Louise Campbell is the featured designer on dkVogue.com, a large source for Danish design that introduces modern, authentic Danish furnishings, lighting and accessories to North America.
Bille goes Zen - Cabinet maker Lars Bille Christensen (2003/2006)
Louise Campbell’s work is playful and experimental, and is increasingly gaining a reputation for gently twisting not only every day objects and situations, but also materials and manufacturing processes in new directions. The combination of Scandinavian rationalism and femininity, and perhaps her dual nationality (Danish and British), give the works of Louise Campbell an unusual edge. Illustrating contrasts seem to be an issue, that keeps returning in her work.
'Spiderwoman' - HAY (2008) 'Retreat' (1998)
'Seesaw' and 'Entertainment' - Erik Jørgensens Møbelfabrik (2002)
'Veryround' - Zanotta (2006) 'Prince Chair' - HAY (2005)
British manufacturing company Established & Sons has become renowned for its original approach since its first launching during the Milan Furniture Fair in 2005. They are constantly looking to innovate and their intention remains today just the same as it was then - to produce the highest quality furniture designs and work with the very best emerging design talents as well as established contemporary designers.
Here are some of the new designs that have been launched at this year's Milan fair.
'Crate series' by Jasper Morrisson
'Torch' by Sylvain Willenz
'Frame' by Wouter Scheublin 'Pole Light' by Paul Cocksedge
After successful international premiere in Talent Zone, Copenhagen Furniture Fair, last year, Wood Processing &
Furniture Design students have demonstrated their sustainable design
work - furniture prototypes and interior elements, at Salone Satellite
2008, Milan Furniture Fair, held from 16th-21 April.
Exhibition showed fresh, multi functional elements, new construction principles, as well as projects from REST WOOD DESIGN sustainable design workshop by mentor MA Jelena Matic, held every year at the Center for Tools and Machinery, at Faculty of Forestry, University of Belgrade.
Organized annually, the workshop operates as an extracurricular activity at the University promoting sustainable creativity through innovative use of industrial wood waste in student furniture and interior design concepts, which often results in real student prototypes, first time experiences, valuable knowledge, and rewards to young designers.
French architect Jean Nouvel has been chosen as the 2008 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The
formal ceremony for what has come to be known throughout the world as
architecture’s highest honor will be held on June 2 in Washington,D.C.
at the Library of Congress. At that time, a $100,000 grant and a bronze
medallion will be bestowed on the 62-year old architect.
Photo by Gaston Bergeret
Nouvel who came to international attention with the completion of his Institut du Monde Arabe in 1987 in Paris, now has several projects in the United States, including the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis completed in 2006, a 75-story tower (Tour Verre) next door to MOMA in New York, and recently announced plans for a high rise condominium (Suncal Tower) in the Century City district of Los Angeles. In Europe, some of his other important works are the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art (Paris 1994), the Branly Museum (Paris 2006), the Agbar Tower (Barcelona 2005), a Courthouse (Nantes 2000), a Cultural and Conference Center (Lucerne 2000), an Opera House (Lyon 1993), and Expo 2002 (Switzerland). Also currently under construction is a concert hall in Copenhagen.
Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA or Arab World Institute) 1981-87 Paris, France (photo by Philippe Ruault)
In announcing the jury’s choice, Thomas J. Pritzker, chairman of The Hyatt Foundation, quoted from the jury citation, “Of the many phrases that might be used to describe the career of architect Jean Nouvel, foremost are those that emphasize his courageous pursuit of new ideas and his challenge of accepted norms in order to stretch the boundaries of the field.” And further, Pritzker added, “The jury acknowledged the ‘persistence, imagination, exuberance, and, above all, an insatiable urge for creative experimentation’ as qualities abundant in Nouvel’s work.”
Tour de Verre, New York City, NY - 2007-in progress - Guthrie Theater Minneapolis, Minnesota - 1999-2006 (photo by Roland Halbe)
In Nouvel’s own words, “My interest has always been in an architecture which reflects the modernity of our epoch as opposed to the rethinking of historical references. My work deals with what is happening now—our techniques and materials, what we are capable of doing today.”
Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art, Paris, France 1991-94 (photos by George Fessy)
DeKast, created by Michel Doyer Furniture Designs, will be presented for the first time at the Salone del Mobile in Milan. Tuttobene, a Dutch platform for young designers, has selected a limited amount of designs for the Salone del Mobile presentation, which includes DeKast.
