When we first viewed the exhibition Full House: Design by Stefan Diez at The Museum für Angewandte Kunst Cologne, it was was still being assembled. Objects were missing, set-ups not in their final composition, lights not yet properly positioned. As such we didn't get to form an opinion on the final, complete, intended exhibition. Did however mange to take some truly awful photos. Fortunately we have now had a second chance to view the exhibition. And it is every bit as good as we assumed it
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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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With the exhibition Full House: Design by Stefan Diez the Museum für Angewandte Kunst Cologne, MAKK, present the first museal overview of the canon of the German designer Stefan Diez. And an exhibition which in many respects also helps explain industrial design. Or at least the contemporary industrial design process. Yard by Stefan Diez for emu, as seen at FULL HOUSE: Design by Stefan Diez, Museum für Angewandte Kunst Cologne Full House: Design by Stefan Diez Born in 1971 into a
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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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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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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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Premièred in 2012 as a platform to help connect design with business and to encourage greater design thinking by and acceptance of the value of design for industry, and as a sort of supporting fringe event to envelop and accompany the iF Design Award ceremony following the decision to host the event in the Bavarian capital, Munich Creative Business Week has developed over the years into a very interesting event which, although still largely promotional in character, does from time to time
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It's now been twelve months since we decided to start recommending upcoming architecture and design exhibitions based on nothing more substantial and reliable than a press release or a PR agency text. A year in which we have recommended 60 exhibitions which sounded good, sounded worth visiting, sounded entertaining. Most of those that we subsequently visited were. A fact that has encouraged us to continue. And so to celebrate "5 New Design Exhibitions" first birthday, 5 New Design Exhibitions
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Tradition being the predictable beast that it is, July and August tend to be quiet months in the design universe – most everyone taking themselves off to their Gîtes, Dachas, Ferienwohnungen, Vakantiehuis and lakeside bungalows for a few weeks of quiet reflection ahead of the autumn trade fair and design week season. Most. But not all. A few hardy souls remain, stocking the furnaces of creative culture with architecture and design based exhibitions intended to inspire, excite and entertain.
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Under the title "Dicht Säen" - "Sow Densely" - the sixth Bavarian Architecture Week from May 16th until May 25th 2014 will explore concepts and ideas of "Density" in contemporary architecture and urban planning. Topics that although being discussed at a Bavarian level and in a Bavarian context naturally have a wider importance and relevance. As our cities evolve questions of land use invariably arise: How much space does one need? How much space should one accept? Where does private end and
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On Saturday March 22nd the third edition of the Munich Creative Business Week formally opens. We know, we know, that's what we thought when they launched in 2012. Munich? Creativity? No wonder they're concentrating on the business aspect, we chortled into our banana milkshakes. Typical Bavarians! Which of course is very, very unfair. For in a manner similar to Stuttgart, Munich is home to a lot of creativity. Just a creativity that is a lot more self-assured and so reserved than the brash
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