We were sad to hear that Pierre Paulin died this Saturday at the age
of 81 in Montpellier, south-east of France. He will remain in all our
memories as one of the major French designers of the 20th century. He
leaves us with great classics, most of them produced by the Dutch
company Artifort - 'the Tongue', 'the Ribbon', 'the Oyster' and many
others.
Pierre Paulin at the 'Atelier de recherche et création - Mobilier National' in 2007 (photo: Olivier Amsellem/Collection Mobilier National)
Pierre Paulin was also known for having created furniture for two presidents of the French Republic, Georges Pompidou and François Mitterand.
Dining-room designed by Pierre Paulin at the Palais de l'Elysée - residence of French President Georges Pompidou (AFP) (photo taken in 1972)
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)
Welcome to the Spark 2009 Competition, Designers! The Spark Awards are
the new competition created to promote great design and designers and
encourage people to explore their creativity. Sparks invites everyone
to participate--designers, art directors, architects, design firms,
manufacturers, institutions, ad agencies, students and
non-professionals may enter.
Graphics, product design, transportation and architecture are just a few of the many design categories accepted. If you or your company create great designs, don’t miss the opportunity to compete in this important event.
To accommodate the greatest possible range of designs and designers, and to lower the initial cost of entry, the SparkAwards are configured as a "two-phase" competition--just like a sports playoff series. In Phase I, entrants upload 3 images of their work and short mission statement to the Spark website. Winners of Phase II are awarded either a prestigious Bronze Spark, Silver Spark, Gold Spark or the ultimate Spark! Award.
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.
Engelbrechts Furniture has just taken over the production and distribution of the internationally renowned Kevi chair and stool series, created by the Danish designer Jørgen Rasmussen.
This chair first became a popular office chair in the 1970s, elegantly meeting the demands of busy working environments and ergonomic design. As a result, hundred thousands of Kevi chairs have since been sold all over the world.
Their popularity was partly the result of their timeless design, but also Jørgen Rasmussen's invention of the Kevi wheel in 1965. This innovation meant that the chairs could move freely and easily. Jørgen Rasmussen received much recognition and many awards for this invention. Many believe that there is still no better wheel for chairs than the Kevi wheel.
United States 2008 stamp program recognizes a range of subjects as diverse as America itself, from the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrated in Chinatowns all over the country, to 20th century movie icons and literary figures, to the flags of its states and territories.
In recognition of their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, manufacturing and photographic arts, designers Charles and Ray Eames will be honored next summer with a pane of 16 stamps designed by Derry Noyes of Washington, DC. If you’ve ever sat in a stackable molded chair, you’ve experienced their creativity. Perhaps best known for their furniture, the Eameses were husband and wife as well as design partners. Their extraordinary body of creative work — which reflected the nation’s youthful and inventive outlook after World War II — also included architecture, films and exhibits. Without abandoning tradition, Charles and Ray Eames used new materials and technology to create high-quality products that addressed everyday problems and made modern design available to the American public.
A sad ending to the year 2007 for the world of design. Ettore Sottsass left us this Monday. A giant of Italian design, theorist, architect, photographer, etc. The contribution of Sottsass to the history of design certainly goes beyond his participation in the Memphis movement which, although it was important, was only one of the aspects of his work. His simple and strong formal language which fed on all cultures of the world will leave an indelible mark in our minds. He was ninety years old and worked right until the end of his life.
Ciao Maestro
Here is a video from the Design Museum London recalling a part of Ettore Sottsass' work.
After the rise of wide spread Eco consciousness, it seems the next wave to hit us is 'Urban farming' i.e: food-producing activities at home, be it edible gardens, livestock or aquaculture. The aims include: increasing self reliance, combating the ever increasing number of food miles we use to feed ourselves and ... renew our sense of connexion to the earth.
This is a big leap for the true urbanites... When I set out to explore what was out there , I was reading about skyscraper green acres and new sci fi techniques. It struck me that many ideas are just too ambitious for the mass of us socialising /clubbing /office working urbanites who feel for instance that radically giving up all design ambitions a bit too steep a challenge!
I would like to let you know that I am creating a blog to help those who are perhaps less thoroughbred Eco warriors ;-) but who do want to change. It is focused on the baby step approach adoptable by the very urban types. My focus is how to jump on the band wagon in style when possible. And good news is out there too: designers are starting to invade the field. You can check out a few of my first finds at www.MyUrbanFarm.com
Call for submissions:
I'd love to hear about new products designers are thinking about or have developed to help in this field:
- new water harvesting objects ? - new containers to grow vegetables ? - new harvesting/storing devices? - new tools ? - new technologies (for example hydroponic cupboards) ?
Or
- have real life examples of growing plots/urban farms that have incorporated a design twist
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