<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[smow Blog]]></title><description><![CDATA[Thinking aloud about furniture design]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Wed, 08 Apr 2026 20:36:54 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.smow.com/blog/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><item><title><![CDATA[Eileen Gray’s Bibendum and the Longing of Modernism]]></title><description><![CDATA[ Some pieces of furniture simply work. Others tell stories. And then there is the Bibendum armchair by Eileen Gray – 100 years old and still surprisingly relevant today. Not a nostalgic relic, but a design that continues to demonstrate just how modern modernity can feel. An Object with a History The Bibendum is more than just an armchair. Anyone with a flair for design notices this immediately upon sitting down. There is weight, poise, presence. To mark its 100th anniversary in 2026, a]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2026/03/eileen-grays-bibendum-and-the-longing-of-modernism/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2026/03/eileen-grays-bibendum-and-the-longing-of-modernism/</guid><category><![CDATA[Designer]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 26 Mar 2026 09:23:20 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[smow Design Contest 2026]]></title><description><![CDATA[ The smow Design Contest brings young talents in furniture design to the trade fair Grassimesse Leipzig and helps young designers entering into the furniture industry. In addition to the smow Design Prize, which is awarded to one of all the exhibitors, smow will be providing five sponsored exhibition spaces for the first time in 2026. The smow Design Contest at a Glance • Venue: Grassimesse Leipzig • Support for young talents: Covering the stand fee for 5 newcomers aged 35 or under •]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2026/03/smow-design-contest-2026/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2026/03/smow-design-contest-2026/</guid><category><![CDATA[Exhibitions and Shows]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2026 11:10:13 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Inspired by Gunta Stoelzl - Interview with Katrin Greiling]]></title><description><![CDATA[ Sometimes you encounter a designer not through a new object, but through a familiar classic. Our attention was drawn to an armchair that we thought we knew: the F51 by Tecta. A Bauhaus design by Walter Gropius, seen many times, quoted many times – and yet rarely truly reconsidered. Katrin Greiling approached this iconic piece of furniture with remarkable precision. Instead of changing the form, for example, she shifted the design to another level: material, texture and colour. Through new]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2026/03/inspired-by-gunta-stoelzl-interview-with-katrin-greiling/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2026/03/inspired-by-gunta-stoelzl-interview-with-katrin-greiling/</guid><category><![CDATA[Designer]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 08:43:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fashion Meets Furniture: smow at Berlin Fashion Week 2026]]></title><description><![CDATA[ Fashion Week was buzzing. Light fell on fabrics, materials sparkled, and unique settings merged into a multi-sensory experience. And right in the middle of it all: smow – classic furniture that doesn't stand still, but plays along. For us one of the design stars at Berlin Fashion Week 2026: Eiermann Table from Richard Lampert Together with the fashion label OBS and sponsor USM, a fashion show was created that combined fashion and interior design in an unusual way. Under the motto ‘...you]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2026/02/fashion-meets-furniture-smow-at-berlin-fashion-week-2026/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2026/02/fashion-meets-furniture-smow-at-berlin-fashion-week-2026/</guid><category><![CDATA[Design]]></category><category><![CDATA[Exhibitions and Shows]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2026 10:31:57 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[60 Years of the Stacking Bed – the Great Hero of (Small) Spaces]]></title><description><![CDATA[ 1966: The Beatles stormed the charts, twist fever broke out – and while everyone was dancing around their living rooms to The Mamas and the Papas' ‘Monday Monday’, a new design icon was born: Rolf Heide's stacking chair. Not a superstar made of vinyl, but a little hero for anyone who had limited space but big plans... Brigitte-Star: Stacked Bed Made for Brigitte - the stacked bed as a magazine star The best thing about it: the stackable bed was designed for Brigitte readers – yes, you read]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2026/02/60-years-of-the-stacking-bed-the-great-hero-of-small-spaces/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2026/02/60-years-of-the-stacking-bed-the-great-hero-of-small-spaces/</guid><category><![CDATA[Design]]></category><category><![CDATA[Designer]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 11 Feb 2026 09:16:27 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Verner Panton’s Vibrant World – Interview with Carin