456 Megajoules for a chair Eco-management systems, eco-labels, sustainability certificates – the need for information on ecological aspects of production is growing by the day. Some companies, such as Italian manufacturer Arper, have already pinned proof of the eco-friendliness of their products to their masts.

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Another face to redesign – Episode I All designers know the problem of redesign all too well or that of lending new meaning to an old but successful product. And we all know George Lucas’ Star Wars trilogy. A series of amusing films are now combining the two, in a surprising and enlightening manner.

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How much design can the climate support? The issue of eco-friendliness and product sustainability is not only becoming increasingly important but there is a growing debate about how designers can help ensure this type of product is developed. Consequently, the 1st Starnberg discussion round, which ended with the agreement of an agenda, revolved around this subject. Unfortunately it is riddled with platitudes.

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Vitra presents the "Ampelphase 3: raumrot" exhibition The "Ampelphase 3: raumrot" (Traffic-light phase 3: room red) was opened in the Vitra showroom in Frankfurt on Wednesday 13 August 2008. Five firms of architects and the architecture class of the Städelschule art academy present their personal installation showing their associations with room red.

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The protection of wings In the beginning there was the wing chair. Today it is available in many materials and versions, and it certainly looks as though they are exponentially increasing: Sofas and armchairs with high backrests. A little hideaway from the cold and the noise of the outside world, which more and more people are beginning to appreciate.

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Edited by Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin The “SZ-Magazin Designedition” campaign was launched at The Design Annual in Frankfurt in early July. Since then, each month the editorial team has presented one of seven selected items of furniture which designers have created exclusively for the Edition.

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Viktor & Rolf or a doll's house In 'The House of Viktor & Rolf', the Dutch designer duo present a review of the fashions they have created over the last 15 years. Once again, they have come up with a big surprise: instead of presenting their work on a catwalk, their creations are to be seen in a huge doll's house.

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Designers don't drink from paper cups Achille Castiglioni, Andrea Branzi, Alessandro Mendini, Ettore Sottsass and Richard Sapper talk in these short "Design Interviews", which are now out on DVD, about their paths to what was still, at that time, a new discipline, about their own development and careers, about their search for design solutions, which, for the most part, still owed greater allegiance to society than to industry.

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Eye Specialist with Motorway Courier Six automobiles and some model – you don't need any more to set the pulse of design aficionados racing. It is only important that the cars be the right ones. For example, six made by Mercedes-Benz - and a host of legends.

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The Magic Three Three basic shapes: circle, triangle, square. An investigation in three volumes. Published by the Italian designer Bruno Munari. A book review.

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An essential truth in the chaos of multiplicity The fifth collection of the Japanese design company “plusminuszero” - As for its design maxim, the company has traded in the good old “Form follows function” principle which is always trundled out when a rationale for minimalism is needed, and has exchanged it for a new mantra of industrial design: “Things that seem to have existed already but didn’t”.

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The liberation of the box: Jacob Jensen and Bang & Olufsen design They are well thought out, long lasting, elegant, ultramodern and pretty cool down to the last detail. And they have written design history. We are referring to Jacob Jensen’s hi-fi systems for the top Danish brand Bang & Olufsen. Of course, he has designed more than that; indeed, his studio “Jacob Jensen Design” is already celebrating its 50th birthday.

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Wild salmon with design dressing The culinary result was more than delicious at 'The Design Annual - inside: showtime' – and so that you can recreate the show on a smaller scale in your own kitchen, here is chef Tim Raue’s recipe.

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In Search of German Design In Nuremberg, on July 25, 2008 a new show opens entitled “design deutschland. case study 08”. It offers a thematic cross-section of classic and contemporary ideas by German designers and companies.

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Remembering Hannes Wettstein When I think of Hannes Wettstein I always have his hand before my eyes, the way it started to draw with a pencil on any material available. You got gooseflesh just watching him, the way he gave ideas a shape at the spur of a moment.

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Turin – A city shaped by design How the northern Italian metropolis is making impressive use of its title of “World Design Capital 2008” - Those who are going to the northern Italian city of Turin in the coming months, which this year bears the title of World Design Capital, will experience a city which has fully committed itself to the themes of design and architecture.

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The Annual Tour of Weimar “Summary” is the name given the annual end-of-summer-term event at Bauhaus University Weimar, presenting what its four faculties have come up with during the academic year. “Summary” is not only a major event in the city, as “Weimar is actually a university in which a city lies”, as Rector Gerd Zimmermann puts it. As it is also an attempt to invite Weimar’s inhabitants to study the students’ efforts and may be even be filled with enthusiasm.

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Houses on a flight back to the Baroque Sometimes all it needs is a small twist, a simple change of perspective, and you have a completely new world. Christoph Brech does not only make films. He shows us things which normally escape us. When the artist spent last year at Villa Massimo in Rome as a scholarship holder, he produced works including the film “Punto”, from which we will show you an excerpt.

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