acousticpearls Panel Mono

As all who work in a small office, or perhaps more importantly from home, know, noise is one of the biggest contributors to stress and non-productivity.

And we don’t mean the radio that you want to hear, but rather the unwanted, background noise generated by others.

A little physics tells us that noise travels in waves, and that the most important factor in sustaining and amplifying noise in a room is reverberation and reflection from walls.

Ergo, stop the reverberation and reflection and you reduce the background noise and so your stress and so you can get a lot more done.

This fairly basic principle is the idea behind acousticpearls.

acousticpearls Panel DUO1

Only, and as with all really good industrial design, the crowning glory is the step from raw physics to design: which in the case of acousticpearls is the outer covering in pure new wool coverings from Danish producer kvadrat.

But back to the science.

The acoustic pearl panels are 4,5 cm thick, filled with a highly effective, shock resistant acoustic material and are certified according to ISO 354-2003 Acoustics — Measurement of sound absorption in a reverberation room.

Which on a practical level means they are effective at increasing sound absorption and reducing reverberation in a room. And so at reducing the background noise level.

acousticpearls Panel DUO2

The number of acousticpearl panels required in a given space is dependent on both the “volume” of the room and the room usage/level of expected background noise.

However, hanging several panels shouldn’t pose too many problems.

For, thanks to the decision to cover the acousticpearls panels in kvadrat wool you have a wonderful range of design, layout and colour options all in high quality pure new wool - meaning that regardless of the intended use, or number of panels required, acousticpearls can provide an attractive, stylish solution.

The acousticpearls panels come in the three different variations; MONO DUO 1 and DUO 2.

MONO is, as it’s name should suggest, MONOtone.

DUO 1 and DUO 2 are both two-toned: DUO 1 horizontally and DUO 2 vertically separated. In both cases the ratio of the two colours is 2:1

The possibly combinations are only limited by your imagination and colour schemes.

acousticpearls Panel - felxible size, colour and layout options

Finally, the back of the acousticpearls panels come with inbuilt fixtures for mounting and a complete wall mounting kit is included with each panel.

acousticpearls are ideal for not only reducing the background noise and reverberation in office environments, but also in, for example, reception areas, dining rooms/canteens or a large conference room.

They can, however, also be used in the home to help create a pleasant acoustic aesthetic.

acousticpearls are now available from (smow)

In the course of the past three months we at smow have experienced more than our fair share of nonsense be it at design fairs and trade shows in Milan, New York and Berlin or during our visits to USM Haller and Vitra. We now want to look back and analyse a little some of the trends, products and impressions that the experience has left us.
And wheel out a few gems that until now we have been selfishly keeping to ourselves.

One of the truly outstanding products at Superstudio Piu in Milan was New Zealand designer David Turnbridge’s Kete lamps.

At 210 cm long and 85 wide they are obviously not intended for every room; however, for those with high ceilings and the space to allow them to express themselves they are just perfect. Or if you have a smaller, minimally decorated room Kete can provide a wonderful, calming atmosphere, perfect for that quite evening.

Kete is available in three designs: Kete Aronui (bamboo based), Kete Tuauri (aluminium based) and Kete Tuaatea (hand sanded polycarbonate)

Kete by David Turnbridge

Kete by David Turnbridge - detail

One of the principle advantages of trade fairs such as Salone or ICFF is the unrivalled access to producers, products and for all designers.

Whereas furniture producers like to strut around, boldly announcing news of their latest coups; designers are generally typified by a preference for quiet isolated studios, and a reluctance to leave their natural habitat.

At trade fairs, however, the designers appear, blinking and staring into the spotlight. And are generally remarkably friendly and docile.

One of the more interesting discussions we experienced in Milan was with french designer Philippe Starck. One of the more prolific characters in the design world, Starck has created products for companies as diverse as Puma and Microsoft, designed the interior of Eurostar trains and even created a wind turbine. However despite his wide canvas, Starck is probably most closely associated with Italian designer furniture producer Kartell: Products such as Dr No, Prince Aha and Mr. Impossible already being established design classics.  At Salone in Milan Starck spoke at great length about his work and his relationship with Kartell; below is small snippet where Starck discusses plastic and democratic design. (A quick editorial note - the video was shot by one of the newcomers to the (smow)blog team, who, in their youthful excitement, forgot to note who was asking the questions. Apologies to the colleague concerned, and if we identify you we will of course credit you)

The full video with Philippe Starck, and indeed all videos, can be viewed in the official (smow)blog youtube channel.

Stylepark's Milan Taxi bill

We sadly didn’t meet the colleagues from Stylepark, but had we -  a day ticket for Milan costs €3 and a return ticket to the exhibition centre costs €4.

