Berlin design gallery Helmrinderknecht contemporary design dedicates its second show completely to the subject of vases.
The exhibition Vase vs. Vases brings together contemporary positions of 15 designers and artists. Works of renowned designers and young upcoming design talents are shown in the creative tension between diverse forms of design engineering, and a variety of materials and production approaches. The novel handling of experimental and conceptual design, figuration, abstraction and craftsmanship result in vases that dance, that shine, that are actually a plant, that used to be a bag, and much more....
Frédéric Dedelley (CH), Objet mélancolique No 1 - 2009
Latis is the latest bathroom creation from Omvivo. It is inspired by the fundamentals of tradition and quality. Simple forms combined with elegant materials such as natural stone to create a sculptural range of bathroom products that will compliment both modern and traditional spaces.
Designer is Thomas Coward, principal designer at Omvivo. Coward moved to Australia in 2004 from the UK. In 2005 Coward was recognised as one of Australia’s top 50 emerging designers, and his Parli-me chair was selected as one of only 16 exhibitors for the City of Milan’s young foreign designers showcase.
Featuring more than 100 contemporary design products and systems -
safer baby bottles, a high-tech waterless washing machine, low-cost
prosthetics for landmine victims, Braille-based Lego-style building
blocks for blind children, wheelchairs for rugged conditions, sugarcane
charcoal, universal composting systems, DIY soccer balls - this book
makes the case for design as a tool to solve some of the world's
biggest social problems in beautiful, sustainable and engaging ways -
for global citizens in the developing world and in more developed
economies alike. Particularly at a time when the weight of climate
change, global poverty and population growth are impossible to ignore,
Emily Pilloton challenges designers to be changemakers instead of
"stuff creators." Urgent and optimistic, a compendium and a call to
action, Design Revolution is an exciting design publication to come out
this year.
A grassroots alternative to higher-tech filtration systems, Tony Flynn’s three-ingredient filters take advantage of the inherent properties of locally available materials to provide clean drinking water in the simplest of manners. Flynn, a materials scientist and ceramics lecturer from The Australian National University, combined terra-cotta, coffee grounds (or other organic material), and cow dung to create personal-use water filters that remove common pathogens including E. coli. The filters provide a free, do-it-yourself alternative to the commercial options, which often use the same ceramic filtration process but are financially inaccessible to developing communities. The filters can be made by anyone with access to crushed terra-cotta, organic material, and sufficient water to create a thick mixture that can be formed into a self-supported pot. The shaped pots are sun dried until hard, then fired on a bed of dry cow dung and leaves for 45 minutes. During the firing process, the organic material and agricultural by-products in the demographics for which DIY filters are most urgently needed. The filters safely remove 96.4 to 99.8 percent of all E. coli bacteria and can filter .25 gallon (1 L) of water in two hours. Several filters may be used in sequence for particularly contaminated or dirty water. Perhaps the system’s only drawback is the difficulty of perfecting the mixture, wall thickness, and shape of the pots, all of which can require some practice. Those with previous ceramics or craft experience will be better equipped to produce higher-quality filters.
Sugarcane Charcoal by D-Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
In Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the primary cooking fuel is wood charcoal. The fuel is notoriously dirty when burned, and many children in the country die of respiratory infections due to inhalation of indoor cooking fumes. Despite the charcoal’s detriments, Haitians are dependent on it, which is additionally problematic because Haiti is 98 percent deforested. As a potential solution to these issues, a team of engineers and students, led by Amy Smith from MIT’s D-Lab, looked to agricultural waste as a viable resource for the production of cleaner, more sustainable charcoal that could simultaneously create jobs and fuel. The charcoal the team developed is made from dried bagasse, the primary waste product from sugarcane processing. This fibrous material is left after the juice has been squeezed from the cane. The bagasse is burned in a 55-gallon (208-L) oil-drum kiln, where it carbonizes. It is then mixed with cassava root as a binder and compacted using a press designed by D-Lab to form briquettes. The charcoal burns clean, creating no smoke and making it healthier to use and produce. As it requires no wood, it also preserves the little forest Haiti has left. Though the sugarcane has been successful, D-Lab continues to research and explore other agricultural waste products, such as corncobs, that could be cooking-fuel alternatives. In its new use, sugarcane charcoal gives waste products a function and creates jobs to support its continued production, while using local materials and skills to support new enterprises and sustain emerging economies. Since its initial implementation in Haiti, the use and production of sugarcane charcoal has been field-tested and expanded into parts of Brazil, Ghana and India, places where sugarcane and its agricultural waste are widely available.
