For most people naming Swiss designer furniture producers is as much of a challenge as naming famous Belgians or happily married English footballers.

USM Haller being the equivalent of Belgium’s Hergé.

However the Confoederatio Helvetica has a lot more to offer than Fritz Haller’s genial system. And a lot more to offer than modular steel and chrome.

One of the greatest contrasts to USM Haller is the cabinet maker Röthlisberger.

Founded in 1928 Röthlisberger’s first contact with the global furniture market came in 1957 when they starting producing furniture on behalf of Knoll International. In 1975 the cooperation with Knoll International ended and in 1977 Röthlisberger introduced their own products onto the market under the name “Röthlisberger Kollektion”

Currently featuring products by designers such as Tomoko Azumi, Hanspeter Steiger or Susi and Ueli Berger the “Röthlisberger Kollektion” combines the companies experience in traditional Swiss carpentry with modern technology and approaches

In Milan (smow) caught up with Röthlisberger Kollektion boss Jürg Scheidegger and discussed the development of new products, the role of the Internet in the designer furniture industry - and the persuasive powers of Swiss chocolate.

Eames Lounge Chair by George Brückmann. A delightful combination of painting, photography and mind games.

A recurrent theme, not only here in the (smow)blog but also in general throughout the (smow) global network is the subject of illegal copies of design classics.

Or better put when is a design classic a design classic?

At the HGB Leipzig Rundgang in February we were confronted with an unexpected and somewhat unusual interpretation of the question in the form of “Eames Lounge Chair” by George Brückmann.

And were immediately hooked.

And not only we were impressed by Brückmanns work, In October 2009 his series “In-Situ” was selected to be part of the 2009/2010 “Gute Aussichten - junge deutsche fotografie” exhibition, one of the most important and prestigious Germanic contemporary photography exhibitions.

After 10 months and 6 stations in 3 countries the final “Gute Aussichten” exhibition of the 2009/2010 tour opens in the Art Foyer DZ Bank in Frankfurt am Main on Thursday July 29th.

Until the September 11th visitors will be able to view not only the work of George Brückmann but the work of the other seven young artists selected from the 91 entries submitted from 33 German colleges.

Ahead of the exhibition opening we caught up with George Brückmann in his atelier in Leipzig-Lindenau. And pretty much got off to the worst possible start.

Just as all forms of “design” rely on innovation and new ideas if they are to survive so to do the visual arts.

We thought George Brückmann painted onto photographs.

He doesn’t.

Still life with beer by George Brückmann. The objects are real, have been painted onto and then photographed

Initially he painted onto objects, coating the objects with paint of the same colour -  and then photographed them. And in doing so created wonderfully, obtuse, voluminous scenes somewhere between reality, painting and photography.

Then he moved onto painting objects which in the consciousness of the viewer were then extrapolated into other objects, before tackling the subject of design classics or better put the relationship between design classics and non-design classics.

We wont spoil the work by revealing the process, but enough to say George Brückmann paints designer furniture classics in such a way that through the composition of the final photograph “normal” objects appear transformed into the iconic pieces.

The paintings of the chairs themselves are not especially accurate, for all the the proportions and form  often vary from the originals. But that plays no role in your observation. You still recognise them, still find them attractive , still give them a value -  a value that then also seems to meliorate the raw and rudimentary settings.

Brückmann’s work is concerned with the “imaginary  extension” of one object into another and is achieved through a combination of perspective, context, art and the viewers innate cognition. Be it a cardboard box transformed into a deck chair or an everyday garden lounger seen as a Le Corbusiers LC 4 chaise longue.

Charles and Ray Eames’ lounge chair, The F 51 by Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohes’ Barcelona Chair being just three of the design classics he has re-interpretied.

Or better put extended from less valuable everyday items into the design classics we all know.

In the words of Brückmann “Here objects are what they could have been, could be, want to be or even should be”

The exhibition “Gute Aussichten - junge deutsche fotografie 2009/2010” can be viewed at the Art Foyer DZ Bank in Frankfurt am Main until September 11.

Le Corbusier LC 4 by George Brückmann part of "gute aussichten - junge deutsche fotografie 2009/2010"

Anyone who has ever visited an art gallery with an elderly relative will be familiar with the phrase “I could do that!!”

A phrase that is normally followed up with “Is that really art?”

Amongst designer furniture philosophers - and elite group to which we like to think we belong - the parallel question is “Is that really design?”

