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Welche Form hat der Gegenstand, der uns das JETZT zeigt? Wie sind die Dinge beschaffen, die uns in diesem Moment umgeben? Welche Schlüsse lassen die uns umgebenden gestalteten Dinge auf unsere Zeit, unseren sozialen Status zu? Und wieweit werden

If music be the food of love, then where better to dine out than a world-class concert hall or opera house? Here, Architonic examines a number of recently completed architectural projects that perform as hard as the artists who take to their stages.

Perforated walls, panels and screens have been used for centuries as a way to control the level of light entering a building or to offer privacy to the occupants. The functions of perforations have remained largely the same, but the materials and

When young British designer Samuel Wilkinson set out to redesign the standard low-energy light bulb, with the aim of making it work just as hard aesthetically as it does environmentally, he was in for a long trek. Journeying beyond the safe and

A retrospective of the work of industrial-design master Kenneth Grange at London's Design Museum celebrates the prolific designer's contribution to shaping British material culture, while encouraging us to think about the purpose and responsibilities

Most people have at one time or another spent the night in a tent and have benefited from the protection provided by its fabric, while at the same time enjoying the sensation of being separated from nature by nothing more than a thin shell. Textile

Brick is one of the most ancient and familiar building materials known to man, and its strength, character and flexibility of use continue to attract architects working on innovative contemporary buildings. Architonic examines some key projects that

As the cost of hosting major sporting events continues to rise, the need for something positive to be left behind once the fun and games are over becomes ever more vital. Architonic examines past and future events and the differing approaches to

Behind every great design there's a great designer. But, more often than not, there are a number players involved. Meet Claus Mølgaard, the go-to Danish design engineer whose work on products for the likes of Ron Arad and the Bouroullec Brothers

Professor Kongjian Yu, founder of Turenscape Landscape Architects, is one of the world's leading landscape designers. He gave a revolutionary lecture at the IFLA congress in Zurich, entitled 'Reinventing the good earth'.

Rich Brilliant Willing – even if the name of the design studio run by Theo Richardson, Charles Brill and Alexander Williams has a slightly ironic touch, it is an accurate characterisation of the trio – they are rich in ideas, their designs are

She may elect to spell her name all lower case, but matali crasset's work is big on concept and ambition. Yet, the Paris-based designer, who's collaborated with the likes of Established & Sons and Pallucco, insists she's not that interested in

Concrete has in recent times become a highly popular material for product and furniture design. One of the founders of this trend is Studio IVANKA, which was established in Budapest by Katalin and Andras Ivanka in 2003.

For the first time since it was founded in 2005, Design Miami/ Basel was this year under the new direction of Marianne Goebl, who curated the trade fair with an expert eye. In February 2011 she followed in the footsteps of Ambra Medda who, after

In the third of our series of interviews from this year's Milan Furniture Fair with some of the creative industries' leading figures, we meet Lorenza Luti, marketing and retail director of established Italian brand Kartell, which, after 50 years in

As every spring, Architonic travelled to New York on your behalf in order to investigate the latest trends on the North American market for you. Here we report on what we discovered in the city's showrooms and at the ICFF.

There was a time when context was everything in construction. Local materials were transformed by the ambition and skill of the builder into a functional, stylistically appropriate structure. In the face of an, at times seemingly inexorable, movement

In the second of our series of four interviews with four leading design figures from this year's Milan Furniture Fair, Architonic meets Alessandro Mendini – designer, architect, writer, theorist and all-round provocateur. Mendini, who turns 80 this

A series of new architecture commissions and exhibitions suggests that museums might no longer be in the business of pageantry. In this third, and final, part of a series examining the notion of the post-spectacle museum, Architonic meets Michael

Miljana Nikolic and Dimitrios Stamatakis are two of the 14 winners of the 'Young Balkan Designers' competition initiated by the Mikser organisation who exhibited their work under the same name at Salone Satellite 2011.

In the first of four interviews from the 2011 Milan Salone Internazionale del Mobile with four very different figures from the creative world – an internationally celebrated architect, a grand master of Italian design, a strongly concept-led

'Awards come and go,' says Benjamin Hubert. 'They're not a mark of good design, that's for sure.' You'd be forgiven for thinking that there's more than a touch of false modesty or disingenuity at work here, given the celebratory press coverage the

When designers and leading industrial enterprises put their heads together, it usually gets exciting. While such a collaboration allows industry the possibility of demonstrating its special capabilities in a completely new context, its manufacturing

It's somewhat fitting, given the almost lyric quality of his name, that Canadian-born designer Yorgo Lykouria should be interested in reintroducing the poetic into everyday life. His latest product for premium bathroom brand Alape is a wash basin

