#officetour Milestones – A chair “just high enough that one can sit half-standing”
“For men who have to write a lot, and over prolonged periods, a desk at which they can work standing up is an indispensable piece of furniture for altering their posture and for maintaining their health”, opined Journal der Moden in May 1786. An age when, famously, only men wrote.
Yet advantageous and positive as standing to write was, prolonged standing could, as Journal der Moden notes, lead to tiredness.
A solution was however at hand for all who preferred working at a standing height desk over a prolonged period: a chair, “or a so called donkey … on which one sits as if on a saddle, and which must be just high enough that one can sit half-standing…”1
A half-standing sitting solution whose nickname can be readily derived from the proposed sitting position.
And a half-standing sitting solution that for all it is thoroughly familiar today, was novel, one could almost argue revolutionary, and even enlightened, in 1786…….
The Historia Supellexalis: “B” for Bouroullec
Bouroullec
A Ronan; An Erwan; An unassuming, poetic, connection.
Design on Air at the CID – centre d’innovation et de design au Grand-Hornu, Hornu
According to the Greek philosopher Anaximenes of Miletus, air is the source of everything.
And whereas in the intervening 2500 years we have come to better understand the true nature, character and properties of air, as the exhibtion Design on Air at the Centre d’innovation et de design Grand-Hornu illustrates, air remains a very potent, stimulating, and protean creative force.
smow Blog Interview: Klaus Hackl – Designing isn’t an artistic, pseudo-genial, process but rather is based on a practical understanding and observation of daily life
German designer Klaus Hackl’s understanding of design is one based on the principle of evolution not revolution, of understanding the context in which a project arises, and of the value, and logic, of craft processes and craft scale production. And of the value, and logic, of craft processes and craft scale production augmented by digital technology.
Keen to learn more, we met up wit Klaus Hackl in Munich….
smow blog compact Milan 2017 special: Konstantin Grcic
Backrests appeared to be a major feature of those new products Konstantin Grcic presented at Milan Furniture Fair 2017. Or perhaps better put, from those new product we saw by Konstantin Grcic, we interpreted the backrest as being central components. But it wasn’t all about backrests, a few thoughts on new products for Magis, Plank, Flos and Mattiazzi.
smow blog compact Milan 2017 special: Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec
Much as we moan, moan, and moan about Milan Furniture Fair, it is a rare opportunity to get a snapshot of where individual designers are currently at: differing products for differing manufacturers being displayed in relatively proximity allowing for a nice overview. A few considerations on the latest projects by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra, Magis, Flos and Mattiazzi.
Milan Furniture Fair 2016: High Five!
To the casual observer selecting five outstanding products from the Milan Furniture Fair is a neigh on impossible task, so
Passagen Cologne 2016: A&W Designer of the Year 2016 – Jasper Morrison. The Exhibition.
2016 sees the 20th anniversary of German architecture and design magazine A&W’s “Designer of the Year Award.” Following on from
Blurred Lines or What if Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke designed furniture?
On March 10th 2015 a jury at the Central District Court of California in Los Angeles concluded that Pharrell Williams
smow blog compact Milan 2015 special: Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec
It was invariably more through good fortune than good planning; however, at Milan Furniture Fair 2015 Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s
Konstantin Grcic – Panorama @ Vitra Design Museum
One of the first telephone calls Mateo Kries and Marc Zehntner made upon assuming leadership of the Vitra Design Museum
A&W Designer(s) of the Year 2013: Ronan + Erwan Bouroullec
It being January, IMM Cologne once again provided the backdrop for the presentation of the A&W Designer of the Year
V&A Museum London: British Design 1948-2012. Innovation in the Modern Age
At the end of March the V&A Museum London opened the exhibition “British Design 1948-2012. Innovation in the Modern Age”,
Furniture for the Senses – Finn Juhl 100
For all in our near Copenhagen, and who aren’t planning travelling to Weil am Rhein in the coming months, the
Dark Lime Vitra Panton Chair Cocktail Competition: Jay Osgerby’s Caipirissima
London based design studio Barber Osgerby stands as a testament to the fact that high quality work will always win
(smow)intern: The Designer Furniture Catalogue 2011
Luddites! Not a phrase normally associated with (smow) To the best of our knowledge no (smow)employee has ever smashed an
(smow) Interview:”We have to do less, and better” Ronan Bouroullec at Saloni Milano 2010
Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec are without doubt two of the brightest stars in the international designer furniture heaven. And two
(smow) Interview: “The thing that would be amazing to try to do is to work with recycled material” James Irvine at Saloni Milano 2010
For 26 years James Irvine has been quietly and unassumingly influencing European industrial design. Immediately after graduating from the London
(smow) in Milan: Ronan Bouroullec on Magis
Working as a furniture designer is a lot like working as a musician or an author. You establish a reputation
(smow) in Milan 2010: Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec
Having sold everything, including our kidneys and the neighbours cat, we can finally afford to pay for a hotel in
(smow)offline: Dos Palillos Restaurant, Casa Camper Hotel Berlin
With our recent design hotels post still simmering on the back-burner of critical acclaim the first photos reach of us
smow design spring: aufgetischt
Your (smow)blog team didn’t become the internationally feared and monitored crew we are simply because we travel the world fearlessly
(smow)offline: Bouroullec’s design new Kvadrat showroom
Good news for all of you in Copenhagen, or who are planning visiting the Danish capital. Perpetual smow favourites Ronan
New York Tales: Jason Miller
For us one of the discoveries of the ICFF was Brooklyn based designer Jason Miller. Miller’s design contains undeniable elements
New York Ta(b)les: Part 2
We came, we saw, we sat on the floor… But it needn’t have been so….. Once again the Europeans show