New Walls, Please!

For some years now wallpaper has been celebrating a major revival. Thanks to intelligent materials, new methods of processing and a return of the readiness to risk more graphic wall design, wallpaper is becoming a favoured projection surface for artists, architects and designers.

For the sixth time the A.S. Création wallpaper institute, together with the Council for Design, has held the popular design competition "New Walls, Please!" From 300 projects from 13 European countries the jury selected three winners. In addition the catalogue which was published on the occasion of the award presentation shows a further 25 outstanding works.
Although for the first time the jury was unable to decide on awarding a first prize, some of the works are original and show the design potential and aesthetic process of change involving this method of wall decoration with its rich tradition.

Claudia Bombsch's work 'Naturelle' is a collage with a wide variety of patterns. The silhouettes of the stylised animal motifs create a delicate bridge between traditional forms of wallpaper design and modern decorative motifs.

In their 'Rust' wallpaper Anja Höfler and Nicole Dreger, too, make use of conventional motifs, which they develop in an ingenious way. The oxidation of the metal which is contained in the printing ink changes the colouring of the pattern from gray to a varying rust red. This gradual change endows the wallpaper with a patina of its own and brings it to life.

'Outside In – City' by Anke Schmidt is a photo wallpaper which plays with the regular textures of high-rise facades, creating a successful montage which provides ever new details to discover.

'Wallpaper Modules' by Dorte Agergaard Jensen, my personal favourite, consists of graphic modules which, depending on their composition, provide diverse patterns, resulting in a reduced work which is reminiscent of the op art graphics of the Sixties.