Developed primarily for use by military and crisis-relief workers, the RDS provides “quick-up” structures for modular expansion that are durable, efficient, and easy to assemble and disassemble. The systems can also connect to existing shelters to add space for short-term needs. The RDS comes in a variety of sizes and is comprised of articulated parts such as arches, legs, leg sleeves, and a connecting hub. A separate floor and cover complete the shelter’s construction. The RDS is made from extreme rugged materials and has a weather-proofed surface, making it durable in the harshest environments and allowing it to be used as a long-term structure in the developing world. Its PVC-coated, high-tenacity fabric can sustain winds of up to 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) and 2 inches (5.1 cm) of rain per hour. The system also has passive ventilation systems and components that are interchangeable with other RDS units. The structures can be erected in just minutes for use as medical suites, operation centers, food service locations, and areas for first responders. The largest RDS shelter measures 695 square feet (64.5 sq. m) when assembled and collapses to a 3-by-3.5-by-6-foot (0.9-by-1.1-by-1.8-m) bundle.
In the 1980s, paraplegic engineer and wheelchair designer Ralf Hotchkiss traveled the world, working with doctors and patients to design and build wheelchairs from locally available materials. He found that in many areas the need for the chairs was urgent and severe. In an effort to continue his work and bring reliable, affordable mobility to the handicapped in developing countries, Hotchkiss founded Whirlwind Wheelchair International with Peter Pfaelzer, an engineering professor at the Institute for Civic and Community Engagement at SFSU. The organization works to create and support enterprises for local wheelchair production, in order to make it possible for every handicapped individual in the developing world to have access to a chair that is affordable, durable, and empowering. Their RoughRider wheelchair fulfills the group’s mission through an open-source design that makes the end-user central during the production process. RoughRider is a low-cost wheel-chair that is optimized for the needs of users and the limitations of manufacturing facilities in developing countries. While most wheelchairs are designed to maneuver only on smooth surfaces, the RoughRider’s wheels, frame, and mechanics make it suitable for more rugged conditions in both urban and rural areas, enabling the user to be independently mobile. The wheelchair is collapsible to fit in small spaces and includes functional features like low armrests, toe protectors for barefoot riding, a curvilinear frame to better fit the body and discourage the visual stigma of clunky chairs, and multiple rear axle positions to optimize stability. Its front set of smaller, caster-like wheels allow for increased durability, balance, and maneuverability over rough terrain. Its versatility enables a range of everyday activities including working, playing, traveling, going to school, and doing household chores. Additionally, its frame and components can all be assembled by anyone with basic manufacturing skills and materials. The need for parts, joints, and skilled labor is kept at a minimum to ensure both quality construction and easy maintenance.
Dutch designers Tejo Remy and René Veenhuizen are known for their clever designs that encourage new user experiences and create connections between people and objects. When commissioned in 2004 to transform the playground space at the primary school De Noorderlicht in Dordrecht, The Netherlands, their goal was to inspire new interactions while adding no new material to the space. With those objectives in mind, they looked to the existing infrastructure of the school’s standard metal fence as an opportunity. Remy and Veenhuizen reimagined it not as a two-dimensional barrier, but as a three dimensional, inhabitable space that would create new experiences for students and passersby on either side of it. By altering the shape of the vertical fence, adding convex and concave curves to the bars, the designers created meeting places, seating, and play spaces within its structure. Distortions to the traditional rhythm of the fence yield new geometries that are both aesthetically appealing and functional. As a result, the fence becomes a part of the playground for the children rather than an exclusionary element, and provides an opportunity for parents and other community members to engage with students.
Emily Pilloton, author of this book, is the founder and Executive Director of Project H Design, a global industrial design nonprofit with eight chapters around the world. Trained in architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and product design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Pilloton started Project H in 2008 to provide a conduit and catalyst for need-based product design that empowers individuals, communities and economies. Current Project H initiatives include water transport and filtration systems in South Africa and India; an educational math playground built for elementary schools in Uganda and North Carolina; a homeless-run design coop in Los Angeles; and design concepts for foster care education and therapy in Austin, Texas.
'Design Revolution: 100 Products That Empower People' for sale on Amazon
Ten leading designers have been commissioned to develop new uses for sustainably grown and harvested materials in order to tell a unique story about the life-cycle of materials and the power of conservation and design.
The featured designers and places include Yves Behar/Costa Rica; Stephen Burks/Australia; Hella Jongerius/Mexico; Maya Lin/Maine; Christien Meindertsma/Idaho; Isaac Mizrahi/Alaska; Abbott Miller/Bolivia; Ted Muehling/Micronesia; Kate Spade/Bolivia; and Ezri Tarazi/China.
This is the debut venue in a national tour of the exhibition, organized by The Nature Conservancy. On view are the prototypes, drawings, and finished product created by the designers.
Nanny Still was one of the most colourful figures of Finnish design. Born in Helsinki in 1926, she started her career in 1949 at the Riihimäki Glassworks. Until 1976 she designed countless sets of tumblers, yet she was not afraid to experiment. She introduced many innovations in the use of colour and technique.
