In his studio in Berlin, Daniel Heer creates contemporary luggage and fine horsehair mattresses which are finely handcrafted. Daniel Heer’s Swiss familiy has a long tradition in leather craftsmanship and upholstery. Have a look at the report by NZZ domizil to get to know more about Daniel Heer as well as an insight into his studio.
„Cities are melting pots for people, visions and opportunities.“ The smart urban stage is an international platform for trend-setting ideas and concepts that provide answers to urban life tomorrow. It presents conceptual works from the areas of science, culture, design, art, architecture and mobility in different European Cities. From August 18th until September 12th 2010 the event will take place at Puls 5 in Zürich.
For INCH Furniture design means to transfer ideas into contemporary objects while keeping handcraft, existing solutions, experiences and fundamental concepts in mind. They show us their “Shanghai Chair”, a chair from solid wood they made for the Swiss Pavilion at the Expo Shanghai 2010.
Each year, Tom Wüthrich and Yves Raschle from INCH furniture spend one or two months at their production facility at a vocational school for wood-work in Indonesia, where they also teach. There they enjoy having a lot of time for the development of their projects in the evenings.
To get to know more about INCH Furniture, read the full interview here.
A big thank you to Gina Folly for the photos.
Royalblush is an eco-friendly label for bags and accessories. They are mainly functional while designer Jana Keller sees their eco-friendly production as self-evident. The bags are made in Europe, to keep the transport lines short, with materials from Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Due to the fact that the handbags are made from vegetable leather – the older the product, the prettier it gets. „The patina of used leather turns your bag into a unique piece.“ Jana Keller says.
The Swiss beach- and cliff-guide pied a la lune just released its second edition with three new spots. A pretty cool guidebook to cliffs, sand- and pebbles-beaches and wonderful waters all around Switzerland. For all those who spend their summer in Switzerland… just to forget about the seaside!
The collaboration between GE Ecomagination and fuseproject has led to the GE WattStation, an electric vehicle charging station that is designed for public and private spaces. Please read more here
Here we go, the second interview from our we make – Basel shooting. Saša Kohler describes his work as “cute as hell” and shows a dwarf – his first commercial product among the puppet work he does. He is trained as a fashion designer and usually works on projects for the stage or the arts. The dwarf belongs to a series of 7 dwarfs and is a rather decorative object. It is free of function but it makes the owner happy. Even though he sometimes wonders if the commercial way is the right path. “Somewhere between design and the arts lies the obvious way” he says.
To get to know more about Saša Kohler, read the full interview here.
A big thank you to Gina Folly for the photos.
m3 (m cube) is a non-profit association aimed at promoting fashion designers in Switzerland. Its name represents fashion in 3 dimensions as well as the three linguistic regions in Switzerland. Their website facilitates the exchange between the different participants with a feeling for fashion design. Among the designers involved you can find well-known labels such as +41, Louise Blanche and Le Laboratorie.
Please have a look at the new exhibition about Charlotte Perriand (1903–1999), one of the most innovative interior and furniture designers of the 20th century. There is another exhibition in the same thematic framework which is shown at the Forum of the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur until 22 August 2010: «Resonance. Charlotte Perriand and her traces in Brazil»
When Nina Egli was studying acting in New York, she began to make Jewelry. Her Line Toujours Toi gradually took on a life of its own and now consists of 11 stand-alone collections.
Nowadays the Swiss Jewelry Designer works from a studio in Brooklyn and all her pieces are handmade either in New York or Zürich.
The permanent exhibition Swiss Furniture and Interiors at the Swiss National Museum presents interiors and furniture from the museum’s own collection. The reconstructed period rooms once helped establish the museum’s international reputation. Now, with a scenography by atelier oï, Swiss furniture from the 20th century is on display in the spaces in front of the rooms .
Here we go, the first interview from the we make – Basel shooting with Alain Jost from Brandnewdesign. Alain describes his work as minimal, pragmatic and material related. He presents a lampshade called Fibonacci. It’s the result of the trial to develop an object that can be packed flat and takes its form when in use. It shows his great interest in geometry, which he names a universal language that helps understand the world better. Alain thinks Switzerland is a good place to be as a designer, because there is a basic understanding of design.
The ceramic-world of Fabien Clerc from Geneva. His contemporary ceramic design plays with objects of street culture, different techniques and the world of art.
For Amateur Magazine we do a series of city-shootings called we make – an update about promising Swiss designers. Therefore a chosen town’s up and coming designers are being asked to bring along one product for a photoshoot. To get to know more about our city-shooting series, have a look at the shootings section.
