Switzerland SF16,50 Belgium / Italy / Netherlands / Spain €11.00 Austria €13.00 France / Germany €15.00 UK £9,95
A CONVERSATION WITH
OUR GUEST
Alfredo Häberli Jaime Hayon Tel Aviv
NIGHTLIFE IN THE STATE OF
Miami
THE REALM OF POTENTIAL
SWISS DESIGN
+24 PAGES INSERT
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THE CITY GUIDE FOR THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY
BARCELONA DESIGN / ARCHITECTURE / ART / FASHION /
ISSUE 02
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Composition The arrangement of parts makes the whole – USM combines the purity of color and the strength of form.
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Visit our showroom or request detailed information. USM U. Schärer Söhne AG, CH-3110 Münsingen, Phone +41 31 720 72 72 Showrooms: Berlin, Bern, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, New York, Paris, Tokyo info@usm.com, www.usm.com
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Founder and Editorial Director Dominique Signoroni Kuroyanagi dk@nomadpaper.com CEO Roberto Rossi Gandolfi robertorossigan@nomadpaper.com Editor-at-Large Samuel Fuyumi Namioka fn@nomadpaper.com Editor watches and accessoires Natalia Signoroni Time-in-Tempo.org Original Concept/Creative Direction Luca Pilutza and Gilda Scaglioni for 515 creative shop www.515.it Art Direction Didier Falzone www.bureaubureau.it
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International projects and events Take-A-Breath Agency CP 5803 - 1211 Geneva 11 Switzerland refresh@take-a-breath.ch PR Renate Cornu viva@viva-com.ch Contributors Blog Annie Hollingsworth Diary Jonathan Sharoni Barcelona Coordinator Andrea Aguado Aleman Architecture Alejandro Bahamon, Anna Maria Alvarez, Xavier Monteys, Anna Puigjaner Art Andrea Aguado Aleman, Montse Badia Design Oscar Guayabero Fashion Laia Beltram Translator Carmela Zuleta Proofreading Corine Anger Claire Campbell
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Special thanks to Elisabetta Bianchessi, Hector Gonzalez, Paolo Maistri, Anna Nufrio, Marti Peran 2011 NO MAD All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
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Cover image Alfredo H채berli by Isabel Truniger Bruni
HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA
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World section 14
46-47
15
Barcelona/Art 48-49
Contemporary Art summary
Next Generation Big-Game, Fulguro, Inchfurniture Nicolas Le Moigne, Moritz Schmid Adrien Rovero, Collin Schaelli, This Weber, ZMIK
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Barcelona news Blog Miami Art in Miami: the realm of potential by Annie Hollingsworth
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World news
17
Diary Tel Aviv Nightlife by Jonathan Sharoni
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In my Studio with Nacho Carbonell
20-21
Zoo, Architecture, Barcelona by Xavier Monteys & Anna Puigjaner
The nervous city by Montse Badia
56-57
62-63
Design summary
30
Walking on a roof made of Glass by Oscar Guayabero
31-33
Interview with Ramon Prat, Design Hub
34-35
Fashion Summary
A conversation with Miguel Noguera
Barcelona/Design 28-29
92
Barcelona is a magic word by Laia Beltran
A conversation with Eulalia Valldosera
94-99
Emilio Alvarez and the Loop Festival
A conversation with Chu Uroz
Swiss design survey summary
NO MAD / Fashion 102
69
Swiss Design - A public affair by Ariana Pradal
Showcase by time and tempo
70-71
Interview with Heidi Wegener, Swiss Design Preis
38-39
72-73
Barcelona/architecture 40-41 Architecture summary
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The architecture of Barcelona An exported cultural commodity by Alejandro Bahamon & Ana Maria Alvarez
43-45
Interview with Josep Bohigas
Independent scene Jan lu Més, Cecilia Sorensen, El Delgado Buil
100-101
Insert/Swiss Design Survey 67
A conversation with Marti Guixé Marc Morro and Surtido
82-88
Barcelona/Fashion 90 - 91
Interview with Chus Martines, MACBA
59-61
Geneva Frisky young scene
Swiss Design Survey Colophon
51-53
Our guest Jaime Hayon Whispering objects
80-81
Barcelona/Special Section 104-105
Sergi Ferrer-Salat - The Catalan Cuisine
Interview with Alfredo Haeberli
106-107
Synthesis of El Bulli cuisine
74-75
Interview with Patrick Reymond, Atelier Oi
Barcelona/A walk with
76-77
109-110 Martin Azua A conversation on Design and Barcelona
Interview with Chantal Prod’Hom, mudac
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Jacqueline Otten, Zhdk
Barcelona/Map Section
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115-118 Addresses
Jean-Pierre Greff, HEAD
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HALL OF FAME AurEL AEbi – AtELiEr Oï Ce qui nous fascine en lui, c’est la réflexion passionnée dans la tension entre fonction et matière. De manière à la fois pragmatique et expérimentale, il matérialise ce qui n’avait encore jamais été envisagé, marque distinctive de sa maîtrise. Les clients de teo jakob l’ont toujours su: seule l’imagination confère à la connaissance cette valeur de nouveauté rafraîchissante qui perdure. www.teojakob.ch
MEubLES MEubLES DE burEAu COLLECtiVitÉS LuMiNAirES tEXtiLES ArCHitECturE D’iNtÉriEur PLANiFiCAtiON
Andrea Aguado Alemán
Curator and writer born in Seville in 1983. She graduated in Barcelona in art history and has been co-curator of the exhibitions “After Architecture. Typologies of the Afterwards “(Arts Santa Monica, Barcelona, 2009) and “Parabellum 12 mm” (Ca l’Arenas. Mataró, 2010). She is currently preparing the publishing project “Lives sensitive” and her first collection of poems.
Ana María Álvarez
Architect and urban planner (Neiva-Colombia, 1976). She has worked for different architecture firms at Barcelona, developing urban plans at various towns of Catalonia. Ana has collaborated as an editor and writer of architecture books; currently she is an editor of El_Bloc and is a PhD candidate at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Good conversationalist and very precise when telling stories.
Montse Badia
Art critic and curator. Badia has been the curator for exhibitions at the De Appel Foundation (Amsterdam), Apex Art (New York), Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin), Fundación Joan Miró (Barcelona), Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid) Centre d’Art Santa Mònica and Fundación “la Caixa” (Barcelona). Currently she is co-director of A*DESK (www.a-desk.org) and artistic director of the contemporary art collection Cal Cego (www.calcego.com).
Alejandro Bahamón
Architect, photographer and writer (Bogotá-Colombia, 1972). He moved to Barcelona in 1997 to continue his studies in architecture where he combines his work as an architect with his passion to research and communicate ideas in architecture, design or urban culture. He organizes, coordinates, meets people and travels as much as possible. He is the author of many titles published around the world, founder of Latinta and editor of El_Bloc.
Laia Beltran
Journalist. She studied economics and, later on, journalism in Barcelona. She focuses on fashion and design and works as a freelance writer for a variety of magazines and newspapers. After living for a while in the USA and Mexico, she has now returned to Barcelona. She has a passion for vintage and here is the proof: www.barcelonavintage.com
Porzia Bergamasco
Journalist and independent curator. For more than twenty year now she has been working in the field of design and architecture as a crossing point of social and cultural phenomena applying her analysis to research projects for companies and curatorial initiative. She is involved in scouting for design event and writes for sector related publications.
Oscar Guyabero
Para-designer as he defines himself, drawing on ideas from paranormal phenomena and the para-theatrical arts. He tells stories, sometimes makes objects, writes books, curates exhibitions, teaches, publishes articles and creates platforms for other artists. www.guyabero.net
Emil Kozak
Graphic Designer. Originally from Denmark but now firmly relocated and entrenched in Barcelona. Emil Kozak was inspired to take on graphic design as a result of his life long passion for skateboarding. His work has been exhibited widely all over the world and appeared in numerous magazines and books. He has produced design and artwork for clients such as Vans, Element, Graniph, Eastpak, Burton, Channel Islands, Nike, Lab Skateboards & Uniqlo. Photography is one of his other passion. Check on his Photo Diary on www.emilkozak.com
Xavier Monteys
Architect (Barcelona, 1953). He graduated from Barcelona School of Architecture UPC and is a Doctor of Architecture. He currently teaches at the Barcelona School of Architecture UPC, at the University of Girona and at the University of Santiago de Compostela. He is the author of several articles and books about architecture. In the last few years, he has been the editor of the section “Doméstica” at the review “Quaderns d’arquitectura i urbanisme”, as well as the architectural critic and journalist for the daily El Pais.
Anna Puigjaner
Architect (Barcelona - 1980). She graduated from the Barcelona School of Architecture UPC in 2004. She currently teaches at the School of Architecture of Vallès UPC and at the College of Architecture of Washington University. In the last few years she has collaborated with Xavier Monteys as editor of the section “Doméstica” at the review “Quaderns d’arquitectura i urbanisme”.
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Head – Genève Design Bachelor Interior Architecture/Space Design Visual Communication Fashion, Accessory and Jewellery Design Master Spaces and communication Media Design
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Dip in Space : Head – Genève with matali crasset 2011 Milan International Furniture Fair Photography : Baptiste Coulon
no mad world section
Fashion Dérivée Dérivée is an eclectic boutique offering clothes and accessories for men and women, fine perfumes, jewelry, designer objects of all kinds, books, chocolates, and gourmet foods, all created by talented young artists as well as famous names. Jewels by Lulu Frost, perfume by Frédéric Malle and espadrias by Mymu, just to name a few. Dérivée is located at 4, calle Johann Sebastian Bach, in a landmark building designed by Ricardo Bofill, who also created the interior decor in cooperation with Marta Vilallonga. Federal C a f e Calle Johann Sebas t i a n B a c h 4 08021 Barce l o n a
Design room service
Cafe FEDERAL CAFE The Federal Cafe is located on a corner in the neighbourhood of san antonio.Named after a small town in Australia, the place is run by two Australians. A cozy and informal cafe located in a two-floor building and terrace remodelled by blankslate, with the powerful eye of architect Barbara Appolloni assisting. Three floors of absolute heaven and culinary bliss. Don’t miss the rooftop terrace - a peaceful oasis full of plants in the middle of the city. -
this page is about special people and places
www.derivee.es
Federal Cafe Carrer Parlament 39, 08015 Barcelona.
www.federalcafe.es *ph. Christian Schallert
Bookshop RAS Gallery RAS is the publisher Actar’s bookstore and gallery space in Barcelona. Ras’s shelves are lined with the latest coffee-table books from international photographers, as well as tomes on art, design and architecture. Combining an experimental exhibition space and bookshop, RAS specializes in architecture, graphic design and photography. It is the main bookshop for ACTAR’s titles as well as an international showcase of publications from illustrated book publishers worldwide. RAS Galle r y B a r c e l o n a Doctor Dou 10 0800 1 B a r c e l o n a .
www.rasbcn.com
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. Nullam dictum felis eu pede moll Federal Cafe Carrer Parlament 39, 08015 Barcelona.
www.federalcafe.es
no mad Art in Miami: The Realm of Potential by Annie Hollingsworth ARTLURKER is a Miami based contemporary art blog. Written by a cast of artists, curators and critics, it functions as both resource and a platform for Miami’s art scene. LAST year, ARTLURKER founded the Miami Writer’s Prize, a prize designed to promote new voices in critical writing, with the help of a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The inaugural winner of the Miami Writer’s Prize 2010, Annie Hollingsworth, submits the following text www.artlurker.com
MIAMI Sometimes Miami feels like a small town, at others the capital of Latin America. It is paradise with a seedy underbelly and a sordid past. This beautiful temptress has always been a point of entry - for drugs, immigrant communities, and now Art Basel Miami Beach, trailing the promise of glory in its wake. Naturally Miami enjoys the attention, but despite our cultural diversity and a sense of connection to art worlds bigger than our own, Miami’s art scene is in a perpetual state of becoming. It’s always just about to explode into something bigger, better, more mature. Artists in this city are often torn between hope and frustration, the illusion that we are an internationally recognized center for the arts revealed, again and again, as mere fantasy. Dialogue within the larger
arts community reiterates the dichotomy of expectation. On the one hand, those with stakes in Miami’s eventual success attempt to create progress through sheer optimism, claiming that local artists, galleries and institutions are indeed on the rise. Others, more jaded, see only a persistent mirage of cultural growth and pray for a clean getaway to a more rewarding place. This divide is the psychological equivalent of something I saw on my first visit to Miami: a deluxe hotel with every amenity and a glittering façade standing confidently next to a decrepit abandoned property with a faded empty pool and dried-up palm trees. Ironically we are succeeding and failing simultaneously. How you feel about Miami depends on which way you are looking. Friction and discord can be creatively generative, and between contrasting realities, everywhere superimposed, is Miami’s wide-open field of possibility. As a friend of mine often says, “in Miami, you either find yourself or you lose yourself.” What defines anyone in this cultural environment, apart from money, is how he or she handles freedom. Taking full advantage of the city’s limitless atmosphere, the artists who thrive here tend to move easily between music, dance, film, sculpture, even radio broadcasting, with results that are alternately baffling, hilarious and mind-blowing. Those who are not waiting for the approval of “The Great Validator,” as artist Gean Moreno aptly put it, have an opportunity to create unwritten possibilities. Our eccentricities not only our strengths, but also our flaws - are rich, raw material for the contented mind.
Publicity photo for Tribute: A Summoning, a collaborative performance directed by Ana Mendez, 2010. Ph. Ana Mendez
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no mad world section Czech Republic The heritage of Michael Thonet TON celebrates a significant anniversary: 150 years of bentwood furniture production in Bystrice pod Hostýnem (Czech Republic). The factory was founded in 1861 by a cabinet maker, an inventor and a furniture designer Michael Thonet (1796 1871) who originally came from Boppard in Rhineland and then he settled in Moravia. At that time the factory was the biggest of its kind and it became a development centre of the entire company Gebrüder Thonet and it was exporting products into the entire world. Michael Thonet’s bentwood has become an inspiration for a number of other designers who were using usually metal tubes, which were easier to bend. In the history, these designers included among others Le Corbusier, Marcel Breuer, Mart Stamm, Miese van der Rohe... The exhibition provides an overview not only of his production, but also experience and skills that he used of in the production procedures. June 5 - J u l y 2 4 , 2 0 1 1 Castle of Bystrice p o d H o s t ý n e m Cz e c h R e p u b l i c
VIENNA Prototypes of the Modern Era
new york Painting Urbanism: Learning From Rio The exhibition will showcase paintings, documentary footage, pictures, sketches and plans of past, present and future projects developed by Dutch artists Haas&Hahn. Haas&Hahn is the working title of artistic duo Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn. They started working together in 2005 on a methodology of action within the built environment without precedents: Painting Urbanism, in the favelas. Painting Urbanism resides in the intersection between land art, supergraphics, graffiti and urban planning. It is able to act within the present urban reality by intervening on the liminal surface of the constructed city and produce spaces of true collective aspiration just through color, form and imagination.
this page is about special people and places
To this day, some of the furniture used in factories and other industrial facilities was made by the workers and mechanics themselves. In their strict orientation towards functionality, these simple and utilitarian pieces of “industrial furniture”—differ clearly from the typical smooth, uniform aesthetics of contemporary designer furniture. Since the 1970s—which marked the end of the classic Industrial and Machine Age—industrial furniture has increasingly been used in private living quarters, particularly in the furnishing of lofts and big-city apartments. With work tables, industrial stools, lockers and tool cabinets from factories, this exhibition for the first time presents furniture objects which not only display traces of work and patina from the bygone industrial age, but can also be viewed as the quintessence of functional design. 2 5 M a y - 3 0 October 2011 M A K - A u s t r ian Museum for A p p l i e d A r t / Contemporary A r t 1 , S t u b enring 5 - Vienna w w w. m a k . a t
May 7 - July 30, 2011 Storefront for Art and Architecture / 97 Kenmare Street N e w Yo r k , N Y 1 0 0 1 2 w w w. s t o r e f r o n t . or g
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no mad Zürich François Berthoud, The Art of Fashion Illustration Swiss artist François Berthoud is among the outstanding fashion illustrators of the present day. Born in 1961 and trained at the School of Applied Arts in Lausanne, Berthoud soon developed a distinctive style for the graphic transcription and illustration of contemporary clothing, shoes, handbags, perfumes, and accessories. His expressive, aesthetically appealing linocuts, drip pictures, and computer graphics have accompanied countless fashion campaigns – from Yves Saint Laurent to Bulgari or Sonia Rykiel. This first comprehensive exhibition brings together 100 original sketches and work samples, while also including a cinematic portrait that illuminates François Berthoud’s working process.
