Unlimited by Technology
When I ‘inherited’ my first small printing press (as I learnt much later, my father actually liberated the machine – as he called it – from a cellar where it had stood unused for decades) at the innocent age of 12, I knew nothing about design, let alone its specialist domain, typography. I took the press [...]
Kinetic Art of the Future
Like Time Lords, the boffins have regenerated… and this time, they’re artists! That’s one conclusion to draw from the Kinetica Art Fair , (4 – 7 February), dedicated to kinetic, cybernetic, electronic and light art in the P3 Gallery situated deep in the concrete underbelly of the University of Westminster campus in London. The first [...]
Whiteness, Emptiness, Simplicity
In the prologue to his book, White, Kenya Hara writes: ‘it is my hope that, by the time you have finished reading this book, “white” will look differently to you.’ It certainly does that, perhaps more so for the English speaking readers, as Hara also notes.
This simple essay is filled with reflections on Japanese history [...]
Industrial Craftwork
It was fate that bought together Japanese furniture brand Maruni and London furniture showroom Viaduct at the Milan Salone del Mobile in 2005. The director of Viaduct, James Mair, stumbled upon Maruni’s stand at the show and was impressed by its 2004 Nextmaruni series, a range of furniture by Japan’s leading contemporary designers.
Unbeknown to Mair, [...]
Architectural Sweets
Architect Souhei Imamura is always busy on several projects at once. Apart from teaching at Waseda University, he runs an architectural practice, Atelier Imamu, and collaborates with overseas architects on projects in Tokyo, most recently on a house with Felix Claus (see Blueprint March 2008). One of his more unusual collaborations has been with the [...]
Ghostvillage
In the January issue of Blueprint, we included graffiti artist collective Agents of Change in our list of 25 who will change architecture and design in 2010. For its Ghostvillage project in October 2009, the group created paintings on the walls throughout the abandoned village of Polphail in south-west Scotland. The project was carried out [...]
Typeface Architecture
‘If You Could Collaborate’, an exhibition that opens tomorrow night at the A Foundation Gallery in London, features work that marries the creative talents of industries that do not normally have an opportunity to interact. As part of the show, graphic designers Praline, who have worked with clients including Coca-Cola and ICI, chose to work with the model shop of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Architects.
New Year, New Order
Back in 1999, lots of people were afraid of the Millennium Bug. They thought (or were being told by the computer industry) that at midnight on 31 December, all the systems would crash and our world, totally dependent on computers as it is, would come to a halt. That didn’t happen. Most of us also [...]
Change in 2010
In the run up to the general election, the term change will be much used and abused at Westminster. As Brendan O’Neill, editor of the independent political site, Spiked, points out, Gordon Brown used the word nearly 50 times in his speech to the Labour Party Conference; Peter Mandelson used it 38 times, and David Cameron has claimed to be launching a ‘movement for change’.
Whatever Happened to Ergonomics?
Allusions to ergonomics abound: human factors, user-friendly, usability engineering, human-centred design and heuristic evaluation. We are confronted by clumped initials: GUI (graphical user interface), HMI (human-machine interface) and, if you can believe it, TIMTOWTDI (there is more than one way to do it). Any comprehensive design initiative inevitably requires such bed companions, and the more [...]
Supersonic Design
Marc Newson is considered by many to be the leading light of contemporary design today. He describes his work as instinctive, creating what he believes to be a ‘representation of fantastical objects’. His work flows from design concepts with artistic connotations to designs that are functional and mass-produced.
Man and Machine
In a recent lecture at the Barbican in London, American designer/artist James Wines declared that the Age of Industry, in which we were fascinated by machinery, is over and that we are now beginning an Age of Ecology, where we will rediscover our relationship with nature. It’s a widely held view that humanity lost touch with the natural environment during the 20th century, and that industrial development has damaged the planet almost to the point of no return.
The 21st Century Virtual House
The creations of David Tajchman could be the next best thing to happen in architecture and design. Among his latest projects is Woody Alien (pictured), an exemplary house for the 21st century: elegant, original and energy-efficient. In addition to his raw talent and ambition, Tajchman also seems to have been fortuitous in meeting the right people [...]
Honouring a Progressive Master
The great French designer Pierre Paulin, who passed away in July 2009, has now been given an posthumous honorary Royal Designer for Industry award for his outstanding contribution to design. One of his final projects was a collaboration with Ligne Roset, which began in late 2008 and brought his 1970s Pumpkin design (picture above) to the [...]
A Way Out of the Bauhaus
For more than 40 years my letterhead has consisted of a red bar at the top of the page, with my name reversed out of it. Some of my educated friends still feel they have to make remarks about that device, especially now that the Bauhaus celebrates its 90th birthday and Berlin is covered in [...]
Ceramic artist Stephen Dixon at the V&A
When I met Stephen Dixon in his studio at London’s Victoria and Albert (V&A) museum, he had just moved in and was working on a large-scale bust of Queen Victoria. Enlisting the help of the visiting public, the piece has been decorated with broken pieces of crockery. Dixon, who trained as a fine artist at [...]
Restaurant & Bar Design Awards: Call For Entries
Now in its second year, the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards is calling for entries for its 2010 event. A judging panel of internationally respected journalists and editors from some of the world’s top design, hospitality and lifestyle publications will reward both the designers and operators behind exceptional restaurant and bar projects that opened [...]
PARCS by Pearson Lloyd and Bene
‘Perhaps we are returning to a more natural way of working,’ said Jeremy Myerson, director of the Helen Hamlyn Centre, at the launch of Bene’s Parcs furniture range at Vienna Design Week this October. His argument, the result of research he has undertaken at the Royal College of Art (RCA), is that many office [...]
Blueprint/Claystation Onepiece Design Winners
Blueprint and Claystation are pleased to announce the results of the Onepiece chair design competition. The Blueprint/Claystation stand at 100% Design (above) brought the design process to life as visitors sat on specially designed Onepiece chairs and created their entries. The stand was a hive of activity at the centre of the show with visitors stopping to create a design and meet the blueprint team.
The Myths of User-Centred Design
The extent to which members of the public not trained in design should be involved in the design process has become something of a hot topic over the past few years. Before the emergence of user-centred design, except for consulting market research reports or focus groups, designers were largely left alone to channel their predictions [...]
