It is always a difficult question how to present design works – e. g. on occasion of a thesis show or other big presentations. That is why the University of Applied Sciences in Hildesheim announced a competition to this task which was won by 3rd year student Jana Kleine-Kalmer. Really a sophisticated space for students works that would also fit into contemporary museums. As a relaxation treatment for the Sunday evening, I’ll leave you with a piece of architectural poetry that was sent in by the designer. Enjoy and dream of it:

»A crater shaped element appears like ingested into Continue Reading »

It is always a special occasion when Cosmit, the company behind the Salone Internazionale del Mobile (the Milan Furniture Fair), enters the lion’s den and invites to an opulent dinner in the week of the Cologne Furniture Fair (IMM). Self-confidently the Salone shows its biggest competitor that Italians offer the better hospitality. This year the Italian furniture fair invited for a panel discussion showing Paul-Bernd Berger, a furniture and design marketing and sales expert, Ralf Raimo Jung, journalist and film producer, Stefan Diez, an new star on the German design scene and – tataahhh! – Richard Sapper – one of the old school of Italian designers with cult status. Munich-born Sapper started his career at Mercedes-Benz and went on working for names like Gio Ponti, Zanuso, Kartell, Fiat, Pirelle, IBM, Artemide or Alessi. Numerous products he designed can be found in the MoMA in New York.

Of course the subject was about design in Italy and also of course it was mainly the star – Richard Sapper – who had the lead. He gave away some amusing experiences he had in his career. For example a story from Continue Reading »

Admittedly it is always complicated to describe more or less abstract objects visually. And it is hard to combine arts and industry. When done so, many people understand the outcome as »design«. So it happened with the Audi design award for the eastern region of Germany where the task was to create a sculpture.

From three design schools – the Hochschule Wismar, the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and the Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau – only 8 concepts participated. A rather small competition. Task was to create a sculpture that is connected to the Corporate Design of Audi. The winner sculpture would be handed out on special occasions of Audi in the eastern region (of Germany – yes it is still in the heads…).

Winner of the competition with a prize money of 2.000 Euros is Sandra Huxoll. Not her fault is the wish-wash statement of the jury: »The design convinced the jury by its modern and at the same time timeless style. The model has a high design Continue Reading »

Mediacity is the name of a project that is financed by the Marie Curie mobility programme »Transfer of Knowledge« of the European Commission. It takes place at the Bauhaus-University Weimar and explores »the social settings and spaces of the city are created, experienced and practiced through the use and presence of new media.«

On January 18-19 now, Mediacity organizes the conference »Situations. Practices. Encounters.« That’s the chance to get a better understanding of the project and its interesting subject. Here’s a random choice from the speach titles in the programme: »Situating Design – Designing Situations«, »Territories, Prolongations, Visibilities: the Editing of Urban and New Media Environments«, »The Significance of Media in Promoting Social Interaction and Spatial Integration: The case of Johannesburg Inner-City« or »The Impact of Mobile Phone Use on Privacy Perception in Public Spaces.«

The conference has three speaker sessions, a workshop and »several additional activities« (whatever that means). Even if there are no big names on the speakers’ list: As it is an exciting subject and the project is interdisciplinary positioned it could be worth to take the trip to the beautiful city of Weimar and experience the Bauhaus-University and other things worth seeing like the houses of Goethe and Schiller, the Buchenwald Memorial or the Bauhaus Museum.

Who doesn’t know the problem: you want to be close to your girlfriend or boyfriend and you would like to spoon him or her all night long. You could do so if there wasn’t this physical problem: your arm. Either you put it under the spooned person and soon he or she will start complaining that your arm hurts the side of the body. Or you decide to put your arm under your own body – but at least when your arm goes numb you will decide to alter your position.Now comes the solution to all this: the Love Mattress. Mehdi Mojtabvi is the designer of a mattress that allows its users to dig their disturbing limbs inside the mattress. Continue Reading »

What better invention than a car that is driven by air could be made in times of climate change where the price for the barrel oil climbs over $100? Since years Guy Nègre is assuring the motor industry that he has got the key to this new technology. And already in 2002 the media (e. g. in the German business magazine »brandeins«)reported about the serial production of the new wonder-cars to be started that year.

What’s behind the idea? Nègre developed an engine that runs with compressed air instead of fuel: air is compressed in vaults and by expanding again in the engine it produces power that is used to run the engine. As a tankful of air only lasts for 80 kilometers (50 miles) and the car then would have been connected to a power plug to produce compressed air, the car will also be built in a version that Continue Reading »

A special day for a honourable farewell: at the age of 90 designer Ettore Sottsass died on Monday 31 December 2007 in his house in Milan. Sottsass helped to lead Italian design to worldwide reputation in the 60s and became famous for several objects: one unforgettable ikon is »Valentine« – the glaring red portable type writer he designed in his 30 years lasting co-operation with Olivetti.

Sottsass opened his first studio in Milan in 1947 and since then he worked as an architect and designer. Only a few weeks ago he participated in building up a Sottsass retrospective in Trieste that is still running till March. Working for major companies like Olivetti, Knoll, Artemide or Venini, the designer never forgot to be at the forefront of the design avantgarde and cultivate an intelligent design discourse, concretised by movements like »Anti-Design«, »Studio Alchimia« or »Memphis«, that run counter to the idea and principle of »form follows function«.

More information at New York Times. General information about Ettore Sottsass from Oxford University Press.

 A new and surely ground-breaking safety tool comes from Japan. It’s a new technique to hide yourself in the streets when you feel scared. The new gadget comes without the latest military nanotechnology – it makes you invisible the easy way.  All this is made possible by a camouflage skirt that transforms its wearer into a vending machine within seconds. Unfortunately this public and civil camouflage apparel is a sexist one as the male version is not on sale yet. But our female readers can already enjoy this new and uncomplicated security measures. More pictures on the website of Tokyo Times.