Consumers Rest by Frank Schreiner: Design? Art?

Regularly one is confronted with “concept pieces” that are, if one is honest, art.

They may be packaged and marketed as designer furniture.

Are however art.

Whereas professionals such as us can smell the difference, for lay consumers it can be much harder.

The principle problem is that the border between art and design is thinner than that between say genius and madness or intelligent accounting and tax avoidance.

Indeed the current Vitra Design Museum exhibition “The Essence of Things. Design and the Art of Reduction” even has a couple of art pieces nestling between the designer furniture classics.

Thankfully however in the past month we have seen a piece of design in a design studio and a piece of art in an art gallery which beautifully illustrate the difference:

Throwzini by Berlin / Munich design studio Adam and Harborth for Konstantin Slawinski is design

Untitled by Leipzig based artist Marco Voss is art.

Remember these two examples and you’ll never be confused again.

Just don’t expect your grandmother to understand.

Throwzini by Adam and Harborth

Design

Untitled by Marco Voss

Art

Charlotte Perriand with Le Corbusier und Pierre Jeanneret

Perhaps best known for her numerous co-operations with Le Corbusier, the Parisian architect and designer Charlotte Perriand played an instrumental role in developing the European modern movement: Not least as Charlotte Perriand is credited with converting Le Corbusiers modern furniture ideas into reality and so establishing the tradition of minimal, bent chrome steel tube and leather furniture.

Among the most famous of these collaborations are the from Cassina produced LC4 Chaise Longue, LC2 Armchair and LC7 Swivel Chair which Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand originally created for their “Maison la Roche” in Paris.

Charlotte Perriand with Le Corbusier was however only one chapter in a life and career that also involved collaborations with Fernand Leger and Jean Prouvé and stations in Moscow, Japan, Vietnam and Brasil.

LC4 by Charlotte Perriand Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret through Cassina

And it is her time in Brasil that is the subject of an exhibition at the Gewerbemuseum in Winterthur which opens on July 4th.

“Charlotte Perriand und ihre Spuren in Brasilien” is essentially devoted to a flat she designed and built in Rio de Janeiro during the early 1960s. The exhibition curators have rebuilt the flat and its interior in 1:2 scale in Winterthur and use it to explore Charlotte Perriand’s approach to her work and the design philosophies that guided her.

On July 16th the Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich opens its exhibition “Charlotte Perriand: Designer, Photographer, Activist”. With an extensive accompanying programme the Zürich exhibition focuses less on Charlotte Perriand’s architecture and more on her furniture design, photography and her social commitment and activism.

Together the two exhibitions offer a rare chance to learn more about the life and work of one of the few women who could establish themselves in the male dominated, and heavily patriarchal society that was inter-war France.  Women in France didn’t get the vote until 1944 - by which point Charlotte Perriand, as well as the Paris based Eileen Gray, had already not only established themselves but also helped define the modern movement.

Charlotte Perriand und ihre Spuren in Brasilien runs at the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur from July 4th until August 22nd.

Charlotte Perriand Designer, Photographer, Activist runs at the Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich from July 16th until 24th October.

And the two museums are only 25 kms apart. So a nice days walk during a Swiss holiday.

Organic Chair by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen through Vitra

It may not be the most universally recognised example of either Charles Eames‘ nor Eero Saarinen’s canon however their 1940 “Conversation Chair” is without doubt one of the more important examples of 20th century furniture design.

Designed for the New York Museum of Modern Art’s “Organic Design in Home Furnishings” competition the Conversation Chair was a concept piece and Eames’ and Saarinen’s first attempt at moulding synthetics.

At that time however the technology lagged somewhat behind the designers imagination and it was to be almost a decade before either Charles Eames or Eero Saarinen could transform the lessons learnt into commercial products: Charles Eames with his fibreglass/plastic armchairs for Herman Miller and Eero Saarinen with his Tulip Chair for Knoll.

Tulip chair by Eero Saarinen for Knoll

For the sake of completeness we should also mention George Nelson’s Swag Leg Chair, a design which relies heavily  - albeit with permission - on both the technology and narrative of the Conversation Chair.

Currently marketed by Vitra as the “Organic Chair” Eames and Saarinen’s pioneer work remains a wonderfully confident yet unassuming chair that can be used in all domestic, commercial and retail settings.

And you can win one.

