I am about to get a pet. Primarily, my son is getting one. A kitten. It has been his dream for the last four years and within a few weeks she is moving in. The children are enthusiastic of course, and so am I. My husband is not yet convinced about the greatness with animals IN the house. It is going to be lovely though, I am sure.

But I am aslo thinking of scratches on brown leather Swan-chair and ded mice dragged to the entrence door. And the litter box...

Some animal lovers have created their own animal-friendly design solutions to complement their human-centric décor. Bill Hilgendorf and Maria Cristina Rueda turned their Brooklyn apartment into a bright playground where their two cats can get indoor exercise.

 

 Credit: Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Sue Golmanavich of Osterville, Massachusetts, had a niche for her cat's litter box (with an exhaust vent) built into her bathroom when she renovated the space. The rest of the bathroom was planned around it. Ambitious...

 

 Credit: David Cicconi for The New York Times

In Toru Hirose's living room in Kobe, Japan, his basset hound has a hidden snack bar, restroom and nap spa.

 

Credit: Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

 

 

The largest Nordic design award, The Torsten & Wanja Söderberg Prize, this year goes to the Swedish designgroup "Front".

Front: Anna Lindgren, Sofia Lagerkvist, Charlotte von der Lancken    Photo:Knut Koivisto

The innovative Stockholm-based designgroup works conceptually with design and everybody in the group takes part in every step of the design process. Craft skills compared with digital solutions and a great deal of humour and poetry makes the Front expression quiet unique.

This is not the first time they get this kind of attention, already in 2005 as newly established, they received the "Young designer of the year" award by Wallpaper Magazine.

 

"Horselamp", for Mooi, 2005

 

"Blow away vase" Courtesy of Front

Soft wooden bench - leaves an imprint of the person whosits on it. Courtesy of Front

Front will receive the award at a ceremony at the Röhsska Designmuseum in Gothenburgh the coming autumn.

 

"+20 Egypt Design", is a new government-funded annual initiative that aims to turn Egypt into a design hub by exposing its locally made products to manufacturers and designers around the world. 

To jumpstart the initiative, +20 took over an empty, century-old Cairene house in the heart of the city’s main market, Khan et Khalili, and asked Italian designer, Paola Navone, to fill its rooms with a curated mix of contemporary Egyptian furniture alongside Italian products from staple brands such as Molteni and Kartell. 

More interesting reading in Marisa Mazria Katz' article in the current issue of Monocle Magazine.

Cairo

The Textile Museum of Washington DC, shows the premiere of a new documentary film: "Contemporary Days: Robin and Lucienne Day Design in the UK", produced by Design Onscreen. 

Prints by Lucienne Day

Robin and Lucienne Day transformed British design after World War II with striking furniture and textiles that signaled a new modernist sensibility for everyday living. They were considered the British counterparts of Charles and Ray Eames in the 1950's. Lucienne's abstract textile designs brought accessible elegance into the homes of postwar British consumers. Robin's revolutionary furniture designs introduced materials such as plastic, steel and plywood to homes, offices and schools. Together, their fresh design approach helped fuel the artistic and commercial awakening that led Britain out of the devastation of World War II. The film traces the Days' personal and professional progression, spanning over more than seventy years--from their days at the Royal College of the Arts in the 1930s, through their long heyday at the forefront of British design, to their recent rediscovery by new generations of design addicts.

A question-and-answer session with Scottish director Murray Grigor and cinematographer Hamid Shams will follow the screening. 

Saturday May 15th at 7.30 pm - Grosvenor Auditorium.

Postmodernism is a complicated term, or set of ideas. Postmodernism is hard to define, because it is a concept that appears in a wide variety of disciplines or areas of study, including art, architecture, music, film, litterature, sociology, communications, fashion, and technology. It's also hard to locate it temporally or historically, because it is not clear exactly when postmodernism begins.

Victor Vasarelly "Kettes"

The easiest way is perhaps to start thinking about modernism, the movement from which postmodernism seems to grow or emerge. Postmodernism can be understood as a reaction to modernism. Whereas modernism was often associated with identity, unity, authority, and certainty, postmodernism is often associated with difference, separation, textuality, and skepticism.

