Archive

Drive cleverly, live smarter – at the IAA the symbiosis of electro-mobility and intelligent building automation is a key topic. Efforts have long been underway to develop the smart home. But the market is only slowly picking up pace.

Drivers like it mobile and thus there is an increasing number of Apps that make driving easier and more entertaining. Be it Glympse, Waze or Smiledrive – we present those that seem indispensable.

Mercedes’ new S class not only tried to find a contemporary look for official presentation. But to enhance comfort and safety it also boasts a number of assistants small and large, who actively monitor traffic, the surroundings and the driver – and intervene if need be.

The buzzwords of today are “smart technology” and “networking”. Wherever you look you’ll see assistance systems making our lives safer, more efficient and easier.

Berlin’s “Illustrative Festival” offers insights into the young world of illustrators.

Daniel von Bernstorff, Stylepark, met Cocksedge in London to talk about his recent projects, his solo exhibition in New York and his fascination for crowd-funding.

We’re surrounded by messages. In the media, in public space, in department stores. Everywhere someone is telling us what we should or should not do or buy.

Nobody need fear such immense naivety: Friedrich von Borries seeks with a novel and a design label to bring on board “shareholders for the revolution”. At his Club Med of revolution culture, you won’t find anything right in the completely wrong world.

For the sixth time Vitra is hosting an “Ampelphase” exhibition in its Frankfurt Showroom – this year the exhibition is designed by six architects from the RhineMain region, who have developed a temporary creative platform with many a look inwards and many a view outwards.

We’ve now reached no. 300 with our Newsletter. So we came up with a little fun to mark the occasion. If you have joined up the numbered dots correctly and come up with the image and worked out who designed it, then you can even win it. So, off you go!

Augustin Teboul is one of the highly promising Berlin fashion labels. Martina Metzner talked with Annelie Augustin and Odély Teboul in their Berlin studio about their eccentric somber robes, their relationship to Paris as the couture capital, and their dream house.

To date, the WC has been regarded as a largely no-tech zone. And now the shower WC, long since the norm in Japan and the Arab world, is ready to delight Europeans – as a “fun feature” and “pleasurable health booster”.

The sky is reflected in Europe’s highest building. London’s “The Shard” seems to constantly adapt to the weather and changing light conditions. This “visual adaptivity” is made possible by a coating custom-made for the high-rise. Julius Streifeneder talked with Bart Akkerhuis about it.

“Architektur für die russische Raumfahrt” is a lavishly illustrated volume that brings together an array of constructivist compositions, Stalinist monuments, brutalist buildings and monumental wall reliefs – all of them made to affirm the promise of salvation innate in Soviet astronautics.

The “Yiddishe Kop” with his wit and the stories of rabbis are not only full with wise insights into life, but also help solve problems. Rabbi Nilton Bonder explains how this works and why in isn’t enough to simply know a world.

There are many prejudices about China. One says that all designs are copied. Yet the “Chinesisch-Deutsche Kunstakademie” (CDK) in Hangzhou demonstrates that there are also other intercultural activities. Egon Chemaitis spoke to its president Yang Xiuqing on the cooperation between the CDK and UDK Berlin.

Everlasting Sprout is a young Japanese label that came to fame for its elaborate knitted creations and a joint project with Kazuyo Sejima at Sanaa. After Issey, Yohji and Rei they demonstrate why it’s worthwhile looking to Japanese fashion again.