The designer furniture retailer network Creative Inneneinrichter - of which (smow) is a member - is offering an Organic Chair as first prize in their “My way to the VitraHaus” competition.

Second prize is a Vegetal by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and third prize a Panton Chair.

The rules are very simple: Document your journey to the VitraHaus; the most imaginative, creative and original entry wins.

And so whether your planning skydiving onto the VitraHaus, negotiating the Alps Hannibal-esque with elephants or rafting down the Rhein simply register at the Creative Inneneinrichter website and upload your photos/videos/certificates.

Full details can be found at “Mein weg ins VitraHaus”

Although Jasper Morrison built a bus stop next to the VitraHaus - travelling by bus probably won't win you the Organic Chair.

Verner Panton

Although in the course of his career Verner Panton worked with numerous designer furniture producers, his name is undoubtedly most closely associated with Vitra.

Not least because of his seminal Panton Chair.

The exhibition “Panton by Vitra” at Wasserschloss Klaffenbach in Chemnitz offers visitors an insight into the life and work of one of the most important and influential post-war European designers.

Panton by Vitra at Wasserschloss Klaffenbach, Chemnitz (photo: Heiko Hillig)

While still a student Verner Panton worked in Arne Jacobsen’s Copenhagen office and was involved in the early development stages of the Ant Chair. Following his graduation Verner Panton set out on his own and following brief stopovers in Norway, Tenerife and France, Verner Panton moved to Basel in 1963 and found not only a new home, but in Vitra a producer for his Panton Chair.

A cooperation that benefited both parties.

Verner Panton began the development of the Panton Chair in the mid-1950s but had never managed to convince anyone to produce it; for Vitra the Panton Chair was the first project where they worked together with the designer on the development of the product, and as such defined the start of a new approach by the company.

Panton by Vitra at Wasserschloss Klaffenbach - Panton Chair and Living Tower (photo: Heiko Hillig)

Verner Panton’s relationship with Vitra was however not only professional but also personal; In the late 1960s Verner Panton designed the interior of Vitra chairman Rolf Fehlbaum’s flat in Basel - each room being decorated and furnished in a different colour.

Through examples of Verner Panton’s work and photographs the exhibition “Panton by Vitra” explains the background to some of the most important collaborations between Verner Panton and Vitra and brings the work of the designer and his relationship with Vitra to life.

A, literal, highpoint of “Panton by Vitra” - especially for children - is the climbable Living Tower.

“Panton by Vitra” at Wasserschloss Klaffenbach runs until June 20th

Wasserschloß Klaffenbach
Wasserschloßweg 6
09123 Chemnitz
+49 (0)371 26635-0

Strahlend Grau Herbert Hirche Exhibition, Museum der Dinge Berlin

Because our article on the new London bus has been delayed by a broken water main at Tooting Bec, we’ve decided instead to do an impression of a typical London bus user.

“Typical, wait ages and then two come along at once! I blame Ken Livingstone!”

Ahead of the opening of the Dieter Rams retrospective “Less and More: Das design ethos von Dieter Rams“,  yesterday saw the opening of a second exhibition dedicated to the life and work of a former Braun designer.

The Werkbund Archive Berlin’s Herbert Hirche exhibition “Strahlend Grau” is a beautifully compact overview of a designer who, despite his relative anonymity, is equally as important as Dieter Rams, Egon Eiermann or Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: just three of the grand doyens of German design with whom Herbert Hirche collaborated.

Strahlend Grau: Herbert Hirche on the roof of Bauhaus Dessau, 1932

And a fitting event to celebrate Herbert Hirche’s 100th birthday.

Born in Görlitz on May 20 1910, Herbert Hirche studied at Bauhaus in Dessau and Berlin. Following the closing of the institution in 1933 Hirche joined the office of his former professor, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, remaining in his service until Mies van der Rohe fled to the USA in 1938. After a year freelancing, Herbert Hirche joined Egon Eiermann’s Büro where he remained until Eiermann left Berlin in 1945 ahead of the advancing Red Army.

To lose one employer to a totalitarian regime is unfortunate; two starts to begin to look like a curse.

In the post-war years Herbert Hirche was closely involved with the rebuilding of Berlin in addition to teaching; initially at the Hochschule für angewandte Kunst in Berlin-Weißensee and subsequently at the staatliche Akademie für bildende Künste Stuttgart, where he also served as rector between 1969 and 1971.

