Innholdsfortegnelse for July - August 2015 i Frame

What was your interpretation of the brief? MORGAN MACCARI: We began by questioning the creation of a product by taking a disruptive point of view. The description of ‘product’ is so broad – it encompasses everything from a single object to spatial relationships between multiple objects. Our definition takes everything into consideration, from the birth of an idea to its design, production, execution, usage and beyond – to the memory of the object and its obsolescence. How did you go about making the images? MM: Having established our vision of the life cycle of a product, we picked out key points. Our story illustrates all the possible steps that a product is the subject of – and is subject to. The series explores the idea of progression, which was vital…

Arriving at the Fiera Milano – jam-packed with people and products – we wonder the same thing every year: how much new stuff do we actually need? This April, though, the abundance of new releases at the annual furniture fair was counterbalanced, at least in part, by the mountain of reissues, thus validating the quality of existing products. As I walk through Driade’s booth with Elisa Astori, daughter of the company’s founders, she points out the brand’s rerelease of Enzo Mari’s Sof Sof 1 chair from 1971. Driade’s artistic director, David Chipperfield, believes the mix of new and old that defines Sof Sof also reflects the brand's DNA. Driade is not the only exhibitor to reassess and display vintage designs in Milan. Cassina brings back Charlotte Perriand’s 529 Rio 2…

Bright 2 Architectural Illumination and Light Installations Editor Carmel McNamara Light is a magical medium that today’s designers are using to produce a broad spectrum of exciting work. Bright 2 presents a rich selection of innovative projects that are setting trends in the creative use of light. Each designer or design company is featured over eight pages that include strong photography and detailed text information. This inspiring volume is an up-to-date reference tool for professionals. €59 The Great Indoors Notebook The Great Indoors Notebook is an inspirational notebook for Frame magazine followers. Its 144 blank pages are interspersed with 16 beautiful illustrations inspired by the topic of Frame: interior and product design. The notebook’s design and high quality paper make it a desirable object to become part of anyone’s creative…

‘In a way, the Salone is a city that happens for a few days. The exhaustion we feel comes from the singularity of its offering. Don’t we want more from a city than just one thing?’ DAVID ADJAYE ‘Design is there to stimulate our appetite. On the basis of “we don’t need anything anymore”, it’s trying to remind us that we might want something’ DAVID CHIPPERFIELD ‘I feel a big change in Milan. The production of design is accelerating like fashion’ TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA ‘Innovation has to do with modernity. I don’t think sentimentality or nostalgia is ever going to help design. It is an illusion’ DANIEL LIBESKIND ‘We are so blinded by what we see that we cannot find the gem amidst the chaos, but it does exist’ RON GILAD…

I’Ma secret admirer of the Salone del Mobile. Not so much of the festering fun fair that eats its way through the northern Italian metropolis once a year. That crazy carnival with its satellites, which were taken over years ago by the auto industry, by beer brewers and mobile telecom providers. With its alternative events that cater to people who have tired of previous alternative events that are no longer alternative enough for their tastes. With products that sometimes make you wonder who’s on the admissions committees of some of the educational institutions participating in the revelry. No, if you promise not to tell anyone, I will admit here and now that I’m a hardcore fan of the real Salone – namely, the trade fair. The commercial exhibition. In the…

IT’Sthe middle of the day in São Paulo, and no doubt pleasantly warm. I’m on Skype with Rodrigo Almeida, talking about the hows and whys of his titillating work. Many of my questions go phut almost before he’s heard them, despite Almeida’s friendly attempts to come up with good answers. Later I realize that the problem probably lay in my European manner of looking at, translating and analysing his sizable output. Nevertheless, it’s precisely that exotic, blended and relatively young Brazilian culture – with its own ways of making, communicating and manoeuvring – that I find so riveting in Almeida’s work. His eclectic portfolio reveals a fearless designer who forages streets and rummages in (carnival) shops and hardware stores in search of everything from foodstuffs and feathers to nylon thread,…

