MAGAZINE Do I wish to sit on a chair that lights up?6/26/2013The idea is unusual, possibly even revolutionary. In the form of “Natevo” Italian bed specialist Flou has involved the public in the design process – and brought glowing furniture to market.
MAGAZINE To light or to illuminate – that is the question4/24/2013For quite some time, manufacturers of decorative luminaires were hard hit by the innovation of LEDs. What to do with their traditional designs that were built around lamps and spots? They have since overcome the future shock and the industry is now fielding new products in all shapes and sizes.
MAGAZINE Head for the exit, eyes closed!4/24/2013It would seem obvious that a sensitive nose need not necessarily offer a good handle on things. And designers of all ages should be making sparing use of spaghetti, leather scraps, iron pipes, champagne buckets, wooden laminate and most certainly erotic objects. The seven deadly Salone sins show just who ignored this advice.
MAGAZINE Streamlined nomads – The Milan marathon part 24/17/2013And on we go. To make headway, we up the pace a little and cast a glance at fluorescent yellow shoes, peek into showrooms, inner courtyards, gardens and historical buildings.
MAGAZINE An evening with Karl4/17/2013None other than Karl Lagerfeld graced this year’s Salone del Mobile with his presence. The master of elegance held court with Cassina, for whom he immortalized a selection of furniture classics on film. A marriage of icons the likes of which has never been seen before. And a one-off, almost one-to-one evening with Karl.
MAGAZINE The art of understatement3/14/2013Pastoe, the master of Minimalism, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Since its establishment, the Utrecht-born company and its furniture have become an integral part of Dutch lifestyle history. And now, Pastoe has been honored in an exhibition at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam organized by curator Anne van der Zwaag and design critic and author Gert Staal entitled “Like Pastoe, 100 years of design innovation”.
MAGAZINE Now try to keep hold of your senses!12/21/2012A paradise of chocolate, bonbons and candy canes – no, we’re not talking about “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. This place can be found right here in Frankfurt. A visit to the chocolaterie Bitter & Zart.
MAGAZINE Rendezvous with (Santa) Claus12/15/2011What will your Christmas be like? Candles burning? Do you like the scent of incense? Are there Christmas angels looking down from the mantelpiece? At Christmas everyone has their own idea of how to create the right atmosphere in their home. The artist Claus Richter loves it when there are little (flashing) lights everywhere. We paid him a visit in his personal Christmas paradise.
MAGAZINE The splash of color did nothing more than get on Spiegel employees’ nerves11/15/2011Verner Panton once caused quite a stir with his psychedelic design for “Spiegel’s” offices. While parts of the “Spiegel Cafeteria” will soon feature in Hamburg’s Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, the “Spiegel” unveils its new, illustrious office building designed by architectural firm Henning Larsen – this time the Ippolito Fleitz Group has handled the restaurant’s interior design.
MAGAZINE Staged science or twixt illusion and structure9/25/2011“Maniera Moderna” at Haus der Kunst in Munich is dedicated to the multi-faceted oeuvre of Italian architect, designer and photographer Carlo Mollino. The exhibition is not the first to address the Turin polymath’s remarkable oeuvre. But it is certainly the most ambitious, as it focuses on Mollino’s oeuvre as a whole.
MAGAZINE I always fight for my ideas8/21/2011A hotel is always a major investment. All the more important, then, for it to have the right concept. Over the past few years interior designer Yasmine Mahmoudieh has made a name for herself, and not only with "Haus Rheinsberg". Nina Reetzke met up with Yasmine Mahmoudieh for an interview.
MAGAZINE Top notch for living4/19/2011Boasting perfect details and serene comfort Hermès Maison came a clear winner. The company's tradition in craftsmanship, its finishing techniques for leather and fabric, combined with singular patterns constitute the brand's image in furniture as well. The collection was presented at Pelota hall in a house installation by Shigeru Ban.
MAGAZINE Pink with music4/14/2011Today, hotels are not hotels are not hotels. In cities such as Milan and Berlin, just being a hotel would not suffice to attract the necessary attention. Which is why "nhow" at Berlin's Osthafen has added a spectacular "superstructure" of studios, guitars, music clips, and a lot of pink courtesy of Karim Rashid. Without the singer of the same name, of course.
