ClassiCon at IMM Cologne 2010

On Wednesday a tweet fluttered into our (smow)twitter from @imm_cologne with the information that the Munich based producer ClassiCon had decided to return to IMM Cologne.

Which in the wake of the shock we received on our first day here in Köln didn’t go unnoticed among the thousands of invites to cocktail parties and sumptuous buffets at some of Cologne’s finer addresses we’re forced to deal with.

Established in 1990 from the dying embers of the 1898 established “Vereinigte Werkstätten für Kunst im Handwerk” (for the sake of convenience lets just call it a collective of designers) ClassiCon inherited the rights to produce the works of designers such as Eileen Gray or Otto Blümel. Not content to rest on their laurels however, ClassiCon were quick to cooperate with young, emerging talents such as Konstantin Grcic or Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby.

ClassiCon at IMM Cologne - Party!!

And it is this mix of established classics and modern innovation that has seen ClassiCon develop and expand over the last 20 years.

And is also one of the reasons a trade fair such as IMM Cologne needs companies like ClassiCon as a counter balance to the mediocre tat being peddled in other halls by men who think an expensive suit and an iPhone somehow makes them important and their products more valuable.

It doesn’t.

It’s not a second hand car show!

But back to quality designer furniture and ClassiCon.

Adjustable Table by Eileen Gray through ClassiCon - detail

To celebrate their 20th anniversary ClassiCon are now offering a 20 year guarantee on the Adjustable Table by Eileen Gray. One of the true classics of 1920s design, Gray originally created the Adjustable Table – as with the chair Roquebrune and the Petite Coiffeuse – for her own house in Roquebrune on the Cote d’Azur. With it’s chromium-plated steel tubing frame the adjusting of the Adjustable Table functions via a simple slot/rod mechanism; all beautifully set-off by a small chrome chain.

For such a product one really doesn’t need a 20 year guarantee – an Adjustable Table will outlive it’s owner -  but it is still nice to see ClassiCon standing so squarely behind their craftsmen.

Elsewhere on the ClassiCon stand we were delighted to finally get to see Saturn by Barber Osgerby; and would have loved to have compared it to Otto Blümel’s Nymphenburg, only that was far too high up.

And as ever, there are an awful lot of cheats, crooks and bandits out there and so before investing in design furniture always check that you are buying an officially licensed original. The designs of Eileen Gray, for all the Adjustable Table, the Bibendum Chair or the Non Conformist chair are globally among the most illegally copied furniture designs.

Only ClassiCon however are licensed to produce the works.

And only ClassiCon offer a 20 year guarantee on their craftsmanship.

Below is a small promotional video made by the IMM Cologne team in which ClassiCon boss Oliver Holy explains a little about the company and their relationship to IMM. Clever cats that they are the IMM marketing team have released it on sevenload: and so we’ve not got round to ripping and subtitling it yet… but we’ll get there. But possibly not until we’re back in Leipzig with the better software. And so for now it is only available in German.

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/

As we stood looking at some mighty fine, but horribly over-carved, wooden furniture at the Salone in Milan a female colleague confided in us that all she needs is some leather straps and a few bits of bent metal.

Trying not to show our horror at this outburst of candour, we asked if she had a meeting with El Presidente that evening.

“No, no” replied our erstwhile colleague, “Bauhaus. That’s my idea of good design”

Eileen Gray (1878 -1976)

We recite this tale here principally to amuse ourselves, but also by way of a gentle introduction to the new smow Eileen Gray range.

Although for many Gray’s work will not as familiar as that of Marcel Breuer, Le Corbusier or Mies van der Rohe one should not underestimate the contribution made by Eileen Gray to the development furniture design in the 20th century.

Born in the barren wilderness of County Wexford, Ireland, Gray studied painting at the Slade School of Fine Art in London before moving in 1902 to Paris, a city that was to play a key role in her career.

Paris had already introduced her to the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh through his exhibition at the Exposition Universelle in 1900 and was to introduce her to Japanese lacquer artist Seizo Sugawara from who she learnt the art, combining it with elements of Art Nouveau. Paris was also to introduce her to the Romanian architect and publisher Jean Badovici who encouraged Gray to try her hand at architecture.

E.1027, designed by Eileen Gray

In 1924 Badovici and Gray started work on the house E.1027 on the southern French coast, not far from Monaco. In addition to being a magnate for the European design elite – Le Corbuiser was so impressed he built his summer residence nearby – a house needs furniture and Gray designed this to a great extent herself.

Through exchanges and conversation with the likes of Le Corbusier and the leading figures in the Bauhaus movement Eileen Gray not only created some of the true classics of early-20th century design but helped to define the Bauhaus principles of form follows function and less is more. And in doing so paved the way for following generations of designers such as Charles and Ray Eames or Jasper Morrison.

Following World War II Eileen Gray lived a quite, almost reclusive life, in Paris, and although she was still working she never achieved the same prominence as in the interwar years. Gray died in Paris in October 1976 aged 98.

Petite Coiffeuse by Eileen Gray

Whereas the post war years brought little acclaim for her work, today articles by Eileen Gray are amongst the most copied pieces of early-20th century designer furniture. Which is probably the greatest testement one can make to the value of an article of designer furniture.  It goes without saying that all the Eileen Gray articles sold by smow are, as with all articles smow sell, officially licensed originals with the associated guarantee of quality craftsmanship and competent after sales service.

The inter-war years were some of the most important and revolutionary for European furniture design. The social and cultural upheavals of the day coupled with the new perspectives and priorities resulting from the Great War not only gave us a wonderful portfolio of great design, but changed the very nature of the design process. Eileen Gray was a key figure in that period.

smow is now proud to offer the following, offically licensed, Eileen Gray products from ClassiCon, Munich.

St Tropez by Eileen Gray

Wendingen (Carpet 1926-1929)

Roquebrune (Chair, 1932)

Petite Coiffeuse (Dressing table , 1929)

St. Tropez (Carpet 1926-1929)

Occasional Table (Side table 1927)