Fritz Haller against Egon Eiermann.

While ahead of the 2010 (smow) designer furniture world cup final many bemoaned the decision of both Switzerland and Germany to  play safe with their more technical formations;  the match itself was one for connoisseurs.

Certainly  a Nils Holger Moormann for Germany or a Susi and Ueli Berger for Switzerland could have brought a little more imagination and colour to the match.  But what the two old masters lacked in flamboyancy they more than compensated for with technical brilliance and confident construction.

Egon Eiermann opened gently with his classic deskframe before quickly doubling up with his deceptively subtle shelving unit. Sensing the “office furniture” direction the match was taking Fritz Haller reached deep and produced a “Komplex integriertes Tisch-Organisations-System”. His KITOS Table being such a departure from his normal USM Haller system that it caused Eiermann to briefly stumble, the Brandenburger regaining his composition in time however to take a 1-0 lead with a beautifully worked SE 18 für Wilde + Spieth.

Spurned on by Eiermann’s SE 18 Fritz Haller responded with a quickfire roll container / Haller table combination before drawing level with a well placed Haller table flat screen swing arm.

The longer the match went on the more Fritz Haller’s stable USM Haller system seemed to control the match; however Egon Eiermann refused to give in and late in the second half  attempted a delightful  SE 68 /E 14 Rattan stool double. Neither of which could quite match the versatility of Haller’s USM system and with match heading for extra time Fritz Haller slide in a perfectly executed metal extension shelf for the victory.

And to take the (smow) designer furniture world cup back to Switzerland for the first time.

(smow)2010 Overview

The Swiss fans celebrate Fritz Haller's victory over Egon Eiermann

The second semi-final of the 2010 (smow) designer furniture World Cup was for many design critics the most interesting match of the competition Charles and Ray Eames against Egon Eiermann.

Not only because of the international stature of the two design teams; nor because of the important role that both played in the development of industrial and furniture design in their home nations. The critical interest was much more if - and when yes to what extent - Egon Eiermann’s approach would mirror that of Charles and Ray Eames.

And the opening exchange was to provide for ample controversy.

Charles and Ray Eames opened with their standard DCW plywood chair: a move which provoked an almost instantaneous  response from Egon Eiermann in the form of an SE 42. Referee  Arthur Mehlstäubler rejecting appeals for a penalty on the basis that the the formal vocabulary available for designing such a plywood chair is limited: so ball to hand and as such no penalty. A decision that was not universally accepted amongst the capacity crowd in Durban.

Undeterred Charles and Ray Eames produced  quick fire DSR and DSW sidechairs before taking a deserved 1:0 lead with one of their trademark “Eames Elephants“.

The Eames Elephant however seemed only to spur Egon Eiermann to increase his efforts and, after a little experimentation, Eiermann was able to draw level with his Rattan Chair. Shortly afterwards he moved into a 2:1 lead with his deceptively robust Eiermann deskframe.

And despite some intensive aluminium chair work from Charles and Ray Eames, Egon Eiermann held on for a  2:1 victory.

(smow)2010 Overview

For people who spend most of their working lives sat at desks, publishers and authors have a frightening disregard for comfort when it comes to chairs.

Or at least they do if the furniture we saw at the 2010 Leipzig Buchmesse was a measure of the industry norm.

Cheap folding chairs, cheap copies of designer furniture classics being presented as originals and general cheap tat as far as the eye could see.

Fortunately one or two of the exhibitors seemed better informed. Below a few snapshots of some of the happier moments of the 2010 Leipzig Buchmesse from a designer furniture perspective:

French/German culture channel ARTE with Swan Chairs by Arne Jacobsen from Fritz Hansen

French/German culture channel ARTE with Swan Chairs by Arne Jacobsen from Fritz Hansen

German news channel Phoneix with Tom Vacs by Ron Arad for Vitra

German news channel Phoneix with Tom Vacs by Ron Arad for Vitra

MDR with LEM by Shin and Tomoko Azumi for lapalma

MDR with LEM by Shin and Tomoko Azumi for lapalma

Reclam Verlag with a USM Haller reception desk.

Reclam Verlag with USM Haller

Reclam Verlag with a USM Haller reception desk

Fachhochschule Potsdam with a tribute to fellow Brandenburger Egon Eiermann. Eiermann table frames from Richard Lampert and SE 68 chairs from Wilde + Spieth.

Fachhochschule Potsdam with a tribute to fellow Brandenburger Egon Eiermann

SE 68 chairs from Wilde + Spieth

And perhaps most impressive of all the students of Bauhaus University Weimar who had, in our eyes, a stand as dedicated to Block by Frank Gehry from Vitra.

Block by Frank Gehry from Vitra

Bauhaus University Weimar

We can only the hope the situation improves for the Leipzig Buchmesse 2011.

But please, with better quality furniture

Trolley RW 103 from Muller Mobelfabrikation

As you know we here at smow(blog) aren’t fans of complicated designer furniture.

