To light or to illuminate – that is the question

News & Stories | imm cologne 2012

Patricia’s Bohemian Rhapsody

by Thomas Wagner

Shortly before imm cologne opens its doors, the magazine A&W has elected its "Designer of the Year". A quite extraordinary designer has been chosen this year in the person of Patricia Urquiola who has changed the face of middle-class interiors to a greater extent than almost anyone else in the field.

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Those small, elegant items

There is a camel here, a small monkey there. And which soap adorns the latest washstands? Some presentations at this year's ISH were real eye-catchers, others simply a bit drab. But all were careful arrangements.

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Architecture

Staying in generous expanses of white

The studio of Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola came up with the interior for luxurious hotel Mandarin Oriental in Barcelona. Scarcely recognizable as a hotel from the outside, inside it is all the more inviting, providing a temporary home for design enthusiasts from all over the world.

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News & Stories | Salone del Mobile Milan 2010

Milan, before the ash came – part 2

by Thomas Wagner

Admittedly, the borders of the Zona Tortona are a little frayed at the edges and in the new design district Ventura Lambrate designers are pushing into an area where artists once thronged, but there is a great deal to be discovered here. And, when all is said, when it comes to furniture design, things do tend to go around in productive circles.

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News & Stories

The Pitfalls of Objects – Episode 1: Nature is Super

by Thomas Wagner

A chair is a chair and a table is a table and so on and so forth... That is correct and yet incorrect. For the symbolic qualities of the things that surround us daily are by no means as functional as a chic hat on a bonehead. Yet even symbolism has its pitfalls.

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Molteni & C - Family business and elective affinities

by Vera Siegmund

In Italy, the institution of the family traditionally has a high standing, and keeping it together requires a constant, active entrepreneurial spirit. As such it is no wonder that precisely in Italy there is an above average number of family-run companies - and extremely successful ones at that.
In the case of Molteni & C, with a payroll of 250 the family business has long since reached corporate size, and is one of the most important manufacturers in the furniture industry. Its history is typical of such firms.

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On the search for meaning

by Claudia Beckmann

The Design Annual - inside: private identity: Following the successful debut in May 2006, the Messe Frankfurt and Stylepark will once again this year be bringing the very best of international design to the Festhalle in Frankfurt.

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Good designers, successful products – Milan Marathon part 3

News & Stories

The bathroom as a functional landscape

"Axor Bouroullec" is a variable system of washbasins, storage units and fixtures. Thomas Wagner talked to Philippe Grohe, grandson of company founder Hans Grohe and manager of the "Axor" brand, about bathroom landscapes, the integration of the user and the future of the bathroom.

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Reluctant ethnologist

Philippe Bestenheider's designs are often reminiscent of the aesthetics associated with primitive peoples. If anything, though, that is unintentional. The Swiss designer simply loves playing with geometry.

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News & Stories | Salone del Mobile Milan 2010

Homely travel

by Thomas Wagner

What happens if you cross BMW, Kvadrat and Flos with Patricia Urquiola and Guilio Ridolfo in order to try and develop a completely new interior design for an automobile? "The Dwelling Lab" shows you.

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My pillow from Uzbekistan

by Markus Frenzl

Home living magazines announced the "multicultural furniture" trend, the "ethno-style" and "intercultural design" trend. The new color frenzy is being judged as an expression of overcoming a "design style" which is far too plain and of the need for individuality and unconventionality. The world of design seems to have opened up to foreign creative styles.

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Fundstücke: Capriccio Italienne by Patricia Urquiola

by Sandra Hofmeister

Patricia Urquiola’s Retrouvé collection was presented in several colors at the Milan furniture fair. For her design for the garden furniture the Milan-based designer was inspired by the squiggles and flourishes of the 1950s.

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Trade fair à la mode - The Maison & Objet in Paris

by Vera Siegmund

"Fashion" is as good as a synonym for the City of Paris. For a long time now, haute couture has not only referred to clothing, but the exquisite and tailor-made design of one's own home is often mentioned in the same breath. The Maison & Objet in Paris is an example par excellence of this. Originally a classic specialist fair for interior decorating, tables and gift items, today it is a major event for dealers and creative professionals from all interior design and fashion branches.

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