Panton]]></title><description><![CDATA[ On February 13, 2026, Verner Panton (1926 - 1998) would have celebrated his 100th birthday. A date that feels less like a closing chapter and more like a light that continues to shine. Panton's work is still alive today – in colours that transform spaces, in forms that evoke emotion, and in a mindset that approached design as a daring play with perception. At smow, we celebrate this unique vision: a view of the world shaped by colour, form, and the freedom to think differently. Flowerpot by]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2026/02/verner-pantons-vibrant-world-interview-with-carin-panton/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2026/02/verner-pantons-vibrant-world-interview-with-carin-panton/</guid><category><![CDATA[Designer]]></category><category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2026 12:22:15 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cloud Dancer, Pantone Colour 2026: Between Interior Hype and Social Debate]]></title><description><![CDATA[All in white... here comes Pantone Colour 2026. Cloud Dancer is a white that lets rooms breathe, captures light and, at the same time, sparks discussion. Many in the interior design bubble are rejoicing: finally, a shade that serves as the perfect backdrop for furniture, art and accessories. But there are also many critical voices calling for Pantone and the Pantone Institute to take a stand with their respective colour of the year in times of global crisis. The lightness of Cloud Dancer At]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2026/01/cloud-dancer-pantone-colour-2026-between-interior-hype-and-social-debate/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2026/01/cloud-dancer-pantone-colour-2026-between-interior-hype-and-social-debate/</guid><category><![CDATA[smow]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 05 Jan 2026 08:48:43 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[smow Home Story: At Home With Artist and Interior Designer Aylin ‘Aya’ Graalmann]]></title><description><![CDATA[ There are homes that you walk into and immediately understand who lives there. That's the case with Aylin, also known as Aya. Her home feels like a warm haven in everyday life – open, friendly and characterised by an intuitive sense of design. Perhaps this is because Aya is at home in both art and interior design. And perhaps also because she has learned that timelessness is not something rigid, but rather a feeling of harmony: choosing things that are allowed to remain and being brave]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/12/smow-home-story-at-home-with-artist-and-interior-designer-aylin-aya-graalmann/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/12/smow-home-story-at-home-with-artist-and-interior-designer-aylin-aya-graalmann/</guid><category><![CDATA[Homestory]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 10:47:45 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Small rooms: Modern design tips and interior design ideas]]></title><description><![CDATA[Think big! Lots of inspiration for living in small spaces with tips on storage, colour, lighting and more. Furnishing guide for small rooms Small space, big challenge. Those who have to make do with limited space can easily reach their limits when it comes to furnishing. However, small flats also offer advantages: fewer square metres automatically mean lower energy costs and the rooms are easier to maintain. Since the minimalism trend, it has also become clear that reduction can be stylish.]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/11/small-rooms-modern-design-tips-and-interior-design-ideas/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/11/small-rooms-modern-design-tips-and-interior-design-ideas/</guid><category><![CDATA[smow]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 27 Nov 2025 12:05:54 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[First-class seating test: Gelenka chairs at the German Chair Museum (Deutsches Stuhlbaumuseum) in Rabenau]]></title><description><![CDATA[Sometimes treasures lie where you least expect them. Rabenau is a tranquil little town in Saxony – but anyone familiar with its history will hardly be surprised to find that it hides a real gem. For centuries, the town was a centre of chair production – from traditional craftsmanship to industrial manufacturing. So it's no wonder that the German Chair Museum is located here today – a place where furniture history comes to life. Gelenka and the German Chair Museum in Rabenau The museum is]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/11/first-class-seating-test-gelenka-chairs-at-the-german-chair-museum-deutsches-stuhlbaumuseum-in-rabenau/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/11/first-class-seating-test-gelenka-chairs-at-the-german-chair-museum-deutsches-stuhlbaumuseum-in-rabenau/</guid><category><![CDATA[smow]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 25 Nov 2025 10:20:43 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cloud Theatre At The Grassimesse: Coastland Wins The smow Design Award 2025]]></title><description><![CDATA[ There is a hint of salt in the air when you touch coastland fabrics. You can almost hear the sound of the North Sea and see the