There’s meant to be a global recession

As already written, every year the London based producer Established & Sons take over a former municipal sports hall in the Via Palermo for their Salone “installation”. The theme this year appeared to be Robinson Crusoe.

Quilt Sofa by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Established & Sons.

We’d been really looking forward to the Established and Sons show since seeing the pre-show releases; and while the show was well worth the trip, we couldn’t help coming away with the feeling that in many of the pieces the design had been taken priority over practicality. The Quilt Sofa from Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec being a good example. The smaller sofa was wonderfully comfortable and we could well imagine slouching in it in front of the telly, or with a laptop. However, you just know that money and bits of food are going to vanish for ever between the bulges. At least if you have trousers and seating/eating habits like us.

Another attractive new product is the lamp family “Flatliner” by Jason Bruge - a sort of lighting for generation iPod. As can be seen in our small video the illumination is controlled by touching the side, similar to the menu function on an iPod. In the table version that is genius and with a little practice is very simple to use; however, in the hanging version the lamp swings through the contact, and if you try to stop it swinging you turn the lamp off.  Less genius.

But there were some products on display where even we could find no fault. A notable mention in this category goes to “Easy” by Klauser and Carpenter - a solid, comfortable armchair that would be ideal in any waiting area, conference room or as an guest chair in a living room.

Despite the, for us, possible usability problems of some of the new products we remain firm fans of Established & Sons and are certain that despite the impression conveyed decoration in the sports, there is little chance the Established & Sons will crash against the rocks and become hopelessly stranded.

Despite Lufthansa’s best effort we made it back to Leipzig yesterday evening.

We only hope our luggage will arrive this evening.

And despite the joy at being back in our green oasis with our wonderful view over the romantic historical ruins of East Plagwitz, Milan remains very much in our thoughts and we will continue to intersperse the blog with news and updates.

214 by Michael Thonet - a couple of bits of wood and a little skill.

As we never tire of telling anyone who will listen to us, furniture needn’t be complicated.
The design process can be complicated yes, but not the final product.

The 214 by Michael Thonet, for example, or the S 43 by Mart Stamm both being perfect examples of how simple a good chair can be. And indeed the Thonet stand in Milan perfectly demonstrated not only this maxim, but also how a company such as Thonet can remain innovative and contemporary without losing sight of their heritage. Stools such as the 404 series from Stefan Diez working wonderfully with the Michael Thonet classics such as the 209.

404 H by Stefan Dietz for Thonet

As an addition to the 404 range Thonet now offer it as a delightful, three-legged bar-chair. version; the saddle-shaped seat meaning that seating comfort is guaranteed even over a longer period.

Another German manufacturer who live by the motto that less is more -and certainly more comfortable - is Richard Lampert. The Egon Eiermann table frames, for example, being a fine example of what can be achieved with a few lengths of chrome - if you shape them correctly. On their stand in Milan Lampert reinforced this simple conecpt, and in a similar fashion to Thonet,  also clearly demonstrated how easy good modern design can be mixed with design classics.  Herbert Hirche studied at Bauhaus under Wassily Kandinsky and later worked for Egon Eiermann - and his classic 1950s Lounge Chair shows that he had not only paid attention but also reflected on what he had learnt.

In-out by Eric Degenhardt (and sidetable Flip by Alexander Seifried) both for Richard Lampert

In 2006 the German designer Eric Degenhardt slightly re-worked Hirche’s design - a process that obviously left an impression on Degenhardt as can be seen in in his wonderful In-Out chair. Again based on the simple bent chrome concept, in-out may look supiciously like a cheap angler’s chair, but is a wonderfully comfortable, relaxing armchair in which we could well imagine spending a summer evening in the garden or a winter afternoon in front of the telly. And, as the name suggests, one comes easily in and out - your smow(blog) team having tested it extensively.

It’s almost time.

The exhibition halls are half-empty, the beer fridge in the press room half-full and the hold of our Lufthansa plane back to Leipzig is being waterproofed on account of the 6 kilos Italian rainwater we are now carrying with us.

It’s been a fun week - and a heart-felt thanks from us to all who made it possible and who made it what it was, both here at the exhibition centre, but also Superstudio, Zona Tortona and all the off-site shows and exhibitions.

But although we are leaving Milan, we take with us a notebook full of observations, interviews, anecdotes, thoughts and plain nonsense.

We haven’t, for example, as yet said an thing about Kartell, Lampert, or Thonet. Or Les Belges. Bauhaus. Phillipe Starck. Pizza. And we have a second Silvio Berlusconi video.

All that will come in the coming week or two, in addition to the “usual” infos, updates, reports and product descriptions.

