Magazin

Helsinki Design Week - Kari Korkman, who initiated and organizes the event, describes it as "an annual festival for creativity", and a visit indeed confirms that it is easy to be swept along by the Finns' enthusiasm for design.

He was an architect, designer, author and teacher all at once. A visit to the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, which pays homage to George Nelson, who would have been a hundred this year, with a huge retrospective exhibition.

Sustainable materials are becoming ever more numerous and varied and the demands for ecological quality ever greater: a snapshot of the state of play.

From among the large number of outstanding participants at Interiors, we are showcasing some companies who presented new products and developments in Kortrijk, including local champions Quinze&Milan and Modular Lighting, as well as Belgium's Dark and Extremis and UMS Pastoe, not to mention Holland's Cascando and Royal Mosa.

After a successful commemorative edition in 2006 - 98,000 visitors and 300 international exhibitors - project coordinator Dieter Van Den Storm will steer Interieur 08 in the right direction once again. An exhibitor schedule presents the most important manufacturers.

Fly or flee – it might be both at once: Antonia Henschel's 'Flight' takes us with her on her trip round the world. A diary in pictures, which tells of places, people and things. And teaches us to see.

¿Habla Español? If not, then a visit to the international Habitat furniture fair in Valencia could prove to be difficult on the communication front. It's all Spanish to me!

What do “Albers”, “Breton” and “Twombly” have in common? They are all inspiration for Minotti’s new “OneWorld Collection”, which will be presented on October 8 at Neue Werkstätten in Munich.

A fashion company called "countryman", which exclusively manufactures comfortable shoes and whose stores lack a proper corporate identity - an unconventional combination as the key to success.

One doesn't always need new products and innovations to be successful. London shows how it is done. A visit to the "100% Design" show and to the "London Design Festival"

World class architects like Norman Foster and Daniel Libeskind value the planning flexibility the Vola product range gives them and install Arne Jacobsen fittings in their buildings. The concept for this design classic is now forty years old.

With the Sconfine range of luminaires produced in collaboration with the Italian designer Matteo Thun, Zumtobel presents a new series of wall, ceiling and pendent luminaires. Sconfine luminaires interact with light and the room itself to give the room a completely different appearance.

On the one hand you have ecology and sustainable production. Then there is the negative image still associated with warnings about global warming. While manufacturers polish up their image and advertise with cute animated worlds, environmental organizations continue to appeal to our consciences.

The autumn round of design events and fairs began with "Maison & Objet" in Paris. To enable you to distinguish the wood from the trees, here are some details about a few important events.

Japan's great tradition of cultured handicrafts is not just a matter of nostalgia. In contemporary Japanese design centuries-old processing techniques are undergoing a revival.

Iittala, a leading, Scandinavian design brand for homeware products, has opened a new flagship store in Berlin.

Bees in a museum? In its project for an urban apiary on the roof of Frankfurt’s Museum für Moderne Kunst, the “finger” artist group explores a sweet socio-ecological niche and creates a highly topical model for a new economy.

Things are happening not only on the ground. The ground itself is also being reformed. Parador is presenting "Laminate Edition 1", projects by designers and architects Konstantin Grcic and Ben van Berkel destined to ensure that the material is no longer regarded as a cheap imitation.

Alongside Charles and Ray Eames, designer and architect George Nelson rates as one of the formative representatives of American design in the second half of the 20th century. He would have turned 100 this year - an occasion which the Vitra Design Museum has seized to devote a first, comprehensive retrospective to his oeuvre.

Modern times. Not only in Chaplin’s film of the same name does the human body become a small cog in the machine of progress. In advertising bodies have a similar function – in any manner of costumes.

In Europe, Japanese design is seen as the epitome of simplicity and poetry. On closer inspection, there are many different facets to the “typical Japanese”. By focusing a little closer on the Japanese designers themselves (such as the decidedly different young design agencies of Tokujin Yoshioka, Nendo and Nosigner) the nature of Japanese design becomes a little more clear.

Usually, we all associate the sun, the sea, and savoir vivre with the Côte d’Azur. But there are also the one or other discoveries to be made here as regards architecture and design. For the third time, the port of Hyères hosted a festival with exhibition,s competitions and a conference - all on design.

There are moments when one is tempted to give the advertising industry credit for particular imagination. Yet when things actually pan out, one stands corrected. One realizes that advertising frequently draws on art, and the result reflects this.

It’s to be found in every child’s room, it is 9.6mm high and 8mm wide: the Lego block. Today, everyone of us owns on average 62 Lego stones. On Jan. 28, 2008, the Lego block celebrated the 50th anniversary of its patent being registered. And 30 years ago saw the birth of the Lego figure as we know it today. It is as high as three Lego blocks stacked on top of one another.

Eco-management systems, eco-labels, sustainability certificates – the need for information on ecological aspects of production is growing by the day. Some companies, such as Italian manufacturer Arper, have already pinned proof of the eco-friendliness of their products to their masts.

All designers know the problem of redesign all too well or that of lending new meaning to an old but successful product. And we all know George Lucas’ Star Wars trilogy. A series of amusing films are now combining the two, in a surprising and enlightening manner.

The issue of eco-friendliness and product sustainability is not only becoming increasingly important but there is a growing debate about how designers can help ensure this type of product is developed. Consequently, the 1st Starnberg discussion round, which ended with the agreement of an agenda, revolved around this subject. Unfortunately it is riddled with platitudes.

The "Ampelphase 3: raumrot" (Traffic-light phase 3: room red) was opened in the Vitra showroom in Frankfurt on Wednesday 13 August 2008. Five firms of architects and the architecture class of the Städelschule art academy present their personal installation showing their associations with room red.

In the beginning there was the wing chair. Today it is available in many materials and versions, and it certainly looks as though they are exponentially increasing: Sofas and armchairs with high backrests. A little hideaway from the cold and the noise of the outside world, which more and more people are beginning to appreciate.

The “SZ-Magazin Designedition” campaign was launched at The Design Annual in Frankfurt in early July. Since then, each month the editorial team has presented one of seven selected items of furniture which designers have created exclusively for the Edition.

In 'The House of Viktor & Rolf', the Dutch designer duo present a review of the fashions they have created over the last 15 years. Once again, they have come up with a big surprise: instead of presenting their work on a catwalk, their creations are to be seen in a huge doll's house.

Achille Castiglioni, Andrea Branzi, Alessandro Mendini, Ettore Sottsass and Richard Sapper talk in these short "Design Interviews", which are now out on DVD, about their paths to what was still, at that time, a new discipline, about their own development and careers, about their search for design solutions, which, for the most part, still owed greater allegiance to society than to industry.

Six automobiles and some model – you don't need any more to set the pulse of design aficionados racing. It is only important that the cars be the right ones. For example, six made by Mercedes-Benz - and a host of legends.

Three basic shapes: circle, triangle, square. An investigation in three volumes. Published by the Italian designer Bruno Munari. A book review.

The fifth collection of the Japanese design company “plusminuszero” - As for its design maxim, the company has traded in the good old “Form follows function” principle which is always trundled out when a rationale for minimalism is needed, and has exchanged it for a new mantra of industrial design: “Things that seem to have existed already but didn’t”.