Really aren’t.

Less is more - so the grand theologian of post-war European design Dieter Rams - and let form follow function.

That’s us.

A side table or bedside unit need, normally, do nothing more than support a cup, glass or magazine.

Now you could add numerous extras to your table or you could - as with Müller Möbelfabrikation - bend some steel into the shape you want.

In 1926 Mart Stam bent some steel and got a chair.

In 1953 Egon Eiermann welded some steel and got a table frame.

Muller Mobelfabrikation - hand-crafted steel furniture

And today Müller Möbelfabrikation bend steel and produce wonderfully, elegant and practical tables and units.

Available in a fantastic range of colours, the mobile range from Müller Möbelfabrikation is produced in Germany from 3mm thick steel plate, come with lockable castors and are sturdy enough to be used a seat.
Should the need arise.

Full details can be found at the (smow) Müller Möbelfabrikation page.

The last couple of days have seen an endless stream of emails into the (smow)blog bunker asking if we are OK.

And if we’re OK, why aren’t we posting anything?

Can’t we be bothered?

Are we bored?

Have we finally be rumbled by the (smow)boss?

Far from it, the sad truth is we’ve been forced into doing some real work for change.

We know, we can’t believe it either!

(smow) ... in stock and ready to go...

The combination of Christmas holidays and heavy snow throughout Europe has meant that numerous deliveries from a number of (smow)suppliers have been delayed of late.

Delayed deliveries which all arrived on Thursday.

As we arrived at (smow)HQ on Thursday morning, Vitra were already waiting with a lorry full of products from designers as diverse as Charles and Ray Eames, Maarten van Severen or Verner Panton.

Then USM Haller arrived with a lorry full of Haller tables, USM Haller sideboards and roll containers.  And as they left us to head back to Bühl, moooi arrived from Amsterdam.

Sometimes it really is like the EU car park in the (smow)yard!!!

And then with lunch barely digested Moormann, Lampert and lapalma rolled up.

Fantastic as all this was, it did of course mean that someone had to pack all the new deliveries away.

And that task befell us.

But don’t worry, we weren’t actually forced to sweat.

USM Haller being carried by Eames Elephants into the (smow)warehouse

For such tasks we have a team of specially trained and qualified Eames Elephants; we are simply needed to coordinate the whole exercise.

And so we have spent the past few days directing Eiermann desk, Vitra DSR and USM Haller carrying Vitra Eames Elephants through the endless corridors of the (smow)warehouse.

But everything is now - finally - stored away and our Eames Elephants have returned to the Leipzig Ratsholz to continue helping Leipzig City Council rid the public forests of the plague of nordic walking pensioners who have taken up residence there.

Good luck! We’re counting on you!

And we are back to drinking too much coffee and searching out the finest designer furniture stories for your entertainment.

Vitra Eames Elephants prepare to ambush nordic walking pensioners in Leipzig

In what is quite possibly the most eagerly anticipated announcement of 2010, Apple Supremo Steve Jobs will unveil the companies latest product in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Is this the iSlate?

Rumoured the be called iSlate, or possibly iPad or iTablet, the product is expected to combine the functionality of the iPhone with that of the iMac in a flat, transportable, keyboardless computer; thus allowing the user to write, draw and calculate anywhere.

In effect a chalkboard for the 21st century.

Hence the name.

What may surprise many of you, however, is that not only is the history of the chalkboard itself Germanic, but also Apple’s approach to design has it’s roots in Germany; and indeed even Apple’s nomenclature system is based on historical German syntax.

The iSlate is, therefore, German.

The centre of the global chalkboard industry was Steinach in Thuringen. From this idyll of forest and streams some 30 million chalkboards were produced and shipped to all corners of the globe, before production finally ended in 1968. The towns “Chalkboard Museum” provides a wonderful overview of the history of chalkboard production in the area and is well worth a visit next time you are on the Rennsteig. According to the operators, the decision as to whether the iSlate will feature in the exhibition will be made after Steve Job’s official unveiling.

And confirmation that it is called iSlate.

The classic Eiermann Desk by Egon Eiermann from Richard Lampert

But long before Jonathan iVes started reinventing the way we think about products, the Germans were already doing just that.

The iRmann desk by Egon Eiermann is perhaps the best example of just where the Apple approach to product design originates from.

Just as Jonathen iVes strips products down to the bare minimum before relaunching them in a pseudo-post-Dieter Rams format; so Egon Eiermann stripped desk design down to just the frame before relaunching it in a pseudo-pre-Dieter Rams format.

The name “iRmann” originates from a popular anglo-frisian construction whereby the phonetic “i” was treated as inferior in written forms and so the second letter was written as a capital. The lower case i remaining for sake of clarity alone. Popular in Egon Eiermann’s native Brandenburg and neighbouring Berlin, this practice died out as ingvaeonic languages finally ceded to modern German in the 1980s.

It is generally accepted by academics that Apple’s use of the lower case”i” in front of words such as iPod or iPhone has similar origins and is associated with Steve Job’s Frisian ancestry.

