Inspiration in the traditional craft
10. 5. 2012
A family of seating furniture, where the large stool can also be used as a table. Threads are rolled around a tubing that is attached to a metal frame, this process originates from a Vietnamese technique where paper thread is rolled around seagrass to make small bowls. Together they form a group of individuals, playing well together or on their own. The idea ...of Superheroes came following a journey to Vietnam where Glimpt visited different artisans, studying their techniques and finding inspiring materials and colours. After a while they came into contact with skilled seagrass and plastic weavers in Ho Chi Minh City. Glimpt also wanted to incorporate other influences in their work so they contacted the Swedish illustrator Malin Koort, who helped develop the patterns for the series. Glimpt likes to look at history and aesthetics of the countries they visit, keeping open mind and being inspired by the people, the country and the culture itself.
Superheroes, Cappellini
Design: Glimpt studio
Joe Colombo: The story of one armchair
3. 4. 2012
The Italian Futurist, an elegant man with a pipe, the designer Joe Colombo (1930—1971) is most frequently associated with his progressive attitude towards design, having spent much time in the 1960s searching for new starting points, material experiments, functional and production innovations yet, above all, a completely new way of living which was supposed to go hand-in-hand with the interior design of back then, as is illustrated for instance in his experimental proposals for apartments and residential units. His famous armchair with the prosaic labelling 4801 which the author designed in 1965 for the Kartell brand may well be a futuristic experimentally conceived solitaire, but the corpus produced by Colombo is surprisingly made entirely out of wood.
During the time of its existence, the original design of the expressively shaped armchair, produced completely from bent plywood has become an icon which these days can be find in many prominent museum collections throughout the whole world as well as on the pages of catalogues from prestigious auction halls, in which it is always a sought after collector’s item.
In its time, armchair production was a rare business for the Kartell brand which is today synonymous with the production of solely plastic furniture. The 4801 model was, in fact, the only product by the brand to be completely produced out of wood and not plastic. Kartell had to invest considerable costs into developing the armchair so as to make the project at all feasible. And it appears to have paid off. In works by Joe Colombo, a man who died prematurely, this product assumes a solid position, standing out as simply different from the majority of his plastic or upholstery furniture pieces. We are sure to find his futuristic-organic morphology in other designs by him, but in terms of its manufacturing, the product comes closer to the Scandinavian or American design of that era in which experiments with bent plywood played a much more significant role. Within the Italian milieu, we are sure to try to find a connection for instance with the slightly older Carlo Mollini, of whose plywood tables which are more reminiscent of free sculptural plastics, Colombo was certainly aware. During the course of the sixties and seventies, versions of the Armchair 4801 were produced in many colours and varnishes. There was also a version with a somewhat comfier kind of upholstery which, in terms of visuals, comes closer to other Colombo works. For instance Sella 1001 for the Comfort brand (1963) or his LEM Armchair also emerging from 1963. Both of these designs were also made using bent plywood and upholstery.
It wasn’t however until last year that Kartell got to feel some kind of gratification from the piece, when as part of its new collection, the company presented a re-edition of this legend. Its meaning had however advanced a little further and in essence was able to pay back the debt on the original idea of producing timeless furniture made from plastic. As of last year, the 4801 can actually be purchased in black, white and transparent plastic. With the re-edition Kartell went full circle and likewise, thanks to current manufacturing technology methods, at the very least it offers an interesting reinterpretation of the shape which originally emerged for wood-based production, and as such brought the design a little closer to the tastes of the contemporary customer.
Arabesco table
4801 (original model)
4801 (Kartell re-edition)
4801 (Kartell re-edition)
Lem lounge chair
Sella 1001 lounge chair
Leon Ransmeier, Design for Life
6. 3. 2012
Amongthe names of many famous designersin the last collection of British brand Established & Sons, one could also spota few less known ones. Leo Ransmeier, who showcased his very clever and compact rotating “Revolver” barstool for the British manufacturer, was one of them.
This barstool embodies Ransmeier’s view of the utility value of common everyday items, which this New York creator loves to design. Despite his previous cooperation with the legendary Dutch brand Droog, among others, Ransmeier’s work generally displays a clean minimalistic style with a little twist or ingenious functional enhancement that make his work more than mere blunt minimalism. The same principle was used in the author’s early design in 2006,in cooperation with Gwendolyn Floyd for the aforementioned Droog. It is a pendant lamp called Hang on Easy, whichconsists of a translucent spherical lampshade that can be slipped on an already hanging lightbulb. Verysmart and easy to use, the opening for the light bulb and for securing thecord makes this lampshade an artful object with a specific purpose. The same applies to the latest addition to Leon Ransmeier’s portfolio, the aforesaid Revolver stool created for Established & Sons. The four-legged metal barstool of archetypal design is split atone third of its height and the upper part can rotate as easily as the cylinder of a revolver. While discreet, it is also experimental and very practical, adequately representing the New York designer’s approach.
