Archive

Mexican architecture journal Arquine is hosting a conference for the 15th time. This year it centers on the Mexico City metropolis and is accompanied by a highly diverse festival program.

Almost everything is a challenge in this megalopolis with over 20 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area that includes 40 municipalities of the State of Mexico. Alejandro Hernández Gálvez, chief editor at the mexican architecture magazine Arquine, explains why.

He owned a drugstore, but ever since his passion was design. He encouraged, motivated, he was design entrepreneur, consultant and museumsfounder. With Anthologie Quartett he edited designs by Ettore Sottsass, Elizabeth Garouste und Mattia Bonetti. A memorial to Rainer Krause, who died in June 2013.

More and more city dwellers are taking to the roads on bicycles that rely on electric motors to add zest to the daily commute. Like no other, “Footloose” by Korean automotive supplier Mando is emblematic of a new generation of e-bikes poised to capture the bike market. So what has it got to offer?

In the wake of "Ploum" Ligne Roset is now presenting another upholstered group based on a shell shape: "Cosse". Martina Metzner talked with designer Philippe Nigro about his new creation, his items for the Hermès fashion house and what he learned during his time with Michele De Lucchi's studio.

Today’s overabundance of plastic waste is the focus of the exhibition “An Ecosystem of Excess” currently on show at the Schering Foundation in Berlin. Artist Pinar Yoldas has designed a laboratory featuring plastic-digesting monstrosities.

London engages modernity on its own terms: hosting modern architecture without ever really entering into the obligation to modernize as a city.

It’s 30 years since Apple launched its first Macintosh computer complete with a spectacular Ridley Scott commercial – laying down the gauntlet for then market leader IBM. The workstation’s user-oriented design is to this day considered revolutionary. Now Apple has presented its new “Mac Pro”, which features a strikingly surprising design.

Maxie Eisen is the latest culinary addition to the renowned district round Frankfurt’s main station. The bistro-and-bar is not only the new place-to-be for fans of pastrami but will – thanks to the stylish interiors by the likes of Jean Prouvé and Ilmari Tapiovaara – equally appeal to lovers of good design. Only the mafia should have been kept outside.

Following the hype about coffee, everyone is suddenly drinking tea. Which brought the teapot back into the designers’ sights. Small, plump and in the Japanese style, it was the shooting star at the Ambiente consumer goods fair in Frankfurt. We present the most stylish examples in a picture gallery.

“Man Machine” is the name of the latest furniture collection by Konstantin Grcic. It is being presented at Galerie kreo in Paris. What is extraordinary about it is that the items are made of glass and have moving parts.

The exhibition “In Beton gegossen” (Cast in concrete), on show in Stuttgart’s Architekturgalerie am Weissenhof from February 27 to April 6, pays tribute to the oeuvre of Ulrich Müther, whose extraordinary reinforced concrete shell structures were a cut above East German architecture at the time.

Symposia – Exhibition – Film Series

A waterfront sullied by Frankfurt Airport’s oil tank farm and a gap in the network of cycling routes that begged to be closed precisely at this spot: Raunheim’s new oil harbor bridge is a structure that self-confidently stands out in what is otherwise a surreal environment.

LED technology has also revolutionized luminaire design. The lighting element proper is getting ever smaller. In Part 2 of the interview Thomas Wagner talks with the founder and CEO of Nimbus, about the magic of light, the positioning of the brand, what he appreciates most about working with architects, and why nature is the measure of all things when it comes to how we perceive light.

Black-and-white camouflage unsettles the eye. Objects and furniture appear familiar and yet remain strange. And outside in the rotunda a Stars n’ Stripes has exploded. Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt presents Tobias Rehberger – a successful home game.

Nimbus – what a wonderfully illustrious name! The company is based in Feuerbach outside Stuttgart and though it doesn’t produce halos, it makes LEDs, which not only emit great light, but are both uncompromisingly functional and look cool. Thomas Wagner met the Nimbus founder, and talked about luminaires, design decisions, the advantages of LED technology, and the interaction of architecture and light.

Although the exhibition “Sensing Spaces” at London’s Royal Academy presents architecture, it doesn’t celebrate the stars of the scene and their prestigious projects. Instead it shows impressive, atmospheric installations on the topic of space, space that wants to be explored and experienced.

Light planner Ulrike Brandi from Hamburg has mixed feelings about the innovations in the lighting industry in recent years, arguing that energy efficiency is not everything. Uta Abendroth spoke to Ulrike Brandi about excessively bright light, light’s comforting aspects and the good old light bulb.

Frankfurt gleams in a new light – in 2014, parallel to the Light + Building trade fair, one of the world’s largest and most renowned light festivals will take place again, the Luminale. Take a look at our preview of the top ten light-installations.