There are a thousand good reasons to avoid travelling through Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport.

And a couple of very good reasons.

The public transport connections, for example, between Israel’s only relevant international airport and Israel’s only relevant metropolises are so arduous and poorly co-ordinated it makes one long for the days of The Crusades, when reaching Jaffa or Jerusalem from Europe involved little more taxing than travelling for eight weeks by horse and sailing ship.

And then having explored the country and found it to be an open, friendly, tolerant, welcoming nation, on attempting to depart Israel one is, albeit in cowardly silence, accused of having only travelled to the country to source explosives which you now plan to detonate on your flight home. And are treated with the according lack of respect.

However, by far the best reason to avoid flying at least out of Ben Gurion Airport Tel Aviv comes after the marathon “Where have you hidden the bomb?” rubdown.

Having made it through security before old age and/or boredom kills you, you arrive in a shopping oasis. A shopping oasis strewn with the cheapest Le Corbusier LC2 copies we believe we have ever seen.

Le Corbusier LC2 copies at Ben Gurion Airport Tel Aviv.

That “Bauhaus Tel Aviv” isn’t, is slowly being understood. But then the architects responsible never pretended it was. Popular convention has resulted in the sobriquet.

And while the overwhelming majority of architects who built The White City may not have been Bauhaus alumni per se, they were of an age and time when the teachings of Walter Gropius, Hannes Meyer and co were very much en vogue. Plus as we know, at the same time as Tel Aviv was being built numerous Bauhaus graduates were busy building the Kibbutzim. It would somehow be perverse if there had been no interaction, no attempt to channel the brave new ideas.

There was, therefore, no copying or faking going on… just a lot of interpreting current trends from afar.

And they did a fantastic job of it and have created a varied, interesting and functional urban environment.

The furniture is a different story.

The chairs in Ben Gurion Airport are copies of someone else’s work. Bad, poor quality copies that give the impression that neither designer nor producer have the faintest idea as to what they are doing.

And so whereas the buildings in downtown Tel Aviv reinforce the positive elements of the generic “Bauhaus” style. The chairs in the airport devalue Le Corbusier’s canon and his contribution to 20th century design.

That the state controlled Israel Airports Authority have chosen such chairs for Ben Gurion Airport is not just reprehensible, it’s also highly regrettable.

When we were speaking to British design professionals ahead of the London Olympics several expressed their satisfaction at how the authorities in the UK were incorporating British designers into major infrastructure projects and thus giving British design a platform. One of the most regularly quoted projects was Heathrow Airport.

Airports are obviously gateways; it’s not an analogy you need you have studied semantics to understand. People from foreign lands pass through airports. As a general rule twice. In quick succession.

One can therefore use them as a platform for presenting all that is good, challenging, interesting, exciting, stereotypical, modern, profitable, vibrant, different in your country.

Or, in the case of Ben Gurion Airport Tel Aviv, show your complete contempt for creative talent.

Israel may not have the greatest depth of design talent, but what it has is excellent. From the likes of Ron Arad (Tel Aviv, 1951) over Arik Levy (Tel Aviv, 1963) or Jair Straschnow (Rehovot, 1965) and on to the ever reliable flow of high-quality graduates from internationally recognised institutions such as the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Jerusalem, including the London based design studio Raw Edges (Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay, both Tel Aviv 1976), Israeli designers have made and continue to make an important contribution to the evolution of global design. And of course since 2010 the Design Museum Holon has provided a national focus point for contemporary design.

Ten kms away Ben Gurion Airport invest in very cheap, very poor copies of internationally recognised design classics.

Inexplicably.

And so maybe, in retrospect, when all is said and done, it is perhaps not such a bad thing that security takes so long, otherwise we’d all have to endure the farce even longer.

From afar they may make a good impression... but don't get too close.

Hill House Chair by Charles Rennie Mackintosh through Cassina

144th birthdays aren’t occasions all celebrate; however, because Charles Rennie Mackintosh ties in so nicely with so many of the themes we’ve covered in the past weeks it seems like an occasion we can’t ignore.

Born in Glasgow on June 7th 1868 Charles Rennie Mackintosh trained as an architect with John Hutchinson before moving to the larger company Honeyman & Keppie following his qualification in 1889.

In 1890 Mackintosh was given his first solo project, designing an extension for the back of the Glasgow Herald newspaper offices on Buchanan Street, a project that was quickly followed by contributions to the Martyrs’ Public School and Queen Margaret’s Medical College.

In 1896 Honeyman & Keppie were awarded the commission to build the new Glasgow School of Art: with a design largely developed by Mackintosh. Construction began in 1898 and a year later the doors opened on a building that remains not only one of the most genuinely interesting buildings in Glasgow, but one of the most instantly recognisable and finest examples of Mackintosh’s architectural work.

