On the terrace of Das Minsk, Potsdam you stand before a sweeping panorama of the city's downtown; a panorama that not only stretches back over Stüler, Persius and Schinkel's St Nikolai Church, an instructive unification of the three, all the way up to the summit of the Pfingstberg with its Italian renaissance influenced Belvedere, thus two easily read indicators of Potsdam's royal Prussian past, but a panorama that also includes an awful lot of Plattenbauten, prefabricated buildings, primarily
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In the exhibition Suburbia. Living the American Dream the Architekturzentrum Wien, and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, explore that ubiquitous American institution as both the utopian component of the American Dream of the title, as standing proxy for America as a utopia, and as the dystopian component of the American Nightmare, as standing proxy for America as a dystopia, that is unspoken in the title, but very present: Dreams and Nightmares being as they are natural
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¿September in Switzerland? Why the devil not? Can think of worse places to spend late summer, early autumn. Not that the trip to the Confoederatio, welcome as it sounds, was planned. Rather, in context of preparing our list of recommendations for new architecture and design exhibitions opening in September 2025, we realised we had a quintet of easily recommendable Swiss exhibitions opening in September 2025. Specifically a quintet of Swiss architecture based exhibitions opening in September
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As Bob Dylan once wrote, but The Byrds most elegantly enunciated, "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now". Same with us... ...aaach, what the heck... ...after neigh on 17 years, and over 2,100 posts, 2.4 average a week, for all you stats nerds, I can drop the character for one post, and step through the fourth wall to join yous in the auditorium. Hi! How are you? Good to meet you! 17 years ago I... ohhh!!, that feels weird, if exhilarating... 17 years ago I was much older. I
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In Leipzig the Christmas biscuits and gingerbreads have reappeared on the supermarket shelves, a sure sign of not only the increasingly aggressive commercialisation of Yuletide celebrations that one can't help thinking surely used to have another, long since forgotten, function, an origin beyond profit and gluttony; but also the surest of signs that summer is on its way out. As is the news that the Grassimesse Jury have decreed who have been invited to present their works at the 2025
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"L'architecture est l'un des plus urgents besoins de l'homme"1, opined Le Corbusier in his 1923 book, Vers une architecture, 'Architecture is one of the most urgent needs of man'. An urgent need that, to paraphrase, summarise, Vers une architecture, was in urgent need of renewal. Was in urgent need of a new direction in context of the technological, material, ecological, economic, et al realities of the early 1920s; that there was, on account of the realities of the age, an urgent need for a
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"Gegen Ende meiner Silberschmied-Ausbildung hatte ich begonnen, mich mit Lichtproblemen zu befassen", recalled the Swiss architect, designer and artist Max Bill in 1979, 'towards the end of my silversmith training I started to concern myself with problems of lighting', continuing, 'when I arrived at Bauhaus in the spring of 1927 I was impressed by the variety of Lichtträgern [light bearers] that alternated throughout the building according to functional needs'. In particular Bill's attention
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Better living with sustainable furniture trends Sustainability is everywhere. In the supermarket, in the clothing closet, and slowly now in furniture stores too. Ever since new interior design trends spark new desires almost every season, the question of environmental friendliness has been raised, from the coffee table to the new kitchen light. While many people pay attention to good quality and durability when buying furniture, criteria such as organic, eco-friendly, and fair trade are often
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As the old adage has it, and as (hi)story tends to confirm, we, collectively and individually, often can't see the wood for the trees. An amblyopia that of late has developed to a, collective and individual, difficultly in seeing both those metaphoric trees and those physical trees. And therefore to a deterioration of the understanding that we exist in a metaphoric and physical wood. With all the inevitable consequences that has, and will continue to have. With Trees, Time, Architecture.
