so, (maybe) the last munich story… another must-see was the installation of the interior design department of the academy of fine arts munich. in one of the exhibition areas in the pinakothek der moderne was this impressive ‘tie wrap world’. like a snow paradise. except that the snow was plastic. actually it wasn’t just a must-see also a must-touch. the students worked 16 870 h to realize this. amazing.

we love TIE WRAPS!! yeah, yeah, yeah

I met denise fort at the designparcours. I came into her showroom and was situated in an illustrated world. besides, I need to admit, I am a big fan of black and white drawings. so I felt good where I was – in denise’s world. we talked like good old friends and if I haven’t had to leave, I would have stayed longer. today I received my personal illustration from her. how nice! lalala

it’s me with sunglasses. she wrote: ‘designparcours munich- it was so nice to meet you, matylda. lalala!’
unfortunatly you can’t read it.

denise and me

| fort illustrations | – blog

| denise fort |

another post about munich. I have been there for 2,5 days but there was so much to see that you will read more about munich in the next days. this is an exhibition from the academy of fine arts munich in the pinakothek der moderne. works by all the graduates of the otto künzli class are on display. this ecompasses almost 80 artists, from 1990s until today. a great diversity and range of formal and conceptual approaches.

the exhibition space was full with different display cabinets

david phillips – brooch, 2006-2007
reflector (plastik), acrylic, spray-paint, stainless steel

mielle harvey – bracelet ‘city tribal’ 1998
acrylic glass, fur, nail polish

helena biermann angel – chains ‘leben’
‘tod am 28.09.05’ and ‘ leben am 28.09.05’ 2003-2005
aprox. 1500 insects, jelly capsules; 521 sorts of seeds, jelly capsules

mia maljojoki – neck jewellery
‘you 2 stay with me. we are just about to leave’, 2007
alginate, band

| schmuckklasse |

this is my ‘beaming’ winner from the designparcours. the hfg karlsruhe and merten are presenting ths project about alternative solutions on power sockets and light switches. this are my top 3.

kun buchner – extended power socket

verena gompf – ‘hide’ the light switch wallpaper

jill enders – have fun and pimp your switch

I am back from munich with an overload of impressions. the city was great. the weather bad. the former ‘heizkraftwerk’ was my first adress. it’s the heart of the designparcours. here are some people I met and their work:

chris groitl – with broken arm

tobias glaser – aqua-k a water kiosk project of odeon-k67. thank you tobias, on this day we haven’t been thirsty at all

nadia el aidy – a passionate goldsmit who is making precious knitting jewellery

laura kroell – presenting her label heimatpunk. a clash of traditions with ‘liebe zur heimat’. a real bavarian girl

anke hennig – her jewellery is made from textile and is made in an dna shape. it looks stiff but is soft

sharon geschiere – she uses to make applied design. on sharon’s blog you can see pictures of the process of her work. actually she was exhibiting dishes at the designparcours, but my favourite work is this chair

I will be in munchen in the next days.

| designparcours |
| ihm | leading trade fair for the craft trades

another story from the fair in utrecht: our academy has an own stand. actually, I think it is in a big contrast to the other stands. I think, the others come off badly, because you just find commercial brands (hello, this is about the students … and if you want to “boast”m why don’t you take some of the ‘premier’ brands) and the stands are created loveless. sorry if I come across as “self-boasting”, myself.

another thing I do not understand: how can a fair who is in its first edition call itself: ‘the best living fair in the netherlands’ ? what about you guys let the visitors decide ? I am quite sure, this is bad marketing, too.

here are some impressions of “our” stand abk maastricht so you guys can get a feeling whether my claims could be right. our stand is a stand to interact which I find great. made by passionate students:

#

here is a sticky idea of jana walliser

first you need a chewing gum…

…after chewing you put it on the wall…

…and the chair receives colour

I was in utrecht (if people say that amsterdam is a great dutch city they haven’t been in utrecht yet) in the last 2 days and spend a great evening with some former design academy students. stephan siepermann and jeroen wesselink have their studio in an old moat in the city centre of utrecht. koen lomans cooked a perfect dinner, my favourite beefsteak included. we had some wine and obviously a lot of fun.

