DESIGN Let's twist2/18/2014Kvadrat is reaching out into the fashion world: to Alfredo Häberli, Patricia Urquiola and the Bouroullec brothers. With them, Belgian fashion designer Raf Simons has now unfurled a new fabrics collection for the Danish textile experts. And is thus taking fabrics from the cat walk to the sofa.
DESIGN Mission for agent i2/17/2014Assuming the BMW’s i3 electric car is an international success, it will no doubt influence how we buy and use cars – and get from A to B – in the future. Ranges, service packages and even refueling could soon be dictated by the concepts of carmakers.
DESIGN I spy with my little eye2/16/2014Google has premiered seven new designs for its Internet glasses: four frames for optical lenses and three pairs of shades. But are they smart enough to convince non-techies to be online at all times, walking through life as part of the digital network?
DESIGN 2014 or on Holy Helpers1/1/2014Welcome to 2014! Now that the clock is well past 12, and we are almost done with 13, too, it’s time to start wondering what 14 might hold in store…
DESIGN Uncle Tom’s Jacket12/22/2013For some time designers and architects have been making inroads into the world of fashion. Now Tom Dixon’s collection for Adidas is hitting the stores. High on garments, low on trend, and with bags that can be transformed into textile furniture.
DESIGN Petter’s perfect landing12/18/2013His search for an alarm clock and the ensuing frustration were cause enough. The experience prompted Petter Neby to establish his own company for electrical home appliances – Punkt. So far it sells three products, and they are the quintessence of Neby’s design philosophy: Keep it simple and pure, and make it to last.
DESIGN With merry wishes12/15/2013Our Stylepark team gathered, snapped shots and committed them to paper: Best wishes for a happy holiday season and a joyous new year!
DESIGN Cantonal, red, tricky12/8/2013Moritz Schmid, This Weber and Jörg Boner represent a new generation of Swiss designers, who are beginning to step out from behind the shadows of design heavyweights such as Alfredo Häberli and Hannes Wettstein. A tour of their workshop gives you a great idea of their creative work/output.
FEATURED The communicative office11/21/2013Crucial to the office world of today is an inviting ambience and direct communication routes, as were realized by local.ch for its new facility in Zurich, using furniture by Lista Office LO.
DESIGN Functional, with style11/20/2013The “to-go” mentality of today’s globalized world calls for fashion that affords maximum freedom of movement and stylistic diversity. Couturiers at the summer 2014 “Sport Couture” thus presented zestful color combinations and unusual material mixes. Part 2 of our catwalk analysis.
DESIGN Certainties – shaken, not stirred11/17/2013In his discerning but chatty volume, Michael Erlhoff draws our attention to the potential and ideas innate in design. A book for anyone who views aesthetic debate as something more than just a matter of theoretical edification.
DESIGN Atmospheres created from water vapor10/4/2013The bathroom – a little world of wonder made up of technology, light and water. As one of the leading trade shows in the area of ceramics, “Cersaie” in Bologna once again revealed just what can be achieved in the wellness zone.
FEATURED Colorful islands in the office10/1/2013With its spacious atrium, espresso bar and lounge furniture by Arper, Eneco’s headquarters looks like a high-class hotel lobby. It is, however, a workplace.
FEATURED The flexible office9/30/2013BP have relocated their headquarters. Now the staff are enjoying a flexible office space tailor-made precisely to the company’s requirements, with König and Neurath going so far as to develop customized office furniture for their client.
DESIGN And the winner is…9/25/2013Following plenty of sketch-making and puzzle-solving activity, we are now happy to announce the winner of our “Drawing by Numbers” competition marking the 300th edition of our newsletter. Click here to find out…
DESIGN Stefan Wewerka 1928 – 20139/24/2013Always provocative, Stefan Wewerka initially became famous for his distorted reproductions of architectural monuments, before setting his mind to asymmetrical furniture. On September 14, 2013, the architect, sculptor and product designer died in Berlin at the age of 85. An obituary by Jörg Stürzebecher.