MAGAZINE Do you still have a bathroom or are you already at home?3/25/2011For eight years now, Spanish designer Jaime Hayon has concerned himself with bathrooms. His first collection for ArtQuitect made him renowned world-wide. Yet he was first able to truly formulate his idea of the elegant bathroom with the "Bisazza Bagno" line that he just presented at the ISH. Nina Reetzke talked with him about bathrooms, elegance and Art Deco.
MAGAZINE Let there be fire2/16/2011If nothing else, open rooms and changing furnishings alter the building requirements made of open fireplaces and stoves. These should not be built firmly into hearths, but positioned freely in homes and gardens in line with the owners' wishes.
MAGAZINE Ghosts walk in the furniture cemetery11/18/2010What happens to furniture that has done its service? It is stored in attics, cellars and in forgotten corners. And sometimes it seems as if the old items had taken on a life of their own.
MAGAZINE Brave new world10/22/2010"Interieur 2010" in Kortrijk has as its title "The New World". And the trade fair organizers believe that the new world is characterized by optimism not pessimism, by reflection not superficiality, by color not sobriety. And thus it is that the Interieur biennial once again takes its stand as a promising place within the design universe.
MAGAZINE What Bauhaus could never have imagined10/18/2010The latest tubular steel product from Thonet is a floor luminaire called "Lum". With its curved shape, it seems to bridge the gap between classic and contemporary tubular steel furniture. Let us take you on a tour of the history, spanning decades, of its development.
MAGAZINE The activist8/28/2010In the 1930s, Charlotte Perriand was convinced that it was necessary to fight for a better future. Not only did she strive for new forms in design, but she also sought to improve social conditions through design and architecture. She employed large photo collages on which she had applied layers of writing to communicate her political and social messages. The Museum of Design in Zurich is now holding an exhibition dedicated to these works.
MAGAZINE Colonial natural color, with wooden feet5/25/2010"Immediately looks better" claims a slogan in a brochure brought out by a furniture discount store. While we are busy studying the new design items from Milan, the everyday madness of interiors continues unabated in the mega- and XXXL stores. A glance at the mailings to the world where the furniture then stands.
MAGAZINE Shall no wish be left unfulfilled5/13/2010In Munich's Mühlbachviertel you can "test-live in" a new apartment block.
MAGAZINE Homely travel5/10/2010What happens if you cross BMW, Kvadrat and Flos with Patricia Urquiola and Guilio Ridolfo in order to try and develop a completely new interior design for an automobile? "The Dwelling Lab" shows you.
MAGAZINE One building is not enough3/23/2010The VitraHaus by Herzog & de Meuron in Weil am Rhein is now open. What is the concept behind the building? And how does its architecture go together with the Vitra Home Collection whose diversity is spread throughout the spectacular stack of buildings?
MAGAZINE The Beneficial Feel of Painting it Big1/3/2010In Miami's Viceroy Hotel Philippe Starck has created a spa that flummoxed anyone expecting the reduced Zen aesthetics of many wellness interiors.
MAGAZINE Jaime in diamond fever12/27/2009Driven by creativity and shaken by diamond fever, Spanish designer Jaime Hayon created the concept for the Kuwait store for the jewelry label "Octium".
MAGAZINE The legendary bling bling9/21/2007Over 100 years ago, in 1895 to be exact, the inventor Daniel Swarovski moved to Tyrol in Austria, where he installed his new machine to cut and polish crystal glass. From these early beginnings, his sparkling crystals revolutionized the world of fashion and transformed the family business into a global market leader for crystal in fashion, jewelry and, since a few years ago, increasingly in the fields of lighting, architecture and interior design as well.
MAGAZINE Pit stop with Bene9/18/2007Major events often leave behind a void. It takes a little time to fill a vacuum again and in the case of Expo 2000 in Hanover, it seems this time has now come. Competence and creativity have now settled on the site which, seven years ago, was devoted to representation and discourse between countries.
ARCHITECTURE Historical experiment5/4/2007The latest issue of Berker Blueprint is dedicated to the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam, a former prison which the Dutch architecture studio MVRDV and numerous designers and artists converted into a design-oriented concept hotel.