A diploma with so much simplicity and charm in the design… a well-done research too.
ÉCAL University of Art and Design Lausanne graduate Jennifer Rabatel has taken inspiration from tools such as spanners, spatulas and try squares to create a series of functional everyday objects.
Lausanne based designer Nicolas Le Moigne lately worked on a project named materia, where he plays with materials and the duality between art and artisanry. This series of tables named vesta is part of the project. The tables are made of wooden pieces which are cut and fitted creating a solid volume. The aluminium cover on top lends the table its structure and rigidity. A surprising mixture between lightweight construction and the looks of heavy wooden tables.
The Soirée graphique by Swiss graphic design practice Cosmic is exhibition, aftershow and auction at the same time. It’s third edition will take place on September 10, 2010 at the cosmic office in Bern, accompanied by a 120 pages magazine.
Big names and young talents from the graphic, photographic and arts scene will make it an unforgettable event. The name dropping starts with Stefan Sagmeister but includes other talents such as Trix Barmettler, Noë Flum, Désirée Good, Walter Pfeiffer and many others more.
During the design days 40 Swiss fashion labels show their latest works in the hotel Tiffany in Geneva. You will find there beside «prêt-à-porter» also accessories, jewellery and streetwear. Please read more about the showroom which is organized by Romandy Magazine Edelweiss.
Vernissage TV was at the opening of the exhibition Charlotte Perriand at Museum of Design Zurich.
Boycotlettes unfortunately couldn’t make it to our we make – Basel shooting.
But they sent us a knitted iPod- and headset-cover as well as a dress out of bio-cotton, with a colourful print, peculiar cut lines and an exaggerated oversize hood – a shelf warmer from last year as they say!
Their studio is at the port, so while they are sewing colourful clothing they watch the huge ships on the Rhine. For a change, they go to West Africa every now and then, to see the most exciting developments concerning silk-screen printing. “Africa is the future” Boycotlettes predict.
To get to know more about Boycotlettes, read the full interview here.
A big thank you to Gina Folly for the photos.
INCH furniture opens a showroom in Zurich at Westflügel from the 2st September on.
Changing compositions of their furniture including the Shanghai collection will be shown there, surrounded by the excellent books of Westflügel.
Zoid stool by Yves Ebnoether, cnc-cut anodised aluminium (elox), hand folded, is now also available in black. You can buy it at Einzigart, Zurich for CHF 580.-
What started with a limited edition of journalist bags in collaboration with Das Magazin, is now a compeletely new product line. The bag label Freitag became famous with its messenger bags from used truck tarpaulins with eyecatching graphics and colours. Its new range of bags is for situations, where your messenger bag doesn’t match and you need something a little more elegant.
An elegant handbag from truck tarpaulins? Oh yes, Freitag can do it!
From 4th to 8th September 2010 – during the fashion trade shows in Paris – a multi-brand showroom dedicated to Swiss fashion will take place under the name Who’s Swiss. The exhibition in a loft in the 2nd Arrondissement shows a selection of promising labels already recognized in Switzerland.
Design Preis Schweiz goes on tour. After the DMY in Berlin, the exhibition goes now to: Shanghai (Swiss Expo Pavilion), Chicago, Shanghai (University of Tongij) and Washington.
The competition is for finished products mainly but will also support research projects, new visions and implementations in keeping with the market, enabling them to achieve breakthrough.
The Design Preis Schweiz both observes and makes an impression on the market, honours outstanding achievements and sees its role as that of giving uncompromising encouragement to adventurous ideas which will create new paths for the future of design.
The first research of a series of studies at the ETH in Zurich named ‚Teaching Architecture: 3 Positions Made in Switzerland’ will be exhibited at the Istituto Svizzero in Venice from 25.08 – 27.11.2010.
The project by assistant professors Christ & Gantenbein at the ETH in Zurich is about the typological transfer from the urban metropolis of Hong Kong to the architecture of Zurich.
A publication named Hong Kong Typology accompanies the exhibition and presents the results of the research.
via now unfolded.
This interview with ZMIK is another interview from our we make – Basel series.
Rolf Indermühle, Mattias Mohr und Magnus Zwyssig from ZMIK usually work rather conceptual. To them, design means to find solutions within the setting of a task and to figure out solutions and concepts, which make a virtue of necessity. They see interior design as a service and their designs are often multidisciplinary.
The three of them develop the designs together but in every project, one is the project leader. They are pretty different characters so the exchange is very important and enriching. There is always someone who is more critical towards an idea.
To get to know more about ZMIK, read the full interview here.
A big thank you to Gina Folly for the photos.
It’s been announced for quite a while, but now Swiss furniture manufacturer Möbel Pfister has launched a new range of furniture named atelier pfister. Surprisingly, the collection consists of about one hundred varied pieces designed by thirteen different Swiss designers under the art direction of Alfredo Häberli.