 

Michele de Lucchi "Memphis Floor lamp"

The postmodern design-movement began in the US and then spread internationally across the globe. Post-modern designers tend to reject the functional, minimal use of materials and lack of embellishment adopted by modernist designers. In the seeking to free themselves of restrictive rules, post-modernists place form over function when desired. Perhaps the Memphis-group, founded by Ettore Sottsass in Milan 1981, shows the unexpected and unconventional in their design better than any other designer at the same period. This style promotes freedom of expression in form and color. 

 

Pierre Sala: "Clairefontaine"

A key theme in postmodern design is borrowing from the past to create eclectic designs in architecture, furnishings, and interiors. Wit and humor are also common elements in post-modern buildings and homes. Post-modernists seek to create comfortable spaces for the body, mind, and soul. This results in a mixture of various design styles and unexpected materials. Postmodern design typically has an air of excitement and energy.

 

Massimo & Lella Vignelli "Kono"

The dynamic work of England's most renowned designer couples; Robin and Lucienne Day, was brought to an end earlier this year when Lucienne passed away. The duo offered post-war Britain an optimistic and modern vision through their pioneering work in furniture, graphics and textile design. Robin and Lucienne Day transformed British design after World War II with striking furniture and textiles that signaled a new modernist sensibility for everyday living. Robin's revolutionary furniture designs introduced materials such as plastic, steel and plywood to homes, offices and schools. Lucienne will be remembered for her striking textile designs of the late 1940's and 50's, which combined the abstraction identifiable in contemporary art of the time, with the British tradition for natural motifs dating back to William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement.

Milan Triennale, 1951; Robin Day 'Lounge Chairs' in foreground and Lucienne Day 'Calyx' fabric in background.

Robin Day, who is now 95, is perhaps best known for his 'Polypropylene Chair' (1963), one of the best-selling pieces of furniture worldwide. Amazingly, he continues to work and has received commissions in the past decade from leading British brands as well as from Italian manufacturer Magis.

Set of early stackable chairs by Robin Day, for sale on Deconet this week

Robin and Lucienne Day (image: Design Museum, London)

Every week, Deconet welcomes new sellers who whishes to market their design items on our global arena.

One of the latest added auctioneers is German-based Kunst- & Auktionshaus W.G. Herr. I had a quick chat with one of the owners, Mr Jürgen Schops (former owner of DesignKlassiker Krefeld) to find out more about this company.

Li - Welcome to Deconet! Please tell me shortly about Kunst- & Auktionshaus W.G. HERR.
Jürgen - Our Art & Auctionhouse was founded in 1982 by Werner G. Herr. We were one of the first auctionhouses in Germany dealing with design furniture and lamps. My business partner Thomas Turowski and myself, are now focusing even harder on design.

L - How often to you have auctions?
J - In 2010 there will be two auctions, one in spring and one in fall. The upcoming sale is by the end of this month, the 29th of April, most of the items may be viewed on Deconet. In the next years we plan to have three auctions per year.

Günter Belzig "Floris"

L - What is your background and why did you choose to go from dealer to auctioneer?
J -After working as dealers for over 20 years we wanted a new challenge. Over the years we bought many objects in international auction houses. Along with that came the idea to manage an auction house, and last summer we were given the great opportunity to take over Art & Auctionhouse Herr in Cologne.

L - Were are you buyers located?
J - Of course we have many German clients, but we also have a huge percentage of international clientele in Europe and overseas.

L - What kind of objects are most popular? Any clear trends?
J - Most popular among our clients is design furniture, especially danish and italian design.

Meret Oppenheim "Traccia"

L - Which are the big challenges in your business?
J - We think the biggest challenge is to get rare high quality products from the consignors for a realistic limit, which is based on current market prices. In addition to that it is also a huge challenge to kind of "foresee" trends and prices on the market. We always try our best to work as customer-friendly as possible, the primary focus is on the interests of the clientele.

