Water and energy This year’s ISH in Frankfurt boasts a list of exhibitors nearing the 2,300 mark and over 250,000 square meters of exhibition space. To make planning your trip to the fair that little bit easier we’ve compiled all the most important information for you here.



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Our favorite place for a bath is outdoors Anyone who likes taking a bath would in fact much rather be doing it in the great outdoors. So why should only bathroom technology be “green”? On the surface at least the bathroom is seeking to find a connection to the garden, lake and forest.

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Bathrooms built for indulgence Is a bathroom really just a bathroom? Or is it in fact a “thermotope”? Are these decidedly personal oases of wellbeing really about nothing more than the efficient provision of warmth and wellbeing or do old-fashioned values such as magic and charm and life in a new temperate zone also come to bear?

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Living labs Long gone are the days of simple building insulation. Architects, planners and researchers are trying out new forms of permanent construction. To this end, they are seeking to turn the private home into a power station.



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Don’t be scared of Yeti or Frutiger Think of all the things we could be afraid of – or at least imagine that we could be. Like a cactus forest? Or Grandpa’s wingback chair? An entertaining pocket lexicon tells us a little more on the subject.

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Kenzo Tange and Socialism In the wake of the devastating earthquake of 1963, which almost completely destroyed Skopje, the now capital of Macedonia, Kenzo Tange devised a master plan for a new city that did in fact become a reality, as fragmentary as its formation may have been. But the vestiges of Yugoslavian Socialism made possible by its authoritarian constructs are now under threat from modern-day plans.

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James Irvine 1958-2013 James Irvine, the London-born designer and one of the most eminent product designers of our time, died unexpectedly on February 17, 2013. We are both shocked and deeply saddened by this loss and would like to bid farewell to a great designer and man. An obituary by Silke Gehrmann-Becker.



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Architects, a thing for sliding windows
Part 1 What exactly are architects interested in when visiting the BAU trade fair in Munich? We decided to find out. Robert Volhard joined Amandus Sattler, founding partner of “Allmann, Sattler, Wappner Architekten”, as he made his way around the fair, and there were certainly a few surprises in store.

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Questions to Benjamin Graindorge He learned to see with Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, he’s always good for a surprise and he loves Japan. Uta Abendroth met the 33-year-old Frenchman, a real up-and-comer in the design world, at imm Cologne where he presented his “Lace” stool for Ligne Roset.

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A breath of fresh air from the North Scandinavian design stands for simplicity, reliability and high-quality craftsmanship. At this year’s Stockholm Furniture Fair we were met with attempts to redefine such values in the 21st century.

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Tunnels, attics and parking lots full of furniture When the fair comes to town, as in the Stockholm Furniture Fair and the Northern Light Fair – galleries, studios and showrooms across the whole of Stockholm open their doors and the crowds come flocking. There’s always something new waiting to be discovered – in homes, in an old building near the docks, a repurposed parking lots, or even an attic. The Stockholm Design Week team even went so far as to fill a tunnel with robots.

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A chair of distinction Plastic Chairs for all! How one 1950s chair design became an expression of the desire for individuality that shapes our times.

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9 Questions to Dario Rinero In Italy, the highly traditional furniture sector is undergoing a phase of renewal. Robert Volhard talked to Dario Rinero, CEO of Poltrona Frau Group, about the current situation and the changes ahead.

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Agro-art Down through the years, sculptor Claus Bury has photographed anonymous architectural works made of straw. And now thanks to a new picture book we can marvel at his images of such “farmed architecture”.

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A sofa is like an island For Didier Gomez a sofa is the key piece of furniture in any apartment – on it, people live, work, lounge and relax. Uta Abendroth talks to the Spaniard, who started out on a career as an opera singer before switching to design, about his latest creation, “Nils” for Ligne Roset, his role models in the field, comfort and perfection.

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