François Berthoud, Ferragamo, advertising, 2004, © François Berthoud
Ju ne 22 - October 9 , 2 0 1 1 Museum für Gestaltu n g Z ü r i c h Ausstellungsstrasse 6 0 , Z ü r i c h www.museum-gestal t u n g . c h
Nightlife in “The State of Tel Aviv” by Jonathan Sharoni The Tel Aviv scene is going through some strange times. The Brazilay Club, an institution and home to the best underground music scene, closed its doors last year. The Block Club, which boasted one of the best sound systems in the world, was also shut down by municipal order but will reopen at a different location in June 2011 - it is not to be missed! Several groups operate in the underground clubs; the music produced by Dubstep - one of the leading artists right now - corresponds with what’s happening abroad in real time, for the first time in Israel, and is considered among the best in the world. The other one leading the parties for quite a few years now is Kids Up Late - a bass oriented crew that host DJ’s and producers from around the globe and are responsible for some of the best parties. Now that the two best clubs in town have been shut down most parties have moved to Comfort 13 (Comfort street 13). Since Kids Up Late and Dubstep burst onto the scene four years ago, the club scene in Tel Aviv has successfully evolved. Before, DJ’s from abroad would be a rarity of once a month but today foreign DJ’s play in Tel Aviv every week, some of them very big, some becoming hugely famous after playing here. Tel Aviv also has its own Dubstep DJ star, Borgore, who started off just like any other teen, dancing at parties. He later began creating his own music and became a hit, performing abroad most of the time and working with distinguished artists such as Diplo and M.I.A. If Indie is your passion, this scene is mostly concentrated in three
places: Salon Berlin (15 Rabi Israel Najara Street), Corduroy (Alenby 99) and Haprozdor (14, Rambam). There is, though, something interesting, celebrating one successful year in June; Misshapes is running in several places around the world, uniting Indie lovers with clubbers and the other bohemians. Misshapes operates in two clubs - the Milk (Rotchild 6) and the Breakfast Club (Rotchild 4), which are joined by an underground passage. Although there have been some changes for the better in the local Indie scene, there is still a long way to go until it reaches a certain level. It is worth mentioning the yearly event Indie Negev - a three-day festival in the desert, gathering together the best bands, groups and singers on the scene at the moment. Other shows can usually be viewed at the Ozen Bar (48 King George St.), a concert bar located inside the best record shop in the city.
no mad page 17
The Teder Radio pop up bar is once again on air (Har Sinai 15) the hottest place for the summer in Tel Aviv. A place that works as a bar and a radio station on the second floor with music selected by the cultural elite of Tel Aviv. Check it out on www.teder.fm You need to realize that in a small country like Israel there is just one city which sets the cultural tone. What we call “The State of Tel Aviv” is where all sorts of scenes operate and though everybody knows each other and hears mostly the same music, each scene is closed off within itself, both musically and in terms of people and style. If you are mainstream, you have plenty of places to go, but that’s your problem. * Jonathan Sharoni is a music editor and DJ on Radio Tel Aviv 102FM who writes about music and nightlife for “Timeout” and “City Mouse” magazines.
no mad world section
NACHO CARBONELL
was born in V alencia S pain and graduated in 2 0 0 7 at the D esign A cademy E indhoven . I n 2 0 0 9 , he won the design of the year by the L ondon D esign M useum with his collection E volution which marked his ongoing collaboration with G alleria R ossana O rlandi , M ilano . I n 2 0 1 0 , a year after being named D esigner of the F uture by the D esign M iami fair , he presented his collection D iversity of 1 7 prototypes during the M ilan D esign W eek . H is unique pieces are now part of the collection of the G roningen M useum in T he N etherlands , and the 2 1 2 1 M useum in T okyo . N acho currently works with his team of people in a 2 0 th century church in E indhoven , T he N etherlands , were he has established his studio . N E W S : N acho C arbonell is presenting 3 new pieces belonging to the E volution C ollection in the exhibition M aterial W orld , K unst , design en mode at the G roninger M useum in the N etherlands ( M ay 2 8 th - A ugust 2 8 th , 2 0 1 1 ) .
www.nachocarbonell.com
The best thing about the city you live in? the city I live in is grey and boring, keeps me focused. The worst? it’s grey and boring. Where do you go when craving for culture ? into my imagination and my books. What does the word “home� inspire you? comfort. A culture you strongly feel you belong to? mine. First time in a city what do you do? go to the wc. You never travel without? my sketchbook.
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Design galleries Carpenters Workshop gallery, london & Paris/ Cristina grajales gallery, new York/ D&a lab, Brussels/ Dansk Møbelkunst gallery, Zurich & Paris/ David gill galleries, london/ Demisch Danant, new York/ Dilmos srl, Milan/ gabrielle ammann-gallery, Cologne/ galerie anne-sophie Duval, Paris/ galerie Chastel-Maréchal, Paris/ galerie Doria, Paris/ galerie Downtown-François laffanour, Paris/ galerie eric Philippe, Paris/ galerie Jacques lacoste, Paris/ galerie kreo, Paris/ galerie Patrick seguin, Paris/ galerie Perrin, Paris/ galerie Pierre Marie giraud, Brussels/ galerie Ulrich Fiedler, Berlin/ galerie ViViD, rotterdam/ galleria rossana Orlandi, Milan/ gallery Karena schuessler, Berlin/ gallery seomi, seoul/ Hostler Burrows, new York/ Jacksons, stockholm & Berlin/ Johnson Trading gallery, new York/ Jousse entreprise, Paris/ mitterrand+cramer/design, geneva/ Modernity, stockholm/ nilufar gallery, Milan/ Ornamentum, Hudson/ Perimeter art & Design, Paris/ Priveekollektie Contemporary art|Design, Heusden/ r 20th Century, new York/ Todd Merrill Twentieth Century, new York/ Design On/siTe Caroline Van Hoek presenting Beatrice Brovia and nicolas Cheng/ galerie Bsl presenting nacho Carbonell/ galerie Maria Wettergren presenting astrid Krogh/ gallery libby sellers presenting Formafantasma/ HelMrinDerKneCHT contemporary design gallery presenting nicolas le Moigne/ nathalie Karg/Cumulus studios presenting Mike Bouchet/ Particles gallery presenting aldo Bakker/ spring Projects presenting studio Makkink & Bey/
Modernity from stockholm. galleries Fiedler and Doria bring to the fair a new focus on the material of important design collectives from the early twentieth century, such as Bauhaus, De stijl and the Union des artistes Modernes, thus augmenting the story of design told through the fair’s roster of galleries. These galleries join Design Miami/ Basel’s family of exhibitors from ten countries. returning galleries include: Carpenters Workshop gallery, Dansk Møbelkunst gallery, David gill galleries, Demisch Danant, gabrielle ammann gallery, galerie Downtown-François laffanour, galerie eric Philippe, galerie kreo, galerie Patrick seguin, galerie Perrin, galerie Pierre-Marie giraud, Hostler Burrows, Johnson Trading gallery, Jousse entreprise, Mitterrand+Cramer, nilufar gallery, r 20th Century, gallery seomi, and ViViD gallery. Complementing the main gallery presentations, Design Miami/ Basel’s Design On/site program furthers the objective of providing a space for experimentation and launching new work in installation-driven solo shows. each On/site space expresses a distinct environment while providing collectors traditional grid design to create broader sightlines, open plazas and a meandering flow that provides visitors with a fair-going experience unlike any other. The Design Talks program continues to explore compelling topics in the design world. Bringing together designers, architects, artists and critics who are actively influencing design discourse and production, the 2011 series of Talks offers insight into what drives creative output, criticism and the market.
THe glOBal FOrUM FOr Design Once again, Design Miami/ Basel partners with W Hotels to present the /14of/15 /16/17/18/ Designers the Future award, honoring emerging design studios that are expanding the field of design. This June, the award is presented to three distinct2011 practices: asif Khan from the United Kingdom, JUne Mischer’traxler from austria and studio Juju from singapore. ViP OPening MOnDaY /13 / JUne
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Design MiaMi/ Basel 2011 Welcome to Design Miami/ Basel 2011, the global forum for design. We are often asked what the Design Miami/ shows represent, and why we refer to the show as a forum. Design Miami/ considers each edition to be a meeting point for the global design community - a locus where collectors, enthusiasts, curators and critics can discover the most prestigious selection of collectible design in the world alongside exciting design commissions, cultural exhibitions, panel discussions and engaging lounges and social spaces.
Hall 5 / Messe Basel sWiTZerlanD
Design Miami/ is the place where museum and private collections acquire both historic gems and newly-launched editions; where experienced and novice collectors obtain information about the developing design market from the individuals driving it; where visitors gain insight into design concepts and processes by meeting the makers themselves; and where enthusiasts encounter like-minded individuals and exchange ideas surrounded by the rich context of one hundred and ten years of design history.
DesignMiaMi.COM
each Design Miami/ show thoughtfully presents the most diverse and knowledgeable perspectives available in the collectible sector of the design world. exhibiting an array of sought-after objects originating from thirty nations and spanning two centuries, the juxtaposition of historic and contemporary design illustrates the thread of avant-garde influence on material culture, the historic anchor of even the most progressive work, and how the experiment of today becomes the classic of tomorrow. at the core of the Design Miami/ forum is the gallery program, which has evolved to encompass a strategic selection of galleries from around the globe with distinct areas of expertise. each gallery selected to participate in the fair is chosen for their ambition to develop a comprehensive appreciation of movements, designers and individual works that have shaped design history. This June, our gallery program will offer never-before-seen historical and contemporary work, large-scale architectural installations, and the opportunity for visitors to gain a deeper understanding of a specific designer’s vision through discerning solo shows from designers such as Pierre Charpin, ron gilad, Piet Hein eek, Max lamb, Joseph-andré Motte and Jean Prouvé. Within it’s roster of thirty-five galleries, Design Miami/ welcomes three new exhibitors: galerie Ulrich Fiedler from Berlin, galerie Doria from Paris, and
Finally, Design Miami/ Basel would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. Main sponsor HsBC Private Bank hosts guests in a striking ViP lounge and contributes to the commission of new design with the launch of the fourth Connection Collection work, a newly commissioned piece by Dutch designer Hella Jongerius. Design Miami/ Basel’s exclusive automotive sponsor audi offers personal car service in the progressively luxurious a8. and swarovski Crystal Palace makes their Basel debut, premiering an innovative presentation by design studio Frederikson stallard. Our sixth fair in Basel is marked by a palpable maturation. as the show’s identity, vision and offering develop with each year, this progression is apparent through the increasing quality of gallery exhibitions and progressive programming. We look forward to welcoming you to Basel and hope that you enjoy Design Miami/ Basel 2011!
no mad world section
no mad jaime hayon whispering objects B orn in 1 9 7 4 , in M adrid , S pain . A t 2 3 he was promoted head of D esign D epartment of F abrica , the B enetton - funded design and communication academy in T reviso , I taly . H is works for global brands includes L ladro , B accarat , S W A R O V S K I , C A M P E R , E stablished & S ons , and moo I . H e is one of the most influential creators of this decade and won numerous awards . H e is based in L O N D O N , T reviso , B arcelona and valencia . www . hayonstudio . com
Portrait: Nienke Klunder
You have a personal residence in London, offices in Treviso, Barcelona and Valencia. Is there anything behind this choice? And why Barcelona in particular and not Madrid, your hometown?
Your creations are at a crossroad between Art and Design. A big debate today as the two disciplines tend to get closer. An artist expresses a concept without necessarily thinking about profit. What about a designer, don’t you think he has less freedom?
It is a very long story....I had been living in Italy for several years working for Fabrica Benetton when I decided to leave and set up my own studio, it was time to find a new place to live. At the time, I decided to go to Barcelona and not Madrid because of the industrial base there and the design culture. If I was going to set up a studio, clients were essential. I lived in Barcelona for several years and eventually felt I needed a change. I wanted to experiment living in a place with more excitement, where you could have access to people and places. Spain simply did not provide this. For this reason, I moved to London. Anyway, these are the places where I have lived for the last ten years, where I have collaborators and clients and in a way each is a bit like home.
To tell you the truth, I am not very concerned with these labels and divisions. Of course, the purpose of art is not the same as design and they shouldn’t have to occupy the same space at the same time. I don’t find they are exclusive fields or that you have to choose to between one or the other. I have design work, I have art work and I have things that may very well belong to both worlds. This doesn’t bother me and I don’t need to define it or divide it. Things just are. Jaime Hayon’s world is colorful, extravagant, full of fantasy and vitality. Do you perceive your roots in a certain Spanish tradition?
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This page, the information centre at the Groninger Museum and the new Bathroom collection for Bisazza
Inevitably, your origins influence who you are but it is also a matter of personality. Not all Spanish people appreciate color or extravagance. I do have a heritage that I am proud of, but ultimately, your personality in design is not all about your roots, but about many other things like who you are, your dreams, your life experience, the places and people you have met. What do people expect from a designer today? What is important for you to transmit? Some values that will never change? For me, and this is a very personal approach, a designer should transmit more than just an object there should be an emotion, a story, a feeling that accompanies that object. It’s the only thing that makes sense to me. I think the future will be about personalization and individuality rather than anonymity and generalization.
As a perfect globetrotter, is there any city, places that particularly inspire you? There are so many places I adore. I love going to new places and learning about them. Generally, I find the best approach is to speak to people and if this is not possible, then I would try to mimic because to find a way to communicat e with the local people will always be essential in getting to know a new place. I love to try out local food and rituals and get as close as possible to them. You can learn so much about people with how and what they eat. As for places I love, I wouldn’t know where to start: I am in love with Tokyo and japanese culture because the japanese have a way with everything that is so special Italy is like a second home to me. I always enjoy the Italian way of tradition and quality. I love visiting Holland where my partner is from because it means relaxation, long bicycle rides and quality time.
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A N O L E C BAR
ACID RAIN Photography by EMIL KOZAK, 2009.
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Artist statement ÂŤWe romantize nature, while we shape it to match our fantasy. It continouisly amaze and baffle us. But still we break it, and suck it dry of resources in pursuit of excessive luxury, leisure and happiness. It is a complex relationship that often ends
with nature striking back. I chose to base the works around the theme acid rain, because it is a phenomenon, that show how human interventions and alterations, can return in form of acid drops falling from the sky. It is symbol of how the negative effect of our interventions might
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not seem noticable at first, but over time they reappear, and mother earth will reclaim her part. Great parts of the planet undergo intense alterations to the point of illness, and I hope that in my lifetime i will witness the drop, that spilled the cup.Âť Emil Kozak
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Walking on a roof made of glass Oscar Guayabero, curator
DESIGNERS The NEW TERRORISTS Now the ones who try to change society are the designers who spread their ideas around the world through the internet. MartĂ GuixĂŠ, designer
The Design Hub NETWORK, PEOPLE and IDEAS Barcelona is a very interesting place to develop projects and to become part of a big network, even if production takes place elsewhere. Ramon Prat, publisher and curator
tHE city of design Madrid is the capital, Valencia is the place where you can find the headquarters of most of the furniture companies and Barcelona is the most cosmopolitan city in Spain. MARC MORRO, designer
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barcelona design section Walking on
a roof made of glass Text by Oscar Guayabero Barcelona ran a bumpy course during the 20th century; its project of modernity, headed and inspired by the GATPAC and the Bauhaus, was shattered by the dictatorship that extended for 40 years. With the coming of democracy, however, it was re s c ued fr o m t h e s ideli n e s , though something had changed. Postmodernity had prompted the persistence of an arbitrary rationalism. Despite this, Barcelona insisted on pursuing its own idea of modernity, believing that architecture and design could help change society and making possible an exemplary treatment of public space in the city. Soon the 80s came, bringing luxury and fun; a party atmosphere further extended by the Olympic Games. However, in 93, the reality became tough and hostile. The second half of the eighties showed Barcelona the heights it could reach. This pinnacle, however, was like a roof made of glass; it could be broken at any time, either by an emerging creation or by the explosion of a crisis that could cause the fragile creative network of the city to disappear. A new generation of designers and architects, planning on bringing the world forward into the digital age, found themselves held back in territory occupied by the previous generation and obliged to rei n v e n t themselves.
Barcelona, the world’s school of design? All these designers, without knowing it, helped to make Barcelona once again a place of refere n c e ; they did it through education. Many needed to supplement their income by teaching and at the same time, they believed in education as a means for changing things. The result is that nowadays Barcelona has more s c h o o l s of design than New York City. Students from all over the world come here to study. Many of them establish themselves in the city or do internships in local offices. Low-cost flights and the internet have made it possible for offices located outside our borders with equally foreign clients to establish themselves in Barcelona, attracted not only by the good quality of life and the nice climate, but by the certain aura of contemporariness and the sense of design that the city possesses. This creative generation no longer feels the previous generational pressure; the boom of the eighties is not a roof that nobody dares approach any more. In fact, they walk on this roof of glass without any fear, in spite of its fragility. They did not know the g o lde n times but grew up in the c ri s i s ; from this they have gained their strength.
Barcelona could be a good place to construct a bridge between European and Latin American architecture and design. The presence in our city of a wide number of professionals coming from South and Central America places the city in a privileged watchtower and simultaneously diffuses what is produced in this part of the world. Furthermore, it is a breeding centre for new ideas, resting on a great critical mass of students and investigators, a live archive of design tradition, assisted by a good number of experts and historians and a cultural bridge between continents, counting on the new inhabitants of Barcelona adopted from the rest of world. If we manage to conserve, at least partly, these three things, Barcelona will have a future. On the contrary, if we allow ourselves to become engrossed in our golden past with its glass roof, soon we will be nothing but a pretty example in design history, with no current importance and no future. The full version of this article is available on : www.nomadpaper.com
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INTERVIEW with R am o n P rat is the director of D e s i g n Hub B ar c el o n a ( D H U B ) . A rchitect and graphic designer , he is also the head of A c tar B irk h ä u s er , the biggest architectural publishing group, which brings together the very hip A C T A R P ublishing - a progressive editorial project exploring architecture , graphic design and contemporary art - and B irkh ä user , the traditional S wiss architectural publisher . R amon P rat is also the head of R A S , a gallery - bookstore in B arcelona ( and soon in M adrid ) specializing in architecture , graphic design and photography . www . dhub - bcn . cat
&
www . actar . com
What is the Design Hub? What about the space? The Design Hub of Barcelona is a new project focused on design which is under construction and is scheduled to open at the end of 2011. For now, we have a temporary space in front of the Picasso museum, a small place where we are trying to explain the concept of a hub of design. Four years ago when I started developing this project, I thought that we didn’t need another design museum. In the last century, a museum was usually defined as a closed space people could enter to see things and try to understand what was happening. Then came the Centre, but again the focus was on one place. Our idea of a hub, however, is a space which is absolutely open. The hub is only one part of a big network; it’s a more complex reality. There are hubs in airports, in offices, in universities - when you need to organize a big network of people and ideas you need a hub and that’s the idea. It’s strategic - design is linked with industry and economy. The role of the Design Hub of Barcelona is to be an infrastructure facilitating the realisation and collaboration of design talent in Barcelona - a big network of local and international designers, producers, users and design industries.
