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Water, Water Everywhere: ISH Frankfurt 2011 preview
With ISH Frankfurt 2011 – the leading international trade fair for all things bathroom – about to open its doors, Architonic takes a look at just some of the new products that will be on show. We've kept it clean.
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Wanderlust: Architonic goes walkabout in Cologne for Passagen 2011
With thermal under-apparel in place, Architonic ventured forth from the exhibition halls of the Koelnmesse during this January's imm cologne to visit Passagen – the ever-growing programme of off-fair exhibitions and events in showrooms, galleries, museums and design schools throughout the city. Here are some of the highlights.
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Support Structures: architecture's role in the healing process
Good architecture creates environments that are, among other things, enjoyable to spend time in and practical to use, and in no scenario is this more important than the provision of treatment or support for those dealing with illness or trauma. Architonic examines some of the ways in which intelligent architecture and design can help to ensure a positive prognosis for the future of healthcare by creating buildings that are good for body and mind.
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Helvetian Heroes: enduring Swiss design
It's fair to say that certain countries have, over the years, been more successful than others in terms of marketing a distinctive and compelling national design identity abroad. The very human kind of modernism expressed in the furniture of postwar Scandinavia, for example, is still very much associated in the international imagination with those Nordic countries, contemporary Scandi design profiting from this legacy as far as consumer interest is concerned...
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Bucharest: The 2010 Mix
In the world of design, China's rapid-manufacturing prowess and the oil-fuelled 'tabula rasa' urban developments of countries such as the UAE and Kazakhstan have given cause for thought in a typically Western-dominated field. But what of the countries bridging East and West? What of their design credentials? Turkey may grab the headlines for its EU tug-of-war and glossy design events, but it is the independent, cut-and-paste eclecticism of one of its Black Sea neighbours – Romania – that is capturing the imagination of those interested in grassroots design with a soul.
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Quiet Musings: Brad Cloepfil
A series of new architecture commissions and exhibitions suggests that museums are no longer in the business of pageantry. In this second part of a series examining post-spectacle museums, architect Brad Cloepfil talks about the phenomenon of 'collecting' cultural architecture, and how his own museum designs aim both for spectacle and counterpoint with it.
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Trade fair retrospective: BAU Munich 2011 - Section 2
The impression we got during our visit to BAU 2011, which took place in Munich from 17 to 22 January, has been confirmed by the published visitor numbers. The fair was a resounding success and is therefore fully justified in describing itself as "The world's leading trade fair for architecture, materials and systems". We took a close look at what was on show there and have documented our impressions in a series of reports. After the first part of our trade fair retrospective this second section now offers you a number of further highlights.
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![When We Were Young: [D3] Design Contest at imm cologne](http://image.architonic.com/imgTre/01_11/_DSC5381-bearbeitet-teaser.jpg)
When We Were Young: [D3] Design Contest at imm cologne
Punching well above their weight this year at imm cologne were the young guns exhibiting in the sixth edition of the [D3] Design Contest, the platform for emerging international design talent. Here, we talk to one of the two joint-winners, Harry Thaler, plus select some of the most interesting designs from the convincing and highly polished body of creative work on show.
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Robin Day: 1915–2010
Robin Day, one of Britain's greatest designers, whose illustrious career spanned seven decades, dies at the age of 95
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Who? Me?: the multiple identities of Jephson Robb
His very first furniture design – for established American brand Bernhardt Design – is an exercise in form follows comfort. Once you're sitting on Jephson Robb's new 'Amri' chair, it's seriously hard to get up again. This invitation to stay put for a while is rather ironic, given the restless career of the Scottish artist-designer, which has seen him study at the Royal College of Art and work in London's finance sector, create a number of public artworks, design websites and develop a handy product for hairdressers. Confused? Then, read on.
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Trade fair retrospective: BAU Munich 2011 - Section 3
In January one of the world's major trade fairs for architecture, materials and systems took place in the halls of the new Munich trade fair site. We now round off our collection of reports with this third part of our look back at the exhibition, in which you can read among other things about luminescent concrete, surfaces with compound eyes and shimmering crystalline solar glass.