Ransmeier’s other projects follow the same pattern. One of them, Dishrack from 2008,is again the resultof cooperation with Gwendolyn Floyd during his stay in the Netherlands.A dense forest of plastic rods supports all types of cookware and tableware washed on a daily basis. His 2004 Doormat is createdin a similar manner.
Ransmeier designed a number of items for his own brand, DBA, cofounded by him and his friends Erik Wysocan and Patrick Sarkissian. Its main focus lies in the production of inconspicuous, environmentallyconscious functional objects of everyday use. To mention a few examples, the DBA roller ball Pen is composed of 98% recycled materials, the Endless series consists of notebooks and diaries that are to be combined and grouped together in a never ending string. The energy efficient Humidifier presents a very simple and portable appliance with an ordinary bucketfor water that stands on a base with the power source. A portable heater or a practical stackable polypropylene flat disc with an extension cord wrapped neatly around, thus easy to manipulate and store, are just other great designs from DBA.
The strict-looking Folia desk has a somewhat different history. It was originally commissioned by the Executive Director of the famous Philip Johnson Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut. The Folia desk with its four sliding divided trays is as minimalistic as the iconic modernist building. The design capturedthe attention of the Chicago Wright auction house and is now exclusively offered by Wright in a limited edition. It is the only piece of Leon Ransmeier’s work that was elevated to something more than just an intelligent design for the ordinary, albeit always unique moments of our lives.
DBA Pen
Folia
Folia
Gradient
Gradient
Hang On Easy
Hang On Easy
Heater
Humidifier
Revolver
Revolver
Shiro Kuramata, materials sing
9. 1. 2012
The Cappellini brand recently opened up its shop in Milano after undergoing refurbishment. It was covered entirely in yellow proudly representing within it the unique creation of the Japanese post-modern virtuoso and classic of twentieth century design, Shiro Kuramata (1934—1991).
And he is truly deserving of this right now. Last year marked twenty years from his death and these days his dreamy minimalist-playful creations are proving to be a great draw at world auction halls. And it is not by chance that this versatile creator is being presented right now in the Cappellini Showroom. To this day, the Italian brand manufactures several of his unique furniture solitaires. Taken from another angle, it can also be said that the work of this most famous Japanese designer is very topical today. With the current surge of retro, slowly but surely we are in fact witnessing a return to the seventies and lastly eighties which in world architecture and design was dominated by the often highly controversial postmodernism. The most recently appraisal of this is the exhibition of Postmodernism, Style and Subversion 1970—1990 currently running at the Victoria & Albert museum in London, which we strongly recommend visiting. The project offers an appraisal of this period of creative design from several angles simultaneously as well as a variety of media, also in its installation presenting a number of Kuramata’s principle pieces all at once.
I am however not interested in devoting my attention here to the current events which surround Kuramata such as both exhibitions in Milan and London, but rather to use this opportunity to take a look at the designer’s creation generally and to establish precisely what he contributed to the international design scene of his time as well as outside of it. Above all, it stems from his background which was entirely different from that of his European and American counterparts. Kuramata bases his work on the poetry of his own country, traditions but also the powerful industrial and technical advancement which took place in the second half of the last century. This is reflected in Kuramata’s use of modern industrial materials, the form of which, however, the designer recast in subtle designer sculptural work through which he unveiled the hidden visual beauty of materials used and which enchanted all members of the legendary Memphis group as well as many others. This is certainly illustrated in all the most renowned designs such as the wavy chest of drawers, Progetti Compiuti, or the storage systems, Pyramid and Revolving, manufactured by Cappellini. A typical example of his industrial poetics is unquestionably the armchair How High the Moon from the Vitra brand.
Behind his renowned pieces, we, however, also encounter further fascinating designer ideas in the form of single solitaires and entire interiors. An example of this is his table lamp OBA-Q dating back to 1972 which is a play on words reminiscent of a hanker-chief which has been tossed aside. The whole piece is however made of pure plastic. Conversely his Cabinet of Curiosities created in 1989 is a transparent geometric structure consisting of coloured pieces of acrylic. As to the rest, acrylic played a significant role in his later creations at the turn of the eighties and nineties, during which time he poured it into flowers as well as birds feathers. In this way Kuramata created an invisible world cutting through beauty which a number of progressive Japanese designers have taken up today. All we need to mention here are the names of the Nendo or Tokujina Yoshioku studios, whose creations continue in developing the master’s concept with precision. And this brings us straight to the overall significance of his work not just for Japanese design. In short Kuramata created a new system of how to work with materials, how to give them new meanings filled with poetry and games. Unlike the Italians, he gave plastics the incredible characteristic of telling stories and maybe even singing songs. It is impossible to imagine contemporary design without this melody. In part we owe this to Shiro Kuramata. Now all that is left to do is admire the several pieces of his work which we have selected for you in this article.
Cappellini Showroom
Sealing of the Roses, 1990
Acrylic Floor Stand A lamp, 1985
Cabinet de Curiositié, 1989
Feather Stool, 1990
Hal 2, 1987
OBA-Q lamp, 1972
Three-legged Chair A, 1983