The building is an initiative of the city and was created through a competition won by different architects in 2001. For some strange reason in Barcelona, we first decide to make a building and then we decide what will happen inside. Probably for this reason, the location and the actual building is not so important for us, what’s important is the space, which will be quite big - 25,000 square meters - and will be a place of great flexibility where we will have the opportunity to bring people together, organize exhibitions, give lectures and present collections. Will the Design Hub give priority to Spanish design? I don’t know if today it makes sense to speak about Spanish design, Italian design or Japanese design. Our overall perception of design prevents that kind of limitation. The concept behind the Design Hub is
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barcelona design section to improve and stimulate production and to reflect on design in general with the aim of spreading the idea that something important related to design is happening in Barcelona. That’s why for us, the definition of design is very open. It’s about starting projects using different languages and different tools. For instance, you have interior design which is part of architecture, although architecture, as a discipline, has a stronger social responsibility. Then there is product design and there is communication design, which includes graphic design and advertisement. We will work around these three main areas. Another activity of the Design Hub, although minor, will be presenting Barcelona’s private collections from textiles to industrial design to graphic design. How is the design scene in Barcelona ? Barcelona has an interesting geographical position. Unlike, for example, Madrid, which is located in the centre of the country, Barcelona is very accessible, being close to the border with France and near the sea. It’s a place that emphasizes communication and its open character makes us more disposed to accept changes in our lives. It’s difficult to describe the design scene in Barcelona - it is not prominent compared with somewhere like Milan, for instance. In the end, for a lot of people Barcelona is a very good base for developing design but not necessarily for producing it. It is an inspiring city where you have a lot of young people and a lot of foreigners developing new, fresh ideas which is something you can feel in the air. There is a lot of energy and a lot of potential but sometimes, unfortunately, this does not result in products. To transform a design idea into a product you need industry, which requires big investments. The reality of industry is complex; there are a lot of problems relating to new production centres like China, for example. There is though a lot of industry in Barcelona and in its periphery, it is focused on manufacture and isn’t willing to adapt to ideas for new products or to develop new design, which is a major problem.
This page “Helvetica. A New Typeface?”. Opposite page “Images of Fashion. Study gallery”. (Ph. Manuel Outumuro) All images Courtesy of Design Hub Barcelona (DHUB) DHUB’s visual identity system: La Gasulla
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How do you see Barcelona’s future? If Barcelona is going to fulfil its potential as a centre of creativity in the future, this will not be thanks to the nice weather or the sea but will be due to the special energy of the young people and the city’s international community, making it a place where designers can develop their talents and their artistic awareness. At the end of the day, anything is possible. Some designers in Barcelona work with local companies and others just have a base here, producing outside the country. This is a natural process in today’s global reality and maybe it is an old-fashioned concept to want to connect the place where a design is developed and where it is actually produced. For these reasons, I think Barcelona is a very interesting place to develop projects and to become part of a big network, even if production takes place elsewhere. Barcelona is an international city which has a big mix of personalities and it is part of our heritage and our cultural richness.
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MARTí
GUIXé
M art í Gui x é was born in B arcelona in 1 9 6 4 . H e lives and works between B arcelona and B erlin and collaborated for firms such as C amper , C hupa - C hups , D esigual , D roog D esign , S aporiti and W atx . H e has exhibited at the M o M A in N ew Y ork , the D esign M useum in L ondon , the M A C B A in B arcelona , the M udac in L ausanne and the C entre P ompidou in P aris . H e has produced five books with the I talian www . G U I X E . com publishing house C orraini .
You once declared yourself ex-designer. Why this statement and is it still something you care about? When I started to design objects from another kind of perspective in the 90s, I was coming out with a series of products that were very different to what was on the market at that time. It was very difficult for people to put me into a category; to designers I was an artist and to artists I was a designer. However, I was not an artist; I was a designer and because I was trying to work in many ways, I had the need to redefine myself. I was a designer who didn’t need to fit into the parameters of what was happening in the design scene and so felt that the term ex-designer was perfect for me. Actually, it did create a lot of confusion because many people thought I had quit and I had to explain that I was still working but now as an ex-designer. Three years ago, I decided not to use this definition any more and have just kept it as a label to produce things under. Everything has changed a lot since then and design today is completely different; you no longer have this idea of breaking the rules. Design, as a discipline, is more open and therefore it doesn’t make sense to use this concept any more. How has design evolved? No longer limited to problem solving, today design can provide solutions without requests from industry. In a way, designers have moved ahead of industry. They don’t need to wait for a company to ask them to design a product - they can simply propose solutions, introducing them to the world through media such as the internet and companies follow. This is the main change. It used to be the other way around. I think we are in a post-industrial society where everything is possible, where perception is much more relevant than necessities or solutions, where designers can create new analyses of reality. This evolution has something to do with the possibilities new media like the internet offer
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- today it’s very easy to spread ideas on the net. The manufacturing process has lost a lot of power because anybody can manufacture now. China produces plenty of things, many of little value. Real value is how you develop an object and what it represents. The brand, the visibility of what you are doing, is also important. When I first started to work, there were no manufacturers of my age. While previous generations of designers were working with their own generation of manufacturers, people of my age coming out of business school never thought of manufacturing anything - they wanted to do business and they went into new media. Today it feels very nostalgic and a bit old-fashioned to be working with this idea of industry even though some people still do it. At one point you were interested in mass consumption. Is that still the case today? In the beginning, I was very much interested in mass consumption. That’s one of the reasons I went into food; it is a product of mass consumption. I started to work seeing food not as food but as an object. I thought, “if it’s an object, I can design it”. Today I have doubts about the value of mass production, such large-scale concepts unfortunately often result in a lack of quality. I am now less interested in mass consumption and more in quality and ideas that might change our perception of reality. The German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk wrote an article three years ago suggesting that designers are the new terrorists, making reference to the terrorist group, RAF, who wanted to change society through terrorism in the 70s. Now the ones who try to change society are the designers who spread their ideas around the world through the internet. I always believed very much in ideas; the difference is that now you have a new tool - the internet. You seem to be at a cross point between art and design, as a designer exhibiting also in art spaces and museums. How do you feel about this? My position is not easy because I am not an artist; my methods are very different. I design to sell my products, an artist expresses him or herself but not for a commercial purpose. Although this is not always the case, in theory that’s the main difference. My work is always developed in a commercial context; even when I do very experimental things, I try to develop a business model with the intention of changing something in society but also of an eventual financial gain. There is always this drive to search new economic areas to produce new products. An artist searches for new ways to develop his thoughts, not necessarily in an economical context. What is your relationship with Barcelona? I was born and raised in Barcelona but now I live between here and Berlin and tend to travel a lot. When I am in Barcelona, I spend a lot of time in my studio. But generally speaking, I work much more in Italy and other countries than in Spain. Barcelona had its primavera of design; I remember when I was studying in Milan, everybody was speaking about Barcelona. That is not the case any more and I don’t have the opportunity to exhibit regularly here. I have to go to Milan to present my work because it’s always the place to be. I receive a lot of commissions from Italy but only very occasionally from Barcelona and Spain.
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Design section opening page: Communicator balloon by Alessi. Fruit holder with message board. Opposite page: Interior for a temporary bar, Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, Milan 2010. Football tape by Magis, 2004. Adhesive tape with a football pattern. Next pages: “Statement chairs. Respect cheap furniture”. All images © Imagekontainer/ Knölke
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marc morro and Surtido is a platform for young Spanish designers. Surtido aims to promote and give visibility to the young designers of the country and generate a kind of identity while respecting each participant’s individuality. Surtido is active through workshops, exhibitions and conferences. www.surtido.org
Above: ‘Marc Morro Pelos’, portrait by Biel Capllonch, and ‘Fauna’ by Nadadora for the project Surtido Invitational. On the opposite page: ‘Baseball’ by Diego Ramos and ‘Ladrontacon’ by Marc Morro, both for the project Cualquier Cosa Menos un Zapato
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Barcelona seems to be a place designers choose as a base, a place of inspiration rather than a place where designers can produce. Do you agree with that? Yes, I agree. There are industrial designers all over the country but most of them are concentrated in three cities; Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid. And then, of course, there is another group of designers who live abroad. The reasons are very simple; Madrid is the capital, Valencia is the place where you can find the headquarters of most furniture companies and Barcelona is the most cosmopolitan city in Spain and THE city of Design, however, ironically, the only one which doesn’t have a real Design Week. There is a design convention in Barcelona, though it focuses on design strategies and is very much business-oriented. It’s pretty nice but I don’t think it deserves to be called “DESIGN WEEK”. I would love to see a real Design Week with activities all over the city so anybody from abroad could come to Barcelona and enjoy design intensely, in the kind of atmosphere that only happens during design weeks. What kind of situation are young designers facing today? Basically, I don’t think that designers had better opportunities in the past. One of the main differences is that back then, opportunities were fairly specific and defined; today they are less so, but much better. These days people choose carefully where they will invest, so while we may have fewer opportunities, we benefit from having more focused clients.
What do your foresee for Barcelona in the future? In terms of design I would be happy if they finish the DHUB (the design museum in Barcelona) on time! You are the director of the collective Surtido; can you tell us something about it? Surtido started in 2008 with the aim of promoting young Spanish industrial designers who work with different companies and creating an entity, while preserving each designer’s own identity. The concept is that working in a group is easier and more fun than working alone. Surtido gives its participants opportunities to work on big projects, make exhibitions, organize workshops and conferences and it creates a network for all of them. We are trying to introduce them to the market, developing various projects with different companies. For example, we’ve been in Poland, in the gallery Vinçon Barcelona, making projects in NY and in China and we’ve been working with brands like Vialis, Santa & Cole and Chocolat Factory…
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An exported cultural commodity? Alejandro Bahamón & Ana María Álvarez
The Barcelona model alive overseas I think that the original Barcelona model is now almost dead yet continues to live in a better form all over the world. Josep Bohigas, architect
ZOO ARCHITECTURE Barcelona Animals and tourists have become the main receivers of the architecture of this city, city more and more worried to show its image which little has to do with those who inhabit it. Xavier Monteys and Anna Puigjaner, architects
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barcelona architecture section The architecture of Barcelona:
An exported cultural commodity?
We arrived in Barcelona just after the city had launched its urban renewal plan for the 1992 Olympic Games. We saw the birth of the brand new beaches Bogatell, Marbella and Selva de Mar; barely frequented during the 90s and with plenty of space for everything, or nearly everything. Now, only 10 years later, the lack of space not only on the beaches but around the streets, squares and tourist circuit is such that the city council is taking measures to curb the city’s growth through civic awareness campaigns with slogans like “A Barcelona tot hi cap però no tot s’hi val”, which loosely translates as “In Barcelona, e v er y t h i n g fit s , but n o t a n y t h i n g g o e s . ” It is a heavily debated issue, but whether a political decision or not, the truth is that architecture has always been one of Barcelona’s most valued and marketed cultural assets. Throughout its long history and since its Roman foundations, the city has experienced its fair share of fortune and glory. The wealth of feudal merchants produced one of the richest and best-preserved medieval centres of the Mediterranean. A stroll through Montcada, home to the Picasso Museum, leads to our favourite building in the Old City: The church of Santa María del Mar, which now hardly appears to be an original 14th century building, thanks to its recently restored façade and its unsuitable nocturnal lighting, more typical of a baroque building than a medieval one. But the city really came into its own during the mid-19th century, when the old city walls came down and the agricultural fields that separated the surrounding villages were urbanized into Cerdà’s Eixample, producing a unique style over 50 years that would define the city’s character virtually until this day: M o der n i s m . It is essential to walk through the “Manzana de la Discordia” and its casa Battló, casa Amatller and casa Lleó Morera, and discover these three different interpretations of one single style. The grid of the Eixample, however, was not developed according to Cerdà’s plans, which were unpopular with the public, given that he was the urban planner imposed by the central government at the time. As a result, the green courtyards, chamfered street corners, right-angled curbs, heights of buildings and pedestrian passages became almost entirely distorted. Not to mention the real-estate abuses suffered during Franco’s regime in particular; all you have to do is walk through this area of the city and look upwards to see the amount of imprudent add - o n s that undermine the scale of the neighbourhood. Now, 150 years later, Cerdà is acclaimed for his plan and a strong movement is underway to realise his original proposals, such as the Sant Antoni library or the central square in the old site of the Bayer factory. As early as 1888, the Universal Exhibition was celebrated in Ciutadella Park, leaving architectural emblems such as the Paseo Lluís Companys. Barcelona had discovered the way to promote itself and obtain the funds to build its architecture: an international e v e n t . It did so again in 1929 with another Universal Exhibition which resulted in several landmarks in the Montjuic area, and finally culminated in the 1992 Olympics, the ultimate international event. The city opened up towards the sea, created important infrastructure and implemented the idea of executing small projects with dramatic effects. And so t h e B ar c el o n a m o del w a s b o r n . Since then, it seems that urban policy seeks to keep the city in the spotlight by inviting starchitects to leave their mark or inventing international events. The last of these, categorized as the largest sham in the history of the city, was the Forum of Cultures 2004. The result: an expanse of ill-planned urban space and a series of buildings that s eparatel y , n o t a s a w h o le , constitute the new architecture of the city. Barcelona believes in and will continue to believe in architecture as a means of consolidating its cultural identity, but it is clear that entering into a fierce competition to call attention to itself without a clear policy framework is not the most appropriate way to do so.
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Opening section image ph. Marco Pinarelli
Text by Alejandro Bahamón & Ana María Álvarez, from El_Bloc, www.elbloc.net
INTERVIEW with J o s ep B o h i g a s ( B arcelona , 1 9 6 7 ) writes , thinks and makes architecture : buildings , urban spaces , temporary structures , interiors . He founded BOPBAA an architectural studio in 1 9 9 0 with F rancesc P la F errer and I ñ aki B aquero R iazuelo www . B O P B A A . com
Where does Barcelona stand today? After the Franco years, the 80s and 90s were a very optimistic time for the city, the Olympic Games being the apotheosis of this exciting period. Things have quietened down since then, though Barcelona’s talent has not. Today we have more talent and better architects and designers than ever before. What is lacking, however, is ability to work together, maybe because in the past we were so busy that we didn’t have the time or the inclination to collaborate with others. The institutions also have lost their capacity to engage talent. For instance, there was an interesting period in the 80s when the School of Architecture could have been described as a laboratory for the city, where it was implementing many projects around Barcelona. Magazines were also participating in this collaboration, harnessing more energy. Today this does not happen any more; the school investigates subjects which do not interest the city and the city is not making the most of the energy that the university could provide. There is not enough complicity. I don’t think there is any other city in the world with such a concentration of institutions aimed at promoting, exposing and debating architecture. For instance, four major prizes are awarded every year: the Barcelona City Prize, a prize given for the best building in the city; the Foment de les Arts Decoratives (FAD) Prize, the most prestigious prize awarded for architecture in Spain and Portugal; the Mies van der Rohe Award which draws attention to the best architecture in Europe and the WAF Prize, given at the World Architecture Festival to the best architecture in the world. In addition, the Design Hub and FAD organize year-round exhibitions of architecture and design, as do the College of Architects of Catalonia (COAC) and the Centre of Contemporary Culture in
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Barcelona (CCCB) on urbanism. So every year architects have plenty of occasions to meet their colleagues; these could be real occasions to create complicity but this does not happen. Maybe one of the advantages of the current crisis is that it might change things; we will have to be proactive, something I am very optimistic about. Until now most architects in Barcelona have worked in a reactive fashion but in the current situation, we cannot just wait for commissions. We have to invent our own projects in order to meet other professionals and create a new model together. Barcelona underwent a major facelift; what does this mean in terms of architecture? During the 80s, there was a big public campaign to renovate the city: “Barcelona, posa’t guapa!” (Barcelona, make yourself pretty). The aim was to encourage people to clean their building facades, to make the city prettier. This effort, along with the reconstruction of public spaces, created what is known as the “Barcelona Model”, which was a positive development process which provoked a chain reaction. People observing their houses, comparing them to the “clean” public square started to restore their facades and then, naturally, began to refurbish the interior of their houses. After this positive boost to the city, we now need to look at our buildings again. It’s important to understand that public spaces and housing should not be treated as two separate entities but must be developed together. Only then can they become a powerful tool to transform a city. I don’t think your house ends at your door, but at the square space in front of it. We made a project called “from your bedroom to your square” using the idea that your bedroom is just part of a wider reality around you and that this should not stop at the front of your building. Let’s call it an expansion rather than a facelift. It’s interesting to see homes dealing with public space and public space being part of domestic life.
in the world in recent years. The architect Alejandro Echeverri studied in Barcelona during the 80s and then implemented the Barcelona model over there. In many cities, mainly in South America, the model of transformation they used was based on our model. Rio de Janeiro used many of the same principles to transform the favelas with the program “Favela Barrio”. Any city which has held the Olympic Games, or any other global event, has discussed the Barcelona model and how this event could be an opportunity to transform their city. I think that the original Barcelona model is now almost dead yet continues to live in a better form all over the world. In Medellin our model was improved and the transformation has been spectacular. It would be great to form a committee to create a new model based on positive responses to the original Barcelona model overseas; to both reconsider the good ideas used in the past, and encourage new proposals. I think these cities and countries had bigger problems than Barcelona but because of their difficult situation, they took bigger risks and, in the end, they found better solutions. They learned from Barcelona and now it should be our turn to learn from them.
What has happened to the Barcelona model? Recently I was at an architectural festival in Guadalajara. A lot of people from different countries were invited; people from Colombia, from Mexico, from Chile - a lot from South America - and they were all discussing the Barcelona model of the 80s. Thinking of the city of Medellin in Colombia, it went through the most amazing transformation
Your studio is based in an interesting area - 22@ - what is this neighborhood like?
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This area used to be known as the “Manchester of Catalan”; it was the place where all Barcelona’s big industries were located, along the sea coast. Almost all those big industries closed down and became obsolete, so when they decided to build the Olympic Games village, instead of putting it near the airport which maybe would have been cheaper, they decided to put it in this area of the city; to build a neighborhood within a neighborhood. So it started with the Olympic Games; next came the Forum, at the other end of the area, on the Diagonal Boulevard. The area in the middle started to change while preserving the feel of an ex-industrial area. They converted the name 22a, used for a heavy industrial area, to 22@; from heavy industry to clean industry. For me, this is still one the most interesting transformations that has happened in Barcelona in the last few years. This blend of old and new, traditional industry and clean industry, housing and offices is very attractive. Unfortunately, though, you also find some examples of bad renovation where the original texture was not respected. Our studio is based in this neighbourhood because we wanted to be part of this transformation. We developed several projects, always trying to respect the original building. 22@ is very close to the beach - one of the policies of the 80s was to make Barcelona face the sea because initially we had our back to it. As an urban project, this is one of the best decisions we made; our
most democratic urban space is actually the beach. The only beach that used to exist was Barceloneta but because the water was dirty due to all the heavy industry, no one used to go there. Now the water is clear, the sand is cleaned regularly and the situation is totally changed. This has had a big impact and now we have a city with a relationship with the sea. Your guidelines for the future? The word “share” would be, for me, the basis for sustainability and social issues. Why do we have to have such excessive duplication in our lives and homes? Why can’t we think of different ways to function? We should consider each element implemented in our house and our city; is it necessary to have it for ourselves or could we perhaps share it with others? We are able to share a square, a street, a public space like a museum, so why can’t we share more? What are the limits of what we can share with others? In the past I conducted a social project based on the limit of the number of square meters seen as acceptable for a living space; I would be very interested today to explore the limits of sharing on any scale. I am convinced that the only way to save the environment is to rethink cities with these possibilities in mind.