The bathroom is an environment which doesn't only adapt constantly to the changes dictated by design and fashion, but has also been revolutionised in a technical sense.At ISH 2011 in Frankfurt Architonic went on the track of the latest developments

More and more prestigious manufacturers of up-market design products participated in this year's EuroShop, a clear indication of the significant international role of this Düsseldorf trade fair. As a result this successful trade fair is a model of

Put a group of designers, curators and design writers in a room and what do you get? The Dornbracht Conversations. The third annual platform for intelligent dialogue on the state of design, past, present and future, hosted by German design

In Kürze eröffnet eine Ausstellung über Buckminster Fuller im Marta Herford Museum. Gestaltet wurde sie von Sir Norman Foster, der mit Richard Buckminster Fuller zwischen 1968 bis 1983 an verschiedenen Projekten zusammenarbeitete.

The principles of geodesic construction were developed by the pioneering American architect and engineer R Buckminster Fuller in the middle of the last century as part of his efforts to use science and technology to address universal issues. His

Shuffling off this mortal coil is something we all, sadly, have to do. There's no opting out. But while mortality might be a great leveller, a number of architects have shown recently how designing environments that process death – be it in

With ISH Frankfurt 2011 – the leading international trade fair for all things bathroom – about to open its doors, Architonic takes a look at just some of the new products that will be on show. We've kept it clean.

A series of new architecture commissions and exhibitions suggests that museums are no longer in the business of pageantry. In this second part of a series examining post-spectacle museums, architect Brad Cloepfil talks about the phenomenon of

In January one of the world's major trade fairs for architecture, materials and systems took place in the halls of the new Munich trade fair site. We now round off our collection of reports with this third part of our look back at the exhibition, in

Few design brands evoke as much warmth on the part of consumers as the heritage-steeped Finnish company Artek, currently celebrating 75 years in business. Co-founded in 1935 by the hero of Scandinavian modernism Alvar Aalto, Artek has certainly

With thermal under-apparel in place, Architonic ventured forth from the exhibition halls of the Koelnmesse during this January's imm cologne to visit Passagen – the ever-growing programme of off-fair exhibitions and events in showrooms, galleries,

The impression we got during our visit to BAU 2011, which took place in Munich from 17 to 22 January, has been confirmed by the published visitor numbers. The fair was a resounding success and is therefore fully justified in describing itself as "The

'Regrets, I've had a few,' sang Sinatra in his classic ballad 'My Way', while Piaf famously insisted that she regretted absolutely nothing. Somewhere between these two lies Ronan Bouroullec, one half of the distinguished French go-to design duo, the

At Bau 2011 the principal focus was very much on sustainability. For a long time now a large number of manufacturers have been responding to this trend and to the new ecological benchmarks, and at the fair environmentally certified products were

Good architecture creates environments that are, among other things, enjoyable to spend time in and practical to use, and in no scenario is this more important than the provision of treatment or support for those dealing with illness or trauma.

Punching well above their weight this year at imm cologne were the young guns exhibiting in the sixth edition of the [D3] Design Contest, the platform for emerging international design talent. Here, we talk to one of the two joint-winners, Harry

'Maybe I don't like objects.' It's not every day you hear such a statement from a designer, particularly one as celebrated as Tokujin Yoshioka, who was recognised as A&W Designer of the Year 2011 during this year's imm cologne, But, then again,

Ireland is in a reflective mood these days. With the island nation on the edge of Europe facing up to the reality of a severely damaged economy and a decimated construction industry, nostalgia is doing what it's wont to do.

It's fair to say that certain countries have, over the years, been more successful than others in terms of marketing a distinctive and compelling national design identity abroad. The very human kind of modernism expressed in the furniture of postwar

Robin Day, one of Britain's greatest designers, whose illustrious career spanned seven decades, dies at the age of 95

'Waste not, want not' is an expression that has become increasingly pertinent in recent years as economic conditions have forced many of us to tighten our belts and make the most of what we have, rather than constantly replacing old with new. This

Accommodating one or two people only or a group, extendable tables can be adapted to a romantic tète-a-tète, a family with children or even a large festive gathering. Here we present the various types and systems which are available.

