Swedish design Studio Claesson Koivisto Rune has designed the Baker Cookstove - an energy efficient cookstove for the developing world - for Top Third Ventures Ltd, a social impact company operating in Nairobi, Kenya.

The majority of women in the developing world prepare food on a technology called a three-stone fire. It is basically three rocks that support a pot with an open fire in the middle. This cooking method is very inefficient and leads to many environmental and health problems. One very real side effect being that children are denied education and future because they are sent to collect firewood. Wood that every day is found at further distances. The walk takes all day and leaves no time for school.

However, since the three-stone method is a tradition since thousand of years a new stove must allow the user to keep their way of life intact to be successful. The solution is to make a stove that burns wood, but as efficient as possible.
You can still cook over burning wood, but with the Baker stove you need only one third of the wood than before. Based on tests at the University of Nairobi the Baker Cookstove achieve a 56% reduction in CO and 38% reduction in particulate matter.

Local methods of cooking, tools and containers were studied as inspiration and to gain cultural insight. As a result the final shape of the Baker Cookstove as well as its strong colours are reminiscent of traditional African cookware.

"The Baker stove project has inspired us not for the prospect of making money, not for the design itself, but for the extraordinary satisfaction of actually making a tangible, positive difference in many people's lives and for the environment. And eventually, if the end users will come to tell us that they are proud to own this stove, our day is made."

'Medici' designed by Konstantin Grcic and launched in 2012 by Mattiazzi is a low chair with a comfortably reclined posture.
"Designing for Mattiazzi was like a personal time travel. It took me all the way back to my professional roots. At the very beginning of my career, I was trained a cabinet-maker. Working with wood is what I learnt from scratch. It is where it all started for me."

"Mattiazzi make furniture in wood, using both traditional means of production and the newest digital production technologies. 'Medici' was born on Mattiazzi’s factory floor. The chair was inspired by the material, the machinery and, of course, the skill and craftsmanship of the people we worked with."

"Right from the beginning, I was looking for a distinct grammar for my design, a language that would express the characteristics of wood. I liked the idea of working with planks. They signify the very beginning of the production process – a tree trunk that is cut into slices. I like the way in which a carpenter joins wood. It is immediate and direct. The construction remains visible and easy to read. Structure turns into form."

Since 2013, the 'Medici' chair is accompanied by a round side table and (foot) stool.

Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)

All photos: Gerhardt Kellermann

Made in Paris by a social enterprise providing work opportunities for people with special needs, the Lasso slippers, designed by Gaspard Tiné-Berès and Ruben Valensi, has now launched on Kickstarter.

Lasso is made from a single piece of wool-felt, a leather sole and a cotton lace. All materials are 100 % natural.

Simple to make, the pair of slippers comes flat-pack, with laces in five different colours. The slipper shape is created by lacing the edges of the felt together through pre-cut holes.

The Lasso campaign has been launched on Kickstarter on January 31 and almost 50% of its objective has already been raised. Help the Lasso team reach their funding goal and receive your own pair.

In february 2013 Gallery Slott in Paris will present the designer Massoud Hassani for his first solo exhibition with his project Mine Kafon.

Born in 1983 in Kaboul, Afghanistan, Massoud Hassani recently graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven in Holland.
As a child Massoud made his own toys playing in the windy desert. Like for many kids in his hometown, the playground run alongside the horrors of explosives and landmines. In Afghanistan there are more landmines in the ground than there are people walking on it.

The project now in the making grew out of Massoud’s child experience in a country of war. Mine Kafon is a two-metre high deminer engine that rolls on the ground, made of metal, bamboo and biodegradable plastics. Its goal is to eliminate mines and non-exploded ammunitions hidden in the ground so that the population can walk safely. This sculptural beast moves with the only power of the wind rolling on its ‘feet’ mounted on spring suspensions. In contact with a mine in the ground Mine Kafon explodes, looses some ‘legs’ but continues to roll. Equipped with a GPS system in its metallic centre, the genius apparatus permits to locate the contaminated regions.

Mine Kafon is currently being tested by the Dutch Army. The project has won much attention, like its nomination to Design of the Year 2012 in London and the recent acquisition of the object by MOMA in New York.

Part of the proceeds from the sales of the object Mine Kafon and the catalogue will be donated to an NGO invested in assisting and helping victims of land mines in Afghanistan.

Exhibition: Mine Kafon
From January 30 2013 to February 23 2013
Exquise Design * Galerie Slott, Paris, France

The Museum of Architecture and Design presents the exhibition 'Silent Revolutions', a selection of design that marks the first two decades of this young European country.

Black Cherry Lamp
by Nika Zupanc - for La Femme et la Maison by Nika Zupanc, 2010

Rather than showing a sweeping overall view the show focuses on outstanding individual cases. The selected design exhibits embody the passion and obsession of individual artists, the drive, innovative development and high-quality production, ranging from the filigree turn-tables by Franc Kuzma and the seductive Black Cherry Lamps by designer Nika Zupanc to Seaway’s Greenline 33 Hybrid, the world’s first large hybrid boat, and Trimo’s Qbiss One with ArtMe modular façade systems.

Lajt Chair
by Janez Suhadolc, 1991

The exhibition also presents certain key productions from the country’s largest actors in the industry, including Elan's revolutionary series of WaveFlex skis designed in cooperation with Gigodesign studio, Alpina's Racing Elite cross-country ski boots developed in cooperation with Jure Miklavc studio, and Gorenje's Simplicity home appliance line by Gorenje Design Studio.

Waveflex Skis Series
by Gigodesign and Elan Development Department - for Elan, 2007/2011

Stabi S Turntable and Stabi XL Turntable
by Franc Kuzma; for Kuzma, 1998, 1999

Sitty Folding Chair
by Gigodesign, 2009

Kawasaki ZX-10R Evolution Exhaust System
by Igor Akrapovič and team; for Akrapovič, 2008

Krpan Postman’s Bicycle
by Matevž Fortuna; for Vizija Sport, 2002


Exhibition
Silent Revolutions / Contemporary Design in Slovenia

From June 16 to July 15 2012

Maribor Art Gallery
Strossmayerjeva ulica 6, Maribor
Slovenia