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zoo , architect u re , barcelona by Xavier Monteys and Anna Puigjaner
Cages for Macaws at the barcelona zoo / Enric Batlle & Joan Roig Architects Photography by Marco Pinarelli
The architecture of Barcelona appears in all possible guises throughout the city - either explicitly or not: Rambla, Pedrera, Beaches, Forum . . . an architecture which has come on stage, on spectacle, and becoming overtime the undisputed main character. Barcelona has been advertising itself as a model, as a brand, with architecture as one of its main qualities. Barcelona has focused around Antonio Gaudi’s architecture a series of works, public spaces as well as buildings, with the purpose of vitalizing the architectural tourist destination it has become. There is no need to expand on this as it is obvious from the long list of outstanding buildings designed by architects from around the world that have found space in Barcelona. But why Zoo? Simply because animals and architecture have become intertwined, something that truly illustrates well the
architectonical and urban practices of this city with an unconditional devotion towards tourism. The latest of these manifestations of animal architecture is embodied by the architectural competition launched by the city council at the mountain site of MontjuĂŻc in order to promote a refuge for abandoned pets. Supported by a generous budget and a total area that, if divided by the number of animals cared for, gives a ratio of 40 m2 per pet, the figure is even greater than the floor area of apartments for young people developed by the Public administration in the metropolitan area. In this case, architecture is the core of the competition, given that these kind of proposals can be used to advertise something that lacks the necessary common sense, and where the problem which caused it could be easily solved by renting and adapting any agricultural facility near Barcelona. Instead
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of pretending to teach a civic lesson by creating a building for abandoned animals, one should rather demonstrate civism by not abandoning pets at all. It works out to be as instructive as designing a more comfortable electric chair. A similar demonstration of civic behavior has just taken place in the Rambla where kiosks selling animals, mainly birds, have been abolished. The kiosks were seen as places with neither enough space nor the proper conditions to house animals, especially when they remained closed, and with the floor area significantly reduced. More to the fact that there was no air conditioning further irritated their critics! Instead of searching for a reasonable solution to house the animals during the closed periods of these establishments, for instance using the many stalls in the area near the Rambla, an easy solution has been chosen which flatters those who claim
to be strong believers in animal “rights” but furthermore boosts once more the tourism economy. The architectural repercussion has been doubly felt with, on one side the loss of a foldable structure and on the other, the loss of the quality of this famous avenue by replacing the kiosks with insalubrious ice cream and drink stands. Being too big, too high, and too ugly, these stands make the Rambla’s importance concentrate only on what happens in the avenue’s center, diminishing each time the relationship with the facades of the busy street. These changes to the Rambla progressively alter its appearance for the worse, mass commercializing its use and frightening away citizens who simply want the way what it used to be, a “street par excellence” of this Mediterranean town. We don’t believe there is a better example of a “sewer street” in the whole World. At the same time as this controversy some magnificent birdcages were built for cockatoos at the Barcelona Zoo. It may be one of the best examples of local architecture in recent times, but it makes the substitution of the Ramblas kiosk by drink vending machines all the more banal. The Zoo’s cages are delicate as well as ingenious, built from no more than three materials and a few components that when joined together construct the cages into a flexible form. It is a rare example where the grouping of cages resembles a village rather than a garden, making it against all odds more like a bird “village”. In other words, there is more urbanism in this setting than there is with the Rambla stands. Those who have demonstrated hysterically in favor of liberty for the caged animals in the Rambla should be reminded that in the Zoo, free birds that fly across that part of the city seem to hold a desire to enter those multicolored cages. After all, the main trap hidden in defending animal rights is that we do always speak on their behalf, and that means an easy ride for every politician. One of the most iconic animal architecture examples in Barcelona takes us back to the times of Olympic Barcelona and one of its milestones: a shrimp or rather, a crawfish which Barcelona celebrated as a sculpture, no more than a kind of volumetric doodle which seems to jump over one of the pergolas built in the Moll de la Fusta. It is an example of “fun” design (we must point out that this is what we believe to be its main flaw). The shrimp,
and its beach bar, have ended up being this city’s urban growth model, a growth model that bases its interest in beach bar-like buildings which have nothing to do with the street. The shrimp - a crustacean - and Frank Gerhy’s fish are most probably the zoo-icons from that stage of the city. The last one mentioned is an inspiring surface, an imaginative pergola, which shines like fish scales, vaguely reminding us of auto-built experiments in wood from the 60’s hippie California. The pergola fish is situated in a place that does not deserve it: an inferior space, beneath the street elevation, in a discotheque’s vulgar courtyard, hemmed in by two towers. It would be better to consider changing its site, fittingly to take the place of the grotesque shrimp in order to place the fish in its natural habitat, surrounded by caipirinhas and chillouts. This city model has entered a crisis in the new Forum zone. There “Shrimp buildings”, built to house the even more incomprehensible Cultures Forum 2004, were left without use once the event closed down, generating a purely scenery-town. The city council, trying to find a solution for this situation is moving to the blue-triangular part of the Zoology Museum’s collection together with other natural sciences collections. The intention is to move everything that has to do with the animal kingdom and capable of being exhibited in a museum. The transfer has begun haphazardly. The whale’s skeleton, which for many years hung inside the Zoology Museum’s room - Lluís Domènech i Muntaner’s ancient 1889 universal exhibition’s restaurant - , broke on the 10th of June while being dismantled in order to vacate the museum’s collections. The amateur-like operation is intolerable and unacceptable in an institution such as the Zoology Museum. This is a significant metaphor of how the city treats what is old where it only sees a suitable material for fleeting glances. In fact, animals kept there seem to be of little importance for them and they have ended this curious inversion of the story of Jonas and the whale, in which the whale was Jonas and the museum was the whale. However, the shrimp continues unaffected. Since there has not been another use found for the building, which never had one anyway, one will probably never succeed in finding a new and adequate purpose for those buildings remaining empty. Deciding on suitable new uses of empty buildings seems to be a particularly interesting
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problem nowadays, and Barcelona has plenty of examples in which we can put into practice this exercise. It is just as important finding architects to adequately solve this as finding those who build new buildings because rethinking the city turns out to be more delicate than inventing it from scratch. This has occurred countless times, some of them still an open wound, like that of Las Arenas, a bullfighting square in Plaza España. In the old taurine structure it was decided to open a shopping and leisure center, still under construction, as a harsh exponent of the present economical crisis which particularly affects construction. The symbol is hated, in this case the bullfighting plaza, but no one has been able to do something intelligent about it and the same will happen definitively once the Monumental bullfighting square closes down after the prohibition of bullfights in Catalonia is made effective. It turned out to be easier to oppose the greyhound races in the city, and as a consequence of this opposition together with the decline of the activity, the greyhound stadium Canódromo Meridiana closed three years ago, a splendid work made out of steel and few concrete built by the architects Antonio Bonet Castellana and Josep Puig Tomé in 1963 and in the present day just about to be completely repaired and recovered as an art center. Still not finished, the building has recently been able to get back to life with the Mercé holidays (Barcelona’s holidays). Event though the building’s interior spaces have not been opened, the grandstand and the balcony have been full of people, as well as the old racing track and now show an environment that reminds of its best times. This building is yet another example of the relationship between architecture and animals, we can only expect activities scheduled by the new art center to have receptions as euphoric as these ones and that they make the best profit of a building that is an observatory deck thanks its long façade in front of a large open public space. Therefore, one could feel tempted to think that animals are in all of this the perfect citizens; those which don’t complain when they are kicked out, which don’t express an opinion when moved somewhere else, and which adapt themselves to any destination. Animals and tourists have become the main receivers of the architecture of this city, city more and more worried to show its image which little has to do with those who inhabit it.
The nervous city “Production” could be the motto for the cultural dynamic of the city, which wants to position itself as a place where artists can carry out their projects, a laboratory for creation.
Montse Badia
Museums A place to try, risk and meet Unlearning what we have learned, creating new spaces; that would be the real challenge for Barcelona. Chus Martines, curator
ULTRASHOW Miguel Noguera An important faculty of the mind, and one I always pay great attention to, is imagination. Chus Martines, curator
IDENTITY, PRIVATE SPACE Relations It makes me happy that politicians have not found a successor to Tàpies and Barceló, great artists and local geniuses. Eulalia Valldosera, artist
loop Video art EMILIO ALVAREZ
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The nervous city Text by Montse Badia The writer Enrique Vila-Matas once defined Barcelona as a “nervous city…a city of wonders, which has the alarming tendency never to feel unsatisfied with herself, very active, very dynamic, highly changeable…never lives at peace and is the M adame B o v ar y o f t h e c itie s of this world, a very nervous city where nothing lasts, not even the most recent”. This is an accurate portrait of the city of Barcelona, a tourist brand, a place where the inhabitants must make an effort to stop becoming consumers of their own brand and try to find solutions to their demands as citizens. Barcelona is a city with a lot to give to contemporary art, with a large number of artists and art institutions but not so many contemporary art galleries. This “institutionalization” of the art scene began in the 80s, prompted by the modernization driven by the consolidation of democracy. The Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA), the Joan Miró Foundation, the Tàpies Foundation, Virreina Centre de la Imatge, Arts Santa Mònica, La Capella and CaixaForum are some of these institutions.
“Production” could be the motto for the cultural dynamic of the city, which wants to position itself as a place where artists can carry out their projects, a laboratory for creation. Specific centres such as Hangar or Can Xalant have specialized in this position. Internationalization is the other key word but should be looked at in two directions; there were decades during which anything “international” was welcomed with open arms, while artists and other professionals struggled through many difficulties in order to work abroad. The art scene provides facilities and structures at different levels: emerging artists, fresh from the classrooms of universities and academies of fine arts have the possibility to enter competitions, participate in exhibitions and, most importantly, a place of reference in which to exchange ideas and experiences in the Sant Andreu Civic Centre, Can Felipa and the Sala d’Art Jove de la Generalitat de Catalunya. All of them publicly owned but run by young curators, generating what is most important: discussion, feedback, and ultimately, context. The artists whose career is being consolidated can find opportunities in the project rooms of some institutions, such as the Joan Miró Foundation. Unlike a few years ago, it is increasingly common for artists and curators to do exchanges; visits and residencies in other countries, so as to establish networks with other people in different contexts. Spanish professionals may also have more international presence now. 2010 has brought new life to some art institutions. Some spaces like Virreina Centre de la Imatge, the Tàpies Foundation and Canòdrom-La Capella have reformed their direction and strategy with the assistance of Carles Guerra, Laurence Rassel and Mortiz Kung, respectively. A necessary renewal in a city that sometimes seems too proud of itself.
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INTERVIEW with
CHUS MARTINES C h u s M arti n e z is the chief curator of M useu d ’ A rt C ontemporani de B arcelona ( M A C B A ) and the associate curator of the 2 0 1 0 S ã o P aulo B iennial . she is part of the curatorial team for the next documenta 1 3 . P reviously , she was the D irector of the F rankfurter K unstverein , C urator at S ala R ekalde in B ilbao , and C o - D irector of P arker ’ s B ox G allery in B rooklyn , N ew Y ork . S he contributes to a number of journals and magazines , including A fterall and T he E xhibitionist
What is Barcelona’s art scene like? The Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona (MACBA) is a reference point and has been for the last 16 years of its existence, not only for the public but for artists, universities and other professionals and institutions. It is, however, difficult for communities to mix. It should be a priority for a society like ours to encourage interaction between different fields and communities, yet such contact is lacking. Besides the MACBA, there are the Tàpies and Mirò Foundations, the Picasso Museum and a number of established, well-known and powerful institutions which deal with contemporary art. Thus you have these incredibly famous, visible institutions and also some very dynamic art galleries lead by young people, but few non-profit spaces. This is a problem as there is more to the art scene in Barcelona than what is visible in the city’s major organized spaces. There is a new contemporary art centre, the “Canòdrom”, oriented towards the young art scene. How is the situation evolving? We are a society that was built with enthusiasm; Barcelona is known for its vibrance, based on simple elements such as our beaches, our good
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food, our architecture and our ideal location. However, if we want to be truly dynamic, we must realise that we need new spaces giving us new direction and we must take more risks. All the dynamism that people see in Barcelona involves elements such as the city’s commerce, the architecture, the design, the movement of young people towards a certain ideal lifestyle but not really a reinvention of an attitude. To progress, we need to be a bit more freaky and willing to open up to the unknown. Unlearning what we have learned, creating new spaces; that would be the real challenge for Barcelona. In the past, we took a lot of risks in the move from the Franco period to the democracy of today. It has been a difficult but very fruitful journey and things have now stabilized ; we have stopped spinning madly around. This is not only the case in Spain but in Europe more generally. The importance of security in today’s society and the conservative values so widely held naturally affect what we expect from culture and life; people no longer want to take risks. In this sense, Barcelona is quite conservative, probably because of its influential bourgeoisie
but also because of its drive for a democracy where everyone must be equal, with the consequence that to be any less or more is problematic. To be average is the norm and this attitude affects our universities and our world view in general. Excess is seen as a negative thing but I consider it as fundamental as its opposite. You always need extremes in order to test your limits, something you can’t do if you remain within your norms. I am curious to see how the city is going to respond to this difficult time; for many years Barcelona has maintained a certain image of itself but it’s not appropriate anymore and I think it’s time to renew it, to shed the skin we have outgrown and to produce something better. Do you mean rethink the simple cliché? While everyone seems to know who they are, maybe our fixed images of ourselves should be reviewed. In a period like this, it’s time to show we are able to create something else, to express what we really want and to think of what we want to be over the next decade. An important faculty of the mind, and one I always pay great attention to, is imagination.
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It might seem pedantic but it’s very important to think imaginatively together, to talk about, question and expand culture, which is not merely an ornament of our society but the core of it. Culture is where certain kinds of knowledge which are usually treated as only distantly related, such as economics, science, art and philosophy can meet and merge. When somebody asks me why contemporary art is so important, the only answer I can give is because it’s a meeting point for many fields that are usually separated. Contemporary art and artists are crucial in our society today because of the difficult nature of such unions; in order to find new ways of living and functioning, the kind of speculation they do is so important. What, then, is the role of an art museum? I do believe in museums but not as places or structures or institutes. The museums of the future are not places that show you what’s going on inside or outside but places which recall the mood of the 1950s, ambitious organisms where different sorts of knowledge and ways of
thinking meet and strange things can happen. A place to try, risk and meet. If you talk to economists they will tell you that artists are so necessary because they are the ones who are able to give images to abstract notions. Art museums should not only produce experiences, as was the idea in the nineties when everybody was talking about producing an encounter between the art and the audience. While this is surely very important, we are in a different period now, where the ambition of an art museum should always be to welcome very different kinds of people with different opinions. What is important is the flexibility and elasticity that art creates. Everyone should be able to get something out of it and translate it into something that makes sense to them. We should create situations where artists talk and interact with an audience, where the audience have the possibility of thinking with the artists, not just thinking in response to them. I always invite people to see art, whether inside or outside a museum, in order to challenge and exercise their brains.
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“Untitled� Federico Ferrario
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M ig u el nog u era
M i g uel N o g uera was born in the C anary I slands in 1 9 7 9 . H e studied fine arts at the U niversity of B arcelona , and lives and works in B arcelona . S ince 2 0 0 4 , he has been performing his U ltrashows in bars , theaters and in a number of S panish museums including M A C B A , M U S A C or C G A C . H e collaborates weekly with R adio C atalunya .
What is Ultrashow? Basically, I write down funny ideas, then I select the best ones. People invite me to do a performance called Ultrashow, where I explain my ideas. My work could be compared to the performances of Steven Wright, an old American comedian. It’s something between a theatre performance and a conference, rather than a regular performance. The basis of my work, however, is related to art but the forms are mixed and the audience is not just the art crowd; all kinds of people enjoy Ultrashow. It’s like a humorous conference, somehow. There is no rehearsal - I just have my funny ideas written down in a notebook and I improvise.
So the core of your work is your ideas? I call it Ideas but people call it Ultrashow. What is different about Ultrashow is that the focus is on ideas and not on jokes or storytelling. Ideas are presented one after another. Sometimes I work with a theme, for instance only using ideas about children, but generally I mix my ideas and they are not necessarily related to one another. For some ideas, I need a blackboard to explain them with very simple drawings. Where do you perform? I perform in museums, theatres, bars, universities - in many places. Because I come from the art field and my context is art, I am involved in that area but not
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exclusively. I also get requests through my blog. When did you start performing? Seven years ago, but I don’t do it regularly - maybe on average once a month all over Spain. Once I did a conference in Berlin in English but it was complicated because of the language. Do you call it a conference or a performance? Actually, I prefer the definition of conference, because a show has an element of theatre performance; you have to practice very hard, people have high expectations and usually you have a time limit. I feel more relaxed if it’s seen as a conference - the public is quieter. For Ultrashow you have to perform and to be funny, so that’s why I prefer to say conference, even though Ultrashow is more established. Does the public interact with you? No, I don’t like when the public do that because it’s my space, even in a conference. Basically, I like to do the explaining. How did you get into this area? I think my art background helped me a lot. If I hadn’t studied art, I would have had problems with my skills; art allows me to make mistakes, which is very good for me. Art gives you the freedom of doing something which is maybe not funny, where it doesn’t matter if something doesn’t work but you can still do it if you like. Ball-pen on paper drawing, 7x4 cm aprox.”. ‘Ultrashow’ at “Soon in Tokio” advertising company”, Barcelona, 2009”
What is important for me is to be clear. I am not playing and I don’t like it when people don’t understand this. I am very
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interested in effective ideas with cultural references accessible to anybody. People may not always agree with my idea or understand what the point of it is but they understand what I am telling them. Is there a wish to communicate something to your audience? I like very much when things work, despite the fact that you don’t always know why. So I don’t have a particular message - I like when people laugh but the point is, if they like it, they consume it. The idea is very simple. I enjoy when people read my blog and write that they like what I do. Some people come and tell me about their own ideas because everyone has different opinions and they want to tell me theirs. I enjoy that. What are your working on right now? I’ve released a book called “Boiling a Bear” which is done in collaboration with Jonathan Millán. There is a second book that will be published by Blackie Books in 2011.