Curated by Nicola von Albrecht, Strahlend Grau presents a chronological journey through Herbert Hirche’s life, wonderfully illustrated with original letters, documents and photographs. One of the highlights for us being a letter from Egon Eiermann confirming that Hirche could take up a position in his office: little things like that really bringing the otherwise abstract concept that is someone else’s life to well … life.

Strahlend Grau Herbert Hirche's contribution for the exhibition Interbau Berlin, 1957

And Strahlend Grau is full of such moments.

What it is not full of however is furniture.

Largely because much of Herbert Hirche’s work never proceeded beyond the prototype stage, and consequently his legacy is largely only on paper.

The exhibition does however include four Herbert Hirche items from the current Richard Lampert collection; the Hirche Barwagon, 1953 Lounge Chair, H57 armchair and Rattan chair “Santa Lucia”.

As far as we are aware these are the only examples of his work currently in production; and that despite Herbert Hirche working for producers as varied as Knoll, Wilkhahn or Wilde + Spieth.

Rattan chair Santa Lucia by Herbert Hirche through Richard Lampert

Richard Lampert himself was also present and he told us how he came to Herbert Hirche; and fortuitously it was not through long research in a stuffy archive while looking for commercial opportunities in forgotten designs.

No, Richard Lampet’s introduction to Herbert Hirche was during a long evening in the convivial and non-stuffy surroundings of Stuttgart’s legendary Santa Lucia restaurant; a restaurant for whom Hirche not once but twice conceived the interior design and for whom he created the Rattan chair.

Having been initially sceptical about the chair, Richard Lampert was so impressed with it that he returned the following day to ask where it came from.

And so began a wonderful relationship, whose latest chapter was the awarding of the “Classic Innovation” Award at the 2010 IMM Cologne for the relaunched H57 armchair.

Such stories always cheer us up as they prove that good, honest design will always succeed over hype, star names and large marketing budgets. And that gives us hope for the future.

Herbert Hirche: Strahlend Grau

Strahlend Grau is not an expansive exhibition, nor is it an exhibition that can be passively viewed. A visit to Strahlend Grau means actively searching for and considering the presented information. But the effort is worth it and there are some true gems to be found.

And more importantly it is a wonderful introduction to a designer who deserves more credit than he publicly gets and for all to an era of German design that has much more to offer and was much more instrumental in shaping European industrial design than many people are prepared to accept.

Strahlend Grau runs at the Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge until September 13th.

Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Ding
Oranienstraße 25
D-10999 Berlin

Opening time: Fr, Sa, So, Mo 12 - 19 Uhr

www.museumderdinge.de

Strahlend Grau: Herbert Hirche's 1953 lounge chair from Richard Lampert

Dieter Rams

When asked by the (smow)boss yesterday why we appeared to be doing so little work, quoting Dieter Rams we replied with a tired repetition of one of our favourite design related jokes:

“Less, but better”

“Good design is honest” replied (smow)boss with an irritating accuracy.

“Good design is unobtrusive” we muttered under our breath, before skulking off to the warehouse.

This coming weekend the Dieter Rams retrospective “Less and More: Das design ethos von Dieter Rams” opens at the Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt.

Showing over 500 items from 5 decades of Dieter Rams, the retrospective is a more than fitting tribute to a man who is not only one of the true legends of German design but who was in many ways the world’s first Industrial Designer.

Braun SK 61by Dieter Rams and Hans Gugelot

Having qualified as an architect Dieter Rams was taken on as such by the German electronic goods producer Braun. Relatively quickly, however, Dieter Rams was reassigned to the design department: a department that was in essence Dieter Rams.

Industrial designers and product designers not existing in 1955.

Over the next four decades Dieter Rams not only helped make Braun a by-word for design excellence, but he also laid the ground stones for much of today’s allegedly cutting edge, contemporary design.

Without Dieter Rams, Apple products would never have reached the iconic status they have.

Braun Sixtant SM2 by Dieter Rams

Aside from working for Braun, Dieter Rams also created the 606 Universal Shelving System for London based producer Vitsœ and taught as Professor of Industrial design at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg.

Although the occasional voice is raised which questions in how far Dieter Rams’ work has stood up to the test of time, there is universal agreement on the importance of his work and his design philosophy.