L - We are happy that you chose us as your online marketing channel. What do you hope to achieve by exposing your auction items on Deconet?
J - We would like to gain new international clientele and we think Deconet ist the ideal platform to present our range of products, because the Deconet page is internationally frequented, especially regarding the ascending asian market.

Osvaldo Borsani "Canada"

L - Thank you for your time. Welcome to Deconet!

 I just love this fabulous pair of 1970's table lamps by Raak Design.

The Raak Design Group of Amsterdam was active in the 1970's. Raak cooperated with a number of international designers and architects such as E.J. Jellis, Sergio Asti, Frank Ligtelijn, Bertrand Balas, Maija Liisa Komulainen and Nanny Still. Raak has manufactured a wide range of lighting sources including wall- and standing lamps as well as hanging models. Designs were often based on characteristic combinations of glass and various metals, which added a futuristic effect to the lamps.

The asking price? On application, click here to find out.

If you do not fancy these lamps, there are another 171 table lamps to have a closer look at, on Deconet this week.

 

"From cars, mobiles, computers, lighting, chairs to clothing, packaging, food and toys, driven by our daily addiction for the new, there is a lack of respect for the well tried, trusted, and workable", David Carlson and Brent Richards claim, in the March issue of David Report. I think they have a point here.

The current isssue of David Report, presents some really interesting thoughts and thesis about the design mission of today.  Several important questions are asked:

"Have we not fulfilled Design’s 20th Century’s mission to market, style, brand, and added value, to innovate and to experiment through design"

"We are facing a pandemic of ‘designed stuff’ and we have reached a contamination point, a crisis for Design. Why are we not more pertubed and disturbed, why are we so tolerant? Should we not be calling for a guerrilla war against ‘designerism’ or do we need a revolution to cut the ties with the hero’s of 20th Century Design?"

 

Read the full Design Report here.

 –

The coming weekend is chance for all vintage design lovers to meet with 50 European dealers and
their items. Everything is for sale at the Indoor DesignMarkt in Gent, Belgium.

Organizer and inspirer of this creative concept is Frederic Rozier, a renowned design collector with an international array as director  of Gallery Design7 & expert for Bernaerts Auctionhouse in Antwerp. He has been collecting modern design (Joe Colombo is the favourite) since the early nineties. I had a quick chat with Frederic yesterday and asked him a few questions about the event:

What is DesignMarkt?
- DesignMarkt is an innovative concept for Belgium in vintage design.
The formula includes three design markets annually, located in Ghent and Knokke.
Each market has its own specific design and image interpretation.
They are named IndoorDesignMarkt, DesignMarktGent and DesignMarktKnokke.

Who are exhibiting at DesignMarkt?
- 50 vintage design dealers from all over Europe; City Furniture, Furniture Love, Mid-Century Online, to mention a few...

What can visitors expect to find at DesignMarkt?
- There will be an international array of vintage design objects presented. From utensils to exclusive rarity. The dealers from all over Europe will display a fine selection of their inventory. On top of that a number of specials for a unique and surprising experience will be provided:
Lounge and relax area decorated by Dark Supersize bar.
Specialist food & beverage islands.
Expertise corner with free-expertise of your vintage items.
So let your item from the 20th century be identified for free.
Interview corner arranged by VITRA where contemporary designers will express their own distinct vision on vintage design with great enthusiasm.

Do you have a certain "themes" for the exhibitions?
- For the IndoorDesignMarkt concepts i try to find exclusive locations where the enviroment and displayed items harmonise well.
For the DesignMarktGent we thematise. Next one will be 'Made In Belgium' with an exhibition of Maarten van Severen prototypes and machinerie used to fabricate the early models. DesignMarktKnokke is with view on the beach and sea.

Is theIndoor DesignMarkt a public event?
- It is an open event. We have to ask an entrance, but each ticket also entitled to two extras: free access to Design Museum Gent and free estimate and determination of your vintage item.

Adress: Voorhavenkaai, Gent. Parking is free.