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e u lalia valldosera an interview by andrea aguado alemán
E ulalia Valld o s era ( V ilafranca del P ened è s , 1963) is a multidisciplinary artist based in B arcelona . S he trained at the B arcelona S chool of F ine A rts in the late eighties and then moved to H olland where she developed a radical aesthetic approach . S ubtle poetic equilibriums of light , shadow , reflection , metaphoric elements and movement appear regularly in her work , with her portfolio including photography , performance , w W w . eulaliavalldosera . com installation and video .
visible in Spain was to participate in the art business. But I know that if I had depended on the galleries I would not have been able to develop my art in the way that I have chosen to.
Could you tell us about your artistic training?
On the other hand my investigations have continued along the same line, developing my work on identity, private space and relations between people including a performance element, involving the participation of the public. I want to create experiences that develop from the idea of a subject; a union of subjective thoughts and the exhibition space as a place where something unique happens. I envision situations where the border between the exhibited object and the spectator is blurred, in opposition to established exhibition parameters.
The experiences of artists starting out in the first years of democracy were very precarious. Existing platforms to showcase our work were reduced to the universities; there was barely any help from the state to allow us to continue to work in an independent way. The commissions were yet to come and a false optimism was in the air because of the opening up of the market. We saw the first institutional attempts to build a foundation for contemporary art with a corresponding “showcase”, proudly showing our participation in First World hegemony. Neither then nor now are we sure of the existence of what might be called Spanish Contemporary Art. Like many others I chose to leave the country, going to Holland in order to immerse myself in its artistic practices. There I became part of an alternative, very active and respectable world, something that has always been smothered here, by every possible means.
Between the exhibition at Fundación Tapies and that at MNCARS last year, about ten years have passed. In which way has your work evolved? On one hand I have had the possibility of working on different proposals in public spaces and of collaborating with other artistic disciplines, which has allowed me to become more flexible and to try to overcome many of my preexisting ideas with which I have been working in the white box - the site of the exhibition rooms.
The Studio Trisorio in Naples, the Joan Prats Gallery in Barcelona and La Fabrica in Madrid have all presented your latest work under the title of Mutual Dependence. Could you tell us about it?
My stay in Holland allowed me some distance from my own culture, which led me to reflect upon it in a more conscious way and with much more freedom. What stimulated my work was immersion in a less competitive environment with more resources within the reach of the artistic community and, above all, the existence of an alternative, selfsufficient path, allowing artists to establish a relaxed relationship with their audience.
It began in Naples as a reaction to its social context, in connection with the situation of my country. For the first time, I adopted the conventional language of a movie, a story - although I should speak about a double story. On the one hand we see a performance, not from an artist but from a female domestic worker from the Neapolitan gallery, whom I asked to act in my place. Turned into my alter ego, she agrees to clean under my orders the statue of Emperor Claudio housed in the Archaeological Museum of Naples. In the second movie we listen to what this Ukrainian woman tells us - a woman without papers, like so many of the girls who clean the houses of the wealthy in the South of Italy.
In the late 80s and early 90s the only chance we had to make our work
The act of cleaning a piece which is part of a historical and political
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legacy ironically indicates the weight of a glorious past, and makes clear the profound changes that the Italian society and our own have yet to in order to produce a modern culture which can be admired.
Do you believe that art centers and museums have become instruments of the political class more than tools for social construction? How can such centers become detached from the culture of the spectacle? And what is the position of the artist in this landscape?
All statues are objects of power, effigies that remind us that those who are represented are untouchable. Have we overcome this form of worship? As is exemplified in this film, only those who are least significant socially are allowed to touch the symbols of authority. Even today, in the powerful space that is a museum, the spectator can only look without touching.
It is a discouraging anticlimax for artists who, in the first phase of their work, have developed their ideas and have been nourished by the collective imagination and yet not officially recognized, to end up contributing to the “shop window” effect of a museum, since this situation often manages to undermine part of the power and essence of their message. The managers of institutions understand art as an integral part of a great archive but out of ignorance neglect the processes by which art is created and sterilize its communicative capacity, isolating the finished product from its original context. It is time artists contributed towards collective thought surrounding exhibition events but in order to do so, they have to establish communications with those in power. I prefer to let the alternative circuit grow, in order to decentralize thought and favored fields of action. If institutions are thought of as mechanisms of cultural control, we are lost. This is what is happening, for example, in Catalonia; with its protectionist zeal, it is sterilizing our field of work.
Your work has always been linked to gender issues. In your recent projects, these matters are still evident. Is this the principal axis of your work? It is not the point around which everything evolves for me; let’s say that it is the springboard that allows me to investigate new ways to relate to things around me, using visual languages and new approaches to understanding the exhibition as an event. It is not an aim of mine that my work should answer to the feminist agenda but I use my feminist perceptions to challenge the way in which established ideas are presented. The freedom that women have had over the last few decades has nourished the artistic sphere in an astonishing way, affecting the Modernity project and undermining its very foundations.
Jordi Colomer declared in an interview that “from the outside, Spanish art simply does not exist”. How do you see the artistic panorama in Barcelona?
Housework and especially cleanliness seem to be like a leit motiv in your work. Do you intend to focus your interest on this everyday action in order to exhibit its metaphorical dimension, to consider relations of power?
In effect, it is not a question of preparing local artists for export - it does not work this way any more. Instead it’s a question of believing in and supporting a stable network of artists politically and institutionally independent enough to link the projects of those who are established in Barcelona with existing platforms overseas. If artists are not seriously supported during their phase of growth by public initiatives, alternative means, small art centers and the formation of commissioners, we will not manage to develop out with Spanish territory.
I don’t think I am referring to power relations but to personal power. I look at gestures that are usually hidden; actions relegated to people’s private lives. It is true that I concentrate on women and on related sectors of work, but if we look at this topic in relation to the individual, we see that there exists a part of the own individual that is not presented to the outside world. Assistance to those in need, care and nutrition and the treatment of waste and detritus that humans produce are integral parts of being human which have mainly fallen to women, as teachers and protagonists. They have fabricated an identity, working in a net threaded by silent gestures. This has been done not only through the big battles told by history books, books which hold to ideological slavery, but first in the name of religion and then under the rational program that was imposed upon us by Modernity.
What positive aspects do you see in our current context? If you are referring to the artistic panorama in Catalonia, it makes me happy that politicians have not found a successor to Tàpies and Barceló, great artists and local geniuses. This forces them to look at the art sector from a wider perspective, as a community, not as a succession of brilliant figures.
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This page Woman bottle (Appearances #3), 1994-5; colour photograph, 180x175 cm. Opening page Mutual Dependencie, 2009; video performance, with the collaboration of the Arqueologichal Museum of Napoli, produced by Studio Trisorio, Naples + Galeria Joan Prats, Barcelona + Galeria La Fรกbrica, Madrid.
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and
emilio alvarez
Emilio Alvarez. Bachelor and MBA by ESADE, Barcelona. International Management Program at HEC (Paris) and graduate school of business administration, NYU (New York). He is the founder and director of the LOOP Festival, the contemporary art gallery Angels Barcelona and the design gallery Roomservice that promotes the designs of Piet Hein Eeek, Marteen Baas, Richard Hutten.... In 2002, he opened the restaurant Carmelitas based on local ingredients and today a meeting point for the Barcelona’s cultural scene. www . loop - barcelona . com / www . angelsbarcelona . com
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When did the LOOP festival start? We started LOOP in 2003 with a few art gallery colleagues, with the desire to create an event that could be part of the international contemporary art scene and that could put Barcelona on the contemporary art map. In our galleries we worked regularly with video art and thought the art scene needed a specialized event dedicated to artists working with video and film. Although it had no direct link to our decision, it seemed that Barcelona had a tradition linked to video art; there were a few important exhibitions in the 70s put on by Caixa Forum and Fundació Miró. So now, every May, Barcelona hosts a very special gathering which attracts professionals and enthusiasts who work with videos and films. A ten-day festival takes place in major museums and a variety of venues in the city and an exclusive, smaller three-day fair is held in the rooms of a central hotel. How did the festival develop? We talked about our project to city museums, art galleries and related agents and they were all very excited about the idea. We started slowly on a very small scale and today we exhibit around 800 pieces in more than 100 venues in the city, including art spaces like museums and galleries, but also spaces not usually dedicated to art, like stores, bars and hotels. Our strategy is based on developing collaborations and LOOP has been made possible thanks to the support of local institutions and international platforms such as galleries, museums, distributors, schools, production centers and all kinds of collectives working with video art. With all these enthusiastic partners, LOOP brings together specialized agents from all over the world, creating a unique platform upon which to discuss, discover, exhibit, commercialize and develop moving image projects. How is the festival structured? L OOP is a very flexible project that tries to adapt to the changing needs of the video art community. Up to now, we have developed three main areas: the LOOP Festival, the LOOP Fair and the Panel Discussions. The LOOP Fair is the commercial part of this event; 40 galleries are invited by a committee lead by the French collector Jean Conrad Lemaître to present a selected new or recent piece. It takes place in
a hotel where the rooms are turned into projection spaces. The hotel atmosphere is very intimate and helps to develop both professional and personal relationships between the gallerists and the collectors and curators. This special situation has helped to build up the LOOP family. The Panel Discussions deal with the main issues concerning video art, such as production, distribution, conservation and exhibition. They explore the current situation and trends in video art through conversations and debates held by the main international specialists in the area. The core of the project is the Festival, which is developed in collaboration with museums like the MACBA in Barcelona and with many other international institutions, for instance universities. Last year we had thirty universities from all over the world which actively participated in presenting the work of their students. We also invite other video art festivals, mainly European, to present their best selections. In parallel, we try to develop small programs such as the collaboration we have initiated with the Hotel Meridien last year. They have displayed a video installation in the hotel and offered their clients a LOOP Festival tour. Another hotel called the Amister, which has an art collection, became a pioneer in having an internal TV channel presenting it’s collection, thanks to a collaboration with LOOP. Their guests can discover and enjoy the video art collection in all 60 rooms of the hotel thanks to this very original initiative. Another project comes to my mind as we are talking here, in El Raval, about unusual experiences. The El Raval district was located outside the walls of the old Gothic city, where the hospital and orphanage were situated, near the harbour, so it was in a sense a very dynamic area full of immigrants - an incredible melting pot. In order to create some kind of interaction with the local community, we decided to implement the LOOP Festival program here by presenting videos in the shops of immigrants and trying to show videos from their country of origin. The first year of this initiative, we did it in thirty shops, lending them TVs. What happened was that some shopkeepers just used the TV to watch football, but others really appreciated the pieces and so the following year we selected the best shops. Now, some of them even want to select the pieces themselves, which is interesting, although more problematic as they become curators. A few words about LOOP in the future? In a changing world, it is challenging to match the needs of a particular community that is related to art and technology such as the video art community. We expect the project to surprise us, as has already been the case.
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barcelona art section
LOOP FESTIVAL 2010 pp. 58-59 Casa Asia: Cui Xiuwen, Angel No. 13, 2006. pg. 70 Fundació Francisco Godia’s general view, ph. Carlos Collado. pg. 71 La Pedrera de Caixa Catalunya: Marina Abramovic, The Kitchen V Carrying Milk, 2009. Le Meridien Barcelona: Marcus Kreiss, Cortina, 2000. pg. 72 Reinhard Hauff: Julika Rudelius, Dressage, 2009.
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Flavio Lucchini is invited at the 54th Biennale di Venezia, Italian Pavilion, Lombardy, in the great overview dedicated to Italian art, a project by Vittorio Sgarbi - June/November and simultaneously What women want(?), solo exhibition, presented by Alan Jones Arsenale Space - Riva San Biagio, Castello 2145, Venice - June 1st/July 25th Sign off design, sculpture exhibition, curated by Luca Beatrice, SlideART Edition Archivio di Stato - Chiostro SS.ma TrinitĂ , Campo dei Frari, San Polo 3002, Venice June 1st/November 27th 100 artworks/20 years archive, solo exhibition, project by Gisella Borioli MyOwnGallery - via Tortona 27 bis, Milan - May 11th/October 14th
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no mad -page www.flaviolucchiniart.com info@flaviolucchiniart.com
graphic design StudioB16
DURING LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA 2011. 54 FLAVIO LUCCHINI IN VENICE AND IN MILAN
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ADRIEN ROVERO SWISS A l f redo H ä b er l i DESIGN A t e l ier O ï BIG-GAME SURVEY C O LL I N S C H A E LL I C han t a l P rod ’ H om DOROTHÈE LOUSTALOT FULGURO H eidi W egener , INCHFURNITURE j ean - pierre gre f f JENIFER BURDET designers, Jac q ue l ine O t t en C U R A T O R S, K R O LL S T U D I O pro t agonis t S, M O R I T Z S C M I D CHANGING NEONEO SWISS NICHOLAS LE-MOIGNE DESIGN THIS WEBER NOW ZMIK
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Art|42|Basel|15–19|6|11 swiss design survey
Art Galleries | 303 Gallery New York | A | Acquavella New York | Air de Paris Paris | Aizpuru Madrid | Alexander and Bonin New York | de Alvear Madrid | Ammann Zürich | Andréhn-Schiptjenko Stockholm | Anhava Helsinki | Approach London | Art: Concept Paris | Artiaco Napoli | B | Baronian_Francey Bruxelles | von Bartha Basel | Benítez Madrid | Benzacar Buenos Aires | de la Béraudière Genève | Bernier/Eliades Athens | Fondation Beyeler Basel | Bischofberger Zürich | Blau München | Blondeau Genève | Blum New York | Blum & Poe Los Angeles | Boesky New York | Bonakdar New York | Bortolami New York | Bortolozzi Berlin | BQ Berlin | Brown New York | Buchholz Köln | Buchmann Agra/Lugano | C | Cabinet London | Capitain Köln | carlier gebauer Berlin | Carzaniga Basel | Cheim & Read New York | Coles London | Contemporary Fine Arts Berlin | Continua San Gimignano | Cooper New York | Crousel Paris | D | Daiter Chicago | De Carlo Milano | Dvir Tel Aviv | E | Ecart Genève | F | Feigen New York | Fischer Düsseldor f | Foksal Warszawa | Fortes Vilaça São Paulo | Fraenkel San Francisco | Peter Freeman New York | Stephen Friedman London | Frith Street London | G | Gagosian New York | Galerie 1900-2000 Paris | Galerist Istanbul | Galleria dello Scudo Verona | gb agency Paris | Gelink Amsterdam | Gerhardsen Gerner Berlin | Gladstone New York | Gmurzynska Zug | González Madrid | Marian Goodman New York | Goodman Gallery Johannesburg | Grässlin Frankfurt am Main | Richard Gray Chicago | Greene Naftali New York | greengrassi London | Greve St. Moritz | Guerra Lisboa | H | Haas & Fuchs Berlin | Hauser & Wirth Zürich | Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert London | Hetzler Berlin | Hopkins-Custot Paris | Houk New York | Hufkens Bruxelles | Hutton New York | I | i8 Reykjavik | Invernizzi Milano | J | Jablonka Köln | Jacobson London | Janda Wien | Rodolphe Janssen Bruxelles | Jeffries Vancouver | Johnen Berlin | Juda London | K | Kamm Berlin | Kaplan New York | Kargl Wien | Kelly New York | Kerlin Dublin | Kern New York | Kewenig Köln | Kicken Berlin | Kilchmann Zürich | Klosterfelde Berlin | Klüser München | Kohn Los Angeles | Christine König Wien | Johann König Berlin | Koyama Tokyo | Koyanagi Tokyo | Kreps New York | Krinzinger Wien | Krugier Genève | Krupp Basel | Kukje Seoul | kurimanzutto México City | L | L & M New York | L.A. Louver Venice | la Città Verona | Lahumière Paris | Lambert Paris | Landau Montreal | Leavin Los Angeles | Lee London | Lehmann Dresden | Lehmann Maupin New York | Lelong Paris | Linder Basel | Lisson London | Löhrl Mönchengladbach | Luhring Augustine New York | M | m Bochum Bochum | Maass Berlin | Magazzino Roma | Mai 36 Zürich | Marconi Milano | Marks New York | Marlborough London | Mathes New York | Mayer Düsseldorf | Mayor London | McKee New York | Meert Bruxelles | Meier San Francisco | Meile Luzern | mennour Paris | Metro Pictures New York | Meyer Riegger Karlsruhe | Millan São Paulo | Minini Brescia | Miro London | Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York | Modern Art London | Modern Institute Glasgow | Moeller New York | Mot Bruxelles | Müller Zürich | Munro Hamburg | N | nächst St. Stephan Wien | Nagel Köln | Nagy London | Nahem New York | Helly Nahmad New York | Nature Morte/Bose Pacia New Delhi | Nelson-Freeman Paris | Neu Berlin | neugerriemschneider Berlin | New Art Centre Salisbury | Noero Torino | Nolan New York | Nordenhake Berlin | Nothelfer Berlin | O | Obadia Paris | OMR México City | P | Pace New York | Paley London | Pauli Lausanne | Paviot Paris | Perrotin Paris | Persano Torino | Petzel New York | Pia Zürich | Podnar Berlin | Prats Barcelona | Presenhuber Zürich | R | Raucci/Santamaria Napoli | Rech Paris | Regen Projects Los Angeles | Regina Moscow | Denise René Paris | Reynolds London | Riis Oslo | Ropac Paris | Rosen New York | S | Sage Paris | SCAI Tokyo | Scheibler Berlin | Schipper Berlin | Schöttle München | Schulte Berlin | Seroussi Paris | Sfeir-Semler Beirut | Shafrazi New York | Shanghart Shanghai | ShugoArts Tokyo | Sies + Höke Düsseldor f | Sikkema Jenkins New York | Silverstein New York | Skarstedt New York | Skopia Genève | Sperone Westwater New York | Sprüth Magers Berlin | St. Etienne New York | Staerk Copenhagen | Stampa Basel | Standard (Oslo) Oslo | Starmach Krakow | Stein Milano | Strina São Paulo | Szwajcer Antwerpen | T | Taka Ishii Tokyo | Taylor London | Team New York | Tega Milano | Templon Paris | Thomas München | Tschudi Glarus | Tucci Russo Torino | U | Ubu New York | V | Van Orsouw Zürich | Verna Zürich | Vintage Budapest | Vitamin Guangzhou | W | Waddington Custot London | Wallner Copenhagen | Washburn New York | Jamileh Weber Zürich | Weiss Berlin | Werner New York | White Cube London | Y | Young Chicago | Z | Thomas Zander Köln | Zeno X Antwerpen | Zero… Milano | Ziegler Zürich | Zwirner New York Art Edition | Alexander New York | Artelier Graz | Borch Jensen Berlin | Cristea London | Crown Point San Francisco | Fanal Basel | gdm Paris | Gemini Los Angeles | Klosterfelde Edition Hamburg | Knust München | Lelong Editions Paris | mfc – didier Bruxelles | Nitsch New York | Pace Prints New York | Paragon London | Polígrafa Barcelona | Three Star Paris | Two Palms New York Art Statements | A Gentil Carioca Rio de Janeiro | Abreu New York | Bartlett London | de Bruijne Amsterdam | Cera Lisboa | Chert Berlin | Elastic Malmö | Guenther Hamburg | Harris Lieberman New York | Hollybush Gardens London | Jongma Amsterdam | Kordansky Los Angeles | Long March Beijing | maccarone New York | MacGarry London | mother›s tankstation Dublin | Murray Guy New York | Osage Hong Kong | Overduin and Kite Los Angeles | PSM Berlin | Rodeo Istanbul | Side 2 Tokyo | SKE Bangalore | Stevenson Cape Town | Sutton Lane London | Viner London | Z˙ak Branicka Krakow Art Feature | Baudach Berlin | Bjerggaard Copenhagen | Chemould Mumbai | Freymond-Guth Zürich | Jacques London | Michael Janssen Berlin | Leighton Berlin | Lloyd Santa Monica | Maggiore Bologna |Nanzuka Tokyo | Noire Torino | Opdahl Stavanger | ProjecteSD Barcelona | Raster Warszawa | Reena Spaulings New York | S.A.L.E.S. Roma | Shammah Milano | Tilton New York | Tonson Bangkok | Wilkinson London | Art Unlimited | Art Parcours | Art Film | Art Basel Conversations | Art Salon | Art Magazines Catalog order | Tel. +49 711 44 05 204, Fax +49 711 44 05 220, www.hatjecantz.de Vernissage | June 14, 2011 | by invitation only Art Basel Conversations | June 15 to 19, 2011 | 10am to 11am Art Parcours | June 15 to 19, 2011 | 10am to 10pm, last day until 7pm Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | www.facebook.com/artbasel | www.twitter.com/artbasel The International Art Show – Die Internationale Kunstmesse Art 42 Basel, MCH Swiss Exhibition (Basel) Ltd., CH-4005 Basel Fax +41 58 206 26 86, info@artbasel.com, www.artbasel.com