‘leaft’ lamp – stephan siepermann (you can find the hanging version above)

‘saddle’ chair – jeroen wesselink

in the mix – work of both

| stephan siepermann |
| jeroen wesselink |
| jan koen lomans |

practical and a good laugh, too.

joo youn peak, student of interactive telecommunications in new york, made 50 limited editions and sold 47 pieces at the exhibition of the work and gained ‘pillowig’ fans. two months later fans did a group performance piece at the old palace, seoul.

| joo youn paek | – pillowig

I found this today. from last year’s the great indoors awards afterparty.

fabian von spreckelsen and me with item idem’s asa warschafsky

bernhard willhelm opened his first shop in tokyo on february 4th 2006. the design-duo item idem created an environment inspired by the shelters of japanese homeless which are build with found objects, cardboards, blue plastic and waste of the consumerist society.

‘this shop is the ideal palace for a dandy-homeless.’

| item idem |
– when I saw the homepage the first time I wasn’t sure if it is the right one. but don’t get confused. it’s the right one! when you use the link, you will know what I am talking about.. go for it

yuta watanabe graduated with first class honours in product design from ravensbourne college of design and communication in london. I enjoy the little clou in the reinterpretation of a pencil.

| yuta watanabe |

landscape photography has never been something I like. just as still lifes. I appreciate photos with people. once in a blue moon I like still lifes. the exceptions proves the rule, people say. here is one of these rare exceptions: ( damn, he is good )

nike | posters for shoes | 2007

intersection | eau de mobile | 2004

psp | white | 2006

doingbird magazine | coathangers | 2007

maurice scheltens is working in the fields of fashion, art and advertisement. he creates still lifes that are both hyper realistic and completely artificial. Usually he takes objects from the worlds of commerce, fashion and design. He tends to remove them from their natural habitats and places them in a new environment. Thereby he often exposes them to uneasy conditions. And THAT combination I find fascinating. And suddenly I like a still life.

| maurice scheltens |

another story from the furniture fair, IMM, in cologne. when I was there I had a nice chat with a salesman from fredericia furniture, denmark. I just walked by and wanted to sit down. I saw these cozy looking chairs and he offered me to sit. I ended up lounging there for more than a half hour and actually wanted to stay but I had to move on.

now I read that this chair, called stingray, got the ‘interior innovation award 2008‘. the idea für stingray had the young danish designer thomas pedersen and it is a re-thinked alternative of the stingray made of plastic. an oldfashioned rocking chair gets a new meaning and becomes a modern classic.

everbody wants to sit on the stingray

nice frederica salesman from copenhagen

don’t we know the problems about backpacking. big rooms, dormitory bunks – it’s loud, it’s uncomfortable. of course you meet new, interesting people while traveling. but is that worth to stay another night?

isn’t that the perfect idyll?

nils holger moormann studied law but his curiosity for design made him start his own practice in 1982. he shows us simple forms and detailed solutions in his work and has been producing and selling work by young unknown designers ever since.

His new baby is an old historical building in aschau, bavaria. he is converting it into a hostel. and aschau is the place where you can also find his company. the project is called ‘berge’ – which is an deduction of the german word ‘herberge’ (hostel) and can be translated into ‘mountain’. Moormann wants to create a meetingpoint for creative people, a place where you want to stay. you will find there individual appartments with own kitchens, no tv – just a library with selected books. the interior will be, like moormann’s products are always described, modestly down-to-earth.

actually I didn’t wanted to promote his project in the way I did. but the fact that he is doing that without financial benefit and is investing so much, he proves that he is an entrepeneur who finishes what he starts. 3 rooms are already done. I am curious how it will be when the whole hostel is ready.

| nils holger moormann |
| berge |

I already saw the sofa last year at the milan design week 2007. but my flatmate found the picture in a magazine and we think that it is a post worth. especially because gold became so en vogue thesedays.
maybe we like it because our couch will be away soon and we are searching for some replacement.

the matching jacket to the sofa – nice twin-set

chantilly oval by edra

lamé wind breaker by american apparel