It's early May and once again the party ship we call the smow song contest is ready to set sail...... First staged in 1956 in Lugano, as a small, essentially regional, event, the smow song contest has grown as the smow family has, and now enjoys a popularity far outwith smow's geographic heartland. A fact acknowledged by the addition of Sydney to the competition in 2015: our antipodean cousins having long adopted the spirit of smow. Yes, some, ill informed, never happy's, oafs quite frankly,
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It may lack the Unicorn Horn that graced so many Renaissance era Cabinets of Curiosities, but with The Room of Desires Keum Art Projects present a collection of objects with just as much beauty, mystery and grace as could be found in the Wunderkammer. And yet which are grounded much more in reality. The Room of Desires @ Raumwerk Munich Back in the day we once received an almighty thump from a very good friend for suggesting that the fact her mother had adorned their living room with so many
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The Bayerischer Staatspreis für Nachwuchsdesigner is one of the more interesting international design prizes. Not only because it is biennial and thus steadfastly refuses to play with the "every year new" ethos of the contemporary design industry, nor only because it is exclusively for young designers, but also because in addition to the "usual" categories it also recognises Design Research and Applied Crafts. And thus promotes a pleasingly healthy and positive understanding of the term
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One of our highlights of 2016 was without question PrintStool by Munich based designer Thorsten Franck for German manufacturer Wilkhahn. Less because of the object itself and more because of what it represents: the first step by a major furniture producer towards industrial 3D furniture printing. We met up with Thorsten in Munich to discuss PrintStool, 3D printing and the changing role of designers. PrintStool by Thorsten Franck for Wilkhahn, here as seen at NeoCon Chicago 2016 After
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Five recommendations for new architecture and design exhibitions opening in December 2016, featuring shows in Copenhagen, Weimar, Nürnberg, London and Munich 5 New Design Exhibitions for December 2016 2016 has been an awful year. As in proper awful. Which my explain the unusually high number of expressionist-esque art exhibitions opening globally in December 2016: the bright colours and supportive warmth and encouragement such works tend to radiate being just what we all need after a tough
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Whereas 3D printing is omnipresent in the media, and a ubiquitous tool in contemporary research and development, in most daily realities it remains scarcelypresent. Save for tablet holders, cosplay accessories and Star Wars chess sets. Or put another way, as a popular activity 3D printing is still very nerd niche. Often very, very trivial. And certainly not a widespread, commercial, industrial process. Yet. But will be. Of that we are certain. How that will be in context of the furniture
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Inaugurated in July 212 BC* the Ludi Apollinares were Roman games staged in honour of Apollo and featuring a mix of chariot racing, plays, dances and ritual sacrifice. The following five new exhibitions opening in July 2016 may lack the excitement of the chariot race, but in many respects are much more appropriate means by which to celebrate the Greco-Roman God of the arts, poetry, music and knowledge. And no gilded ox, goat or heifer need suffer. "Fast Forward: The Architecture of William
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February 2015 saw us break new ground and make our first visits to Munich Creative Business Week, the magnificently monikered 's-Hertogenbosch in Holland and Ekumfi-Ekrawfo, Ghana. The latter albeit only virtually. Sadly. And Nils Holger Moormann used our pages to call for a revolution......... How We Work, new Dutch Design at the Stedelijk Museum 's-Hertogenbosch Dry-lacquer vessels by Chung Hae Cho, as seen at Tools for A Break - Korean Crafts and Design, Galerie Rieder Munich during
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It being early April Milan furniture fair once again stands before us and with it the promise of untold column inches about the latest trends, the hottest young talents, the sharpest suits and the best bars for sharing an Aperol spritz and unsavoury gossip. Or a chance to critically assess the contemporary furniture industry. Yes, we’ve been here a few times in the past, but are always happy to return. There be nothing we enjoy more than biting the hand that feeds us. Among those perennial
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As we've noted in these pages in the past, changing methods of working and communicating mean that we need new chair forms, specifically chairs which allow one to work with tablet computers and similar devices. When we wrote letters we needed desks, and so chairs which allowed us to sit comfortably at the desk. When we worked with computers we needed larger desks, and so chairs which allowed us to sit comfortably at the desk. Now we work with tablets we need chairs which allow us to sit
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Munich Creative Business Week 2015 is being staged under the motto "Metropolitan Ideas", a banner under which the organisers aim to explore themes such as urban mobility, urban planning and the future of urban spaces generally. A central component of this focus is the exhibition Hit the Future - Metropolitan Design. Munich Creative Business Week 2015: Hit the Future - Metropolitan Design Much as it may often appear that demographic and technological changes have awoken our cities and urban
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Among the regional German design awards the Bavarian Design Award is particularly notable being as it is an award exclusively for young design talents. Inaugurated in 1987 the Bayerischer Staatspreis für Nachwuchsdesigner is in addition, and as far as we are aware, the only design award anywhere to also include a category dedicated to Gestaltendes Handwerk - Applied Crafts. The inclusion of the category is invariably a subtle nod to not only the strength of traditional crafts in Bavaria but
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