Or as Jasper Morrison put it, “I have thought a lot about this statement [less, but more] and come to the conclusion that this straightforward sentence is truer than any long-winded design discussion”

“Less and More: Das design ethos von Dieter Rams” at the Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt runs until September 5th

Full details can be found at www.angewandtekunst-frankfurt.de

606 Universal Shelving System by Dieter Rams for Vitsoe

gute aussichten 2009/2010

On Thursday April 29th the exhibition “gute aussichten - junge deutsche fotografie 2009/2010” opens at the Haus der Photographie, Hamburg.

Established in 2004 as a platform for supporting young, talented photographers gute aussichten has developed into one of Germany’s most important and respected contemporary photography prizes.

This years exhibition features the work of the 8 artists - Georg Brückmann (HGB Leipzig); Philipp Dorl, (FH Bielefeld); Sonja Kälberer, (HGB Leipzig); Ute Klein, (Folkwang Hochschule Essen); Ingo Mittelstaedt, (HBK Braunschweig); Mona Mönnig, (Folkwang Hochschule Essen); Shigeru Takato, (KHM Köln) and Anna Simone Wallinger, (Lette-Verein Berlin) - and presents a broad spectrum of the possibilities available in modern photography.

For all “photographic illusions” play a strong role in the 2009/2010 gute aussichten exhibition.

Philipp Dorl, for example, with his work “…nach Maß, Zahl und Gewicht” moves between painting and photography, between perception and optical illusion and in doing so presents a world that is only familar in its unfamiliarity.

In a similar vein Georg Brückmann’s diploma show “in-situ” makes use of a certain artistic license to explore the imaginary extension of the visible. Which, at a very basic level, means painting design classics such as the Eames Lounge Chair or Barcelona Chair onto photographs of otherwise unspectacular rooms. The result is an excellent, thought provoking “reality”.

All in all gute aussichten 2009/2010 presents 104 pictures, 2 slide shows, 2 DVDs, 2 books, one container and  various displays.

“gute aussichten - junge deutsche fotografie 2009/2010″ runs at the Haus der Photographie, Hamburg from April 29 until May 30th

Full details can be found at http://www.guteaussichten.org

Gropius Sessel by Georg Brückmann (Foto Georg Brückmann, in situ, www.guteaussichten.org)

No, we don’t handle the PR for Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.
We would like to.

But we don’t.

It’s just the Brothers are not only among the most assiduous contemporary designers, but they also keep producing work that needs to be presented.

For one reason or another.

Such as Lianes, a lamp that forms part of their new show at Galerie Kreo in Paris.

Lit clos by Ronan an Erwan Bouroullec, Galerie Kreo

Galerie Kreo has in a way become a sort of “Haute couture” stomping ground for Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s first show at Galerie Kreo in 2001 included such gems as Parasol lumineux and the room divider Cabane. Since then Les frères Bouroullec have produced four further shows at Galerie Kreo, shows which have included items such as Lit Clos, “Paravent” or “Sofa”

All in essence concept pieces and all an important part in the creative and professional development of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

With such an exhibition there is no commercial pressure; just the personal pressure of creating that object that embodies your intentions.

Their sixth Galerie Kreo show includes two objects that don’t really excite us, and one that does.

For us Roches and Conques are decent projects; but nothing particularly new.

Lianes, in contrast excites us a lot.

Lamps on the end of long cables are very much in fashion at the moment; or indeed if we’re brutally honest have been ever since Flos released the Mayday Lamp by Konstantin Grcic.

Our current favorite in the genre, however, is Ray by Berlin design collective llot llov.

Lianes is in essence a refined Ray, with the advantage that one can position the lamp on the cable as required.

Whereas Ray either sits on the ground or can be positioned elsewhere through knots; Lianes simply slides up and down the leather cord to the required height.

High for general room lighting, exactly positioned for reading, low for gentle background light.

And if you can’t find your Hamster, Lianes is flexible enough to help you look behind your USM Haller sideboard.

And somehow we have the feeling we ‘ll be seeing a little more of Lianes in the future.

And for those of you in or near Paris,the exhibition by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec at Galerie Kreo runs until July 22nd.

Galerie kreo

31, rue Dauphine 75006 Paris, France
T. +33 (0)1 53 10 23 00 E.
info@galeriekreo.com

Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 11AM to 7PM

Lianes by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec in Galerie Kreo

Lianes by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec - detail

Lianes by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec

Lianes by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Galerie Kreo Paris