Please have a look at the brochure of Atelier Pfister.
‘Tell me Swiss’ is a transdiciplinary performance created for the Swiss Pavilion at the Expo 2010 Shanghai China. Cisco Aznar, the choreographer, has orchestrated a transdisciplinary performance combiningdance, song and film projections showing an innovative and mordant view of Switzerland today. The dancers’ costumes are a creation of the fashion design students of the Head–Geneva and are inspired by the guide uniforms they previously created for the Swiss Pavillon.
6 and 7 September 2010 at 6 pm and 8 pm I Swiss Pavilion – Urban Space Shanghai Expo Park Zone C, Plot 09, CHE
René Burri, born 1933 in Zurich portrayed Le Corbusier in various situations, both at work and in everyday life. The new exhibition in the Museum Bellerive describes an impressive series of images relating to the person and work of the architect. Please read more.
Zurich based Kafi Z asks every four months several designers to rework the Swiss design classic Horgenglarus 1-380. This friday, 20th of august, Thilo Fuente sells his chair family by an auction. Please read more.
Once again the Homemade research- and workweek took place in the wonderful L&arc in Romainmôtier. Organized by SMGK and digitalbrainstorming.ch under the leadership of Markus Haselbach, Uwe Schüler , Pe Lang und Marcel Gschwend the week was a great success. Around 40 artists and engineers built their solar bots, tone machines, synthesizers, light animations, sensor to midi controllers and many more amazing things. Projects like ‘Schöner Zwitschern’, ‘Sequencer’ , ‘Solarbötchen’ und ‘Hellraumprojektor Visuals‘ will give you just a glimpse.
More can be found in the Gartenschau or soon in the smgk review.
(text by Philipp Sommer)
Swiss Industrial Designer Christian Gafner discovered in 2005 the limited-edition ilmia shoes and prepared an sensational relaunch. Please read the full story about this German sport shoe.
Atelier Pfister and his Curator Alfredo Haeberli will officially launch their first collection at g27 in Zurich with works by Andreas Bechtiger, Stéphane Dafflon, Frédéric Dedelley, Fulguro, Nicolas Le Moigne, Atelier Oï, Jörg Boner, Adrien Rovero, Moritz Schmid, Lela Scherrer, StauffacherBenz, Sibylle Stoeckli and synthesis design. Opening: August 19th 2010 at g27, the doors open at 6 p.m.
Sachenmachen.ch started as an exhibition linked with the „Artclash“ a street art battle in 2006. Now Simon de Pury a big player in the art scene with Swiss roots, is the mentor of „work of art“ the next great artist! …like the music star thing. De Pury is Chairman and Chief Auctioneer of Phillips de Pury & Company, the leading global auction house for Contemporary Art, Design and Photography, now the mentor of a new TV show in the USA.
… a bit late but you have to see! But somehow the summer ist still here and actually they do the SOLD days now starts at the 21. August @ Le-laboratoire
Last autumn, twenty kids developped their own playground called ”Sirius, a Star” together with mega!phon. In the next days they will celebrate their ground breaking ceremony. Please read more about the project and check the nice drawings of other gears!
Back from the summer break… with another interview from our we make – Basel series.
Tot the shooting we did in June, Anita Moser took along her favourite pair of shoes from the collection. They embody summer 2010. “It’s a shoe that is typically me” Anita Moser says. It readopts earlier elements and shows the thread running throughout her past collections which were very diverse. Anita Moser sees design as an insistent developing. “It’s in the process that ideas come into existence. The don’t just pop up if you sit around drinking coffee”.
To get to know more about Anita Moser, read the full interview here.
A big thank you to Gina Folly for the photos.
We take a little summer break and will be back with new posts soon! Enjoy the sun…
A nice little book for the summer holidays is Schweizer Mobiliar. The publication about Swiss icons in public space by Paul Schneeberger is published by NZZ libro.
The official shop from the “Art” fair in Basel, once again designed by the local ZMIK designers from Basel. The boxes are staked and assembled by a textile bandage. Artshop 10, a clever system with niches and displays on different levels. This shop design can be easily stored on two euro pallets and reused next year. So no more work for ZMIK? 
ZMIK interview “we make” Basel is coming soon!
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.
via NZZ domizil
Sachenmachen Summer travel advice: In the commune of Firminy, situated nearby Lyon or Saint-Étienne, France you find the last major work of Swiss architect Charles Édouard Jeanneret Gris, known as Le Corbusier. His work includes the church Saint-Pierre, a stadium, a cultural center and an Unité d’Habitation.
„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.
Another interview from our we make – Basel series.
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.
During the summer time there is a chance to rent an electric car for CHF 60 per day. The test centers are located in the Swiss Alps. Please watch the film by swissinfo
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 .