Eero Aarnio’s internationally significant career in furniture design already began in the 1960s. After graduating from the Institute of Industrial Arts in Helsinki, Aarnio established his own office specializing in interior and industrial design in 1962. Many of his works in the spirit of pop art, such as the Ball Chair (1963), Bubble (1968), Pastil (1968), Tomato (1971), Pony (1973) and Formula (1998) soon made international headlines and became design icons. The prize-winning designer has created a great number of products of different kinds, from furniture for homes and public space to various utility objects, such as the Puppy toy dog (2003) which he designed for Magis of Italy. Aarnio’s Trioli children’s chair (2003), also designed for Magis, earned him the Compasso d’Oro Prize of 2008 in Italy. Eero Aarnio’s work in design has had positive effect on employment in Finland. Over 90% of the products are exported. Aarnio’s most recent exhibition has toured many countries and his works are on permanent display in leading collections, such as MoMA in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein.
Bubble Chair, Adelta - 1968
Ball Chair, Adelta - 1963
Pony, Adelta - 1973
Formula Chair, Adelta - 1998
Pastil, Adelta - 1968
Double Bubble, Malaja - 2001
”I always draw the piece in full scale. It’s almost like making the actual object and shaping its mass. It shows textiles as a black surface. If I draw only the contour, it is just a line. If I already give the object visual mass and weight on paper, it comes quite close to the right mood.” Professor Eero Aarnio,Interior Architect, winner of the Kaj Franck Design Prize of 2008.
Exhibition: The Kaj Franck Design Prize of 2008 – Eero Aarnio From 12 December 2008 to 11 January 2009 Design Forum Finland, Space1, Erottajankatu 7, Helsinki Free entrance
Belgian designer James Van Vossel has received an award for his Z-Ball at Interieur 08. The prize was awarded by Royal Ahrend for a seating idea for a learning environment.
Z-Ball is an inflatable ball with 3 handles. The position of these equal handles stimulates an even better position of the 5-attitudes of the back: it stimulates to sit at the front side of the ball while the 2 other handles give support to the loin.
ASM/Mtrl presents a two-day workshop on Materials for Designers:
Materiality: How Metals and Polymers Influence Our Senses and Inspire Our Designs.
This series of highly immersive workshops will provide you the knowledge and insight necessary to visualize the ways in which the latest materials and fabrication processes can influence design. Materials selection behavior for aesthetics, consumer acceptance, durability, cost, fabrication, compatibility and workability will all be explored.
Core knowledge for industrial design. At the intersection of art, science, engineering and industry, materials have the capacity to transcend function, becoming touchstones of widely shared human experience that live forever. Broaden your design vocabulary with greater command of the metals and polymers that ultimately bring designs to life.
Key ingredients to a successful design include choosing the right materials and processing them to produce products your customers’ desire. This seminar will provide you with knowledge and tools to combine the art and science of materials selection for your designs. Be a source of knowledge for your clients, engineering staff and production houses by understanding and designing sharply with metals & polymers.
The instructor Dr. Kuhn is currently director of R&D for The Ex One Company, with responsibility for developing and implementing rapid manufacturing and rapid tooling technologies. A Fellow of ASM International, the world’s leading society for materials science and engineering, Dr. Kuhn understands how materials and processes influence design. At Drexel University and the University of Pittsburgh, he developed courses in powder metallurgy, engineering design, failure analysis and mechanical metallurgy – four specialties of great interest to design professionals.
Seattle WA: Sept. 18-19 - Experience Music Project at Seattle Center Boston MA: Oct. 16-17 - Institute for Human Centered Design at Adaptive Environments Los Angeles CA: Nov. 13-14 - W Hotel Miami Beach FL: Dec. 15-16 - Doubletree Ocean Point Resort
A classic is reborn - the Krenit series, designed by Herbert Krenchel in 1953.
More than 50 years after Herbert Krenchel designed the Krenit salad bowl and serving set, the minimalist design is now launched by Normann Copenhagen. The salad set went into production in 1953, but it is the first time that the salad bowl is produced in melamine.
The Krenit salad bowl is inspired by the simple form language of the East, and the long pointed handles of the salad set reflect the traditional chopsticks. With a simple and clean expression, the Krenit series is a modern classic that lets function and aesthetics play perfectly together.
Herbert Krenchel says: "An article for everyday use must contain several aspects that play together and create the general impression. It is obvious that a salad bowl has its function, but I wanted to create a bowl which was so pretty that it could be placed in the sitting room as well. I am enthusiastic about forms and love materials. The structure of the surface is important because it makes the bowl attractive and inviting, and you feel like touching it. Krenit melamine has no decoration, and the black and white colourings together create a stress field."
Even if one is delighted to see the return of this design classic with perfect lines, the delicacy of the enamelled metal and the attraction of the two-tone models that existed in the Fifties will always have our preference.