Our second shooting in Basel was taken by the talented photographer Gina Folly. The chosen installation space was Set & Sekt – a pretty cool shop for cutting edge fashion that with its minimal interior, offered the perfect setting for our photo shoot.
Have a look at issue 6 of Amateur Magazine for our selection of up-and-coming designers from Basel. The interviews in full lenght will be posted here over the coming weeks. Enjoy!
And last but not least, the interview we did with Fabian Schwärzler during the ‚we make – Zürich’- shooting in January 2010.
Beautiful, modern and functional stands for Fabian Schwärzler’s work. He shows the „ low chair with armrest and leather“. It’s a handmade low chair, with leather placed on an aluminium frame. The seat-structure is based on a membrane, which allows movement and comfort.
Read the full interview with Fabian Schwärzler here.
Lela Scherrer has recently relaunched her fashion line and now presents draped, constructed and folded tailoring pieces for this summer. The Swiss born Fashion Designer lives and works in Antwerp. Lela Scherrer was responsible for the uniforms of the Swiss Pavilion at the Expo 2005. To get to know more about her, watch her portrait from the Design Suisse series by Swiss tv SF.
Another interview from the ‚we make – Zürich’- shooting we did in January 2010.
Simple, complexe and reserved are the attributes to Colin Schaelli’s work. He shows his „V30 Freitag Skid“ shelf system. A modular structure that was created as a customised sales shelf for the products of the Zurich-based bag maker Freitag.
The design collective Postfossiltalks about their work and the way that they collaborate at L-imprimeriein Lausanne. Beside an overview of different projects they will give a very first review with pictures from the DMY designers dinner, their newest project. On the 29th at 8pm.
Here another interview from the ‚we make – Zürich’- shooting we did in freezing cold January 2010.
Passion, discovery, structures – these three words apply to the work of Anna Blattert and Daniel Gafner who are part of the design platform Postfossil. Their lamps Sabooh and Mitsu are showing that energy saving LED technology can also be used in the home.
Read the full interview with Anna Blattert and Daniel Gafner here.
These days, it’s all about football and the World Cup – so here is a charming project on the topic by Freitag. The Swiss bag manufacturer collaborated with Pelé Sports and produced soccer balls from used truck tarpaulin for kids in South African townships. It is Freitag’s first collaboration ever.
Another video by Swiss furniture brand atelierpfister that introduces Fulguro, Yves Fidalgo and Cédric Decroux, a pretty cool graphic and product design-duo from Lausanne.
The Russian Club Gallery in London present new works by nine designers and studios working on the cusp of their discipline.. The invited participants all engage in hybrid practices that cross interdisciplinary boundaries and challenge conventions in their fields. Designers Furniture is an exhibition and limited edition shop developed in collaboration with Sameness & Difference .
« In vino veritas », Matali Crasset célèbre designer française présente au 24 juin de 12h30 à 14h son travail autour du verre et nous parlera de son parcours et de ses futurs projets.
Here another interview from the ‚we make – Zürich’- shooting in January 2010.
„Of course both of us would like to work in the workshop, but that’s just not possible.“ say Kevin Fries and Jakob Zumbühl who collaborate as Fries & Zumbühl. They describe their work as clever, playful and longlasting. Fries & Zumbühl show ‚Darling’, a bed they did in collaboration with Muriel Weber Zumbühl (who can just be seen as a styrofoam silhouette on the photo).
Read the full interview with Kevin Fries and Jakob Zumbühl here.
On the last Thursdays of June, July and August you can do an easy evening shopping in the area of Badenerstrasse – Grüngasse – Ankerstrasse in Zürich until 10 pm. “Just perfect to spend the spare time between bathing and the bar” as they put it.
This surprising pedestrian bridge over the Highway H10 in Corcelles-Cormondrèche, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland was designed by the local architectural practice maison d’art’chitecture. The passerelle beautifully combines concrete, worked stone from the Jura Mountains and glued-laminated timber.
The Gewerbemuseum Winterthur currently shows an exhibition about the he phenomenon of colour. The exhibition title says that colour can be a game or even an obsession. The exhibition presents current and historical representations, spatial models and virtual animations of a wide range of colour systems.
… and another interview from the ‚we make – Zürich’- shooting in January 2010.
„A little bit of creativity and a lot of sweat!“ is how Gabriela Chicherio defines design. The side table ‚Arabesque’ is one of her recent products. It was developed under the working title ‚atelier couture’, a long-term project during which Gabriela applies textile craft techniques to furniture design.
Read the full interview with Gabriela Chicherio here.