VIENNA DESIGN WEEK #10: 30.9. – 9.10.2016

50 Years Met Chandeliers + UFOs – At the opening of the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1966, the first burst of applause already erupted before the performance to acclaim twelve ascending chandeliers from Vienna. And in the foyer, too, there was a cascade of “exploding stars”, visible from afar. For Hans Harald Rath, the source of inspiration for the chandeliers – which have a symbolic character today – came from a little book by the architect Wallace K. Harrison showing photos from outer space. Acting as his first model were potatoes spiked with toothpicks hanging up in the hotel kitchen. Fifty years after the Met opening, J. & L. Lobmeyr are putting the largest chandelier group on display ever constructed since then. Also on show: refulgent UFOs with reverberating names like Stanley, Jill, Sigourney and Orson by the design duo Kim+Heep.

Moreover, within the festival format Passionswege J. & L. Lobmeyr cooperates with designer Martino Gamper. It is almost 200 years since Josef Lobmeyr opened his first shop. Whereas it is exactly ten years since the former purveyor to the court for glass refining, chandeliers, and drinking glasses realized a Passionswege project in partnership with Martino Gamper, a South Tyrolean who lives in London. In 2016, Gamper is coming back to Vienna to work in a new edition of this cooperation, turning his attention once more to the decorative surfaces and elaborate techniques that J. & L. Lobmeyr has cultivated and brought to perfection in the course of its history as a firm – cutting, engraving, etching, and sandblasting, also the various forms of hand-painting. In his brilliant new perspective, Martino Gamper experiments with these techniques, mixes them, and creates a highly decorative modern drinking glass.

BOLS D’OR – Ostensibly plain and reduced to function, the witty design approach of BOLS D’OR first becomes manifest in the detail. So, just as the water surface divides a glass into two halves, parcel gilding effects this in the three receptacles designed by Thomas Feichtner for the silversmith concern of Jarosinski & Vaugoin. A visual irritation that throws the otherwise perfectly uniform bodies of the silver bowls and beakers somewhat out of sync – oblique and asymmetrical, as if dipped in paint. A special feature, only possible through traditional handicraft such as that practised at silversmiths Jarosinski & Vaugoin.

Tenders for the NWW Design Award – For the third time already the Neue Wiener Werkstätte is inviting applications for the NWW Design Award. This year’s edition of the award is honoring creative solutions for guestrooms and furnishings. Designs for furnishings and upholstered furniture inspired by the topic of “New Hospitality” can be immediately submitted (www.nww-designaward.org). The old established firm is presenting a special show based on the award and is looking forward as well to a fascinating discourse with the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK festival public. The show is embedded in the five hundred square meters of the Austrian furniture producer’s exhibition space.

City Rooms – When seating furniture keeps to a specific arrangement, it results in islands, or, as with the Berlin architecture bureau Kuehn Malvezzi, the so-called CITY ROOMS. Different “city rooms” – inspired among others by those of Adolf Loos – together generate a multi-stratified landscape. The installation was produced on commission of the Finnish design firm of Artek and the Danish textile manufacturer Kvadrat; Kuehn Malvezzi already presented it to style the collectors’ lounge at DesignMiami/Basel 2016. The work is now on display during the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK in the Vitra showroom; highlight is the Kiki Collection from Artek, created in 1960 by the Finnish designer Ilmari Tapiovaara and now remodeled for Kvadrat with fabrics by Raf Simons.

Light and Language in Architecture – Ever since lighting design became established as an autonomous department, a new language has also developed, its purpose being the categorization and systemizing of our perception of illuminated environments. In his talk at the XAL showroom Dwayne Waggoner gives us insights into current practices so as to cast light on current developments and to foster a sharper awareness of quality criteria in lighting design.

Bespoke Evening – The term “bespoke furnishing” – customized, tailor-made manufacture – is scarcely known in Austria despite its long tradition. In an ensemble uniting showrooms, studios and workshops the remodeled location of the furniture manufacturer Seliger provides an ambience where individual interior design can be experienced on a high international level and its production processes manifested on site. The creative amalgam of traditional craftsmanship and fresh ideas forms the basis of the Seliger Edition; its first four prototypes is being showcased and celebrated in the spectacular house bar. With Gregor Eichinger, Studio Freymüller, Malek Herbst and Herbert Panek.

Ornament Lab – For a few days the workplace of the young tile manufacturer Karak becomes an ornamental laboratory. The studio’s white tiles form the foundation; during the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK they will be covered one after the other with hand-drawn motifs. Visitors are invited to join in the quest for new forms based on the geometric grids on the walls and so transform the entire room into a playground of living ornament.