As with so much of Ron Arad’s commercially available, serially produced, furniture designs the story of Tom Vac starts a long, long way away from the domestic conformity one has become accustomed to seeing them in.

In this case the story begins on a street corner in Milan.

In 1997 the Italian architecture and design magazine Domus launched a PR campaign which involved asking contemporary designers to create an installation which embodied the fundamentals of the magazine.

The first commission came from Ron Arad, was unveiled during Milan Design Week 1997 and involved a stack of 100 aluminum chairs Arad had specially developed for the project.

Called “Domus Totem” the installation was, if we understand it correctly, an exploration of both novelty and memory in design, art and architecture.

And all good, clean fun.

As project sponsor, Vitra subsequently re-created the chairs in plastic, and since its launch in 1999 the Tom Vac has been one of the staples of the Vitra seating collection.

That one can currently find the reduced, unassuming, almost chaste, Tom Vac in front of the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart under the banner “Otto Dix und die Neue Sachlichkeit”, (Otto Dix and the New Objectivity) is surely an oversight.

If you’re going to choose a Ron Arad work in such a context then the Rover Chair or Bad Tempered Chair pass much better to Otto Dix’s in your face depictions of war, prostitutes and the depravities of the Weimar Republic.

Or maybe were misinterpreting a brilliant piece of critical juxtaposition on the part of the curators.

Either way. It amused us.

And we wanted to share it….

Tom Vac by Ron Arad for Vitra. And New Objectivity!

Tom Vac by Ron Arad for Vitra. And New Objectivity!

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.

A common misconception is that the term “designer” in “designer furniture” means “exclusive”.

It doesn’t.

It just means that a designer has invested time in creating a product that does something new or which represents a further development of existing concepts.

Designer furniture is however meant to be used everywhere, everyday, by everyone.

Such as the Tom Vac by Ron Arad for Vitra.  You could just use it in your dinning room or on your balcony.

Or…..

On March 4th 2012 the Grassi Museum for Applied Arts Leipzig opened the final part of their permanent exhibition.

An exhibition very close to our hearts.

Now you know us, we ‘ve nothing against baroque or ancient Japanese furniture and objects.

But our hearts do beat a little faster when we get to the late 19th century.

Mies van der Rohe bending metal. Alvar Aalto bending wood. Verner Panton bending plastic. Axel Buether bending light.

It’s all there in “Art Nouveau to Present”

Plus a monumental bedroom ensemble by Ron Arad constructed from scaffolding poles.

A 1980s bedroom/study ensemble by Ron Arad. As see at the Grassi Museum for Applied Arts Leipzig

As the name tends to imply “Art Nouveau to Present” starts in the late 19th century before continuing over Art Deco and the uncontrolled pomp of the early 20th century until Functionalism, Bauhaus and Modernism rip everything back down to the bare bones.

The second world war is then poetically skipped via the most delightful staircase.

Aside from the collection of porcelain coffee pots, the first thing that attracts your attention on the ground floor is the Charles and Ray Eames‘ RAR. And then a table and chair ensemble by Eero Saarinen, perfectly illuminated as they are by an AJ Royal hanging lamp from AJ. Arne Jacobsen.

The exhibition then continues over the uncontrolled pomp of pop art and post modernism before ending with Sinneslandschaften, a multi-media room installation by Axel Buether and a team of his students from Burg Giebichenstein Halle.

Among the numerous highlights in “Art Nouveau to Present” one real star is the re-creation of Lilly Reich’s display stand for Wilhelm Wagenfeld‘s Vereinigten Lausitzer Glaswerke (VLG) glassware collection as seen at the 1936 Grassimesse. Fascinating as the works themselves unquestionably are, for us the principle interest is how the display beautifully underlines that the principle role of museums is documenting.

In this context a further highlight is the numerous “room set-ups” scattered throughout the exhibition. Although not especially large, they do allow one to view the furniture in situ; a little detail that really helps in understanding the relation of the pieces to one another.

What “Art Nouveau to Present” also does very well is to mix design from “East” and “West” and so one finds, for example, a 1962 vacuum cleaner from VEB Elektrowärme Altenburg sitting next to a Braun SK 5 by Dieter Rams and Hans Gugelot. Or the aforementioned Eames RAR next to Erich Menzel’s “Model 50642″ for VEB Sachsenholz Hellerau. A mixture that works. Because it simply ignores the political situation in which the works were created and concentrates fully on the objects and their relevance.

Kinder Schaukelwagen by Hans Brockhage & Erwin Andrä. If you'd been in our office in the past six months you'd understand why this amused this....

Where for us the exhibition does suffer is the curators less than successful attempt to deal with the depth of the subject. The Grassi Museum obviously have a wonderful collection of objects. And equally obviously don’t have the space to display them in a fashion that allows for a dialogue of any real depth.

And so for “Art Nouveau to Present” they have brutally compromised with a very old fashioned exhibition concept that sees the majority of the objects simply placed in a room with a description of what it is. A concept that crams an awful lot into too small a space and as such overpowers the visitor. Even we found our interest occasionally waning on account of the monotity and lack of genuine interaction.