DeKast is a modular shelving system. Users can choose from a collection of exclusive Kvadrat fabrics for use on the upholstered front panels of DeKast. The wide choice of fabrics and infinite possibilities of composition and shape make DeKast a design piece which can easily be adapted to its user’s personal taste.
Tuttobene, Zona Tortona, Via Mortara 15, Milan, Italy, from 16 to 21 April 200
Get ready to change the world! Throughout Earth Day Week, April 22-26, 2008 in San Francisco, California, the Ecocity World Summit (7th International Ecocity Conference) will be convening an international community of inspired change-makers; courageous individuals who are addressing problems of the world's environment with thoughtful long-range solutions that are truly sustainable, ecologically healthy and socially just.
Ecocity vision of San Francisco, by Richard Register
The International Ecocity Conference Series brings together the key innovators, decision makers, technologists, businesses and organizations shaping the conversation around ecological and sustainable city, town and village design, planning and development. They intend to put these issues on the economic and environmental agenda for 2008 and beyond.
Ecocity World Summit 2008 Themes • People: population, health, equity, and access • Nature: protecting and restoring the planet’s living systems and agricultural lands • Sustainable Development: land use, transportation, architecture and infrastructure • Economies & Technologies: building the supporting markets, businesses and technologies • Incentives & Support Structures: role of government, organizations, institutions and individuals
Ecovillage at Ithaca
The time to act is now. Life-threatening global environmental
problems and limitations on resource consumption demand a restructuring
of cities and transportation systems worldwide for long-term energy
efficiency and conservation. Concerned citizens in every community - in
every city, town and village - must get involved in formulating and
implementing new land use and transportation policies and practices,
preserving agricultural lands and open space, and reclaiming natural
habitat.
A Green Skyscraper design by Ken Yeang
Let's join them in San Francisco, and let’s change the world, together!
This is the second edition of the international design biennale, Design
Match, which will be held in countries of middle Europe in year 2008.
After
the successful first edition, the Design Match 2006 CZE:SVK, that was
presented as a part of the Art&Interior fair, there will be four
countries fighting: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria.
The mission of the Design Match is to show design work to wide public, to multiply related activities. Design Match is the only non-commercial show of design that has an ambition of long continuation and to place the Czech design next to its foreign colleagues. This exhibition gathers different countries who have historical connections, traditions and heritage. Creates a place for friendly confrontations and becomes a match. The designer is a player and friends of design are fans. The foundation of the 2008 edition is a production of Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy.
This edition is founded on the tradition of designs of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy. The motto of this year’s project is integration of European countries into a shared space. The idea of Design Match connects to the historical similarity with integration of Austria-Hungary. This selection and inspiration by the monarchy is not accidental. When one says Austria-Hungary and design, it associates Thonet. The story of the Thonet Company and family will help us to understand their concept better. The exhibition is prepared with a wide research project in cooperation with the Muzeum of Decorative Arts in Prague and Budapest.
Focus of this exhibition: There will be groups of four items, each one of a different country and a clear parallel leading to an object produced in times of Austria-Hungary.
There will be a Thonet chair number 14, winner of the era, welcoming visitors at the entrance. Surrounded with four current designs of four different countries.
This exhibition will begin in the Fair Palace of the National gallery in Prague on the 13th March 2008 on mezzanin of the Small walkway. The exhibition will then continue in Slovakia, where it will be presented on two places, Austria and Hungary, where it will be presented in the Museum of Decorative Arts as a part of Budapest Design Week, the biggest design event of Hungary. The exhibition will travel all year long.
Project Design Match 2008 will present current designs of 120 designers of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria.
2008 will be a great year for the miniHome! It has been selected to participate in the Milan Triennale in October 2008.
Although, technically, the miniHome is a recreational vehicle (it is on wheels), it is designed to work as a permanent, comfortable vacation retreat.
Designed by Canadian architect Andy Thomson, the miniHome produces all the energy required for its onboard electrical loads by solar panels (located on a pivoting aluminum canopy over the front door) and an optional 400Watt wind turbine can help with more intense usage. There is also an onboard propane system for space heating, hot water, cooking and refrigeration.
The studio has set out a very exclusive set of criteria for their manufacturer: no vinyl, no formaldehyde, no toxic adhesives or finishes, all water-based, or plant oil-based finishes, no CFC’s or HCFC’s, all woods to be certified from sustainable sources (FSC certification), high natural ventilation rate (windows open), constant fresh air supply (windows closed) via heat-recovery-ventilator, durability and low-maintenance.
The 50th birthday of the LEGO brick is in January 2008. Children all over the world have played with LEGO bricks for the past 50 years, and LEGO is still right at the top of many wish lists – just as it always has been.
