I just got back from georgie and james who moved to their new apartment in north-east london 1 month ago. they definitely belong to the ‘fancy you’ category I neglected for so long. at a single glance on the picture below you will understand. check also their kredit krunch katwalk krew blog!

since february I am in london to do some work experience at martino gamper and recently I also help out at max lamb’s.

since last week 2 new people are in the martino gamper team. design academy student tom gottelier and graphic design central saint martin’s graduate Ipek altunmaral.

yesterday we were alone in the studio and in the workshop. martino is off to italy and has asked us the day before to wrap the stool. It was the first thing we did in the morning. we did it together and it was fun but probably the longest process in wrapping the world has seen.

step 1:
take the stool, place it on some white paper and take some pictures before you wrap it to keep in memory how the stool looks like

step 2:
use the same paper paper but turn it over to the blue, decorative side and wrap it in like a birthday present. use some more small tape pieces as you can. tape is fun

step 3:
use some plastic bubble wrap to protect the object during the transportation. make sure a 2nd person helps you. the bubble wrap is a challenge

step 4:
use some ‘fragile’ tape and here applies the same rule: tape is fun and the ups guy should handle it with care so make him aware of it!

step 5:
you are done. you are proud and you think that it was a waste of time to take pictures of it and at the end you decide to publish some of them on your blog.

Share

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.

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

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?

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

jason bruges is a london-based designer. since 2001 he has ran a studio with a team of designers and architects. the trained architect was always on my list of people to do a drawn interview with. when I went to the press preview of the brit insurance design awards in the designmuseum I had the luck to bump into him and his sister.

jason made an interactive installation called ‘panda eyes’ commissioned by wwf, world wildelife fund. basically the installation involves 100 panda money boxes which follow visitors with an insane stare. jason and his sister told me that the pandas were almost too heavy to turn over because they were filled up with money when they showed the project at selfridges to raise funds for wwf. now the project is up for the brit insurance design award. the category winners will be announced on 4th march.

draw yourself

describe yourself

draw your favourite object

note: sorry for the shitty quality of the scans. since I am in london I do not have access to a good scanner anymore. : (

Share

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

Share

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.

Share

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

Share

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

Share

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’.

Share

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.

Share

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

Share

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

Share

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

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 ?

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

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.

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

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.

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

today is the last day of stuart haygarth’s ‘found’ exhibition at the haunch of venison in london. I met stuart and interviewed him in december 2009, shortly after the opening:

stuart + magoo chandelier 2009, found optical lenses

M are you a designer or artist?
SH I am an artist-designer.
M do you think it is important to categorize?
SH I don’t personally. but I think a lot of people need that. that’s why I would say artist-designer keep both parties happy. my work is quite art-based but then it is mainly very functional as well.
M you are educated as a photographic-illustrator; a quite 2 dimensional work approach. now you dedicate yourself to 3 d work?
SH the illustrations I was doing weren’t totally 2 dimensional. It was very collage based, a lot of printed material, found objects that tell a story. like I do now. using 2d and 3d things and combine them. It was more photography-illustration. What I am doing now is a natural progression from my illustration work. I do sculptural objects. but I still do the same thing; I still collect objects and materials that tell a story.
M can I picture your house being full with stuff?
SH (laughs) my studio is really rammed with labeled boxes filled up with things I find. and I have two big shipping containers in essex, outside of london. I hold things, I collect them.
M was it the same when you were a child or is it something you developed in the last years?
SH I talked about it with my parents the other day, after they saw the show. I think I remember always walking with my head down looking for things. but I collected badges and football cards, normal stuff.
M any favourite collected items?
SH the things I collected at the beach, but just man-made things. nothing natural. at the beach, you never know what you will find. and all is free.
M why just man-made stuff?
SH I think, because the materials you find at the beach have changed the aesthetic because of the sand and the salt.
M changed the value?
SH changed the value, the shape. they get discolored. especially the variety of tops show how much manufacturing and consumerism exists in the world. I like the story of why we produce things and then they end up on the beach at their end of their lives.
M I think it is fascinating that you put found objects together. It doesn’t particularly feel put together. It feels like it has to be.
SH that’s good. (grins)
M for example the chandelier, when you come close you see all the pieces and you know what it is. but from far away it looks like a product, it could be mass-produced. when was the moment you put the found objects together and you’ve realized that it became a whole thing?
SH I don’t really know. I don’t get an idea and then collect the objects. I had a different idea for the tops initially and it changed. I scribble notes, and do sketches. I always sort of sit a while with an idea. then I get back to it and see if it’s any good.
M just to imagine it better: you have couple boxes of tops, for example. and you start putting the objects together. are you sitting on the ground with your glue stick?
SH (laughs) I might do a few tests. but I don’t start making them until I am sure that it works.
M do you do it on your own?
SH I do have assistance by now. but putting together and structuring is always totally me.

mirror ball 2009, crushed car wing mirrors
barnacle (black) 2009, cast polyester resin

lighthouse 2009, found plastic tops

wingmirror (cavalier & black cab) 2009,
resin table smashed mirror glass

pleased stuart

draw yourself

describe yourself in one word

draw your favourite object

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

dutch designer pepe heykoop had his 2nd showdown at the 3d contest exhibition, the young designers competition of the imm furniture fair in cologne, last week.

pepe has won the contest in 2009 with “a restless chairacter’, a wobbly chair whose joints are made of rubber. this year the amsterdam-based designer presented his ‘brickseries’ and was awarded with a special mention. pepe told me that he interpreted a chair in a drawing from the artist james gulliver hancock by using wooden 2nd-hand bricks. the start was the chair. the chandelier was a following step. It was a pure experiment of how big he can go. denmark-based company furnism will take the ‘brickseries’ in production soon. we will see what they make of it.

draw yourself

describe yourself on one word

draw your favourite object

pepe’s new dilapidated house