HONG KONG — The use of a hybrid of traditional fabrics, objects and styles to produce a new classic describes Japanese fashion designer Chitose Abe’s concept for her latest capsule collection, as well as her label’s first independent store. Situated on Hong Kong’s dynamic, high-end On Lan Street – in the mazelike inner city – the Sacai store is a reflection of its surroundings. The brand’s creative team extended the pavement into the shop, along with the vibrant urban atmosphere; translated the verticality of nearby skyscrapers into double-height ceilings; and interpreted the neighbourhood’s erratic network of streets and alleys as a retail environment of ‘rooms’ and passages. Against a sterile white background with black accents is a mix of textures and materials: glossy concrete bricks, yellow-painted wood, and walls and…

TOKYO — Unlike most artisanal Belgian chocolates, which come in a diversity of shapes and sizes temptingly encased in foil, BbyB chocolate bars are packaged as identical ingot-like squares. Available in Ginza at a new shop – the brainchild of Michelin two-star chef Bart Desmidt – the bars come in sets of five, which fill hundreds of slim plastic boxes colour-coded to indicate the different BbyB flavours: no fewer than 28 varieties at the moment. The ceremony of eating quality chocolate resonated with designer Oki Sato of Nendo, who used the ‘ritual’ as the concept for the Belgian brand’s first overseas venture. ‘I was surprised to find artisanal chocolate in such minimal packaging,’ says Sato. ‘When you slide a bar out of the square sleeve, the simplicity is still there,…

BAKEWELL — It’s safe to say that Make Yourself Comfortable at Chatsworth is a mixed bag, but the star of the show is undoubtedly one of two commissioned installations. Endgrain by Raw Edges takes over the entire Sculpture Gallery, picking up the pattern of mosaic panels that decorate the pedestals of some of the venerable works permanently on display. Benches and seats appear to grow out of a grid-like timber floor that is reminiscent of a De Stijl painting. Most intriguingly, rather than simply being applied to the surface, the pattern runs right through the wood. The installation is a continuation of an earlier project, also called Endgrain, in which Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay of Raw Edges, after researching how the cells of trees carry water and nutrients, used…

LEE BUL doesn’t talk about meaning. ‘Never,’ she says. She will tell you the materials that hold her works together, the references she draws upon in her research, the architecture she observes in the process, the history that absorbs her, even the philosophical thoughts that drive her, but – publicly, anyway – what the culmination stands for? Its so-called significance? That’s up to the person in front (or inside) of her art to decide. It isn’t a particularly radical position for an artist to take – this vow of silence – but it’s certainly one requiring discipline. Many artists will claim that an art work is meaningless without the interpretation of the viewer, before embarking on a point-by-point analysis of each incorporated metaphor. Lee, however, remains tight-lipped. Thoughtful and engaging,…

Does the future of products follow tendencies that point away from material production? THILO BRUNNER: I’m not sure if the only tendency we see in design today is a move away from products. We are certainly confronted increasingly with things being dematerialized and perhaps becoming a bit less physical, but there will always be physical products. The field of design is getting more and more diverse. You could say that design is one basic discipline that could lead to ten or more different professions. This is a big change. How important is the trend towards more conceptual design for you, personally? I’m a fan of physical products, but I’m interested in thorough thinking and production. I think we’re heading towards a world with fewer products. We’ll become very selective about…

According to research done by McKinsey Global Institute, 3D printing ‘could have an impact of up to $550 billion a year by 2025’. Yet as recently as 17 April, a leading Brooklyn-based manufacturer of 3D printers blogged: ‘We at MakerBot are re-organizing our business. We have implemented expense reductions, downsized our staff and closed our three MakerBot retail locations.’ That’s food for thought. For although the technology is of great significance to the healthcare sector, for example – 3D-printed prosthetics and organ models are on the market and heart valves in development – very few households actually own desktop 3D printers, despite the availability of equipment that now operates faster, costs less and is suitable for use with an increasing number of materials. At present, most of our digital fabrication…

