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, [...]
Thomas Heatherwick’s first art show
While still a postgraduate student at the Royal College of Art in 1993, Thomas Heatherwick had the idea of making a piece of furniture from a single material, all components extruded in one piece. He began looking for an aluminium factory to achieve this end. At the time, a visit to Alcan in Banbury got [...]
Vitra Workshop Comes to London
Vitra and Blueprint present the Audile Interpretation Workshop: An Exploration into Sound and Environment.
During the London Design Festival, the spirit of the Boisbuchet workshops will be recreated at Vitra’s base in Clerkenwell. Architect ODA, in association with sound artist Craig Vear and designer Andrew Lock, will explore sonic experience with groups of students and professionals. How [...]
Zona Tortona 2009: What not to miss
Next week sees the 48th year of biggest event in the global design calendar: the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan. Around 88,000 visitors are expected to pour into the area around Via Tortona in the southwest of Milan during this week of the Salone del Mobile. Originally an ad-hoc happening, Zona Tortona Design – [...]
Baroque at the V&A
As part of a season of events celebrating the Baroque, the V&A has curated an exhibition entitled ‘Style in the Age of Magnificence’. Drawn from all over the world, this collection of relics, artefacts and images is impressive in scope, but somehow fails to convey the essence of the movement itself.
The displays are organised by [...]
Designs of the Year: Blueprint editor’s nomination
A few months ago I was asked by the Design Museum to make a nomination for the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year Awards. The categories are wide for these awards, including graphics, architecture furniture and product design. But it seemed to me that as architecture is well covered by other awards, I should focus [...]
Interview: Konstantin Grcic
Konstantin Grcic may be disenchanted by the industry, but his Myto chair, is furniture category winner of the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year, and shortlisted for the overall prize which will be announced next week. Caroline Roux interviewed him for the October 2008 issue of Blueprint
I suppose if you’re going to create an instantaneous design icon, [...]
What’s On This Week
Chandigarh Catalogue: Furniture Conversations
5 March-28 April
RIBA, W1B
Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret’s designs for furniture to fit out the buildings of Chandigarh are the subject of this photographic exhibition. Still in use today, the minimalist, simple, robust furniture was constructed from locally-sourced materials. Showing as part of RIBA’s Le Corbusier Season, photographs will display the work [...]
Interview: Gary Hustwit, director of Helvetica and Objectified
When Helvetica, a documentary about the ubiquitous and famously functional typeface, was released in 2007, it gained more mainstream success than anyone expected. While it was never going to challenge Spiderman III for box office receipts, the film has been shown at film festivals around the world, won rave reviews – particularly from graphic designers [...]
From Chandigarh, with love
Anyone who has been to the Le Corbusier exhibition in the crypt of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool will have been taken by the beautiful plans and models of Chandigarh on show. We’ve already reviewed the show when it was at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein and we’re looking at it again [...]
Blueprint Open Studios – Tomoko Azumi
Open Studio 6.30pm Wednesday 15th August
This month will see Tomoko [...]
Philippe Starck: From Sex to Space
At this year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan, Blueprint’s acting editor Tim Abrahams interviewed Philippe Starck about his new furniture for Cassina. The range, entitled the Privé Collection, is designed to accommodate and facilitate sex. A slightly truncated version of the interview appears below.
Philipe Starck (Ph.S): You want me to explain it? You know, [...]