Today the iRmann desk is produced by Richard Lampert; albeit under the name Eiermann Desk

And today both Apple products and iRmann desks are used globally by architects, designers and other creative people.

Which can’t be a coincidence.

The iRmann desk is wonderfully complemented by George Nelson’s iClock from Vitra.

The name iClock is a cheap pun we thought up to fit the article into this post.

But we do like it.

You can read full details on the iSlate here, once Apple have made the formal announcement in San Francisco

iSlate and iRmann desk with a panton chair... is this the future of creative office design?

Bauhaus signet

We’re just a touch late with this one, but since July 22nd the Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin has been showing the exhibition “Bauhaus. A Conceptual Model“.

For the first time, the three German Bauhaus institutions - Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin, Museum für Gestaltung, Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau and Klassik Stiftung Weimar - are uniting to present a comprehensive Bauhaus retrospective. “Bauhaus. A Conceptual Model” recounts the story of the Bauhaus in a comprehensive presentation of the works of its masters and students - including a number of lesser known and not regularly displayed works. In addition the exhibition looks at principles that dominated the school and it’s work: inter-disciplinary, experimental teaching, the concept of practice-oriented workshops, the pursuit of answers to social questions, the propagation of timeless aesthetics as well as experimentation with new procedures and materials in architecture and design.

S 43F Classic by Mart Stam through Thonet. A classic of Bauhaus design.

Few movements have left such a lasting impression on furniture design as Bauhaus from it’s short inter-war intermezzo.

Designs such as Mart Stams cantilever chair, the Bauhaus Lamp from Wilhelm Wagenfeld or the „Wassily“ chair by Marcel Breuer stand as testament to the quality and ingenuity of those involved. In addition popular (smow) products such as the Eiermann table frame or the new Eileen Gray range from ClassiCon have their roots firmly in Bauhaus and the approach to design and functionality that was developed there.

Eileen Gray (1878 -1976) Didn't attend Bauhaus, but had very close contacts with the protagonists

We’ve not seen “Bauhaus. A Conceptual Model” , however for the organisers “the early works of the Bauhaus masters are highlights. They document why Feininger, Klee, Kandinsky et al were summoned to the school as masters. Works by masters and students created during their sojourn at the Bauhus demonstrate the fast-paced creative development of the school. Among other objects, the “Gropius Folder” can be seen, which was presented to the director of the Bauhaus as a birthday gift in 1924. The visitor will be amazed by the “African Chair”, created and constructed by Marcel Breuer and the weaving artist Gunta Stölzl in 1921. For eighty years it was assumed to have been lost, and is quite contradictory to Breuer’s wide reputation as the designer of the steel tube furniture. Breuer’s first “Club chair” from 1926 can also be seen, as well as Johannes Itten’s four-metre-high “Tower of Fire” from 1920. The “Draft of a socialist city” by Reinhold Rossig and the “Bauhaus Dress” by Lis Vogler from 1928 are exemplary representatives of the unknown works that originated in the workshops.”

Which sounds fantastic

If your in or near Berlin, Germany the exhibition “Bauhaus. A Conceptual Model” runs until October 4 and is open daily. More information at http://www.modell-bauhaus.de/

Within the next 48 hours all christmas presents must be bought. Or else it’s back to writing vouchers for your nearest and dearest. 

And so before it’s all too late a few final gift ideas from smow. In particular we present here the Eiermann desk, the miniature chairs from Vitra and the La Bohème “Vases” from Kartell. Or in other words Christmas gifts for workaholics, designer furniture afficienados and aesthetes…

Eiermann table frame 1

Number 1: “Desk perfection”

Designer Egon Eiermann was a perfectionist who placed greatest importance on the proportions of his creations and the fine details of his pieces. The Eiermann table frame 1 is perhaps the purest representation of this passion.

On account of the diagonal supports the Eiermann table frame 1 frame can only be used form one side. The further development, the cleverly named Eiermann table frame 2, is however perfectly suited to double sided use and so can be utilized as, for example, a conference or dining table. With both frames the table top can also be set at an angle if required.

Schaukelsessel No. 9 miniature from Vitra

Number 2: “Tiny, yet accurate“

The “Miniatures Collection” from Vitra is worldwide unique. Vitra offers the most important design furniture examples in miniature form: Construction, coloration and materials, however, are exactly as in the originals. The Vitra Miniature Chairs are not only valuable collection pieces, but also useful and inspirational pieces for architects, lecturers and all students of fine form.

La Boheme Vases from Kartell

Number 3: “La Bohème”

Reminiscent of ancient amphorae “La Bohème” by Phillipe Starck may look like fragile glass objects, are in fact formed from highly durable polycarbontae; consequently, they can be placed indoors as well as outdoors and in homes with lively children and pets. Available in three forms and a range of colours, these elegant “vases” are not vases per se rather have a flat top surface and as such are perfect as stools or as small sidetables.