ÉCAL’s Salone show has become one of the most talked-about events during Milan Design Week – and for good reason. The two most recent offerings gave visitors exactly what they were craving after a week of walking around and looking at static pieces on display: interactivity. Delirious Home from 2014 featured cuddly cacti and motion-tracking clocks among its engaging objects (Frame 99, p. 136), whereas students this year tackled the selfie phenomenon. ÉCAL certainly puts on a good show, but that’s not what sets the school apart. It’s that creativity seemingly has no bounds in Lausanne, regardless of the topic. The Milan exhibitions are manifestations of interdisciplinary collaborations (2014 combined the skills of students in the design and communication departments, and this year saw future product designers team up with…

THANKS to our desire to re-create the pampering experience of hotels and spas, bathrooms are transcending their practical orientation of yesteryear and becoming spaces dedicated to wellness and the luxury lifestyle. Today’s manufacturers must cater to consumer yearnings for more emotional and lavish bathrooms, while also taking on board societal developments such as ever-shrinking residential spaces and ageing populations. Frame talks to the key companies charged with delivering complex solutions for our new sanitary needs. Statement Pieces These days, it seems every bathroom needs at least one feature with high design impact. ‘Basins as statement pieces represent a key trend, particularly as bathrooms are heavily influenced by hotel design,’ says Mark Walker, sales director of Bagnodesign. ‘Double washbasins, or those with extended countertop spaces, are one way of achieving this…

From Flax To Furniture INher search for environmentally friendly alternatives to passé plastics, Christien Meindertsma made a chair from flax and PLA, a bioplastic material: 100 per cent biodegradable, cleverly constructed and practical. To achieve what she had in mind, the Dutch designer teamed up with Enkev, a company specializing in natural fibres for use in the mattress and automotive industries, among others. ‘Flax is my favourite material,’ says Meindertsma, who once bought a flax farmer’s entire crop for a research project. In order to work with bio-based PLA and to avoid the use of chemicals, she needed a fresh approach to the design of the chair and a new composite material. The composite that she and Enkev’s technicians developed consists of eight layers of woven and needle-punched flax; the…

WHATtransmits the essence of the Mediterranean? The design team at El Equipo Creativo – Oliver Franz Schmidt, Natali Canas del Pozo and Lucas Echeveste Lacy – made that question the starting point for Disfrutar, a fashionable new restaurant in Eixample, a district of Barcelona. El Equipo Creativo’s cache of hospitality projects includes a handful of imaginative and eye-catching designs for the Adrià brothers (of El Bulli fame) and other leading chefs known for avant-garde Catalan cuisine. The owners of Disfrutar (‘enjoy’), who trained at El Bulli, wanted their new restaurant to be as modern and playful as the dishes they serve. ‘They were after something very conceptual,’ says Schmidt, ‘which was great, because that’s the way we like to work. They wanted the interior to show the modest, unsophisticated side…

Experimental Housing ‘It has developed out of our own preferences for living in a modern way.’ The words are those of Greta Grossman, speaking of California design in 1951. Her experimental houses, based on the principles put forward by the Case Study House Program, which began in Los Angeles following the Second World War, are a clear reflection of her statement. Grossman showcased her furniture designs, including the Modern Line sofa, in the open-plan homes she conceived as prototypes of modern housing. ‘THE first time I saw the design was at Art Basel, where it was exhibited by R 20th Century [now R&Company], a New York gallery,’ says Jacob Gubi, chief creative officer at Gubi and the son of Gubi and Lisbeth Olsen, founders of the family-owned business. He’s talking…

When designer Alberto Biagetti gets together with artist Laura Baldassari, the result can be as surprising as Body Building, a furniture collection based on gymnastic apparatus. Their playful interpretation of professional fitness equipment challenges contemporary ideals of the body, exercise and wellness. Blurring the line between sports and leisure, a table rests on dumbbells, while a pommel horse and medicine ball offer places to sit. Did we mention a row of gymnastic rings cleverly disguised as pendant lights? Detailed Italian craftsmanship meets the brute strength of aluminum and the luxury of leather as function and style acquire new meanings. Dubbed ‘the anti-gym’ by Atelier Biagetti, Body Building breaks expectations and gives fresh appeal to the art of keeping fit. atelierbiagetti.com…