1898 was also a significant year for Charles Rennie Mackintosh as it saw him complete his first commission for the soon to be legendary, Miss Cranston. At that time it was only a series of wall stencils, but over the next dozen years or so Mackintosh was to create interiors for all four of Miss Cranston’s Glasgow tea rooms. A contract that not only saw him work as one of the first genuine interior designers, but also produced a range of furniture whose form and aesthetics continue to attract and bewitch. The Willow Chair and Argyle Chair being perhaps two of the best known examples.

It also created in the case of the Willow Tea Room a future tourist attraction that would provide American visitors with somewhere to shelter from the ubiquitous Glasgow rain before getting on the train back to Edinburgh.

In addition to tea rooms and art schools Charles Rennie Mackintosh was also responsible for various private houses, most famously Hill House in Helensburgh, where he not only created the fortress-esque building but was also responsible for the fixtures, fittings and decoration. The Hill House Chair remaining one of furniture designs most iconic pieces, while projects such as Hill House made Mackintosh one of the influences for the short-lived historical revival of 1950s UK design.

Argyle Chair by Charles Rennie Mackintosh through Cassina

Beyond to his talents for architecture and design Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a prolific and skilled painter, and his later years were largely taken up with artistic endeavours.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh died in London in 1928.

While highly regarded and respected in the UK, as one of the leading lights in the Arts and Crafts movement Charles Rennie Mackintosh was also to have an influence that extended far outwith his native shores.

In 1903 one Hermann Muthesius, at the time Cultural Attaché at the German Embassy in London, published several articles in leading Germanophone newspapers of the day praising Mackintosh and the beauty of his work, in particular his tea rooms. Such praise obviously not going unnoticed by the burgeoning Jugendstil movement.

Following his return to Germany in 1904 Hermann Muthesius remained in close contact with Mackintosh, and as co-founder and later chairman of the Deutscher Werkbund movement had ample opportunity to further disseminate Mackintosh’s ideas on the continent.

On a side note, Hermann Muthesius’ continual arguments with Henry van de Velde and Walter Gropius more or less forced the split in the Werkbund that led to the establishment of Bauhaus. “No Mackintosh, No Bauhaus” is historically inaccurate. But an intriguing line of thought nonetheless.

The Dutch were also looking at what was happening on the other side of the German Ocean at the turn of the century and many elements of Mackintosh’s work can be found in objects created by members of de Stijl movement. Indeed some of the precursor pieces leading up to Gerrit Rietveld’s Rood blauwe stoel contain a form language and construction technique that demonstrate uncanny parallels to what Miss Cranston’s guests were sitting on as they enjoyed their tea and scones.

Mies van der Rohe allegedly once said that Charles Rennie Mackintosh “tidied up architecture”. That may be, what is unquestionable is that through his development of an approach that reduced objects down to a minimum, without losing sight of decorative elements, Charles Rennie Mackintosh helped accelerate the move away from Historicism and so created an environment receptive to Modernism.

Which is in our humble opinion is a decent contribution to contemporary architecture and design.

Happy Birthday Charles Rennie Mackintosh!

Willow Chair by Charles Rennie Mackintosh through Cassina

Luddites!

Not a phrase normally associated with (smow)

To the best of our knowledge no (smow)employee has ever smashed an iPad or capped a WiFi service in protest at the creeping and increasingly obsessive proliferation of technology into our lives.

Despite that, the early summer weeks in the (smow)HQ were dominated by the preparation and production of the very first (smow)catalogue.

That’s print catalogue.

So on paper.

With ink.

Luddites?

Au contraire nos amis!

Not only is the production of such an analogue catalogue technologically more challenging than coding with that “any-fool-can-do” HTML; but, just as the mechanisation of the textile mills offered the oppressed masses their first, golden, taste of leisure time – so does a print catalogue help us to regain that.

Turn off the computer, enjoy a break, peruse a catalogue. And then turn the computer back on and order.

In addition to featuring a selection of products from the (smow) range the (smow) Designer Furniture Catalogue 2011 also includes biographical information on some of the most important designers and a range of specially commissioned photos of products from USM Haller, Vitra, Moormann, Richard Lampert et al

And is a mighty fine piece of work. Well done to all involved!

If you’d be interested in seeing the finished work, or know someone who would appreciate a copy, please contact service@smow.de (NOTE: It is only available in German)

And at facebook.com/smowcom we have posted a photo gallery documenting the production process.

(smow) Designer Furniture Catalogue 2011

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"

For Charles Rennie Mackintosh the 2010 (smow) designer furniture World Cup may have been over; but matches against England always have their own incentive.

With Tom Dixon replacing Jasper Morrison, the English took an early lead with the Dixon Bronze Copper Shade and moved further ahead with a beautifully worked Off Cut stool.

