a sponge when it comes to absorbing external influences.
sebastian didn’t graduate with good grades. he was not one of the ‘blessed’ students that are pushed with publicity from the design academy, neither. but shortly after his graduation the carpenters workshop gallery, for ‘cutting-edge design art’, invited him to london. they told him that they want to do a show of his work within the next 2 years. they also suggested to him if he should design his lathe chairs in bronze instead of wood. the idea was to sense handcrafted design in his work and to position it in the coner of art design. that was exactly what sebastian wanted to do. the amsterdam-based designer has been busy since his graduation. now he is working on a project for the art auction house sotheby’s in london. he is one of the few who can actually live from their work and is probably the best example of that you should listen to what you want and not what others want you to do. especially when it comes to design.
click here for pictures of his show
at the carpenters workshop gallery
click here for pictures of his lathe table
at the carpenters workshop gallery
sebastian brajkovic on his old chesterfield in his studio
his work place and one of his favourite tools: photoshop
prototype of the VIII lathe chair, he is experimenting with new textiles
prototype of the I lathe chair
draw yourself
describe yourself in one word
draw your favourite object
cologne
I like french designers. and this one created a lamp on the principle of an organic body. lyon-based rémi bouhaniche has build a black skeleton which is the lampshade and a white surface which received the role of the skin. by pulling the rod down the light is switched on/off and can be also dimmed.
‘etirement’, which is french for ’streching’ was part of the d3 talents exhibition, the young designers competition of the imm furniture fair in cologne, in janaury.
dortmund
pierre kracht is a product designer. katrin füser is a graphic designer. the dortmund-based couple lives and works together. they realised that they complement each other well. that’s why they founded fremdform, a studio which ‘develops visions and concepts for interior space’.
last year I visited pierre and katrin in their apartment. I went there because I was asked to contribute to the heimatdesign magazine shortly after I met pierre at the design week 2009 in milan. I have seen his work in couple publications and was surprised to hear about a product designer from dortmund. that’s why I suggested to interview him for a story.
when I found myself at their place we become so involved into discussions that I have stayed several hours. we talked mainly about the pros and cons of establishing a design studio in a quite unpopular city like dortmund. somehow, we have not really come to a conclusion. It probably doesn’t has to depend on the city. at least dortmund has now a design studio which should definitely be taken care of.
pierre kracht + katrin füser at the designers fair 2010 in cologne
käte by pierre kracht, lamp made of pvc cables
pierre kracht + katrin füser in their work space in dortmund, 2009
wrapped, lamp made of epoxy + yarn
pierre kracht
draw yourself
describe yourself in one word
draw your favourite object
_____
katrin füsser
draw yourself
describe yourself in one word
draw your favourite object
cologne
czech designer klára šumová has designed a lamp from a raw tree branch. the base is lathed into a clear baroque curve and equipped with a huge paper lamp-shader. ‘lamp love’ can be purchased in three species of wood: pine, ash or larch and was part of the 3d talents exhibition, the young designers competition of the imm furniture fair in cologne, last week.