In the late 1950's Nanny Still moved to Belgium and started designing for companies like Cerabel (Belgium), Heinrich Porzellan (Germany) and Rosenthal (Germany).
Nanny Still earned herself a reputation designing a varied range of industrial products in a variety of materials such as glass, metal, porcelain and wood. (via Design Museum Gent)
What qualifies as a crisis? Royal College of Art Design Products students’ Sold Out Shop will offer the stimulus to rethink what a crisis actually is...
During the Milan Salone 2009, a team of young design students from Platform 10, one of six teaching units within the College’s department, will be taking up residence at the prestigious Seves glassblock showroom in the heart of the city.
The fourteen postgraduate student designers will stage a makeshift Crisis Shop, exhibiting a range of crisis products. The shop layout will embody the very nature of a potential crisis - a canopy, attached by suction pads, hooks and grommets will stretch across the glass surfaces of the showroom. Under extreme tension, the canopy serves to communicate a sense of urgency, a material under stress and physical tension.
The Shop isn’t about making a commodity out of a crisis but investing in the means to respond to crises at large. One man’s crisis is another man’s opportunity. All products in the Crisis Shop are examples of opportunities in disguise.
The collective response to this state of alert can be broken down into two clearly defined product categories: those that require an ‘Immediate Response’ and those that opt for ‘Mutations’. The group have deliberately emphasised the ‘closeness’ in crisis and consequently closeness to the body. Subsequent incarnations frequently deal with this through solutions of wear-ability.
Exhibition from April 22 to 27 2009 Showroom Seves glassblock - Via Lodovico il Moro 25/27 - 20143, Milan, Italy
Scandinavian design company Muuto is launching a wide range of interesting new products. From the Swedish designer Jens Fager comes a new side table and new colour options for the 'Raw' Collection. Furthermore Muuto presents a new design by Cecilie Manz while a popular product has found a new companion.
Last fall Muuto launched the popular 'Plus' grinders by Norway Says. 'Plus' are playful and beautiful grinders with a strong character that, according to the designers, add “a good-looking 'Plus' to your cooking”. With 'One', Norway Says has created a good-looking companion for 'Plus'. It is a simple but nice granite container if you prefer to add salt or pepper by hand or the cool wooden spoon that follows the 'One' container.
Jens Fager’s 'Raw' collection is expanded with a new side table and new colours. Like the other 'Raw' products, the 'Raw' side table is handmade on a band saw and painted in various colours. Jens Fager explains his concept: "'Raw' is a product family based on rough and intuitive interpretations of iconic everyday objects. Every piece is unique because they are all made of wood carved by hand with a band saw machine. With a strong and iconic look they can easily be placed anywhere in your home, office or restaurant.”
Danish designer, Cecilie Manz has created the 'Wicker' bread basket for Muuto. With the design of 'Wicker', Cecilie demonstrates how the combination of classic and modern Scandinavian design can shape an everyday product like a bread basket. Cecilie Manz on her design: “Wicker has clear references to typical Scandinavian basket techniques: wide and thin strips weaved in two directions. Only this time produced with a completely different method and material - a highly durable composite moulded into its shape. This gives a structure that is light and hollow, emphasizing the direction of the individual strips.” 'Wicker' is shaped in ceramic and plastic composite.
The magazine focuses on the international trends in the Neocraft movement. Following the revival of craft, the magazine deals with the latest news in illustration, graphic design, textile art, ceramics, glass and book art. The initiators, Katja Kleiss and Pascal Johanssen, intended to launch a magazine which presents and discusses international trends in new craft.
The title is programmatic: OBJECTS is interested in the individual artistic craftwork, the object. "Unique things remind us of our individuality in a standardised world," says Pascal Johanssen, "the selection of these "objects" is a statement. While design is made for the masses, craftwork is dedicated to the individual." Each issue features academic essays, non-academic interventions of artists and multipaged spreads.
Authors of the first issue are art critic Colleen Shindler-Lynch (Toronto), artist Robert Revels (San Franciso), designer Scott Ballum (New York) and art director Gregori Saavedra (Barcelona). The essays are complimented by plenty of illustrations.
The magazine is now distributed in Germany but you can order it to everywhere on the globe through Illustrative's online shop.
Taking the question of mutations for its main theme, this exhibition
aims to present the work of designers who are the pioneers of different
movements in a new generation of Parisian design.
The exhibition is presented at the Design Centre of the UQAM (University of Quebec in Montreal) from January 18 2009 to March 1 2009, then at the Espace Fondation EDF (Paris) from mid April to the end of August 2009.
Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog.
advertising
DESIGNER FURNITURE SALE
Great selection of home furniture: Bedrooms, living rooms and wardrobes.
MODERN FURNITURE
Designer modern furniture and contemporary furnishings from top Italian furniture manufacturers and renowned European furniture designers for every room in your home.