In the world of design, China's rapid-manufacturing prowess and the oil-fuelled 'tabula rasa' urban developments of countries such as the UAE and Kazakhstan have given cause for thought in a typically Western-dominated field. But what of the

His very first furniture design – for established American brand Bernhardt Design – is an exercise in form follows comfort. Once you're sitting on Jephson Robb's new 'Amri' chair, it's seriously hard to get up again. This invitation to stay put

'Emerging', 'the ones to watch' and 'the stars of tomorrow' are just some of the labels that have been applied of late to young London-based architectural practice Carmody Groarke. Founded just four years ago, the studio has more than proved its

Another year over. But don't get all misty-eyed. Apply that retrospection to some engaging design instead. Two exhibitions currently running, one at Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the other at the offices of MariniPandolfi/Comet in Florence, look

Imagine, as a manufacturer, that your potential market is two billion consumers worldwide. This almost inconceivable figure is the ultimate scale of d.light's ambition, a consumer-products company set up by a pair of social entrepreneurs in 2007 to

Ancient city. Contemporary design practice. Jerusalem's inaugural week-long design festival foregrounds once more Israel's conceptually confident and steadily growing design scene.

A series of new architecture commissions and exhibitions suggests that museums might no longer be in the business of pageantry. In this first part of a short series examining post-spectacle museums, Museum of Modern Art contemporary architecture

In his analysis of how pleasure works, Freud argued that repetition – the act of doing or experiencing something over and over again – can, in its compulsiveness, be highly enjoyable. The grandaddy of psychoanalysis might, in that case, have

In the (unfortunate) hierarchy of design disciplines – just ask any architect and they'll confirm this – textile design has traditionally occupied a less-than-superior position. Spanish-born Londoner Cristian Zuzunaga has been troubling the

In what for the moment will be the last part of our "Concrete in Architecture" series the focus will be on the use of concrete in interior architecture, in particular for creating objects and furniture. .The attraction of concrete as a material is

Respected British designer Jasper Morrison has learnt many things in the course of his career. For example, how to design products that create 'atmosphere', as he describes it, yet have longevity, and how to ignore the marketing machine that would

Alain Berteau is often told by journalists that he is representative of Belgian design. He's not so sure. Architonic caught up with architect-designer Berteau at the Interieur 2010 design biennale to discuss his latest work, the trouble with defining

Thanks to an invitation to FEED, the first congress of international bloggers and digital media, received from Valencia Disseny Week and ADCV, the association of Valencia designers, Architonic had the opportunity not only to attend Habitat Valencia

He's big in Belgium. And increasingly elsewhere, thanks to him being named Designer of the Year by prestigious design biennale Interieur 2010. Bram Boo's furniture designs delight and challenge in equal measure with their chaotic, often ironic,

Marmomacc, the premier international exhibition of natural stone products and processing took place in Verona early in October. With 1500 companies exhibiting their wares it covered the widest possible spectrum of the natural stone industry, ranging

Cersaie - one of the world's largest trade fairs for ceramics and bathroom furnishings – takes place annually in Bologna in northern Italy.As we announced in advance of Cersaie 2010 Architonic now presents the best new products which we have

British furniture designer Matthew Hilton's work manages to walk that very fine line between restraint and expressiveness. It's probably why his designs, offering as they do a kind of reassurance, are so respected by so many. But the path hasn't

In the second part of our 'Concrete in Architecture' series, Architonic shows how concrete certainly doesn't have to be grey. From delicate tones to high luminosity, it can take on a wide range of chromatic and emotional complexions. In the following

Already a contemporary classic, French designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance's 'Corvo' chair for US manufacturer Bernhardt Design is certainly no flash-in-the-pan object to be consumed briefly and then forgotten. Highly considered in terms of its design

As the academic wheels of design creak into a new term, thoughts of the most recent graduates striving to avoid a professional-scrap-heap scenario fall to the back of the mind as the hunt for the latest bright young creatives begins again. But, with

This year's London Design Festival, now in its eighth year, was not only bigger than ever, it was also more international in complexion, with a significant number of non-British brands exhibiting in their permanent showrooms, in pop-up spaces and at

Almost no other material manages to carry such contradictory associations. Stigmatised on the one hand, celebrated on the other, it evokes highly diverse reactions. The word 'concrete' was used for the first time in 1750 by Bernard Forêst de

One of today's most outstanding architects has been selected as the guest of honour at this year's "Interieur" trade fair in Kortrijk (Belgium). Junya Ishigami, a pupil of Kazuyo Sejima, is the founder of junya.ishigami+associates, lecturer at the

If any fair is going to give Milan a run for its money in terms of a passion for high-end design and downright coolness, it's Belgian Design Biennale INTERIEUR. Since its first edition in 1968, the Kortrijk-based show has consistently upped the ante

October sees the 2010 installment of Orgatec in Cologne, the leading international design fair for office and work environments. In spite of the death knell being sounded some time ago for the traditional, fixed-location office, it's still with us.

