Design Basel 2011

This year we are finally going to make it to Design Basel.

In the past something else always seemed to get in the way; be it illness, other appointments or a feeling deep in our stomachs that it was all just a touch too elitist and too far removed from the world of the normal designer furniture customer to justify the trip.

But this year we’re healthy, free and a little older and wiser.

It in its 6th year Design Basel features exhibitions from 43 international design galleries showing an impressive array of both “historical” design – i.e from the early 20th century – and contemporary works.

Now you know us, we’re not the sort who get excited and carried away ahead of an event.

It could all be rubbish.

However among those galleries we are particularly looking forward to are Dansk Møbelkunst who’ll be doing what their name implies and showing works by Danish designers; Paris based Galerie Downtown François Laffanour promise a few interesting works from Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand and Ron Arad; while Priveekollektie Contemporary Art | Design will be showing works by, among others, Arik Levy, Reinier Bosch and Rolf Sachs.

A further highlight promises to be two structures by Jean Prouvé: Jousse Entreprise will be presenting a section of Prouvé’s 1957 Ecole de Villejuif and Galerie Patrick Seguin will be staging a live show featuring the daily construction and disassembling of a 6 x 6 metre bungalow Prouvé designed in 1944 to house war victims in Lorraine.

We must admit to still having a slightly uneasy feeling about the whole adventure; however, we are looking forward to some long, detailed discussions with the gallery owners and hopefully learning a little more about the whole gallery circus, what they do all day and how they help and advance furniture design.

And we’ll probably also visit the VitraHaus and take a few squint photos.

Design Basel takes place from June 14th-18th and full details can be found at www.designmiami.com