Newsletter 02.2011

Dear Readers,

What an eventful start to the year it's been. Following a successful imm cologne and an extremely exciting BAU in Munich, the Stockholm Furniture Fair also took place a short while ago. In this newsletter, you'll find our reports, videos and numerous photo galleries from all three events.

Contents in brief:
- In conversation with Ronan Bouroullec at imm cologne 2011
- Impressions from the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2011 on Architonic@Facebook
- Trade fair retrospective: BAU, Part 2
- ISH 2011: Architonic Guide already available as iPhone app

Let yourself be inspired!
Your Architonic Team


Zurich | Milan | Berlin | Barcelona | Copenhagen | London | Miami

'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.

The name Simon Cowell might make me a hostage to fortune, but, thankfully, that's the closest I get to celebrity status. Not so Ronan Bouroullec, one half of the renowned fraternal design partnership the Bouroullec Brothers - also often referred to as Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec or, quite simply, The Bouroullecs. Capital T, capital B. (I'll let you choose your preferred naming.) While waiting at Ligne Roset's stand at the recent Cologne Furniture Fair to interview Ronan, the elder of the two, I was fascinated to see how some visitors, particularly the younger, starry-eyed ones, were very keen to shake the man by the hand or have their photograph taken with him. But I guess that's what happens when you've had a career as prolific as this pair have.

Growing up in the country in a household where design didn't really feature, as Ronan explains, the brothers left the rural Breton landscape behind them, moving to Paris, where they went on to change the landscape of contemporary design. In the course of their 15-year career, they have upped the creative ante in furniture and product design through their collaborations with some of the biggest guns in design manufacturing - among them Cappellini, Kartell, Ligne Roset, Magis and Vitra - their surname becoming shorthand for concept-strong work that marries the functional with the lyrical. Utilitarian romanticism, if you will.

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.

Parklex specialises in high-density laminated wood with a paper fibre core that has been treated with thermosetting resins and compressed at high pressure and temperature. Depending on the version used the product is suitable as facade cladding (Parklex Facade) or as highly moisture-resistant surfacing for interior use, e.g. Parklex 700.

Total Panel Design offered a new Crushed-Look product: "Crusted" Design is available with a matt or shiny finish and has a three-dimensional surface with asymmetrical design which is accordingly also suitable for irregular contours and finishes.
The Total Stone line is impressive with its authentic-looking imitation-stone panels. The advantages are obvious: Total Stone panels are weatherproof, light, easy to fit and available in a large range of aesthetically attractive surfaces.

A wealth of products and materials have already been shown in the first few weeks of this year. Our video team has tracked down the most exciting novelties at imm cologne, BAU Munich and at the Stockholm Furniture Fair, and have, in brief interviews with designers and product developers, found out what you need to know about them.

Stockholm Furniture Fair 2011

imm cologne 2011

BAU 2011

The bathroom is, technically speaking, one of the most complex interior-architectural fields. In almost no other area do so many different trades come together. Every two years, ISH Frankfurt successfully brings together leading high-end manufacturers from the bathroom and the building-, energy- and air-conditioning-technology sectors under one roof, providing architects and planners with a true paradise of inspiration. Once again, we'll be there with our Concept Space, and would, of course, be delighted if you paid us a visit.

So that you can stay on top of the 2,300 exhibitors, we've once again put together our Architonic Guide to the best manufacturers, together with hall plans and stand numbers. As ever, you'll find the guide on the stands of all the manufacturers who feature in it, but it's also available to download now as an iPhone app.

Your digital companion: the Architonic Guide as iPhone app

Kazunori Fujimoto Architect & Associates

Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten (MVSA)

propeller z

Dominikus Stark Architekten

Denton Corker Marshal

dRN Architects

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. And even though it wasn't easy to keep track of all the numerous ecological and sustainability seals of approval which were on show, BAU itself was a well-organised trade fair, with the 16 halls clearly divided by theme.

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.

Messerückblick BAU München 2011 Teil 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. In our two articles which have already appeared Architonic has provided you with an overview of the most interesting products, new developments and highlights of BAU 2011. 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.

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.