The LEGO history began in 1932 in Denmark, when Ole Kirk Christansen founded a small factory for wooden toys in the unknown town of Billund in the south of the country. The Company has passed from father to son and is now owned by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, a grandchild of the founder.
It has come a long way over the past 70 years - from a small carpenter’s workshop to a modern, global enterprise that is now, in terms of sales, the world’s sixth-largest manufacturer of toys.
The name 'LEGO' is an abbreviation of the two Danish words "leg godt", meaning "play well".
Barely 15 years later Christiansen discovered plastic as the ideal material for toy production, and bought the first injection moulding machine in Denmark. His courage, input and investment paid off: in 1949 he developed the LEGO brick prototype, which continues to excite countless children and adults to this very day. Over the years he perfected the brick, which is still the basis of the entire LEGO game and building system today. Of course there have been small adjustments in shape, colour and design from time to time, but today’s LEGO bricks still fit bricks from 1958.
Production of LEGO bricks with Acrylonitrile Butadine Styrene (ABS) began in 1963. This matt finish plastic is extremely hard, has a scratch and bite-resistant surface, and is ideal for keeping the bricks connected. LEGO labs regularly monitor the high quality of the ABS for the bricks.
LEGO bricks are produced in special plants in Denmark, the Czech Republic and Mexico. The ABS compound is not delivered in a liquid form, but rather as granules, which are heated to 232° C until they melt. Injection moulding machines weighing up to 150 tons then press the hot and “gooey” plastic mass into LEGO brick shapes. The shapes dry and harden and, voilà – you have the famous LEGO brick!
Utrecht Manifest is an international cultural biennial, which perceives contemporary developments in design and architecture from a social perspective. The biennial shows how architecture and design, in the past and present, have looked for answers to social and cultural questions connected to innovation, quality and sustainability.
The biennial searches for connections between design, architecture and other cultural expressions such as film, theatre and literature, in order to stimulate the public and political debate. The aim is to reinforce the role of design and architecture in developing coherent agendas for social and cultural innovation.
The biennale presents a wide array of exhibitions, debates, symposium, workshops and a satellite program.
Lovely Language (exhibition) In the 1920s, the Austrian sociologist Otto Neurath (1882–1945) developed an international visual language, for which the German-Dutch graphic artist Gerd Arntz (1900–1988) designed more than 4,000 pictograms. Neurath’s motto – ‘words divide, images unite’ – is the point of departure for the Lovely Language exhibition. Many of the duo’s designs were the forebears of pictograms we now encounter everywhere, such as the man and woman on toilet doors.
A Safe Place - Pictograms for Disaster Areas (exhibition) Television, radio, newspapers and the Internet treat disasters as happenings. Clear communication between the local population, any foreign tourists and the international aid workers is critical for every kind of disaster. Gert Dumbar, the renowned graphic designer, devised a sketch proposal of universal pictograms for humanitarian relief organizations together with his son Derk. These important designs are being presented for the first time in this exhibition.
Instant Ease (exhibition) A project about changing consumption patterns. Consumers are bombarded with marketing strategies for healthy, environmentally conscious and animal-friendly products. Is this indicative of social responsibility or of an astute pursuit of profit? The artists Tijmen Hauer (video), Ronald Nijhof (installations) and the duo Pacôme Beru & Samir Rougas (installations/multimedia) react to this development with new works.
The Triennale Design Museum, the first museum dedicated to design in Italy, has opened inside La Triennale di Milano on December 6, 2007. The new Museum establishes a permanent exhibition space for design in the heart of a city marked by a rich design heritage.
The architectural design for the restoration of the building and the conversion of the Museum was done by Michele De Lucchi. The innovative architectural feature of the Triennale Design Museum is the creation of its own entrance, via a bridge over the grand staircase, so that the Museum exists both inside the Triennale and as an independent body, visible as such.
The Museum will be directed by Silvana Annicchiarico, who has been the Curator of the Permanent Collection of Italian Design of La Triennale di Milano for nine years. The scientific director of the Design Museum is Andrea Branzi.
The Museum is opening with “The Obsessions of Italian Design” — 100 Italian design objects set against films by British artist and filmmaker Peter Greenaway and 6 Italian filmmakers — conceived and designed by Peter Greenaway and Italian architect Italo Rota.
Isetta Ermenegildo Preti, Iso 1953
Martingala Marco Zanuso, Arflex 1954
Poltrona Seggiovia Franco Albini 1940
Parentesi Achille Castiglioni, Pio Manzù Flos 1971