Addressing the challenges of global population growth, Mariah Wright, a master’s student enrolled in CSM’s Material Futures programme, developed Crop Constructs, a project that analyses the potential of genetically modified crops for food production. For her research into this highly controversial topic, Wright took an approach similar to that of Carole Collet, who initiated the academic programme and who based her Biolace project on the possible use of synthetic biology to ‘reprogram plants into multi-purpose factories’. Wright started with ten important food crops – among which coffee, soy, wheat and rice – and devised various scenarios for their production. She envisions ‘carnivorous wheat’ growing in Kansas, ‘toxicity-sensing rice’ produced in China and ‘ready-packaged strawberries’ cultivated in California. Crop Constructs makes us think about our relationship with the natural world, while…

‘MYinterest in the way that space affects people started when I was very young and keenly aware of how we lived – a Scandinavian-inspired lifestyle, I guess you’d say. The big family and the “always space around the table” mentality were hugely attractive to people. The informality and warmth were like a magnet. Visiting other houses, which were more controlled, I was always aware that the temperature suddenly dropped by several degrees.’ ‘I had a left and a right brain growing up. My dad was an economist and my mother an artist. I learned very early on that they had two different languages and that getting things done meant talking to each other. That knowledge has been hugely useful, because one problem I often face is how to win the…

FOR60 years, Klaus Kemp has been perfecting the once-forgotten art of diatom arranging. Using a microscope slide as a canvas, he shapes complex geometric patterns using diatoms – intricately beautiful microorganisms that are invisible to the naked eye. Born in Berlin, Kemp was just ten years old when he moved to the UK in 1948, in the wake of the Second World War. He encountered diatoms a few years later through his work for a scientific-supplies company and was instantly hooked. Gradually, he began to acquire clients who commissioned slides from him, and for the past 30 years Kemp has been a fulltime maker of diatom compositions. He lives in the English county of Somerset. What can you tell us about diatoms? KLAUS KEMP: They are single-celled plants with a…

LISTENINGto Michelle Evans talk is strangely captivating. It’s got something to do with her accent, which does provide clues to her origins, but as we chat in the lobby of the Mercure Hotel in London’s upwardly mobile Southwark, I find it impossible to place – and with good reason. Although the founder of rug company Ayka Design, who also creates the interiors of luxury hotels, may have been brought up in Llanelli, a town in southwest Wales, she’s had a nomadic career that has taken her from Birmingham to Brunei and from Zimbabwe to Los Angeles. The profusion of cultures and influences that colour her life is reflected not only in the cadence of her speech but also in her painterly rugs, which often carry highly personal narratives. As Evans…

PARIS — When architect Federico Masotto set out to refurbish the interior of a high-end juice bar in the heart of the French capital, he took the raw ingredients of the delicious juices on the menu as his point of departure, to which he added a multicoloured, show-stopping granite counter: the pivot of his design. ‘My clients wanted the space to have a strong identity that would highlight the quality of their fruit juices,’ says Masotto. ‘They asked me to design a big marble counter – an open workspace of sorts – to be placed at the centre of the room. Because fruit juice would have stained and etched marble in the long run, I proposed granite, a mineral less easily damaged, yet one that also reflects the naturalness of…

STOCKHOLM — Sweden’s capital is home to Acne, the fashion brand whose audacious outlets bring a blush to the cheeks of the retail industry. Acne’s latest offspring is part of Nordiska Kompaniet, Stockholm’s illustrious department store. According to the Swedish clothing label, the concept that led to this shop-in-shop represents the next generation of Acne Studios boutiques. Keeping in mind the high-profile Acne interiors that have bowled us over in the past, we hear ‘next generation’ and are curious, to say the least. Our first glimpse of the store is reassuring, but it also dampens any far-fetched expectations we might have had. The 120-m2 shop makes a strong impression, but no more than that. We spot familiar features found in other Acne stores – sculptural stainless steel, exclusive carpets and…

