The Top 5 chairs from the smow design spring. In no particular order.

Foldable cardboard chair by Stuart Miller at deignersblock, Milan

We lie: there is a slight order. First up is our favourite chair from the smow design spring: Stuart Miller’s unnamed foldable cardboard chair from the designersblock showcase in Milan. Over the course of the smow design spring we didn’t see any thing that even came to close to capturing Stuart’s simple, practical and comfortable chair. We’ve sadly lost sight of the project a little, and lack the requisite degree in Information Technology to navigate Glasgow Caledonian University Website, If any one knows anything please let us know!! Unnamed foldable carboard chair. Quality seating instrument!

And as of now … In no particular order.

Duct Tape Chair by Jason Miller

Duct Tape Chair by Jason Miller. In our original post from the floor of the ICFF press room we mentioned the similarity between Jason Miller’s Duct chair and Easy by Klausner and Carpenter for Established and Sons. After long and careful consideration, however, we decide to include Duct chair in our  tip five. A form sicher and wonderfully comfortable chair, Duct Chair is also not only aesthetically pleasing but intrigues the viewer so shifts from passive chair to active element of a room. Duct Tape Chair. Quality seating instrument!

404 H by Stefan Dietz for Thonet

404 H by Stefan Dietz for Thonet. In our world bar stools count as chairs, mainly because we spend a lot of time on bar stools - having as we do a raised breakfast bar in the kitchen of the (smow)flat. For Thonet Stefan Dietz has created in 404 H a wonderful addition to one of the most tradition-conscious German design houses. In comparison to some other long established design houses, for Thonet tradition if more than just marketing rights tio the name of a long since deceased designer; rather for Thonet tradition means continuing the tradition that made that designer successful and famous - and in the case of Michael Thonet that means innovation.404 H. Quality seating instrument!

And uncomplicated, high quality wooden furniture.

Such as the 404 H.

Vegetal by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra in Milan

Vegetal by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra.  Even before the start of the Milan design week Vegetal had already established itself as one of the stars. And it didn’t let us down. Yes it looks like a cheap garden chair, yes it reminds one of Chair One by Konstantin Grcic, but no it is neither of these things. The fruit of four years labour by our favourite porcupine and fox, Vegetal is a wonderful, stable, comfortable and versatile chair perfect for indoor and out. And we’re fairly certain unbreakable. Vegetal. Quality seating instrument!

Bansko Bo lounger chair and Ottoman by Design Apparat

Bansko Bo by Design Apparat. Without question one of the finest proper loungers we saw this spring, and that from one of the best new design studios from the smow design spring. We live in Leipzig, we don’t like nOSTalgia, we do like many elements of the design style that developed in Eastern Europe  during the decades of iron curtains, Warsaw pacts and ICBMs. Bansko Bo is a wonderful new design, but one that has its roots unmistakably in the Bulgaria of the 1970s. Looks good, works and will probably last longer than the regime of Todor Zhivkov. Bansko Bo. Quality seating instrument!

Design Apparat

What first attracted us to the work of Jason Miller at ICFF was the fact it was dirty.

Obviously not pysically grubby, but dirty.

As in a get down, funky, sort of dirty. Downtown Manhattan circa 1976 dirty.

And we liked that. A lot.
A similar emmotion grabbed us here at DMY Berlin as we walked past the stand from Design Apparat.

The furniture was filthy.
Again not in a grubby, don’t sit down you’ll ruin your jacket sort of way; rather in a “did you find that in Warsaw Pact appartment block?” sort of way.

Bansko Bo lounger chair and Ottoman by Design Apparat

And although we hate it when things are obvious, we were overjoyed to discover that Design Appart do in fact have their roots in Eastern Europe

Part Italian, part Bulgarian Design Apparat was officially launched at the Salone in MIlan - we’re sorry to say we didn’t just miss them, we weren’t even aware they we there - and take the stylistic traits of Bulgarian interiors of the 20th century as their starting point.

..the wooden tray/rack

Not, as Design Apparat make perfectly clear, as an operation of retro-nostalgia or as a chauvinist celebration of Marxist-Leninist dogma,  but rather an impassioned design exercise aimed at preserving a school of design that still offers noteworthy elements of attraction and some contemporary values.

And fortunately the furniture they produce is just as beautifully crafted as their press releases.

For example, the Bansko Boo lounge chair and ottoman. Not only does it positively invite you sit down, but once you do so it is so amiable and comfortable that you not onyl feel obliged to relax - you have no other choice. And then there are the wonderful wooden trays/racks. Not only can they be used for placing cups, plates and the like on - so as  sort of table - but you can also use them to keep your shoes off the ottoman if your the sort of person who wears outdoor shoes indoors.

Secrets wall unit by Design Apparat

The  wall panel “Secrets” appealed not as you may think because it genuinely looks as if it has been ripped out of a Sofia highrise, but because of its beuatiful, unobtrusive functionality. Available with range of accesories including hangers, small shelves and even a vase, one of the real delights of “Secrets ” is the inbuilt LED lights.

Practical, well crafted, self-illuminating and just gorgeous.

All in all we were very impressed with what Design Apparat had to offer and look forward to following their development in the coming years.

успех!

Secrets ... with inbuilt LED lighting

DMY Arena, Berlin X-berg

The good news is that there are plenty of tables in the press room.

And some excellent stuff on show from ETH Zürich, Fischerundfritze and Design Apparat, among others.

More information and photos will follow soon.

And Bauhaus University Weimar are here again with their “my bauhaus is better than yours” exhibition.

It still isn’t, but “their birdhaus maybe better than yours”

Birdhouse by Georg Panter, duundduDesign (Weimar Bauhaus University) The house is created fom the template (bottom left)