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Concrete in Architecture (3): Furniture & Objects
In what for the moment will be the last part of our "Concrete in Architecture" series the focus will be on the use of concrete in interior architecture, in particular for creating objects and furniture.
The attraction of concrete as a material is above all its rough surface and the individual forms this can take. In modern architecture this untreated roughness and stony hardness is often contrasted with warm, soft or especially delicate and costly materials.
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'There shouldn't be one rule about how to make furniture': in conversation with Interieur 2010 Designer of the Year Bram Boo
He's big in Belgium. And increasingly elsewhere, thanks to him being named Designer of the Year by prestigious design biennale Interieur 2010. Bram Boo's furniture designs delight and challenge in equal measure with their chaotic, often ironic, forms, which belie their resolutely practical functionality. Architonic made a date with the Belgian designer in Kortrijk to discuss his typology-troubling work.
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Concrete in Architecture (2): not really grey
In the second part of our 'Concrete in Architecture' series, Architonic shows how concrete certainly doesn't have to be grey. From delicate tones to high luminosity, it can take on a wide range of chromatic and emotional complexions. In the following article, Architonic presents a number of techniques that lend concrete colour.
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Concrete in Architecture (1): a material both stigmatised and celebrated
Almost no other material manages to carry such contradictory associations. Stigmatised on the one hand, celebrated on the other, it evokes highly diverse reactions. The word 'concrete' was used for the first time in 1750 by Bernard Forêst de Bélidor as a description for a mortar, in his book 'Architecture hydraulique'. The first ferroconcrete structures were built around 1900. Today, reinforced concrete is Germany's most important building material, with over 100 million cubic metres of it used every year. Its potential seems almost inexhaustible and continual innovations in how it's applied make it a valuable material for new architecture concepts. What follows is a look at concrete, related new technologies and a selection of interesting projects that have embraced these.
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CERSAIE - Bologna's International Exhibition of Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Furnishings, 28 September - 2 October 2010
From 28 September to 2 October 2010 one of the major international trade fairs for ceramic tiles and bathrooms will be taking place in Bologna. However, Cersaie is much more than a simple trade fair. It has now become an important forum for planners and architects, offering a comprehensive accompanying programme which includes a range of symposia and lectures...
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A Life More Ordinary: Architonic meets Jasper Morrison
Respected British designer Jasper Morrison has learnt many things in the course of his career. For example, how to design products that create 'atmosphere', as he describes it, yet have longevity, and how to ignore the marketing machine that would turn design professionals into superstars. And how a violent pink can sometimes be, well, a bit too violent. Architonic spent some time at the recent Orgatec fair in Cologne with the thinking designer's designer.
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A look back at the Marmomacc natural stone fair in Verona
Marmomacc, the premier international exhibition of natural stone products and processing took place in Verona early in October. With 1500 companies exhibiting their wares it covered the widest possible spectrum of the natural stone industry, ranging from the material itself through natural-stone products to techniques and machinery for working the stone...
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Détente Cordiale: when Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance met Bernhardt Design
Already a contemporary classic, French designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance's 'Corvo' chair for US manufacturer Bernhardt Design is certainly no flash-in-the-pan object to be consumed briefly and then forgotten. Highly considered in terms of its design and production, it invites an equally considered, long-term engagement from the user, one that's as much about emotion as it is utilitarian use. Architonic spent some time with the trained sculptor at this year's London Design Festival, discussing, among other things, his experience of transatlantic collaboration, why he's not a modernist, and the particular commercial – and physical – demands of the American market...
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Picnic, plants, architecture - the fascinating world of Junya Ishigami
One of today's most outstanding architects has been selected as the guest of honour at this year's "Interieur" trade fair in Kortrijk (Belgium). Junya Ishigami, a pupil of Kazuyo Sejima, is the founder of junya.ishigami+associates, lecturer at the Tokyo University of Science, publisher of a number of books and creator of artistic marvels which fascinate with their wealth of fantasy and devotion to detail...
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Extension for Nya Nordiska planned by Staab Architekten
On the 03 September 2010, a ceremony was held to mark the completion of the 4,000-square-metre extension to the premises of textile editors, Nya Nordiska, in Dannenberg in Lower Saxony. Berlin architect Volker Staab was responsible for the design of the new premises.