LISBON — The first move towards the design and realization of the EPAL Water Museum was made in the 1950s, after boilers at the former Barbadinhos Steam Pumping Station in Lisbon had been demolished. The museum opened in 1987, and the initial permanent collection was on display until the end of 2013, when renovations begun. Winner of a closed competition organized by Portuguese water company EPAL was local outfit P-06 Atelier, which came up with the best solution for the redesign of an existing exhibition space for the permanent collection. The room required a total update with a focus on improved accessibility. Designers Nuno Gusmão and Vanda Mota of P-06 Atelier embarked on the design of the exhibition space with a crystal-clear concept: a stream of moving water. ‘The idea…

Online furniture producer Opendesk calls itself an ‘accommodating yet agnostic platform for open making’ and a ‘validating’ link that connects consumers, designers and makers. Covering all aspects of the cross-fertilization process, Opendesk is a global resource that works locally, fitting out offices, for example. It provides access to open-source software, operates via social media and maintains a network of stakeholders: those with ideas and those with production facilities. What Opendesk doesn’t do is to dictate stylistic guidelines. Cofounder Joni Steiner believes ‘a new industrial revolution is near. Open-source online sharing, digital manufacturing and the maker movement are set to change how goods and services are created.’ No longer isolated, products respond to how they are made, how they function and how they can be upcycled. Designers commit their contributions to…

What will be left of the office as we know it when chairs and desks don’t look like office furniture any more? Will different furniture change the way we work? Take Kinesit, for instance, the intelligent office chair that Lievore Altherr Molina designed for Arper. Stripped of its armrests (if space is limited), Kinesit slides quite nicely under the domestic dining table. Kinesit can do anything an ordinary office chair can do, but its functions are built in rather than flaunted. Buttons under the seat control tilt angle (18 degrees of backrest recline ensure continuous synchronized movement), while the chair’s ergonomic design supports the back, provides stability and improves circulation to the legs. Older office chairs may be sturdy and well equipped with high-tech devices that speak a language of…

DESIGN’Spower couple, Ludovica and Roberto Palomba, have amassed an impressive number of awards in the two decades they’ve helmed the studio that bears their names. With partners like Boffi, Kos and Zucchetti, it comes as no surprise that their work has made a palpable impact on the market. The Palombas’ thin-walled, elegantly shaped sinks became almost instant classics, and their more recent designs, such as outdoor wellness pavilions, continue to push the envelope. In 2013 the Palombas were appointed art directors of Kartell by Laufen, a synergy between two iconic brands from the interior and sanitary sectors. Together they created the most comprehensive bathroom collection yet, supported by an unprecedented distribution across 500 stores. The year 2015 marks a significant milestone for the Milanese architects and designers, who are opening…

0 trench coats have the same print, thanks to Stone Island’s Reverse Colour Process 2 to 5 tests are needed to perfect each colour in a range of 12 100 per cent of the coat’s body is a military-specification cotton satin bonded with polyurethane 60,000+ dyes have been developed by Stone Island since the label was founded 90 degrees is the temperature of the corrosion bath in which garments are ‘cooked’ for 30 minutes 60 minutes is the duration of the overdyeing process, which requires the use of colour-fixing agents…

‘The photoshoot with Klaus opened my eyes to a strange world I didn’t know existed. His work inspired me to shoot a little personal project quite different from my usual work.’ Originally a news and documentary photographer, Bristol-based Gareth Iwan Jones now specializes in portraits. His subjects run the gamut from ferret enthusiasts and re-enactors of historical events to hula hoopers. Recent commissions took him behind the scenes at the Glastonbury Festival, as well as into the lives of transgender children. He published Caravan in 2014. Jones got together with Klaus Kemp for Frame 105. ‘I remember admiring a piece in the magazine that featured the Frame office – I was an undergrad at the time – and thinking how amazing it would be to work there. Years later, that…

Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Pleunie Buyink lures us with the glitz and glamour of her Limber Gems, a series of flexible jewel-like ornaments for interiors. Exhibited at Ventura Lambrate in Milan, Limber Gems glistened against a raw backdrop of rough concrete and stone. Buyink made rubber a core ingredient of the material she developed for these luminous pieces, which can be stretched and shaped to the contours of any crevice, corner or curve. Reminiscent of Dalí’s warped pocket watches – think The Persistence of Memory – these treasures are ready to move in, settle down and amaze your friends. pleuniebuyink.com…

WHENSwedish designer Jonas Forsman approached Marcel Wanders with a prototype for a foldable chair, the Dutchman was impressed by Forsman’s ‘complete’ view on design. ‘Jonas’s prototype proved a point,’ says Wanders. ‘It was still primitive and perhaps not yet super developed, but it was clear what the product could do.’ Shift, presented by Moooi at this year’s Salone, is a foldable lounge chair that hides its nuts and bolts under a sheath of knitted polyester: a shinier version of the same upholstery fabric is often used for office chairs. ‘The idea is to minimize materials and make it as light as possible,’ says Forsman. ‘How it functions and how the mechanisms are put together are two aspects of great importance to me.’ By employing a matte yarn and a melange…

COShas pulled off some of the more memorable Milan moments over the last few years. Visitors to 2014’s Salone will remember Nendo’s parade of monochromatic shirts (Frame 99, p. 098), while previous instalments saw set designers Bonsoir Paris (Frame 95, p. 086) and Gary Card take the reins. This time the Swedish fashion label had its sights on Snarkitecture’s Daniel Arsham and Alex Mustonen, who delivered a dramatic cavern of fluid fabric. Martin Andersson and Karin Gustafsson, the respective heads of menswear and womenswear at Cos, came across Arsham’s art and felt a kindred working ethos. ‘He uses the power of reduction – and so do we,’ says Andersson. ‘We strip things back to make them more beautiful.’ Gustafsson adds that while you wouldn’t assume so, Cos collections ‘often start…

LONDON — You’re shopping for shoes in a dense fog, but it’s neither a London fog nor the fog of doubt. It’s a smart room-size mirror covering three walls whose cottony white surfaces clear – with the help of a Kinect sensor – only when the glass captures shoppers’ moving reflections. This Galeria Melissa, was designed by Brazilian Muti Randolph, who did the brand’s highly mutable São Paulo flagship (Frame 51, p. 98) and whose dynamic spaces often react to temporary input: the presence of people, sound or light. He uses bespoke software, technologies and content to build evocative environments that are more than visually monolithic; visitors feel transported, their senses and emotions guided or even overwhelmed by the surroundings. Randolph’s nightclubs, art installations and retail interiors draw technology-infused space…

AMSTERDAM — What do you do after establishing a successful fish restaurant? Refreshingly, instead of opening another one, Michiel Deenik decided to turn his hand to something else. An ode to meat, The Roast Room is the chef’s new temple, just spitting distance from Visaandeschelde, his original venture in Amsterdam South. The newer place shares the same dedication to quality dining as its predecessor and, perhaps more relevant for Frame, the same design team. Studios Modijefsky and Molen have once again combined forces to provide a completely bespoke interior. ‘We complement each other nicely,’ says Esther Stam of Studio Modijefsky. ‘My team handles the interior, and Fred does all the art and sculptures.’ Fred is Frederik Molenschot of Studio Molen, whose CL-Fata Morgana chandelier found its way to the pages…

IN1952 Heinrich Bette cofounded the bathroom company that was to bear his name. The firm experienced a turnabout at the end of the 1960s, when steel underwent what current managing partner Thilo Pahl describes as an ‘industrial revolution’. Technology imported from the automotive sector reduced the production time of a bathtub from hours to a matter of minutes. Unlike its competitors, Bette couldn’t afford to invest in new presses, but to prevent the company’s demise, Heinrich and his partner invented their own version. Today, the press is still in operation. As a mechanical engineer, Thilo Pahl revels in the fact that Bette has its own tool shop, which enables the company to tackle any challenge a designer presents. A hexagonal bath? The thinnest bath rim on the market? No problem.…