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ab
SWISS DESIGN A P U BL I C A FF A I R
D
esign is a mirror of the circumstances and history of a country and its society. This is clearly evident in the trappings that make up the everyday lifestyle of many people in Switzerland: furniture, clothes, sports articles, jewelry, bags, books, crockery and cutlery are not only articles for daily use, but also symbols of who belongs, or wishes to belong, to whom. In Switzerland, tradition has considerable status, even among contemporary designers and architects. The Swiss grandfathers of design such as Le Corbusier, Hans Hilfiker and Hans Coray created guidelines for services as well as standards for design that are still approved today. Many of the pioneers’ designs are still available, and they do not look in the least bit antiquated next to furniture from recent years. They have been on the market for 70 or more years, and we delight in their history of longevity. A prime example is the shelf system developed by the engineer Paul Schärer in collaboration with the architect Fritz Haller. USM-Haller came into being at the beginning of the 1960s and is still the most successful furniture in Switzerland. Even though Switzerland’s industry can’t compete with the large production areas of Southern Germany or Northern Italy, design issues are discussed in public in different ways. Major firms such as the Swiss Federal Railways have always cultivated design, it is vitally important to the watch trade, and smaller firms also use it to polish up their image. Just recently, for example, the traditional furniture company Pfister discovered the potential of design for itself; with a clever strategy they created a big bang both in the design community and in the broader public. Important mediators are the major daily newspapers, which regularly report on design in Switzerland and abroad. Other print voices are Lars Müller Publishers or magazines like Hochparterre and Espaces Contemporains. Digital platforms like websites or blogs have gained ground as well. Examples include www.swissdesignawards.ch and www.designpreis.ch which are the virtual faces of the two most important Swiss award institutions. Both are conceived in three languages in order to reach an audience beyond the borders of the country. Switzerland also maintains several design museums such as the mudac in Lausanne, the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich and the Gewerbemuseum in Winterthur. All three present exhibitions on design, from spoons through to urban development. Another way to present design threedimensionally is in one of the three fairs: Designer’s Saturday in Langenthal, Neue Räume in Zurich and Design Miami Basel. Each one attracts thousands of visitors. But the most important places for a nation’s design future are the schools. During the past decade, Swiss education politicians radically reorganized the design schools and reallocated the main focus of the study program. For a few years now the Swiss school system has complied with the international system, which is based on bachelor and masters degrees. All the art schools are involved in this new concept: they do not merely teach, they pursue design research too. The fruits of this radical reorganization have been presented in the last few years — both as promising final degrees and successful research projects. We hope for more, as we want to continue to discuss design issues with passion and in public.
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swiss design survey
«I am always astonished by the energy and resources that Swiss designers put into materials research» Heidi Wegener, Curator of the Design Preis Schweiz
F
ounded in 1991 and organized by the Design Center in Langenthal, the Design Preis Schweiz will present its 11th edition this year. The objective is to prime Swiss design products every 2 years, giving them international visibility through a worldwide traveling exhibition. This initiative is open to designers, companies and design students based in Switzerland or of Swiss nationality and comprises different sections: Communication Design, Furniture Design, Interior Design, Textile Design, Fashion Design, Product Design. About 40 projects are nominated and 3 prizes and 3 awards are granted, additionally a merit distinction is given to a Swiss design icon by the jury. All the nominations are part of the traveling exhibition and featured in the publication, which serves as a reference book for the industry. www.designpreis.ch
into materials research. Most of the design studios have a materials archive. Switzerland also has its own national materials archive where anybody can get access to for research purposes. Swiss products are mostly designed for a long life cycle, so research into materials is fundamental. Swiss designers observe and scout to fathom what’s happening around the world, but they are not so much concerned with trends. Switzerland is still old fashioned and in this respect we maintain the tradition of a time when people worked very seriously to invent devices that would last forever, because there was no money to replace them. This attitude reflects in their work — the inner qualities of a product, its materials, functionality, ergonomical, ecological and economical correctness lead to its outer form. As a consequence, the appearance of Swiss products is often clean, elegant and with a portion of understatement. Swiss designers do not simply give a form or decoration to an already predefined product. There is something living from the inside of the product and no decorative element is necessary. The Swiss concentrate on the essential.
Is there anything that could be described as ‘Swiss design’? Every 2 years I am in a privileged situation where I can witness the best of Swiss design. If I had to speak about ‘Swissness,’ I would say that a common characteristic is great attention to the details, materials, functionality and quality. All Design Preis Schweiz nominations embody these specific elements. Even a student diploma work is very often of the highest standards. The Swiss design approach is process oriented and focuses on producing a sellable, excellent product. Swiss designers are less driven by the promise of stardom and are very much down to earth. I am always astonished by the energy and resources that Swiss designers put
Seriousness seems to be a recurrent element in Swiss design... It’s true! Design is not a funny business here, it’s a very serious affair. We say that when we joke, we do it seriously. This does not mean that Swiss designers can’t be ironic or poetic, on the contrary. You don’t really have star designers in Switzerland. Is there any particular reason for that? There are several but not many, I agree. Basically we’re not a ‘diva’ country. I have made 22 exhibitions worldwide and even though we do not have many globally recognized star designers, like Jasper Morrison for example, people are always intrigued by Swiss design.
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It’s very well known and respected abroad and associated with the highest quality standard. For such a small country, it’s quite incredible how much design Switzerland produces. The 40 products we are showing around the world underline an important aspect of our production, which is not just the high quality but also the relatively high price. Everybody has this stereotypical image of Switzerland as being wealthy, and think that as a consequence our products are expensive. In that sense, Switzerland does not produce design for the world. However, the truth is that being such a small country without a tradition of mass production, with an industry driven by small and medium sized enterprises that focus on smaller, high-quality productions, we naturally cover the higher price band. It pays off in the long run because the products are built to last. So, if someone is more into changeable trends, then they may not opt for Swiss design. If you
think of American designers, they are asked to make products that will be on the market for 2 years or so because new products will replace them. It’s far from our mentality. Who are the prominent companies in the Swiss design field and how are they organized? A particularity about the small to medium sized Swiss companies is that many are family run businesses, often for generations. Take the fashion company Akris for instance, it’s into its third generation with Albert Kriemler, whose grandmother started the company with a sewing machine. There’s also Ruckstuhl carpets, which is into its fourth generation. There are many well-established brands that produce excellent design products, such as USM, Vitra, Röthlisberger Kollektion, Dietiker, Freitag, Wogg, Christan Fischbacher, Jakob Schläpfer, Schöller Textiles, there are as well the many famous watch brands. However, this is just to name a few, the list is long and all
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these brands have their place in the global market. You will find that many are concentrated in the Langenthal area, which is well known in Europe and holds a special place in the Swiss design panorama with its Designers’ Saturday - an initiative created by local companies involved in the design industry and inspired by an event that started in New York where empty buildings host design exhibitions for a few days. More than 18,000 visitors came to the last edition. It’s a tremendous engagement for the local companies, who open their doors and offer their production spaces to the exhibitors for the event. Those open doors to the production sites are also what make Designers’ Saturday in Langenthal such an inspiring experience for visitors, both the professionals and the broader public.
swiss design survey
«I really wanted to help young designers, I felt I had received enough and it was now time to help. I never had time to teach and it was a way to give back what I had learnt.» alfredo Häberli
Alfredo Häberli was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1964. Having graduated in Industrial Design from Zurich’s University of the Arts (ZHdK), today he is an internationally established designer. Based in Zurich, he works for prestigious companies within the design industry, such as Alias, Camper, Iittala, Kvadrat, Luceplan, Moroso, Schiffini and Vitra. www.alfredo-haeberli.com Pfister is the second largest furniture company in Switzerland and last year launched an important initiative - Atelier Pfister - that shocked the entire Swiss industry — a new line created by young Swiss designers. You are the curator, how did you get involved? I met Meinrad Fleishmann, the CEO of Pfister, in 2008 when I was holding my monographic
exhibition at the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich and he was thinking of making an exhibition to support young Swiss designers through a competition. I discouraged him because everybody was making competitions and the result was that the young designers receive a price, get published but later no one speaks of them. I suggested instead to give
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them work and commission a table, a chair, a lamp... When I started, the most important thing was to have commissions for your work, to receive money to help pay the rent of your studio. He was surprised by the idea and asked me to help him develop the concept. After half a year of reflection, I decided to get involved because I really wanted to help young designers, I felt I had received enough and it was now time to help. I never had time to
Below, Häberli at Atelier Pfesiter and the mould plywood chair “Jill” for Vitra, 2011(©Vitra and Marc Eggimann). On the opposite page Häberli by Isabel Truniger Bruni - www.i-t.ch
teach and it was a way to give back what I had learnt. I named myself curator not art director in order to treat this initiative as an exhibition in a museum. How did you proceed? I chose the artists, in this case the designers, and gave them a very open brief. I don’t like to be too explicit when asking for an object as it can limit the designer. For a wardrobe for instance, I would make a series of questions, such as how do you hang your clothes, how do you treat them in the house, how do you fold them? In this way the designer is motivated and through the series of images can come out with new and interesting ideas. This is something I learnt from the Italian designer Bruno Munari, he used to say, “The question is the important thing, the answer will follow.”
So they’re 100% Swiss made? We do our best to produce everything in Switzerland but the products are about 3 quarters Swiss. The line is not cheap because we produce in Switzerland, some people says it’s too expensive. There are still a lot of discussions going on because with Pfister being such a big company the numbers are important, however, design is something else, it’s stomach, feelings and research and these are things that I fight for. What kind of impact will this initiative have on the Swiss design scene? It’s big and for such a big company to support young Swiss designers and Swiss industry does not happen very often, it’s something quite remarkable in a moment of crisis. The Zurich Design Museum bought some pieces for their collection as they believe it will prove to be an important moment historically. You just presented your chair “Jill” at the latest Milan Furniture Fair. It marked the first collaboration between you and Vitra. How did the collaboration take place? The dream to work for Vitra started 25 years ago when I visited Milan for the first time. I
How do you choose the designers who will be involved? I know all of them. I work with some designers who have already produced something and others who have just graduated and opened their studio. I select them because I think they have talent and will do something in the future. I also try to develop original collaborations with people who are not from the field, such as the fashion designer Lela Scherrer, who worked for a long time for Dries Van Noten, the artist/ photographer Olaf Breuning or the illustrator and art director François Berthoud. This is all part of the package.
had just seen an exhibition with the work of Japanese designer Shiro Kuramata and was so impressed that I wanted to do an internship at his studio in Tokyo. The day after I met Rolf Fehlbaum, the CEO of Vitra, in a gallery and although I have never met him, I recognized him from pictures. I went straight to him, as a first year student, to ask him if he could give me the address of Shiro Kuramata. He encouraged me to go to Tokyo and 2 days later I received the address through my letterbox. That said, our collaboration really started 7 years ago when we developed a project of a multipurpose plastic chair. We worked on it for 3 years but when the time came to decide whether or not to do it, I felt there was something that didn’t work, something that I couldn’t describe but nonetheless I wasn’t convinced. I told him so and it turned out that he felt the same. It was a big relief for both of us and he appreciated my honesty, but in 2 minutes we’d cancelled 3 years, which was something quite emotional. A week later I called him and told him that, looking through his catalogue, I felt a wooden chair was missing and that I didn’t really like to work with plastic. He agreed with my proposition as he had also had the idea to develop a plywood chair at one point. We worked on it for 2 and a half years and the project started immediately. I wanted to create a shell in plywood, out of one flat piece of plywood, 7 mm at the back and 12 mm at the front. The chair is extremely flexible, you can sit very straight but at the same time it’s very comfortable. That very complex project could have been developed only by Vitra. How did you calculate the resistance? Through actual tests, not computers. Vitra has the highest level of tests, they’re distributed worldwide so the product had to be tested in Japan and the U.S. with different clients in mind. It was a real challenge because they make ten thousand movements with a weight of 80 kilos and if the chair breaks you need to start again — it’s a very long process of research and development. It was one of the hardest projects I have ever undertaken because of the tests. I had 5 different structures, in wood, aluminum, tube and wire. All these different structures complicated the process. The tests were always made with each of the different structures, not only the shell. In the end I’m extremely proud of the chair because it has sculptural beauty and comfort, which is the ultimate combination for me.
So how many products have Atelier Pfister produced? I was expecting one product per designer but they were so enthusiastic that they came up with 2 or 3 ideas each. At the presentation, we were all sitting around a table and looking at the proposals and it was impossible to give up on some of them so we ended up producing about 120 objects in half a year, which is quite a lot of work but signals great positivity and energy.
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swiss design survey
«MOITEL - An experimental laboratory in perpetual movement» Atelier Oï
P
atrick Reymond is the co-founder of the design studio Atelier Oï, which he created in 1991 in La Neuveville in Switzerland along with Aurel Aebi and Louis Armand. He is also the President of the Swiss Design Commission and Ingenious Switzerland. Atelier Oï’s activities range from design and set design to architecture. Their work has been recognized by various awards, such as the iF design award (2003), the Living at Home Award (2007) and Product of the Year (Architectural Record, USA, 2008). www.atelier-oi.ch
What is the idea behind the Moitel? The Moitel is a place where we can experience all the different steps of our process and develop our own projects. After 20 years of work, it was time for us to have a location where we could experiment, work directly with the materials and have the possibility to try many things. Among other facilities, we have a materials library, workshops for making prototypes and an exhibition room which we often use as a theater set to be in contact daily with our new ideas and help them evolve. Our experiments are the ingredients for our future work. To have an encompassing view of your work seems to be important for you. Why is that? We are a multidisciplinary studio that touches different disciplines, such as architecture, interiors, furnishings and exhibition design. Scenography is very important in our work and the material is one of the bases upon which we build content. Every work tells a story, and this amalgam of material, scenography and experimentation gives us the ingredients to develop projects on a different scale. We play with those ingredients, transforming them
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into structures and then into another material, which will eventually develop onto another scale. Through this constant work in progress, projects multiply. Is this multidisciplinary approach quite rare in Switzerland? I believe this is a way in which many architects work in Switzerland. Although we cannot claim to compare to their scale, Herzog & de Meuron’s studio functions a bit like this; they work on different scales, experiment with different materials and those experiments transpire in their work. It’s an approach that is more visible in the field of architecture than design. We’re keen on working with this process of transformation and that naturally led us to work as a group and to adopt a multidisciplinary approach. We were also confronted with this concept in our study. 3 of us studied at the Ecole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne, which was created by the SwissItalian architect Alberto Sartoris. The concept of the school was to mix different disciplines — design, architecture, landscape design. We were also inspired by the Memphis movement.