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'Life is important. Design is not important': Architonic goes for a walk with Alain Berteau at Interieur 2010
Alain Berteau is often told by journalists that he is representative of Belgian design. He's not so sure. Architonic caught up with architect-designer Berteau at the Interieur 2010 design biennale to discuss his latest work, the trouble with defining design in national terms, and why designers aren't as important as perhaps they (or, rather, we) think they are.
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Review: Best products of Cersaie 2010
Cersaie - one of the world's largest trade fairs for ceramics and bathroom furnishings – takes place annually in Bologna in northern Italy.
As we announced in advance of Cersaie 2010 Architonic now presents the best new products which we have researched for you at this impressive trade fair in Bologna.
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DIY Design: the art and value of creative self-promotion
As the academic wheels of design creak into a new term, thoughts of the most recent graduates striving to avoid a professional-scrap-heap scenario fall to the back of the mind as the hunt for the latest bright young creatives begins again. But, with an increase in applicants and graduates in design subjects (around 60,000 this year in the UK) aiming to fit through what seems to be a shrinking net of professional opportunity in an already competitive field, how do designers react and evolve to ride out financial and employment turbulence?
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Fair Preview: Design Biennale INTERIEUR 2010, Kortrijk, Belgium
If any fair is going to give Milan a run for its money in terms of a passion for high-end design and downright coolness, it's Belgian Design Biennale INTERIEUR. Since its first edition in 1968, the Kortrijk-based show has consistently upped the ante in the design-exhibition world and INTERIEUR 2010 is no different. Here's a taste of what's in store.
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The Presence of Absence: Detroit's haunting architectural relics
There's faded grandeur. And then there's Detroit. Once the fourth-largest city in the US, its spectacular economic and social decline is writ large in the disintegration of its architectural fabric. With its former manufacturing industries decimated and parts of downtown Detroit becoming a depopulated wasteland, leading American photographer Sean Hemmerle has created 'Rust Belt' a series of compelling images – at times poetic, at others unnverving – of the city's former urban glory, both industrial and residential. His striking work serves as both architectural record and effective social commentary.
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Valencia Disseny Week
Thanks to an invitation to FEED, the first congress of international bloggers and digital media, received from Valencia Disseny Week and ADCV, the association of Valencia designers, Architonic had the opportunity not only to attend Habitat Valencia but to gain valuable insights into the production facilities of a number of Spanish manufacturers.
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'It's all about surprising yourself': Matthew Hilton at the London Design Festival
British furniture designer Matthew Hilton's work manages to walk that very fine line between restraint and expressiveness. It's probably why his designs, offering as they do a kind of reassurance, are so respected by so many. But the path hasn't always been a smooth one, as Architonic discovered when we met up with Hilton at this year's London Design Festival...
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When in London...: In conversation with Giulio Cappellini
This year's London Design Festival, now in its eighth year, was not only bigger than ever, it was also more international in complexion, with a significant number of non-British brands exhibiting in their permanent showrooms, in pop-up spaces and at the somewhat-past-its-sell-by-date 100% Design fair. Part of this foreign presence, but by no means a new one in relation to the UK, came in the form of Cappellini's exhibition at the V&A Museum, which reflected on the manufacturer's collaborations with British designers for over two decades. Architonic was there to talk to the company's art director and creative-talent scout, the ever dapper Giulio Cappellini.
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We Can Work It Out: design and mobile working
October sees the 2010 installment of Orgatec in Cologne, the leading international design fair for office and work environments. In spite of the death knell being sounded some time ago for the traditional, fixed-location office, it's still with us. Nonetheless, increasing numbers of people, thanks to rapid advances in wireless technology, are breaking free from their desks and taking to the road, working wherever they happen to pitch up. Architonic takes a look at a number of environments and products that respond – and further – this social trend.
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California Calls You!: Californian Design
California, and in particular Los Angeles, has been home to numerous Hollywood stars and other glamorous figures of the burgeoning jet-set since the 1930s. The City of Angels was the ideal place for many architects to develop their ideas. The spectacular landscape, the sophisticated clientele, the climate, the wealth of the film industry, and, above all, the free-thinking that transcended all con-
vention offered architects then, as well as now, the opportunity to realise their visionary projects.
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