For us one of the true highlights of Saloni Milano 2009 was the kkaarrlls showcase from students at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe.
Not least because in comparison to many of the student shows at Milan 2009, the kkaarrlls show displayed some real potential. And talent.
And so excellent to see the project rolling on again for Milan 2010.
As ever we’ll have to wait until we’ve actually seen the items before deciding.
However from the photos we like the look of “Screw Rider” by Anna Brugger and “Pl(a)ywood” by Silvia Knüppel. And good to see that the truly excellent “Kantbank” by Andreas Grindler is going to be there again.
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.
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.
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.
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.
(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…)
What the war on terror being won and everything, it appears Barack Obama has turned to his Secret Service to help save the American economy.
We know its a weak joke, but they sadly didn’t seem to understand what we meant when we asked what the delivery time is for Waterboards.
smow in Milan - Walter Benjamin shows his support for Perim.2072 by Bastian Goecke
At the kkaarrllss showcase we couldn’t help noticing that the students were using a copy of “Das Kunstwerk” [The work of art...] by Walter Benjamin to support the lamp.
A subtle critic on Benjamin’s Marxist ramblings, a rejection of modernism or just typical student forgetfulness.
Having re-read the first two “off-Salone” entries, we fear that it could be interpreted that we are not doing very much here.
To correct that view, we must point out that you are only getting the pick of the crop; by the time a text reaches the (smow)blog we have already sorted out the rotten, misformed and unripe fruits.
After leaving the after-hours-acid-jazz-cafe ambiance of the Zona Tortona press room, we headed of north towards the Piazza Moscova.
Easy by Klaus and Carpenter for Established & Sons
First port of call was Established & Sons. Every year the London based producer take over a former municipal sports hall in the Via Palermo for their installation. The theme this year appeared to be Robinson Crusoe. We’ll say a little more about the Established & Sons show later, but at this stage a notable mention must go to “Easy” by Klauser and Carpenter - solid, comfortable chair that would be ideal in any waiting area, conference room or as an guest chair in a living room. And it looks good.
Kantbank by Andreas Grindler at kkaarrllss
Shortly after leaving Established we, literally, stumbled over kkaarrlls - the showcase from students at the Karlsruhe Design College. We’d seen a few photos in advance, and if we’re honest weren’t that taken. However the show itself changed our opinion. Aside from the rattan versions of four classics from Panton, Eames, Gehry and Thonet and the wire frame “ashtray” the Kantbank particularly caught our attention. Not only can one sit on it - and that in comfort and safety - but you can also use it as an ad-hoc surface for writing short notes or using a small laptop. And in that sense it is perfect for press areas at, for example, sports events or design shows, but can also be used be employed in an office setting as an informal meeting area/brainstorming corner.
We then took in a couple of significantly less impressive shows, before, finally, arriving at “Les Belges” -16 young Belgian designers, where our “off-Salone” day came to an end. More on that later.
The day was long, the day was busy, but the day was worth it and we can strongly recommend such a tour to all with an interest in design, designers and the processes that link one with the other.
smow in Milan - the (smow)bike after our "off-Salone" tour
Picture taken on Corso Garibaldi north of Piazza Moscova. The building in the middle is the “Centro Bonsai” - and the tallest building in the block. Italy - great at design, rubbish at artificially restricting vegetative growth.
And sadly here in Milan we have neither the software nor the RAM to change that, but once we’re back in Leipzig…)