Today, it’s difficult for me to define myself as an architect or a designer. I work as a designer when I produce architecture and when I design I think like an architect. Do you have problems developing prototypes in such a small place as La Neuveville? I’m not sure it would be easier in Milan or Paris. We’ve experienced Paris and have found it easier here. We have many small companies, producers and artisans here, so the process is quick and easy. You must work with the realities close-by to develop creations. When we started in 1991, one of us, Armand Louis, already had his own boat construction atelier and the idea was to use this technique to develop furniture. Right from the beginning we were involved in the process of working with production tools. Now, being able to produce in-house allows us to show our idea without waiting for a customer to order. We produce ingredients which eventually develop into something interesting for our clients. Obviously, you must showcase those ideas and publicize them. Our first show was in Paris.
So La Neuveville is a good base then? Yes, we are in the center of Switzerland, near the border between the French and German-speaking parts of Switzerland and close to Geneva and Zurich. In big capitals, you have cultural stimulus and clients, but in La Neuveville there is nothing like that. La Neuveville allows us to concentrate on our work but we must travel around the world to continue learning and find projects. Everything considered, we’re happy to work here, it’s well connected and quite strategically placed.
Above Armand Louis and Patrick Reymond, founders of Atelier Oï (ph. Marco Zanoni). Top of the page Moitel, Atelier Oi’s headquarters in La Neuveville (ph. Yves Andrè)
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Do you recognize anything particularly ‘Swiss’ in your work? I think there is something Swiss in our commitment to keep the quality high and to control the entire follow-up process. A small country like Switzerland gives us quick access to producers. To be responsible for the realization of the idea and not just producing the idea is something important for Swiss creators. Nonetheless, we live globally and are inspired by many places, we don’t think locally and aren’t interested in fulfilling the typology or iconic representation of Switzerland.
swiss design survey
«Things progressively opened up in a variety of ways to what design means today.» Chantal Prod’Hom, Director of mudac
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n the search for new trends, the mudac – Musée de design et d’arts appliqués contemporains - opened its doors in June 2000 and is the only design museum located in the French part of Switzerland. The mudac is a place for exchanges and encounters between the various fields of design, the applied arts and contemporary art. www.mudac.ch
What is the mudac about? Actually, the mudac celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, which was a very interesting moment to reflect on what we have achieved in terms of our exhibition program and how we have evolved. We have held 80 or so big and small exhibitions and have published about 50 publications. Until now, I hadn’t really realized it was that many. Things progressively opened up in a variety of ways to what design means today. It’s a difficult term because it has no precise meaning, which is in fact to our great advantage because there’s
a wonderful field in which to play. It’s like a big playground and that’s the direction we decided to embrace right from the beginning. It was important to have no specific limits, nor a list of disciplines that we wanted to cover, but instead to work much more on instinct. There are 3 major series that form part of our exhibition program; the first one is the “carte blanche” presenting international design through a guest curator. We began in 2002 with the French designer Matali Grasset and the current edition is with the Austrian graphic designer, Stefan Sagmeister, who lives in
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New York. The second big series comprises thematic group shows, while the third series is made up of shows that I’m working on with other people, shows that travel. These 3 series are what really give the mudac its identity, from fashion design to cartoons, to very conceptual themes with the “carte blanche,” from Matali Grasset to Marti Guixé, to Yves Béhar or Pierre Charpin. We have always privileged a variety of disciplines and our particularity is illustrated through our extraordinary program. Are there occasions when you deal specifically with Swiss design? We have 2 important appointments: every 2 years we present the winners of the Swiss Federal Design Award, which takes place one year in Zurich and the other in Lausanne. For 11 years we have also shown the winners of
Left Studio Job, “Perished”, 2005 and Andrea Bandoni & Joana Meroz’s “Archetypical Vase”, 2009. Opposite page, “Nature in a Kit” exhibition at mudac
the “Most Beautiful Swiss Books”, giving people the chance to see what Swiss graphic design is like today. It’s a very old tradition in Switzerland that is still very active, not only in the German canton as it once was but also in the region of Lausanne and Geneva thanks to their design schools. How do you conceive your thematic exhibitions? The first thematic show we presented was “Air en forme” which we did for the opening of the mudac, featuring inflatable objects. It gave us the opportunity to do something I had always wanted to do from the day I started to run the place: to mix the different disciplines of contemporary art and design, from graphic design, product design, fashion design, to architecture even. For example, regarding the inflatable world, it was important to show some examples of architecture. Later we dealt with the theme of camouflage, body extensions and more recently nature with an exhibition called “Nature in a Kit,” for which we had a mix of works of art, design projects and graphic design. We also did an exhibition entitled “Animals with Style” — which is nowadays such a beautiful and incredible business — on why big designers are designing kennels, for example. It’s really an issue for me. Usually my ideas spring from being angry. The exhibition on camouflage is another example. I was so upset with the return of camouflage military fashion, I thought it was unbelievably bad taste; you cannot just dress up a kid in GI. So I decided to do a show. I think that when you’re angry you have a stronger attitude and are more objective. When you are too fascinated by an artist or a designer, you often lose the critical approach that I believe is very important.
So you firmly defend a broader approach to design? Yes, I believe it’s the right period to do that and we are lucky to work in the field because there is so much going on. Design is not just about producing more objects. Good designers think seriously about the reasons for making a new object, these are the designers I’m interested in.
Stefan Sagmeister, “Banana Wall”, 2008. At the opening of Sagmeister’s exhibition at Deitch Projects in New York they featured a wall of 10,000 bananas. Green bananas created a pattern against a background of yellow bananas spelling out the sentiment: “Self-confidence produces fine results”. After a number of days the green bananas turned yellow too and the type disappeared.
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What are the boundaries between art and design? Art always seems to assume a more elevated role. For me they have always been enemies and brothers, they hate each other but they need each other. It has been like that for centuries. However, the fact remains that I can show artists in my museum because I come from that world and I have the network, but if I want to show a chair in the Fine Art museum next door, no way. You will find artists in design museums like ours but the opposite is rare. We did a show recently about wallpaper. In the catalogue, we mixed the work of artists and designers, presenting them in alphabetical order, and frankly it was quite hard to differentiate the work of an artist from that of a designer. When you work by theme or technique, as we did in that case, you can really talk about that topic in a precise context. Designers will work on a wall not just in terms of décor — now that wallpaper has come back as something that is really used for a full wall and no longer a full room, it has its own value. An artist has a different attitude, he comments, gives some information, uses the wallpaper as an installation, a context. However, we had this interesting situation in the catalogue where the skeleton wallpaper by Studio Job faced the butterfly wallpaper by Damien Hirst. They both use animals to speak about death but one is very colorful and emotional, in this case Damien Hirst’s piece, and Studio Job’s is very graphic, using only two colors. It was the first time they had faced each other and I think they have a lot in common.
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acqueline Otten is Vice President and Head of the Design Department at the Zurich University of the Arts and also Professor of Fashions and Forecasts. Since 2007, Prof. Otten has been a member of the university’s board and Head of Quality Management. She has won several design prizes and publishes academic papers on topics such as design, technology and society and advises worldwide on governmental issues regarding research, education and markets. www.zhdk.ch
Does it still make sense today to speak about “Swiss design”? Swiss design has a great reputation worldwide, mainly connected to graphic design and product design. There is a certain ‘Swissness’ to the way we create design, which is perhaps the acknowledgement that creativity combined with technical skill is a central element of good design. But the field of occupation itself has changed in the last decades. The changing society has demanded innovation in design education, too. In Zurich, we do not stick to the traditional field of the 3D product, to the object in graphics. “Hand skills” generate new knowledge and practices, but we do not train people solely in hands-on methods. These are the underlying principles of the creative activities that have become systematically integrated into all specialisms, like interaction design, game design, trend forecasting, scientific visualization and audio-visual media. What are the characteristics of Zurich and what kind of place does it represent for the artistic and design scene in Switzerland? Zurich is a central place for design activities. Most people do not realize that creative industries in the city play a role as important as the financial industry. The characteristics of Zurich are reflected in our education as well. In the process of experimental learning we offer project based programmes that provide a holistic, integrative approach by adding
«There is a certain ‘Swissness’ to the way we create design» Jacqueline Otten, Head of the Department of Design ZHdK knowledge of social sciences, of story construction and the communication of information, which allows us to create something new that has a social force. A characteristic of Zurich is not to find the limits in what we do, but to find the core. This includes the notion of design thinking. We visualize, we prototype, we make scenarios visible by using a special narration. Here are 2 examples: Game design is a young discipline. The theory derives not just from an analysis of existing computer games but also from the development of
new solutions. There are digital games that provide entertaining information, education or support for therapies. For example, the game Gabarello Vs. 1.0 motivates young patients to make more intensive use of the rehabilitation robot Lokomat. The research for serious games is actively involved in collaborative projects with partners from the fields of science, medicine and knowledge communication. Gabarello involved the children’s hospitals at the University of Zurich, the Sensory Motor Systems Lab at ETH Zurich, the Neuropsychological Institute
of the University of Zurich and the Hocoma AG, which produces automated therapy devices. Another example would be the use of design not only to create visions, but to create a public voice. Design alone will not save the world, but we can use potential resources to bring about social change. How do you make society aware of time? How can you tell them that it’s necessary to waste time, passionately and without a bad conscience? Dropping out of the temporal structure of our performance-obsessed society is the counter-movement against the culture of total time management. “Using time-wasting time” is a luxury brand, presented in highquality Swiss walnut-wood boxes made by hand. It is design that goes further and deeper by analyzing phenomena, hypes and trends. It searches for causes and develops design concepts for the future.isan techniques, which have Left, GABARELLO v 1.0, a fully designed, playable prototype of a physiotherapeutic serious game for children with lower body motor loss.
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«Switzerland today has emerged as one of Europe’s leading design centres, along with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.» jean-pierre greff, director of head-geneva
Jean-Pierre Greff is the Director of Geneva University of Art and Design (Head), created by his initiative in 2006 from the amalgamation of the Higher School of Fine Arts and the Higher School of Applied Arts, both over two hundred years old. He is also behind AC/DC, Contemporary Art, Contemporary Design (symposium, travelling exhibition, and master classes), which took place in Geneva in 2007. Under his leadership, Head - Geneva has taken part in Europe’s most important design events (Milan International Furniture Fair, St-Etienne International Design Biennial). Having closely followed developments in the graphic design world – and more particularly its social aspects – he has worked with numerous designers, such as Pierre di Sciullo or Ruedi Baur, to mention just two. It was with the latter that he has just launched the “Civic Design” programme, a new course offered by Head – Geneva that will begin in October 2011. www.hesge.ch/head
What can you tell us about the Swiss art scene, and, in particular, about the design scene? The Swiss art scene is characterised by its exceptional richness, dynamism and “youthfulness”. Take the visual arts, and the example – obviously imperfect – of the most important international art events (fairs, biennales, etc.) which today serve to give legitimacy to artists. And here, systematically, Switzerland occupies a position comparable to that of its large neighbours. The dynamism of this country of barely eight million inhabitants is amazing, and this is more and more being noticed. As for Swiss
design, if I stick to generalities, I think a certain number of specific characteristics do exist, a sort of Swiss touch; I would say that it’s a design aesthetic that is intentionally simple, spare, and even on occasion a little minimal, far removed from the baroque expansiveness which is flourishing elsewhere. It can on occasion be playful and amusing, but it remains serious design all the same, selfcontrolled and unpretentious. It is anchored in a long, prestigious tradition of Swiss design with its origins at the beginning of the 20th century, in particular with the major figures in graphic design. It is purified design, achieving maximum visual or functional
effect with a minimum of means. And this an aspect which remains a key feature of the Swiss design culture, even if it has evidently been complemented by outside influences. It is serious design in the sense that it’s a design aesthetic which is functional – issues of reliability and functionality are genuinely taken into account, both in terms of usability and symbolic functionality (brand image, for example). There are other regions where this aspect has been somewhat neglected, to the degree of risking a certain dysfunction in order to achieve a particular effect, and this is not the case with Swiss design. It’s also a design aesthetic which is very closely linked to technological innovation. I would highlight in particular the tradition of beautiful workmanship and high-quality production. The premier Swiss design event – Designers’ Saturday in Langenthal – offers the clearest evidence of this. What’s fascinating about this initiative is that these are traditional Swiss companies, built on traditional artisan techniques, which have been able to remake themselves using research and technological innovation, following the example of Bauman Créations and others which are behind this important development. This mix of a strongly asserted traditional identity with a permanent taste for innovation, right down to the smallest detail, is something
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that is quite unique. Switzerland has long understood, probably better than other countries, that it’s essential to invest in creation and innovation and that this cannot be accomplished in the field of technology alone but also necessarily implicates the field of design, as a major source of innovation, and simply that design is taking on increased importance in all fields. This is one of the key aspects of Swiss design, which explains its vitality and its broad importance across the world. Indeed, Switzerland today has emerged as one of Europe’s leading design centres, along with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
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lthough Geneva has never been a design capital, it is home to several interesting spaces such as the Ormond Gallery, which presents projects on Design Art. Working together with the designer Philippe Cramer, the Mitterand+Cramer Gallery organises ambitious exhibitions dedicated to the most influential contemporary designers. The real strength behind this new ferment of the young design scene is without doubt the dynamic Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD). After neighboring Lausanne, Geneva is about to find its place on the international design scene.
scene young risky f geneva KROL STUDIO Krol is a collective born in October 2010 composed of 3 graphic designers, 2 interior architects, a video director, a carpenter and a computer programmer. The aim of this multidisciplinary studio is to be able to work on a wide range of projects, from visual communication to designing objects and scenography. www.krol-studio.com What motivated you to create this multidisciplinary studio? It’s very stimulating on all levels. We liked the idea of a group of designers being able to interact, create projects and grow together.
Above all, our different back-ground give us the possibility to widen our range of work. Besides, we share the same notion of freedom that working in a group requires. Is there a Krol identity? What seems to be common among us is the process of creation, we’re all quite similar in the way we approach a project. Although we have evolved in different fields and target different audiences, we share the same design culture, vision and references. We appreciate pure and sober lines and try to keep up with the latest trends, without following them blindly. What’s it like to be a young independent structure based in Geneva?
DOROTHéE LOUSTALOT French designer Dorothée Loustalot (1984) graduated in Industrial Product Design in Lyon before specialising in jewellery with a BA in Jewellery Design from the Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD). She works as an independent designer and is a teaching assistant at the HEAD. www.dorothee-loustalot.com You have degrees in two subjects: Industrial Design and Jewellery Design. How does this influence your work? I create jewellery, but without neglecting my origins as a designer.
To be independent is not an easy task, whether in Geneva or elsewhere. The advantage of being a collective is that it helps us to create a big network and our multidisciplinary structure allows us to tackle global projects that few
I’m inspired by the complex forms and structures I see around me, which I know from history and from my passion for design, and with which I experiment in sketches and drawings. I use so-called “nonprecious” industrial materials in my jewellery, together with state-ofthe-art technologies and traditional techniques in order to rejuvenate the genre, create surprise, combine unusual colours and materials, and create jewellery which is out of the ordinary. What are your creative influences? My influences are clearly from the fields of industrial design, science, technology and engineering. I have great admiration for the work of the designer Konstantin Grcic, who
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agencies would be able to take on. What are your sources of inspiration? Eclectic! from cinema d’auteur to blockbusters, from Myazaki’s animation to Walt Disney, from erudite to dime literature, from hip hop to rock... the list goes on. As far as interior design goes, we particularly like Scandinavian and Brazilian design from the 50’s, art deco and arts & crafts. A dream? To keep growing and to develop collaborations with new people from different fields. We would also love to produce some pieces of jewelry, clothes and furniture, and to keep doing what we’re doing now, interior design and graphic design.
creates objects which are at once innovative, simple, geometrical and poetic. How it is to be based in Geneva? During my studies in Geneva, I established a network in the jewellery and design sectors, which I sought to take advantage of as a professional designer. In addition, this network has given me access to numerous specialist suppliers and sub-contractors who work in watch-making and fine jewellery. The challenge is to develop your organisation and to find a work space. But I’m still optimistic and I continue to create in my small workshop, which is in fact part of my living room.
Thuy-An Hoang, (1985) and Xavier Erni (1983) both graduated from the Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD) in visual communication. They established their studio in “la fonderie” in Geneva. They are active in a variety of fields from graphic design to artistic direction Type and editorial design. www.neoneo.ch
JENIFER BURDET
the snowboarder, which is an integral part of my personal universe, and the (1986) Graduated from Geneva world of hobos. The snowboarder’s University of Art and Design (HEAD) universe is synonymous with in 2010 with a BA in Fashion the spirit of freedom as well as Design and Accessories and a CAS community. Hobos create their in Branding & Self-marketing. She outfits by chance, changing their worked as a freelance designer look whenever they find clothes until she decided to launch her own on the road. My translation of this brand at the beginning of 2011. concept was to use zips to assemble www.jeniferburdet.blogspot.com the parts of my collection. The zips allow the wearer to modify their You are one of the first graduates to benefit from the new Foundation AHEAD initiative “Design Incubator.” What is it? It’s an initiative to give young designers the opportunity to create their own brands and benefit from personalized coaching and professional services. I see this as a real opportunity to realize my personal project and, furthermore, I’ve always had the desire to create my brand. My belief is that Switzerland is about to enter into an era when a new generation of Swiss designers want to show that they can succeed in their own country without needing to move abroad. What is the inspiration behind your collection? It’s a collection inspired by the fusion of two universes: the world of
Your graphic design work seems to tend towards a rather typographical approach? Swiss graphic design, and Swiss-German graphic design in particular, has always shown meticulous attention to detail in typography and when designing lettering. Having studied in Geneva, a city which has traditionally been closer to an “illustrative” graphic design, this decision to favour a typographical approach is probably linked to our personal tastes. What are your sources of inspiration and your references? Anything can be a source of inspiration, but referring more directly to our field, our historical sources of graphic inspiration are: Swiss modernism, constructivism, Dada… and, for a more
contemporary reference, designers like Cornell Windlin, Gavillet & Rust, Lehni-Trueb, Laurenz Brunner, Bart de Baets… Could you describe your day-today existence here in Geneva? As a young graphic designer today, it’s very difficult to find an interesting position. We therefore decided to become independent designers, above all for the creative freedom this offers, and we’ve focussed naturally on the cultural sector. Geneva is a particularly interesting city in this regard, since the cultural scene is highly developed and there are therefore opportunities for young, motivated graphic designers like us.
look, which is reminiscent of the way snowboarders and hobos treat their clothes. It’s quite unusual for a woman to design a men’s collection. Why that choice? It’s a reality that men were some of the first to dress women in Haute Couture, but it’s also true that women created and sewed their husband’s clothes in the past. I have always thought that
men’s clothes are so much more comfortable, with better freedom to move. When a man is dressed in a relaxed manner he can still be elegant, while a woman dressed in jogging pants and a t-shirt rarely is. This is something that fascinates me. Ultimately, menswear inspires me more because there are no barriers or rules to get in the way of what I want to create or to confuse my ideas.
