london

I went to the barbican to see ron arad’s ‘first major survey exhibition’ in the uk the other day.

ron has lots to show. I mean, he is in the design business since 3 decades but this mirror-polished stainless steel moving bookshelf is the most striking product I have seen from him and I haven’t seen it before. I like surprises. the shelf is from 2007 and is called ‘restless’, like the name of the exhibition.

eindhoven

it’s a long time ago when I met andrea and simone from formafantasma. to be precise, it was last october during the dutch design week.

this video is made by robert andriessen from designguide.tv and shows an interview I did with formafantasma at the design academy. watch it!

andrea trimarchi, simone farresin and me

london

it doesn’t look like anything that can be brought in context of airplanes. but the truth is that german designer stefan diez used a production methodology which is used in airplane model-making. I quote:’ 2 flat plywood slabs are streched around a complexly milled solid wood ring to form back and part of the seat. the slabs are then glued to the base, producing the shape of the chair’.

the chair is called ‘houdini’. why? is it because of the 3d animation package? did stefan develop it with its help? I always find the reason for names interesting.

ok. back to flying. sure, it doesn’t mean that the chair can fly. but I like the idea that a chair could fly. so, the seating is manufactured by e15 and was one of the selections of the furniture category of the brit insurance design awards. the complete selection can be viewed at the designmusem london.

the chair looks nice. I really like the black version I saw on internet. but £557.85—£581.35 throw me off! maybe he can fly after all?

cologne

I am in london since 1 month and I really miss having a proper work desk. I had a massive desk in my old apartment in maastricht which provided anything I need for work. at the moment I have to much of a nomadic life to settle down and have a desk for myself.

funny enough I have to think about robin grasby’s desk a lot in the last couple days. the london-based designer created ‘homework’, a table with felt slings, a book support, laser-etched ruler, a cutting mat and other bits and bobs. this is definitely something I wouldn’t mind to use a the moment.

‘homework’ was a part of the d3 talents exhibition, the young designers competition of the imm furniture fair in cologne 2010

london

I browsed through my pictures from the brit insurance design awards this morning. I like the form of konstantin grcic’s 360° chair for italian manufacturer magis but I do not understand why they put the orange version of the chair on display at the designmuseum. It looks like a piece of an Ikea collection. what I find interesting is how the munich-based designer started off and ended up with a chair that barely reminds you of the prototype.

360° chair at the designmuseum. london

360° chair prototype at the ‘prophets and penitents‘ show
by damn magazine in milan 2009

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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.

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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

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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’.

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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.

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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

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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 ?

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.

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.

berlin

last week I traveled to berlin to see some commercial brand fair and to have a look at the dizajn=design exhibition at the polish Institute. the show deals with polish design and gives you an overview of east european aesthetics.

michael okraj, graphic designer and curator of the show, has selected 10 product designer and 10 graphic designer to fill the space. the fact that you are allowed to touch all the objects in the show, gives the visitor an an additional experience. I am polish by myself and I know that polish people are just not that fussy with their stuff.

michael okraj at dizajn = design exhibition
(meanwhile a malafor trunk is stolen)

futu magazine

ori sto by jakub piotr kalinowski

madonna lamp by beata konarska and pawel konarski

ogryzki by karina marusinska

bolo acoustic man by malafor

cologne

german brand alape presented ‘betty blue’ a sink that makes the water disappear in the edges at the imm, furniture fair in cologne, last week. the brand says that ‘a bathroom is an architectural space’. mine isn’t but they have certainly convinced me that it could be. Im not sure why, but I like this washbasin, I stood there for 20 minutes mesmerized by the flowing water.

alape was presented within the cologne-based kap forum,
communication platform for architecture, technology, design

cologne

german designer robert haslbeck has designed a folding table with the name ‘under-koffer’. unused it has the shape of a flat suitcase. but when you unfold the product it becomes a table that reminds me of an ironing table. robert graduated with this project at the burg giebichenstein hochschule für kunst und design in 2009.

last week the ‘under-koffer’ was part of the 3d contest exhibition, the young designers competition of the imm furniture fair in cologne.

cologne

cologne-based grassland is into grass. absolutly all of their products and installations are made with real grass. when you buy a grassland product you receive a lush green object that transfers naturally into a dry straw-coloured object after a month or two. right now grassland is exhibiting at the designers fair in cologne till tomorrow.

orb – the grass ball

next – the grass subscription

don’t really know the name of this lamp

cologne

korean jungyou choi and joonsoo kim from studio joon & jung are presenting their ‘rocking on the beach’ chairs at the d3 contest at the imm furniture fair in cologne till sunday. the chairs are made of plastic pipes filled with sand. while using the chair a seashore sound appears.

joonsoo kim shows how one of the chairs works

cologne

the contain gallery has teamed up with veltins to make a special design lounge in the city center of cologne. maastricht-based fabian von spreckelsen and lisboa-based mathias witte were responsible for creating a matching interior for the new veltins image which shall point at a younger target group with a sense of style. yesterday they opened the lounge to the visitors of the interior design week in cologne. It is open till sunday from 11am - 11pm. beer is on veltins!

in the lounge

the gallery after the temporally redesign

fabian von spreckelsen and mathias witte
the designer of the veltins design lounge

ioanna paraskeva from the contain gallery +
markus gogolin from designspotter

essen

the thing with office chairs is that they mostly look hideous. but this prestigious red dot design award winner manages to pull it off. the ’silver chair’ designed by architect hedi teherani for Interstuhl. the silver surface reminds me of my bread burner.