FEATURED LO Mindports – modular thinking cells9/12/2013Labels such as think tank, meeting point and work lounge put it in a nutshell: Lista Office LO’s Mindport space furniture make for flexible offices.
DESIGN Sense and sensibility in the networked home9/11/2013Drive cleverly, live smarter – at the IAA the symbiosis of electro-mobility and intelligent building automation is a key topic. Efforts have long been underway to develop the smart home. But the market is only slowly picking up pace.
DESIGN Sneaker tourists of the world unite!8/30/2013Nobody need fear such immense naivety: Friedrich von Borries seeks with a novel and a design label to bring on board “shareholders for the revolution”. At his Club Med of revolution culture, you won’t find anything right in the completely wrong world.
DESIGN Viva Lina! An Italian in Brazil5/22/2013Disappointed by political developments in her home country, after World War II Lina Bo Bardi turned her back on Italy. In Brazil, the architect followed the new social trends and took part in designing Modernism there – and to this day has taken a back seat to great colleagues such as Oscar Niemeyer.
COLUMNS Escape to the country?4/11/2013Architects, urban planners, hipsters and geeks, all speak of the city and indeed megacities as a place that will prove decisive for the fate of humanity. But a countermovement has been emerging for some time now. Publications such as the German magazine “Landlust” show us “the beautiful side of country life” and depict a fictive rural paradise.
DESIGN What I really wanted to be was an architect3/4/2013Her carpets and striped textiles are counted among the Bauhaus design icons, but there are very few who actually know the designer’s name. Now, an exhibition in Berlin will showcase Gertrud Arndt and her unusual works.
DESIGN James Irvine 1958-20132/20/2013James Irvine, the London-born designer and one of the most eminent product designers of our time, died unexpectedly on February 17, 2013. We are both shocked and deeply saddened by this loss and would like to bid farewell to a great designer and man.
DESIGN Häberli’s Hotel12/3/2012What do you get if you give Alfredo Häberli free rein to design an entire hotel? Well, now you can see just that in the new 25 Hours hotel in Zurich.
DESIGN Enjoying the material7/16/2012In their inhouse Matériothèque the designers at atelier oï play around with materials such as birdseed, paper, fabric, ropes and gelatin. The resulting products for Atelier Pfister, Bulgari, Swatch and other manufacturers are now on display in the monograph “Workshop Guide atelier oï”.
DESIGN Let’s become more sophisticated!4/22/2012Volker Albus, who teaches Product Design at HfG Karlsruhe, makes the case for offering a range of subjects with an extremely broad focus. In his opinion, this is the only way to cope with the diversity of social, technical, ecological and economic circumstances, which nowadays present a challenge to design. In his opinion, merely calling for greater artistic freedom does notachieve anything.
DESIGN On the death of Ferdinand Alexander Porsche4/15/2012Chief designer, founder of the Porsche Design Studio as well as Chairman of the Supervisory Board – these are just some of the outstanding stages in the life of Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, who died in Salzburg on April 5.
DESIGN Design as a pauper’s art?4/3/2012If the content is art it should not be labeled design, says Oliver Schweizer. The product designer is head of Schweizer Design Consulting and regularly teaches at design colleges, believes that everyday work calls for a sound knowledge of the tools.
FEATURED Chairs that mean the world4/2/2012Industrial designer Odoardo Fioravanti created the wooden "Frida" chair for Italian furniture-maker Pedrali – and last year it won the "Compasso d'Oro", the design Oscar. Today, "Frida" is to be found in several renowned Design Museums worldwide. Moreover you will find Pedrali's products in a series of outstanding international reference projects.
DESIGN Female success beyond embroidered cushions3/29/2012There is a noticeably large number of women in design in Scandinavia. From Nanna Ditzel to Front Design, female designers have always played an important role in Nordic countries. Does this have something to do with design style? Or is it quite simply a question of equality?
DESIGN Plagues by the idea of rebellion3/16/2012Art has a problem with design, proposes Michael Erlhoff, Professor of Design Theory and History at Cologne's International School of Design. He focuses on the social perception of design and hopes that the technocrats will get worn down.