Archive

More than a company history: “Projekt Vitra 1957-2007” - "Projekt Vitra" is the self-representation of a successful company. And yet the book, with its intelligent essays, with its products arranged like families for a wedding photo, with historical and contemporary pictures and documents, is more than a corporate history.

For the family of luminaires called “S” does not require electricity cables. The modular lamps for the home and the office have joints made of magnets, which are bearings, axle casing and current conductor in one.

With the “Gina Light”, BMW has created more than just a new show car. The study, whose bodywork is made of a fabric skin, has the potential to trigger a revolution in car design.

In Kortrijk (Belgium) on an area of over 1,500 square meters the exhibition "Backstage" tells the story of twenty of Patrizia’s favorites featuring drawings, sketches, 3D models, prototypes and previously unseen one-off objects.

Flying pies, weeping trees, confused giraffes, speaking clocks, precious lighthouses, owls that play the flute - in only 14 days time the waiting will be over, and the wonderland designed by Tobias Rehberger and Claus Richter will open its doors. It's showtime! To put it mildly!

“The market for design objects is small and exclusive. Only a copy makes the original suitable for mass production. In the process, despite the apparent close similarity, essential elements are often lost. Copies such as this offend the original, even if at heart they are a compliment to the original idea.” This is how the two young Swiss designers Sarah Kueng and Lovis Caputo introduce their work “Copy by Kueng-Caputo”.

The first World Industrial Design Day (WIDD) will be celebrated on June 29, 2008. Alongside the national ‘Tag der Architektur’ (Day of Architecture), for the most part on the last weekend in June, this year on June 28 and 29, industrial design is now to be given its its own global moment of recognition as well.

Storms are events involving strong winds, with speeds of at least 21 meters per second. When we sneeze, the air travels twice as fast as in a hurricane. Despite this, the following project involves neither speed nor the destructive power of storms. On the contrary, wind energy is used to create something new.

The Design Miami show during Art Basel poses more questions than it answers - Yes, it really was Brad Pitt strolling through Basel's wonderful Market Hall. Most people wouldn't have recognised him or, at best, thought that it was designer Ron Arad wearing a white cap. I didn't notice him until a gallery owner asked a security guard who the casual-looking guy with the cap was.

Andreas Dornbracht, CEO of the manufacturer of high-grade fittings of the same name, has every right to be proud. He initiated the first of 'Dornbracht Conversation' and everyone came to Iserlohn to put the word 'classic' under the microscope in two high-grade panel discussions. Dornbracht himself owns a design icon, the 'Tara' the minimalist bathroom fittings, which was also the starting point of the debate.

It’s showtime. For The Design Annual 2008 we have consciously chosen a very exciting theme which will generate controversial discussion. The two artists Tobias Rehberger and Claus Richter are responsible for the spatial concept. Here are new impressions of Claus Richter’s studio.

The decision on the qualifying teams for the 2008 European Football Championship was taken some time ago and now football strategists are feverishly working on team line-ups and match tactics. So it’s no bad thing to get the right line-up in your living room for once. Loewe has three flatscreen TVs available for when the whistle blows for Euro 2008.

As in the past few years The Design Annual will once again be accompanied by an extremely varied interdisciplinary program of events. The motto for 2008 is “showtime” – a highly expressive and contradictory theme, which we shall be discussing in all its facets. This year as well current trends and the tasks design will face in the future will the subject of talks, lectures and presentations.

In partnership with Autodesk, Italian company Appiani is optimising software solutions for architects. Appiani is one of Italy’s leading, high-end, tile manufacturers, combining traditional craftsmanship with modern functionalism to create flexible solutions from one centimetre square mosaics to large tiles.

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.

Materialworks Zoom: Shaped using the zip principle

It’s showtime. For The Design Annual 2008 we have consciously chosen a very exciting theme which will generate controversial discussion. The two artists Tobias Rehberger and Claus Richter are responsible for the spatial concept. Together they will develop a diverse and multi-functional environment in the Festhalle. Here are the first impressions of Claus Richter’s studio.

DMY – that means: Design forever! A passionate demonstration of love – of design as creative capital. For the refreshing thing about the DMY International Design Festival is the many young designers who are presenting their works for the first time and (before) they have become big business.

Observations at and on the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York - To come straight out with it: Visiting the ICFF in New York is not necessarily a must for design enthusiasts. The trade fair, and it happens a month after the Milan furniture salon, presents neither new products nor interesting new developments.

And they’re off. Building started this Monday. This kicked off the countdown to our event The Design Annual. From Friday, July 4 until Monday, July 7, 2008, the showcase for high-end design will take place for the third time in the Festhalle in Frankfurt. And this time the motto is: it’s showtime! Tobias Rehberger and Claus Richter will be giving visual form to the theme.