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"Spielzeug zu gestaltung, ist immer wieder eine anregende und unheimlich aufregende Herausforderung"1, opined once Renate Müller, 'designing toys is always a stimulating and terrifically exciting challenge", a challenge that for Müller isn't just technical, rather requires that "you bring human emotion into every piece" and that, not least because, nothing meaningful can result, "if you don't have the heart for it, and the love and the understanding'.2 With Renate Müller Spielzeug + Design
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After a decade of exploring life, humanity, being, their back yard, and themselves, in each others inseparable company, apart from the many moments they fell out, obviously, the final Calvin and Hobbes strip sees the philosophical duo sat in their sled at the top of a snow covered hill... "It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy..." Calvin opines. Adding, as they head off down that hill into the great unknown of their next adventure, "...Let's go exploring!" We're not going to argue with any
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As oft opined in these dispatches, the popular narrative of the (hi)story of design in Europe is a very abridged retelling, one contributed to by but a limited number of protagonists, invariably from dominant groups, and viewed from a limited number of perspectives, invariably those perspectives we're all conditioned to view that narrative, and those protagonists, from, with the myriad problems the thereby inherent skews and distortions cause not only for our understandings of the (hi)story and
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Arguably nothing encapsulates the self-image and the external image of the United States of America more universally than the concept and the physical reality of suburbia. Nothing says United States of America quite like suburbia. But what is 'suburbia'? Why is 'suburbia'? How is 'suburbia'? With Suburbia. Living the American Dream the Architekturzentrum Wien invite us all to explore the (hi)story and culture of that most American of locations and thereby to better approach not only suburbia,
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At 3daysofdesign Copenhagen 2025 our colleagues from smow enjoyed not only the pleasure of conversation with Erwan Bouroullec, but the chance to listen in to one of everyone's favourite Breton discuss his views on, positions to, approaches to design, and the creative power of embracing differing opinion, views, positions, approaches....... It's still early in the morning, and we're having our first coffee after our first long night in Copenhagen. We're still tired, but also full of
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Water is, and long has been, one of the most important resources for human society. Not just as a life-giving elixir for the human species and the flora and fauna with whom we share the planet and on whom we rely for our existence, but also as a source of power, as a basis for hygiene, as a transportation conduit, as a cultural identifier, as focal point for communities, as a location for fun, etc, etc, etc. Factors neatly elucidated by the Limmat that flows through Zürich, the Zürichsee into
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Zanotta An Aurelia; A Nova Milanese; A Popolo Based on a study of objects uncovered in context of an archaeological dig in the vicinity of Nova Milanese, a community established nine miles to the north of Milan when an uncontrollable proliferation of the deeply debilitating Saloni made life in the once bustling, pulsating metropolis unbearable and unaffordable, the Zanotta trace their origins to one Aurelio dello Zanotta, a member of the Aurelia gens who was an important protagonist in the
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At 3daysofdesign 2025 the smow team met up with an old friend of these dispatches: Erwan Bourroullec. With whom over a coffee they spoke about his work, the poetic power of his work, the story behind the iconic La Grange barn — and, of course, the new Vitra Mynt chair. smow: To start, a few quick questions to get to know you better. Erwan, are you more into punk or jazz? Erwan Bouroullec: I'm more inclined to punk smow: Sweet or salty? Erwan Bouroullec: Salty. smow: Chair or table?
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Our objects of daily use are never just their physical functions and properties, they always have non-physical agency, always have functions and properties beyond the physical. Albeit non-physical functions and properties that are often masked by a primacy afforded the physical function and properties in our viewing of our objects of daily use. With Fabric Visions // Textile Visionen the Esche Museum, Limbach-Oberfrohna, provide a space in which to explore and approach textiles beyond the
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As Emily Dickinson so very nearly wrote in the early 1860s: Answer July — Where is the Bee — Where is the Blush — Where is the Hay? Ah, said July — They are all — In a museum — Why aren't you? Answer Thee — Me —* Our five recommendations for new architecture, design and art exhibitions opening in July 2025 for bees, blushes, hays, and you, can be found in Berlin, Remagen, New York, London and Chemnitz....... "Defiance. Jewish Women and Design in the Modern Era" at the Jewish Museum,
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For all that any interior space is predominately air, air is essentially ignored in architecture, plays no role in the work of architects. Not so in the architecture of Hans-Walter Müller. With Monsieur Luftarchitektur – Hans-Walter Müller. Architekt, Ingenieur, Künstler; 1967 bis heute the Luftmuseum, Amberg, allow for an introduction not only to Hans-Walter Müller, but to the pneumatic architecture of his practice....... Monsieur Luftarchitektur – Hans-Walter Müller. Architekt,
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In 1922 the Swiss artist and designer Sophie Taeuber-Arp opined that, 'in our complicated times, where the struggle for existence is so difficult, I have often asked myself why we continue to produce embroideries; Why invent ornament and colour combinations when there are so many more practical and, above all, necessary things to do?'1 A question that forces you to question why 100 years later we are still producing not only embroideries but all forms of textile art? Are our times, perhaps,
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The motto of Chemnitz's co-tenure as European Cultural Capital 2025 is C_The_Unseen: on the one hand a motto than can be read as C(hemnitz)_The_Unseen, an attempt at freeing Chemnitz, and environs, from the relative anonymity it has fallen into, not least on account of its DDR biography, and to bring it once more alongside a Leipzig and Dresden with whom it over generations stood at eye level; on the other can be read as an admonishment to view familiar things differently, to question that
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In 1984 Sister Mildred Barker opined, "I almost expect to be remembered as a chair, or a table"1: an allusion to the furniture, for all the chairs, that popularly stand proxy for the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, a.k.a. the Shakers, to whose members Sister Mildred Barker belonged. Furniture, chairs, that for all their charms, and the great many convincing arguments in their favour, tend to restrict the popular view of and on the Shakers and thereby to limit popular
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While it is popularly appreciated that Art Nouveau in its various dialects was, at least partly, inspired and informed by the natural world, for all the floral world, and also popularly appreciated that the move to more objective, sober, less decorative positions, and dialects, throughout the first decades of the 20th century resulted in a rationalisation of the natural influences of Art Nouveau that tended to remove the direct natural/floral references — if keeping many of the forms such
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The etymology of June is most commonly traced back to the Latin Iūnō, a word implying vigorous, youthful energy, which is exactly what you should, will, leave any good architecture and/or design exhibition pumped with on account of the impulses, stimulations and questionings that exhibition has given you in return for your entrance fee. And a vigorous, youthful energy that is very much in demand in these days of ours. Our five recommended locations for reviving your personal Iūnō, and by
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