From 28 September to 2 October 2010 one of the major international trade fairs for ceramic tiles and bathrooms will be taking place in Bologna. However, Cersaie is much more than a simple trade fair. It has now become an important forum for planners

On the 03 September 2010, a ceremony was held to mark the completion of the 4,000-square-metre extension to the premises of textile editors, Nya Nordiska, in Dannenberg in Lower Saxony. Berlin architect Volker Staab was responsible for the design of

There's faded grandeur. And then there's Detroit. Once the fourth-largest city in the US, its spectacular economic and social decline is writ large in the disintegration of its architectural fabric. With its former manufacturing industries decimated

California, and in particular Los Angeles, has been home to numerous Hollywood stars and other glamorous figures of the burgeoning jet-set since the 1930s. The City of Angels was the ideal place for many architects to develop their ideas. The

An intelligent approach to repurposing disused viaducts is providing a number of cities with new public spaces that delight users with fresh and intriguing perspectives of familiar urban landscapes. Architonic examines how such projects, in turning

When Joni Mitchell sang that 'they paved paradise and put up a parking lot', she neatly expressed our none-too-positive relationship with that most modern of building types, the car park. Architonic invites you to pull up to the bumper and take a

Left brain. Right brain. If we're to believe all that pop-neurology, you're either a creative type or someone who just loves solving maths problems. Design manufacturer and retailer Thorsten van Elten, curator of One Year On, the show for

Architonic reviews '1:1 – Architects Build Small Spaces', the latest exhibition at London's Victoria & Albert Museum

Once so disenfranchised that they didn't even appear on maps of the city, Caracas's favelas are, thanks to projects such as the technically and politically remarkable MetroCable transport system in San Agustín, acquiring a social legitimacy. Here,

With the 2012 Olympics coming round that last bend and into view, this year's geographic-route-fixated London Festival of Architecture decided on 'The Welcoming City' as its theme. But just how welcome was that as an idea.

Screws? Glue? Who needs them? With a number of designers developing intriguing new ways of constructing furniture, Architonic takes a look at some examples of recent innovative joinery methods.

Between 1960 and 1970, so in just ten years, the American architect Richard Neutra (*1892 in Vienna, †1970 in Wuppertal) had eight villas constructed in Europe; four in Switzerland (one of which was the only one to be built without a flat roof),

The completion of Ron Arad's small-scale masterpiece that is Israel's new Design Museum Holon signals a kind of design coming-of-age for the country. With its current design scene set to grow even further, Architonic talks to a number of established

Ernst Sagebiel's architectural matsterpiece Tempelhof Airport was the venue for this year's DMY design festival in Berlin. Architonic was needless to say there, ready for take-off.

Described by its organisers as 'the pre-eminent global forum for collecting, exhibiting, discussing and creating design', Design Miami Basel, the annual European get-together for those who like their design a touch on the exclusive side, put on a

With leading Finnish design brand Artek reissuing two of its fellow countryman Tapio Wirkkala's striking designs from the late 1960s and early 70s, as well as first-time-round, 'vintage' pieces of his being shown at international design fairs such as

If architecture is the accumulation of centuries of knowledge, then what of its existence in an era of perpetual and instantaneous updates that the Internet and social networking brings? For a technology-driven industry, it seems slow to embrace the

All sporting eyes are on South Africa as the World Cup kicks off. But what kind of architectural legacy will the event leave behind and, perhaps more importantly, what will be its economic one?

If you're familiar with the Wombles, then you probably encountered underground architecture at any early age. .It's unlikely that the following projects were inspired by the Wombles, but that doesn't mean they're any less successful in terms of

The "ISKRA: NON-ALIGNED DESIGN 1946–1990" exhibition held at the Architecture Museum Ljubljana (AML) came to an end in February. The exhibition provided an insight into the golden age of Slovenian product design, which lasted from the 1960s to the

They say good things come in threes. Here, Architonic brings you five of the best concrete lamps on the market. It's all about contradiction.