changing light over the dunes – that quiet, shimmering ‘cloud theatre’ that the North German landscape re-enacts day after day. Heinz-Jürgen Gerdes has translated this very feeling into his work: with his small wool weaving mill on the coast, he not only preserves an almost forgotten craft, but transforms it into contemporary design – raw, honest and touchingly]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/10/cloud-theatre-at-the-grassimesse-coastland-wins-the-smow-design-award-2025/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/10/cloud-theatre-at-the-grassimesse-coastland-wins-the-smow-design-award-2025/</guid><category><![CDATA[smow]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:02:25 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Re-Editions: Between Zeitgeist and Timelessness]]></title><description><![CDATA[ We may no longer live as we did 50 years ago, but we seem to enjoy furnishing our homes in that style. Anyone who strolled through Milan during Design Week this year or sought inspiration at 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen could hardly have missed one theme: re-editions. Everywhere, classic designs were being reissued, reimagined and recontextualised. But what was once considered a marginal phenomenon – especially for collectors, connoisseurs and design historians – has now become a real driving]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/10/re-editions-between-zeitgeist-and-timelessness-2/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/10/re-editions-between-zeitgeist-and-timelessness-2/</guid><category><![CDATA[Design]]></category><category><![CDATA[smow]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 21 Oct 2025 11:44:15 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[The right lighting in the living room]]></title><description><![CDATA[ Ideally, lighting design should be taken into account during construction so that there are enough outlets and power connections in the right places. However, the lighting concept in the living area can also be easily improved retrospectively without requiring a great deal of technical expertise. Living rooms are generally used for a wide variety of purposes—whether for relaxing, reading, watching television, or entertaining guests. The lighting should be just as versatile in order to]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/10/die-richtige-beleuchtung-im-wohnzimmer/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/10/die-richtige-beleuchtung-im-wohnzimmer/</guid><category><![CDATA[Furnishing tips]]></category><category><![CDATA[smow]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 10 Oct 2025 14:22:02 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hello Image. The Staging of Things at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg]]></title><description><![CDATA[Objects of daily use, certainly higher price-end objects of daily use, don't just sell on the basis of what they physically are and what they physically do — possible alternatives are generally far too numerous for such to be decisive in itself — but also sell on their semantics: what the potential purchaser believes an object says about them, how the potential purchaser believes others will read their possession of such an object, the associations the potential purchaser makes in context of a]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/09/hello-image-the-staging-of-things-at-the-museum-fur-kunst-und-gewerbe-hamburg/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/09/hello-image-the-staging-of-things-at-the-museum-fur-kunst-und-gewerbe-hamburg/</guid><category><![CDATA[Exhibitions and Shows]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 30 Sep 2025 15:35:55 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Josef Frank and the others. New furniture 1920–1940 at the Möbelmuseum, Wien]]></title><description><![CDATA[For all that everyone is familiar with the new furniture of the first third of the 20th century in its tubular steel and with its breaks with the conventions and traditions of the past... is and was that the full (hi)story? With Josef Frank and the others. New furniture 1920–1940 the Möbelmuseum, Wien, argue... no....... Josef Frank and the others. New furniture 1920–1940, Möbelmuseum Wien Staged by way of marking both the 140th anniversary of Josef Frank's birth and the centenary of]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/09/josef-frank-and-the-others-new-furniture-1920-1940-at-the-mobelmuseum-wien/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/09/josef-frank-and-the-others-new-furniture-1920-1940-at-the-mobelmuseum-wien/</guid><category><![CDATA[Exhibitions and Shows]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2025 11:32:06 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Wohnkomplex: Art and Life in Plattenbau at Das Minsk, Potsdam]]></title><description><![CDATA[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]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/09/wohnkomplex-art-and-life-in-plattenbau-at-das-minsk-potsdam/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/09/wohnkomplex-art-and-life-in-plattenbau-at-das-minsk-potsdam/</guid><category><![CDATA[Exhibitions and Shows]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 