But our next tour is already planned.

We haven’t told the (smow)bosses yet, but from 03.06-07.06 the International Design Festival takes place in Berlin.

And we’ll make sure you can read all the best bits here.

Ciao…

They say that in every life a little rain must fall. The amount that has fallen in Milan in the past 24 hour is however ridiculous.

And unjust.

It has rained so much in Milan the horse has shrunk

We don’t know what the Milanese did to annoy Tlaloc, BUT WE WEREN’T THERE!!!! And had we been, and had we seen what the Milanese were doing we would have tried to stop them.

As it is, however, we were forced to flee our tent at 3.15 this morning - enjoyable as the water bed effect through the tent floor was, we have an awful lot of state of the art technology with us, and two Moleskine notebooks, and weren’t keen to test how waterproof they all are.

As we arrived at the campsite cafe the first evacuees were already making themselves at home and in the course of the night/morning ever more were to join us.

It's spelt "dijk", and yes you should have built one....

What we found a little disappointing was the number of Dutch teenagers seeking refuge. Had their grandparents found themselves in a similar predicament they would have simply constructed a network of dykes and so both diverted the rainwater away from the tents and artificially lowered the ground water level thus preventing any further problems. And in all probability they would have then used the reclaimed land to raise a new breed of cattle that produced milk with a particularly low water content from which one could make an excellently creamy, hard cheese.

That the current generation of Hollanders instead choose to flee half naked into a campsite cafe is truly a sad indictment on the current state of Holland.

We blame the euro.

Camping in Milan can be recommended - just avoid the pitch in bottom left-hand corner of the site.

However, we know and appreciate that around the world there are thousands of persons who are forced to flee their homes under much more distressing conditions. And if they worst we have to do is get up three hours early in order to avoid a wet laptop then we know we can count ourselves very lucky.

And finally a big thank you from us to the staff at Camping Milano for the friendly and uncomplicated help and assistance they offered in the night. Much appreciated.

The (smow)tent at 7.30 this morning - Like the Galstonbury Festival, just without the troublesome music.

In our entry on the designersblock showcase we mentioned a foldable cardboard chair that had caught our attention.
Now we know as well as everyone else that are our heads are readily turned by free beer and bagpipes (thanks Calum) - and if you throw in some dub and finest Italian ska and we would lie for you in court.
And so we thought we had better wait a day or two before saying anything more about Stuart Miller’s fine folding cardboard chair. In case we found something better. We thought we had last night, but no…

Stuart is a student at Glasgow Caledonian University, and the chair is part of his final year project. And as yet unnamed.

As your smow(blog) team were impoverished, over-worked and under-nourished students at Glasgow Strathclyde University, regardless of much stick we took from the oinks at Glasgow University we could at least take solace in the fact that the Glasgow Tech students were even lower down the social scale than us.

That hasn’t changed, but Glasgow Tech became Glasgow Caledonian University and the industrial design department has also grown up. And there were genuinely a few good works from the Glasgow students on show in Milan, but the pick was Stuart’s chair.

It is comfortable. It is stable. It looks good.

But the important factors are the ease with which it folds flat and its lightness.

Stuart brought two chairs with him in a budget airline - and we all know how strict they are; on account of the weight we once had trouble checking a club sandwich in as hold baggage…

They are light.

And fold flat.

And as such perfect for either keeping in a cupboard in case extra guests turn up unannounced; for putting in the car if your heading-off somewhere and planning camping or stopping for a picnic; or if your flying off to a holiday cottage in the sun and don’t fancy sitting on a cheap plastic chair.

Theoretically you could even strap them to the back of your bike…

The range of uses is almost unlimited - for example, as seating while decorating a room - yet the stability and comfort remains.

And as you can see from the video - they take seconds to assemble.

As we said earlier: “Took a problem, analysed it, solved it. And that with style and comfort. Lovely.”

In terms of the “extra seating market” the folding chair was, until now, the unquestioned king, queen, prince and illicit son idling in exile and planning his bloody revenge …

Until now…

A foldable chair made from a recycled cardboard is a real alternative. And not only because of the space and weight savings - aesthetics are also important.

And so if Moormann, Lampert or SCP are reading…

(P.S. Sorry, we weren’t thinking when we made the film, hence the sideways image And sadly here in Milan we have neither the software nor the RAM to change that, but once we’re back in Leipzig…)

Make up your own joke… we like:

“Apparently, he had heard that there are some classics here that never go out of fashion  - and wanted some tips”

“Lets go to Kartell, they’re also 100% plastic”

We can’t promise a prize for the best suggestion, but send your “entries” to blog@smow.de and who knows.