When Manhattan's High Line – a disused section of freight railtrack turned magical stretch of urban park – opened in 2009, New Yorkers took to the sky. But the innovative conversion of the former train corridor by James Corner Field Operations

Architonic talks to Basel-based design label INCH Furniture about their distinctive collection for the Swiss Pavilion at Shanghai's Expo 2010

It's almost a cliché now to say that the annual Milan Salone del Mobile has become a behemoth of a design fair, eclipsing every other major show in the design calendar. (Personally, we at Architonic feel that a number of the other large design

In this final installment of the Milan Conversations we catch up with renowned product designer, architect and artistic director of Italian manufacturer Kartell Ferruccio Laviani at the Barovier&Toso showroom in Milan and talk to him about lamps,

The 'Sarasota School of Architecture' was coined as an historical term by architect Gene Leedy in the 1980s to describe the unique mid-century, European-Modernism-meets-Florida architecture of the city. Here, we examine how the physical legacy of

No form of architecture is perhaps as loaded with rhetoric as the expo pavilion. With hundreds of countries currently jostling at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai to attract visitors into their little piece of home, Architonic takes a look at what's at

“Ted Muehling Selects: Lobmeyr Glass from the Permanent Collection” is the 10th installment in an exhibition series devoted to showing rotations of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum’s permanent collection. The exhibition celebrates the

As part of this year's 'Fuori Salone' in Milan, the 'relics' of the Brazilian Modernism were displayed in a church near the city's Porta Romana: rare pieces by the so-called 'Tropical Modernists' of the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

The Milan Conversations – a series of discussions held at this year's Salone del Mobile with some of the most celebrated designers working internationally – continues with thought-provoking exchange with Ilse Crawford and Omer Arbel.

"Cecilie is just like her furniture," a friend of mine who works as a designer told me when I mentioned I was going to be interviewing the Copenhagen-based designer Cecilie Manz. And, indeed, Manz exudes a calmness and composure much like her

In this second installment of the Milan Conversations – a series of discussions held at this year's Salone del Mobile with some of the most celebrated designers working internationally – Architonic talks to British designer and long-time Milanese

Modern design, beyond teak and brass fittings, has, however, been around for a long time in the world of yachting. Innovative boat-builders and designers work with new propulsion technology, materials and formal languages.Yachts are perfect for this

Architonic talks to Miami-based artists Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt about the relation between art and architecture, and how public space has become more contested than ever.

As the metaphoric dust settles following another Milan Salone del Mobile (not to be confused with the ash from that pesky Icelandic volcano, which did its best to keep the great and the good of the international design press stranded in Italy),

When Mayor of London Boris Johnson unveiled the design of a 115-metre-high steel tower by renowned sculptor Anish Kapoor, which is to be built next to the city's new 2012 Olympic Stadium, the reaction from press and public was one of emphatic

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon went down in history as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Vertical gardens were then, as they still are today, signs of innovative architecture.

Love it or hate it, limited-edition design has proved over the last few years that it's more than just a passing trend. No one event has done more to encourage the growth of this particular market than Design Miami. With its European edition, Design

When photographer Greg Girard decided to visit the notorious, citadel-like 'Walled City' slum in Hong Kong's Kowloon, where the daily lives of 35,000 people played out, he was told he may not come back alive. Luckily for him, he did. And, luckily for

Jörg Boner gibt viel Preis über seine Produkte – er haucht ihnen Leben ein. So beleuchtet er im Gespräch gerne den Werdegang eines Produktes, seine Hochs und Tiefs sowie seinen Neuanfang. Die Parallelen zu ihm als Person lassen sich wie von

The Vitra Design Museum's latest exhibition examines the idea of simplicity in design, be it in terms of form, material or method. Rather than being a recent development in response to global economic and environmental concerns, 'The Essence of

The panorama window allows you to the bring the beauty of nature into your home, while keeping extremes of weather firmly outside. The systems presented here by Architonic turn the architectural visions of the Modern Movement into a reality.

Architonic hat für Sie einen Blick in die neue Werkmonografie des norwegischen Architekturbüros 'Snøhetta' geworfen und entdeckte dabei, was sich unter einer Schneekuppe so alles befinden kann.

Bamboo's rapid growth in popularity as a viable material for product design seems to mirror the speed at which this iconic plant, lauded for its contribution to sustainability, grows. Architonic takes a look at some recent examples of bamboo-based

Architonic dissects Luca Nichetto's striking new 'Robo' chair for Swedish manufacturer Offecct, examining the process beyond the product.

Architonic reviews design writer Jennifer Hudson's study of the creative and manufacturing processes behind 50 contemporary design objects from around the world.

Graphic designers are giving architects a run for their money as the creatives who cross disciplinary boundaries. Here, Architonic takes a look at some examples of two-dimensional specialists who've channelled their creative talent into product

Day three of research at the MADE fair took the Architonic Team even deeper into the Milan exhibition halls, temporary home of a seemingly inexhaustible amount of exciting materials and products.

It's all round to Vitra's place in Weil am Rhein as the leading design manufacturer opens its striking new VitraHaus, designed by Herzog & de Meuron.