In the second half Charles Rennie Mackintosh narrowed the gap with his Hill House chair; however Tom Dixon responded with a quick Wingback Chair and Spin candelabra combination for a deserved 4:1 victory.

The Group C table and all Group C results can be found here.

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.

Schöner Wohnen present their Neue Klassiker at IMM Cologne - for some it's all just a blur....

To celebrate their 50th birthday the German furnishings magazine “Schöner Wohnen” have produced a small book entitled “Das Buch der Klassiker“ (“The book of classics”) in which the magazine present their 400 furniture and accessory classics.

And an exhibition of the selected items forms the basis of the Schöner Wohnen stand here in Cologne.

Aside from familiar faces such as Vegetal by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec from Vitra or the Castore lamp by Huub Ubbens und Michele De Lucchi for Artemide, the exhibition also presents some items which genuinely don’t get the attention they deserve.

Split by Meike Russler together with the Thonet A 660

Split by Meike Rüssler for Ligne Roset, for example, is just a wonderful piece of desk design.

If you like a nice organised organised desk.

So not for us.

But for everyone else, perfect.

Not only the in-built letter trays, nor the concealed storage, not even the wonderful 360 degree lamp make Split so good. Also the fact that the “back” can also be a “top” i.e. it can either be positioned vertically as a back or horizontally to give a two-tier desk. Then there is the wonderful retro-veneer that always makes our hearts skip a little faster.

Here in Cologne the Schöner Wohnen team have wonderfully married Split with James Irvine’s A 660 office chair for Thonet. Featuring the classic Thonet Bentwood technology, Irvine’s chair offers a delightful, modern interpretation of the traditional Thonet style. And a very comfortable seat.

The A 660 isn’t a chair you’ d want to spend 8 hours sitting at a desk in; but for regular shorter periods or, for example, as a visitor chair in an office it is perfect.

Vegetal from Vitra by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec

Having far to much time on our hands we’ve counted and as far we can see among the top producers in the list are Cassina and Vitra and among the best represented designers Antonio Citterio and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.
And so (smow) must be doing something right…..

“Das Buch der Klassiker“ is available with the February issue of Schöner Wohnen – and all featured articles are, obviously,  available via smow.com

Cassina

Italian design is, if we all close our eyes for a minute or two and be brutally honest, a lot like English football or French cooking – it’s continued association with a particular quality and geniality is largely due to the number of non-Italians(English/French) who have continually contributed to the tradition and so kept it modern, kept it fresh and kept it exciting.

Danish design is Danish because only Danes are allowed to do it – Italian design is universal because any one can do it: Assuming the Italians invite them that is.

And so it comes that we all enjoy going to Milan in April and paying more for one night in a dingy room than we pay per year for our own flats; because it’s Milan and Milan is design.

In 1927 a decisive step towards the establishment of “Italian design” was taken when the brothers Cesare and Umberto Cassina established their new furniture production company in Meda, Lombardy (half way between Milan and Lake Como – for all of you on the search for a dream “half-way house”)

LC 1 by Le Corbusier, Jeanneret and Perriand through Cassina

After initially building up a reputation for their high-quality outfitting of ships, hotels and casinos, in 1967 Cassina launched their ‘CASSINA I MAESTRI’ range with the acquisition to the license for four Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand products: LC1, LC2, LC3 and LC4. In Cassina’s own words the aim was  – and indeed is “… the diffusion of universally accredited cultural values through the re-proposal -  today – of “reconstructed” furniture.” Using original sketches and studio notes as the basis for their models Cassina went on to acquire the rights to not only further Le Corbusier works but also to important works by designers as diverse as Gerrit T.Rietveld, Charles Renne Mackintosh and Frank Lloyd Wright.

In the 19070s, and with the security achieve dthrough the CASSINA I MAESTRI range, Cassina did the “Italian thing” of embracing new materials and new technologies and via the works of designers such as Mario Bellini or Vico Magistretti established themselves as an important and truly forward-thinking player in the international designer furniture scene. A trend which they have continued through co-operations with designers such as Konstantin Grcic, Patrick Jouin or Philippe Starck.

Zig-Zag chair by Gerrit T.Rietveld through Cassina

And so today just as the mix of domestic and foreign players have helped Manchester United or Liverpool achieve global success, so has the combination of Italian and international design talent helped Cassina to become one of the leading designer furniture houses.

And since late 2009 the Cassina CASSINA I MAESTRI range is also available through smow.com, a range that features design classics such as the Zig-Zag chair by Rietveld or the Argyle Chair by Mackintosh.

And if you’d prefer something more modern smow.com can supply the complete Cassina range.

Full details can be found at the smow.com Cassina page

(and yes, for all you observant readers out there, google failed to provide us with a list of 3 Star Paris restaurants run by foreigners :( )