10:37:05 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Radio smow: A Suburbia Playlist]]></title><description><![CDATA[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]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/09/radio-smow-a-suburbia-playlist/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/09/radio-smow-a-suburbia-playlist/</guid><category><![CDATA[Radio smow]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 05 Sep 2025 05:49:29 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[5 New Architecture & Design Exhibitions for September 2025: Switzerland Special]]></title><description><![CDATA[¿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]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/09/5-new-architecture-design-exhibitions-for-september-2025-switzerland-special/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/09/5-new-architecture-design-exhibitions-for-september-2025-switzerland-special/</guid><category><![CDATA[Exhibitions and Shows]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 03 Sep 2025 05:30:46 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[5 New Architecture & Design Exhibitions for September 2025]]></title><description><![CDATA[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]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/09/5-new-architecture-design-exhibitions-for-september-2025/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/09/5-new-architecture-design-exhibitions-for-september-2025/</guid><category><![CDATA[Exhibitions and Shows]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 01 Sep 2025 07:19:43 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grassimesse Leipzig 2025: Meet the selected exhibitors......]]></title><description><![CDATA[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]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/08/grassimesse-leipzig-2025-meet-the-selected-exhibitors/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/08/grassimesse-leipzig-2025-meet-the-selected-exhibitors/</guid><category><![CDATA[Exhibitions and Shows]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 29 Aug 2025 06:01:38 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Vers une architecture: Reflections at Pavillon Le Corbusier, Zürich]]></title><description><![CDATA["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]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/08/vers-une-architecture-reflections-at-pavillon-le-corbusier-zurich/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/08/vers-une-architecture-reflections-at-pavillon-le-corbusier-zurich/</guid><category><![CDATA[Exhibitions and Shows]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 25 Aug 2025 06:35:14 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bauhaus Lab 2025: After modern brightness. Ecologies of light at Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau]]></title><description><![CDATA["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]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/08/bauhaus-lab-2025-after-modern-brightness-ecologies-of-light-at-stiftung-bauhaus-dessau/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/08/bauhaus-lab-2025-after-modern-brightness-ecologies-of-light-at-stiftung-bauhaus-dessau/</guid><category><![CDATA[Exhibitions and Shows]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 18 Aug 2025 08:40:39 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Sustainable furniture design: Eco can be so stylish]]></title><description><![CDATA[ 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]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/08/sustainable-furniture-design-eco-can-be-so-stylish/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/08/sustainable-furniture-design-eco-can-be-so-stylish/</guid><category><![CDATA[smow]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 19:36:16 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Trees, Time, Architecture. Design in Constant Transformation at the Architekturmuseum der TU München]]></title><description><![CDATA[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.]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/08/trees-time-architecture-design-in-constant-transformation-at-the-architekturmuseum-der-tu-munchen/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/08/trees-time-architecture-design-in-constant-transformation-at-the-architekturmuseum-der-tu-munchen/</guid><category><![CDATA[Exhibitions and Shows]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 11 Aug 2025 10:36:30 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Renate Müller Spielzeug + Design Sonneberg at Wasserschloß Klaffenbach, Chemnitz]]></title><description><![CDATA["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]]></description><link>https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/08/renate-muller-spielzeug-design-sonneberg-at-wasserschlos-klaffenbach-chemnitz/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.smow.com/blog/2025/08/renate-muller-spielzeug-design-sonneberg-at-wasserschlos-klaffenbach-chemnitz/</guid><category><![CDATA[Exhibitions and Shows]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 04 Aug 2025 06:59:48 GMT</pubDate></item></channel></rss>