As we said in the context of “From Aalto to Zumthor Furniture by Architects” for a permanent exhibition one can get away with such a concept. The question is of course if one is satisfied with having gotten away it.

Or if as with having gotten away with cheating on your partner, you shouldn’t at least have the decency to feel a permanent twinge of guilt. And possibly eventually admit the error.

It will be interesting to see how the forthcoming special exhibitions redress this situation.

That said “Art Nouveau to Present” remains an exhibition that we recommend viewing

Because aside from the obvious joy at the individual items, it truly does “close” the Grassi Museum’s permanent exhibition in that it allows one to follow the development of design and so to understand where modern design comes from. And how “modern design” is to be understood in the context of “historical design”.

Eero Saarinen & Arne Jacobsen in Art Nouveau to Present @ Grassi Museum for Applied Arts Leipzig

In addition to showing “From Aalto to Zumthor Furniture by Architects” the Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln is also showing off it’s new acquisitions: 10 early Michael Thonet stools and a rare work from Jacob and Josef Kohn.

Plus 2 monumental pieces of modern abstract metal furniture: “2 R Not” by Ron Arad and “Bell Metal Horse Chair” by Satyendra Pakhalé

The Thonet chairs are currently being displayed in a special showcase that wonderfully portrays the development of Michael Thonet’s work.

And is if to taunt the founder of industrial furniture production, the curators have placed “2 R Not” and “Bell Metal Horse Chair” directly in front of the Thonet exhibition like two menacing, futuristic, bouncers

Michael Thonet and Ron Arad. Juxtaposition of the year.

Michael Thonet. A man who had an idea. And never gave up on it...

Michael Thonet and his "Boppard Chair"

Michael Thonet and Ron Arad

This year we are finally going to make it to Design Basel.

In the past something else always seemed to get in the way; be it illness, other appointments or a feeling deep in our stomachs that it was all just a touch too elitist and too far removed from the world of the normal designer furniture customer to justify the trip.

But this year we’re healthy, free and a little older and wiser.

It in its 6th year Design Basel features exhibitions from 43 international design galleries showing an impressive array of both “historical” design – i.e from the early 20th century – and contemporary works.

Now you know us, we’re not the sort who get excited and carried away ahead of an event.

It could all be rubbish.

However among those galleries we are particularly looking forward to are Dansk Møbelkunst who’ll be doing what their name implies and showing works by Danish designers; Paris based Galerie Downtown François Laffanour promise a few interesting works from Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand and Ron Arad; while Priveekollektie Contemporary Art | Design will be showing works by, among others, Arik Levy, Reinier Bosch and Rolf Sachs.

A further highlight promises to be two structures by Jean Prouvé: Jousse Entreprise will be presenting a section of Prouvé’s 1957 Ecole de Villejuif and Galerie Patrick Seguin will be staging a live show featuring the daily construction and disassembling of a 6 x 6 metre bungalow Prouvé designed in 1944 to house war victims in Lorraine.

We must admit to still having a slightly uneasy feeling about the whole adventure; however, we are looking forward to some long, detailed discussions with the gallery owners and hopefully learning a little more about the whole gallery circus, what they do all day and how they help and advance furniture design.

And we’ll probably also visit the VitraHaus and take a few squint photos.

Design Basel takes place from June 14th-18th and full details can be found at www.designmiami.com

Although the majority of Ron Arad‘s work could squash most of Isamu Noguchi’s, he played fair and held back from producing a Well-Tempered chair, preferring instead to work on variations in plastic.

Despite some good Infinity Bottle Rack, Lovely Rita and Bookworm work for Kartell, Isamu Noguchi‘s constantly high standard Akari lamp variations held the Israeli at bay and the final 0:0 was a just result.

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

Despite the rumours flying around ahead of this match, England stuck with Jasper Morrison rather than pitting Tom Dixon against Ron Arad.

Whereas many would have relished the opportunity to have witnessed the two masters of “real” industrial design going head to head the Morrison/Arad encounter was every bit as entertaining.

Unmoved by Ron Arad’s Bookworm, Jasper Morrison concentrated on his chair work and took the lead with his Basel chair for Vitra; a simple move that produced the deserved result.

Ron Arad responded with a Vitra Tom Vac, but it was too little to late and a quick Trattoria chair for Magis and a Monopod chair for Vitra sealed another runaway success for Jasper Morrison.

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

Although stylistically worlds apart both Ron Arad and Charles Rennie Mackintosh are united by their individual and uncompromising style and approach to design. As expected it was Charles Rennie Mackintosh who made the stronger start, taking a  1:0 lead with his Argyle Chair – a brave break form contemporary convention and a deserved lead. Ron Arad’s attempts at stemming Mackintosh’s dominance largely lacked the required precision and all landed wide of their intended target. Late in the second half however Ron Arad did manage to level proceedings with his ingenious and genre redefining Bookworm bookcase for Kartell.

An intriguing and just 1:1

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

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