Archive

Not only the imm cologne is on track for consolidation in 2012. An increasing number of important manufacturers in the furniture trade is remembering their traditional strengths. And these are not rarely based on an ability to fuse tradition and innovation.

CHAIRity: Swapping chairsMunich: Creative businessDesign Museum: Designs of 2012Los Angeles: Design Bloggers ConferenceMMK: Andy Warhol

Going by the name of "Neue Tische", Berlin-based Mathis Burandt and Frank Skupin design furniture that is at once simple and sophisticated. The two architects do not consider items of furniture objects that stand in the space, but as physical extensions of the space itself.

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.

There's no point beating about the bush – instruction manuals don't enjoy a good reputation. All the better that more and more products can be assembled using our intuition alone, iPhones no longer even come with a manual. So perhaps this is the opportune moment for a more extensive consideration of the instruction manual, a retrospective if you will. The book "Read Me!" by Jasmin Meerhoff offers a surprisingly entertaining insight into an otherwise ignored genre of the printed word.

Even bears enjoy a surprising level of popularity when it comes to advertising. At times they can be pretty fierce, but most of the time they are made as human as possible.

KIT: Authenticity in architectureUdK Berlin: Coop Himmelb(l)auIschgl: Skiing and ACF-conferenceAedes: Schmidt Hammer Lassen

Designers are continually designing and developing new chairs. So is it really necessary for architects to also try their hand at furniture design? And are the objects possibly merely miniatures of their architecture? “Von Aalto bis Zumthor: Architektenmöbel” (From Aalto to Zumthor: Furniture by architects) in the Cologne Museum of Applied Art is a show that proves this is definitely not the case.

As at the beginning of every year, imm cologne will soon be opening its doors – and this time you will again find a list of selected manufacturers at Stylepark.

It is January once again. You know what that means don't you? imm cologne, naturally in Cologne, on the River Rhine. I hope you are well prepared. If not, you might want to quickly brush up on your vocabulary.

Thomas Demand has clad the historical Metzler Hall in Frankfurt's Städel-Museum with a curtain that is no curtain but is rather a picture of one. The artwork is called "Hall" and would not have been possible without the assistance of Danish textile makers Kvadrat.

Animals in advertising – we've all seen it. But what is it that makes them so popular when it comes to lending brands and products a positive image? What characteristics do we attribute to them? Do animals move us, or are we mainly pandering to cliches? A short series outlines a few select examples.

Domotex: "Customized Living"Swissbau: Sustainable BuildingBauhaus Archive: Villa KatsuraVitra Design Museum: Green DesignDMY Berlin: Apply now!

And once again a number on the calendar has changed. Behind the 20 there is now not an 11 but a 12. We're simply not able to escape the system in all its arrogance. So this time round all we can once again do is play with the constellation of numbers. Perhaps the new year will simply be another year under the sign of Horsfield's bronze cuckoo?