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Je ne regrette rien (most of the time, that is): Ronan Bouroullec in conversation with Architonic
'Regrets, I've had a few,' sang Sinatra in his classic ballad 'My Way', while Piaf famously insisted that she regretted absolutely nothing. Somewhere between these two lies Ronan Bouroullec, one half of the distinguished French go-to design duo, the Bouroullec Brothers. 'We've done a lot of disasters. But we've had the chance to do best-sellers, too. It's a mix, really,' he tells Architonic at the recent Cologne Furniture Fair.
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The Bearable Lightness of Being: Architonic meets Tokujin Yoshioka at imm cologne
'Maybe I don't like objects.' It's not every day you hear such a statement from a designer, particularly one as celebrated as Tokujin Yoshioka, who was recognised as A&W Designer of the Year 2011 during this year's imm cologne, But, then again, there's a certain (pleasing) contradiction in the design language of the Japanese creative's work, which, through its ongoing engagement with the ideas of transparency and lightness, gives expression to objects that sit somewhere between presence and absence. Architonic met up with Yoshioka in Cologne to trip the light fantastic.
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Help the Aged: innovative adaptive reuse in architecture
'Waste not, want not' is an expression that has become increasingly pertinent in recent years as economic conditions have forced many of us to tighten our belts and make the most of what we have, rather than constantly replacing old with new. This attitude of thrift extends to architecture in the form of adaptive reuse – the conversion of an old building into something better suited to contemporary requirements. Here, we examine some recently completed, ongoing and future projects that show how imagination and intelligent design can deliver striking transformative effects.
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Real Terms: the authentic approach of architects Carmody Groarke
'Emerging', 'the ones to watch' and 'the stars of tomorrow' are just some of the labels that have been applied of late to young London-based architectural practice Carmody Groarke. Founded just four years ago, the studio has more than proved its creative credentials by delivering a series of high-profile, conceptually strong projects, which serve to question as much as they resolve. As nice as it is to have one's work recognised, Kevin Carmody and Andy Groarke maintain that 'staying close to the projects in hand are the things which we concern ourselves with. Not what people are saying about us.' Here, Architonic invites them to speak for themselves.
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Love in a Cold Climate: Architonic meets Artek chief Mirkku Kullberg
Few design brands evoke as much warmth on the part of consumers as the heritage-steeped Finnish company Artek, currently celebrating 75 years in business. Co-founded in 1935 by the hero of Scandinavian modernism Alvar Aalto, Artek has certainly earned its design stripes. Here, its managing director, Mirkku Kullberg, in conversation with Architonic during the recent Cologne Furniture Fair, discusses how the manufacturer's longevity is matched by its long-sighted, forward-facing vision.
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Trade fair retrospective: BAU Munich 2011 - Section 1
At Bau 2011 the principal focus was very much on sustainability. For a long time now a large number of manufacturers have been responding to this trend and to the new ecological benchmarks, and at the fair environmentally certified products were firmly in the limelight.
In this first part and the following Section 2 of its look back on the fair, Architonic wishes to present an individual selection of the huge and varied spectrum of products on display at BAU, and at the same time provide you with a wide-ranging thematic overview.
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New Éire: Ireland's modernist self-fashioning revisited
Ireland is in a reflective mood these days. With the island nation on the edge of Europe facing up to the reality of a severely damaged economy and a decimated construction industry, nostalgia is doing what it's wont to do...
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Furniture with growth potential: extendable tables
Accommodating one or two people only or a group, extendable tables can be adapted to a romantic tète-a-tète, a family with children or even a large festive gathering. Here we present the various types and systems which are available.
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Déjà Vu All Over Again: two design shows look back
Another year over. But don't get all misty-eyed. Apply that retrospection to some engaging design instead. Two exhibitions currently running, one at Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the other at the offices of MariniPandolfi/Comet in Florence, look back at the rapid expansion in design production and consumption in post-war France and the lighting designs of Italian design hero Vico Magistretti respectively. And retrospectively.
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