(smow)offline: The creative desk

Over Easter we had hoped to hoped to get to Karlsruhe to have a look at the exhibition: Interface Desk, or against Thinking in Categories.

Billed – quite rightly – as possibly the first exhibition in history solely devoted to desks, the exhibition examines the role and function of the “desk” and in doing so possess the question “what is a desk?”

But we didn’t. Instead we were in Bad Muskau– which was also fantastic.

And now we are back at our desks…. and still thinking “what is a desk?”

USM Haller Table - sturdy and reliable

The (smow)blog, for example, is written at an asymmetrical Eiermann II (we like the way you can lean back and place your feet on the supports, ridiculously comfy ) while the (smow)boss has a USM Haller table. Both desks that unquestionably belong to the “classic” or “conservative” category.

More “modern”, “mobile” and ideal for home-office types just looking for a secure location to place your laptop, are designs such as NesTable by Jasper Morrison for Vitra or Walloffice 960/110 by Markus Honka for Jonas & Jonas.

NesTable by Japser Morrison for Vitra

While those on the search for a desk that gets noticed as much as the work produced on it, need look no further than BaObab Philippe Starck for Vitra. An absolute delight.

Our favourite desk, however, remains the one we have at home: Kant by Patrick Frey & Markus Boge for Moormann. We love it not only because of its ingenious design, nor because it was originally a graduation piece and as such is proof that students can do useful work… we love it because it took one of the principle problems of  a desk, considered the situation and came up with a simple solution that works. And designer furniture doesn’t have to do any more than that

Kant by Boge and Frey for Moormann

For those with the time and inclination the exhibition “Interface Desk, or against Thinking in Categories” can be viewed in the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe until 26.04.2009