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Ph. Stéphane Wicht
NEO NEO
swiss design survey
«we will always need objects and there will always be new challenges to work on new materials, new technologies, new functions…» Nicolas Le Moigne
Fulguro is the name of a multidisciplinary studio created by Yves Fidalgo (1976) and Cédric Decroux (1976). Both studied Industrial Design at the Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL) and opened their own studio in Lausanne in 2001. Their work evolves in different fields, including furniture and object design, graphic design, scenography and art. www.fulguro.ch
Ph. Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs
Moritz Schmid (1976) graduated in Industrial Design from the Academy of Art and Design in Basel. From 2004 to 2008 he worked as a designer and project leader in the studio of Alfredo Häberli, and in 2008 he founded his own studio in Zurich. He has worked in various fields of design, from furniture and tableware to industrial design and exhibition design. www.moritz-schmid.com
BIG-GAME is a design studio based in Lausanne that was founded in 2004 by Grégoire Jeanmonod (Swiss), Elric Petit (Belgian) and Augustin Scott de Martinville (French). The trio met at the Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL) where they studied Industrial Design and where they teach today. They create objects for Moustache, Karimoku, Materia and Galerie Kreo and received the Swiss federal design award in 2006 and 2010. Their creations are part of public collections, including the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Museum für Gestaltung and the Musée du Grand-Hornu. www.big-game.ch
Ph. Michel Bonvin
DBCSC “Design Bureau Colin Schälli” has bases in Zurich and Tokyo. Swiss-born Colin Schälli began as an apprentice architectural draughtsman at the office of Pritzker prizewinner Peter Zumthor before joining Zurich’s University of the Arts (ZHdK), graduating in 2006 in Industrial and Product Design. Aside from his independent activities, Schälli has worked with bag makers Freitag since early 2004, developing merchandise, accessories, concepts, and point of sale items. He received a Design Preis Schweiz in 2009 for his storage concept for Freitag. www.colinschaelli.com
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Ph. Christian Knörr Ph. Linus Bill
Nicolas Le Moigne studied Product Design at the Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL) and graduated with an MA in Product Design in 2007. In the same year he launched his own design studio and has since exhibited extensively in galleries and institutions such as MoMA, New York; Salone del Mobile, Milan; Mudac, Lausanne; Showroom Einzigart, Zurich and NextLevel Galerie, Paris. He has received several awards for his designs, among them the Swiss Design Award in 2008 and the Bourses de la Fondation Leenaards, 2009. www.nicolaslemoigne.ch
Adrien Rovero (1981) received a Master degree in industrial design from the Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL) where he is now teaching. He opened his own studio in 2006. His work has been exhibited in galleries like Kreo (Paris), Libby Sellers (London), gallery Ormond (Geneva) and he has been working for institution like Grand Hornu (Belgium), le 104 (Paris), Villa Noailles (F). He collaborates with established brands like Hermès and work for international design companies such as Droog Design (NL), Dim (D) and Campeggi (IT). www.adrienrovero.com
Ph. Linus Bill
Zmik is a young studio for spatial design, founded in 2006 by Rolf Indermuehle, Mattias Mohr and Magnus Zwyssig. Based in Basel, Zmik explores opportunities at the fringes of various disciplines such as interior design, scenography, architecture and product design. www.zmik.ch
Ph. Linus Bill
INCHfurniture was launched in 2004 by Thomas Wüthrich and Yves Raschle. During a longterm work stay in Indonesia, they got to know the carpentry and woodwork school PIKA. The available know-how, the exemplary school operation and the openness for input convinced them of the great potential of a co-operation with PIKA. They have established an intense personal contact with the school board members as well as with the craftsmen who manufacture their furniture. www.inchfurniture.ch
This Weber (1973, Zurich) trained as a mechanic and studied Jewelry and Industrial Design at Zurich’s University of the Arts (ZHdK). In 2004, he took charge of the furniture design department at Hannes Wettstein’s design agency, and later became a member of the board. In spring 2010, he opened his own studio in Zurich to work for several national and international clients. Several of his projects have won design prizes, such as the red dot award and the iF product design award. www.thisweber.com
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swiss design survey
BIG-GAME Is it not the case that designers contribute to making more and more objects that people don’t really need? We always try new things, but they have to be appropriate and innovative. We believe that designers have a key role in the progress of society. What is the reality like for you and what is it like to be based in Switzerland? Design is a hard job. The magazines portray a glamorous image of the field, which is false. We love our job and we’re happy to be able to do it in good conditions. Switzerland is a convenient country as it is well connected within Europe. What are you working on at the moment, and for which brand?
At the moment we’re working for Moustache (France), Karimoku (Japan), Materia (Portugal) and Provins (Switzerland). Industrial design or Art design? Designing good objects. Design a product or a process? Products and processes are connected. It’s impossible to work only on one aspect. What makes the ‘dignity’ of an object? Objects that don’t pretend (to be either ecological, luxurious, good quality, recyclable, etc). What kind of story do your creations tell the world? Simple, optimistic, functional, playful.
"Cheetah" by Hyo Sin Chang, result from Big-Game’s 2010 Vitra workshop at Boisbuchet. Ph. Michel Bonvin
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FULGURO Is it not the case that designers contribute to making more and more objects that people don’t really need? Our motivation is to try to design an object that we’d buy for ourselves were it on the market. Damn difficult. What is it like to be based in Switzerland? It’s good to be based in Switzerland. So far, nothing to complain about. There’s just enough work to make a decent living and go on holidays. But don’t spread the word. What are you working on at the moment, and for which brand? A secret project in collaboration with an artist and a few other plans; an interior architecture project for a church; and the design for the communication of a cultural event. Industrial design or Art design? We tend to say design, in order not to build uncrossable boundaries around our work Design a product or a process? Design a product through a process, or something like that. What makes the “dignity” of an object? Its users. What kind of story do your creations tell the world? They don’t speak unfortunately. Again, the users have to work and make the stories.
BROC, 2010. Modular bed designed for Atelier Pfister.
INCHFURNITURE Is it not the case that designers contribute to making more and more objects that people don’t really need? We think that the contemporary preoccupation is no longer about finding a new shape or a new material; today’s concerns are more about how to produce under the right circumstances and here’s where designers and producers have to be really innovative. It’s not so much about creating new problems anymore. Many young designers find it difficult to be noticed by companies. What is it like to be based in Switzerland? We like to be based in Basel. We don’t think
that it’s necessarily difficult to be noticed, but it’s really difficult to take the right decisions while getting noticed. What are you working on at the moment, and for which brand? We want to be independent. We want to design what we like personally and we want to produce under the conditions that we think are socially correct by using material from a sustainable source. Because we want all this and more, we founded our own company, INCH. As both designers and producers we are able to achieve this. That’s what we’re working on at the moment, day by day! “Shanghai Chair”, 2010. Ph. Mark Niedermann
N I C O L A S l e moigne Is it not the case that designers contribute to making more and more objects that people don’t really need? How frustrated I feel every year on the way back from Milan… thousands of objects in a simple week! But fortunately, in this world of consumption, we will always need objects and there will always be new challenges to work on - new materials, new technologies, new functions… The most important quality for me when I design an object (and probably the best way to avoid producing too many objects) is durability. My aim is to try to design objects that can last through time and remain
“Le Locle” table and “Meyrin” sideboard designed for Atelier Pfister.
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‘contemporary’ in 50 years. Many young designers find it difficult to be noticed by companies. What is it like to be based in Switzerland? During my studies at the Ecole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne (ECAL), I had the opportunity to have some of my objects produced by international companies. It therefore became much easier to create new collaborations. It would be hard to work only with Swiss companies, however the country is central within Europe and it’s very easy to reach Milan, Paris or Berlin. Switzerland is also very quiet… it’s important for me to have the opportunity to travel a lot, to big cities, but what a good feeling it is to come back here for a rest! What are you working on at the moment, and for which brand? I’m developing new products for the Swiss producer Atelier Pfister: an armchair and a candlestick. I am also working on a lamp for a Spanish producer, Marset, and designing a watch for the Austrian jeweler Köchert. I will present a new collection of objects at the German contemporary design gallery Helmrinderknecht during Design Miami/Basel. Industrial design or Art design? Both. Working on new concepts for design galleries allows me to develop new ideas for producers. What makes the ‘dignity’ of an object? An object that works, that is sober and lasts through time.
swiss design survey
MORITZ SCHMID Is it not the case that designers contribute to making more and more objects that people don’t really need? I believe it’s the designer’s responsibility to be critical when it comes to creating new objects. We can no longer continue with this consuming speed and carelessness for sustainability. We really have to take a step back to when things were built to last for a long time. To manage to achieve things regarding quality, production, process and form is a big motivation for me. Many young designers find it difficult to be noticed by companies. What is the reality like for you and what is it like to be based in Switzerland? It is difficult but it helped me a lot to show
hav ailla nC Julie Ph. #3. ight aL enn Ant
Is it not the case that designers contribute to making more and more objects that people don’t really need? It’s part of the “schizophrenic” context of the designer: on the one hand, we are surrounded by so many products... on the other hand, not many of those products satisfy our needs or desires. My aim is to produce objects that have sense in existing and not just to produce one more object. Furthermore, I think that we constantly evolve and regress and this cycle affects our needs and desires, and creates an area in which designers can work. What is it like to be based in Switzerland? Switzerland is very well located, close to Germany, Italy and France. There is a lot of energy devoted to design within schools and museums, and there are many producers dedicated to high quality design. I feel happy to be based here, but obviously it’s necessary to travel a lot and work internationally.
z / ECAL
ADRIeN ROVERO
projects that were successful on the market. Switzerland is a small country but has very interesting design studios and producers, along with a great design history. There are also many good art and design schools and different possibilities for scholarships, as well as help from the Swiss Federal Design Awards, an important grant for young Swiss designers. What are you working on at the moment? I’m working on 2 furniture projects, which actually oppose one another. One is all about exposing objects and the other is about hiding them. I like questioning habits, it helps me to bring my projects forward. For example, for the ARIS cabinet — in the Atelier Pfister Collection, 2010 — I asked myself if it would be interesting to have a cabinet without a front or back side, which could stand free in the room and also function as a room divider. Later, I followed the idea through to a freestanding clothes rail with a cover.
What are you working on at the moment, and for which brand? I am working right now on containers, toys and a lamp designed for Hermès “Petit h,” which will be sold in their shop in Japan. I’m also designing a series of ceramic forms for La Manufacture de Sèvres called “Les plaques,” which are going to be exhibited at Villa Noailles in July. Other projects include a coat hanger for a new producer based in Luxembourg called Superette, a setup design for the exhibition “Playmobil Fab.” at the Mudac in Lausanne, and a remodeling of the entrance of the NMNM in Monaco. Industrial design or Art design? Industrial design, definitively. Design a product or a process? Both. What kind of story do your creations tell the world? A spontaneous interpretation of our daily life, hopefully with a good understanding of their context.
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“Aris”, textile cabinet designed for Atelier Pfister
C O LL I N S C H A E LL I Is it not the case that designers contribute to making more and more objects that people don’t really need? It motivates me to discover unsolved challenges. What is the reality like for you and what is it like to be based in Switzerland? It doesn’t matter where you are. Just do a good job and people will recognize you. What are you working on at the moment, and for which brand? I’m working on a charity project for Japan together with Passugger Mineral Water.
Ph. François Halard
Industrial design or Art design? Industrial art. Design a product or a process? The product is a stopover within the process. What makes the ‘dignity’ of an object? Finding the right moment for a stopover. What kind of story do your creations tell the world? How simple it could be.
From the “con.temporary furniture” collection: work desk and side board, both produced by Caviezel AG, Chur (CH)
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I’m working on many different projects, including for the Swiss brand Atelier Pfister and the Italian companies Accademia Italy and Fiam Italia. I’m also designing new camping tents for Spatz, the only Swiss manufacturer of tents with its own production in Switzerland. Industrial design or Art design? Industrial design influenced by art. Design a product or a process? The process sharpens, defines and inspires, but in the end it’s the product. What makes the ‘dignity’ of an object? That its acceptance remains as it ages. What kind of story do your creations tell the world? You meet them with the feeling of a new acquaintance, but with the serenity of having known them for years.
ways rather than to fulfill obligations, and to combine functional, technical, poetical and esthetical aspects into an ingenious object. Many young designers find it difficult to be noticed by companies. What is it like to be based in Switzerland? Luckily we are not captive to object design in terms of making money. With our spatial projects we get a lot of international attention but our clients are mainly Swiss. In many aspects the situation in Basel is too introspective to create a strong demand for
contemporary design projects. However, this city is a relevant cultural and economic player and offers good connections to a more openminded clientele. What are you working on at the moment, and for which brand? Concerning object design, we recently finished the project “Kroon,” comprising standard work lights tied into an opulent chandelier. The rough and cheap industrial product contrasts with the high-end polished chrome elements.
“Kroon”, outdoor-chandelier, 2010. Ph. ZMIK
“Scarlet” chair (development) designed for Accademia, 2011
t his we b er
Is it not the case that designers contribute to making more and more objects that people don’t really need? My main goal is to create the right object at the right time for the right client and to take each object to the point that it increases the success of the client. Many young designers find it difficult to be noticed by companies. What is the reality like for you and what is it like to be based in Switzerland? Generally speaking, no company or brand is seriously waiting for a “young designer” to come. I need to have the right contact, a serious idea or vision for the company and some knowledge of its needs. To be based in Switzerland is comfortable and strategic; we are in the center of Europe, which facilitates contact with European brands. What are you working on at the moment, and for which brand?
zmik
Is it not the case that designers contribute to making more and more objects that people don’t really need? Most of our objects have their origin in spatial projects, which is actually our main sphere of action. Our goal is not to sell design in large numbers but to create a specific object that reacts to the specific needs of its spatial context. In some cases we invest in further development to achieve small volume production. Our motivation to design new objects is driven by the idea to explore new
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Concept NO MAD in collaboration with Design Preis Schweiz Art direction Didier Falzone bureaubureau.it Fundraising Renate Cornu
Animals on the borders “Owls” by Delphine Jabot, result from Big-Game’s 2010 Vitra workshop at Boisbuchet. Picture by Michel Bonvin. Special thanks to Michel Hueter and Heidi Wegener With the support of
Contributor Introduction Ariana Pradal trained as an industrial designer, works as a journalist and curator, she writes and works regularly for various magazines and museums in the field of design and architecture. Her articles, books and exhibitions have been printed and presented in Switzerland and abroad. www.pradal.ch
INGENIOUS SWITZERLAND Managing Director Daniel Racine
Translators/Proofreading Gidon Mead Michael Polsinelli
SIA, Selnaustrasse 16 CH-8027 Zurich www.ingenious-switzerland.com
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Barcelona The MAGIC WORD If the fashion world were a chessboard, Barcelona would be neither the king nor the queen; not even a bishop, a knight or a rook but merely a pawn. Laia Beltram, journalist
INDEPENDENT SCENE Jan iú Més Cecilia Sorensen El Delgado Buil
“Made in Barcelona” a CONTAGIOUS PHENOMENON CHU UROZ
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Barcelona is
a magic word Text by Laia Beltran Simply pronouncing it catches people’s imagination and will open many doors for you. These days it’s cool either to be from or live in Barcelona. If nothing else, this is what the large amount of young designers from all over the world who have chosen to settle in the Catalan capital to work or study would suggest. But if the fashion world were a chessboard,
Barcelona would be neither the king nor the queen; not even a bishop, a knight or a rook. Compared to the heavyweights, the Mediterranean city is merely a pawn . Admired for its old
quarter, its cutting edge gastronomy, Gaudí’s buildings, its design, its beaches and its football team, Barcelona still doesn’t come close to figuring in the world fashion gurus’ itineraries. But as any chess player can tell you, some pawns eventually become queens. Occasionally a matter of luck, most often it is the result of tenacity, talent and anticipation. In short, it is the result of a plan, even if it’s a bad one. The stupid rivalry between Barcelona and Madrid smears politics, the economy, sports and even fashion. A few years ago, a governmental decree determined that Madrid would host the only runway in order to compete against New York, Milan, Paris and London. It has always been very Spanish to dream. But while in central Spain they pursued their quixotic agenda, Barcelona was left without an official catwalk. A regional tragedy, but a tragedy nonetheless. The Catalan government, perhaps unwilling to swallow its pride, or else aware of its own potential, quickly came up with 080 Barcelona Fashion, a platform designed exclusively to promote emerging designers - its own army of pawns. Barcelona thus started to weave a plan to sponsor new blood, to back designers who were fresh out of school with nowhere to go to or barely managing to survive in small studios and shops in the city center. The local administration decided to step in and promote new talent, touching on a queasy subject but taking necessary action, even if not all independent designers reap a benefit. Some designers don’t want to even hear about the new platform, preferring instead to follow their own paths. Others consider it a springboard to consolidate their careers and yet more see it as their last chance. All are legitimate perspectives sharing the common goal to make a decent living in the fashion industry; a task that seemed easy enough at one point but today is not. Given the talent of such multifarious designers as Ce c ilia S ö re n s e n , Za z o & B rull , E l D el g ad o B uil , T h e A v a n t , Ja n i ú M é s , Natalie Capell , M a n uel B o la ñ o , C o rta n a , T x ell M ira s , O s c ar H . Gra n d or K ri z ia R o bu s tella , one is glad to live in a hotbed of creativity like Barcelona.
Let the game continue; sooner or later, a pawn will reach the final rank and swing open the doors for others to follow.
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People find inspiration wherever they can. You could say Barcelona is a great place to work lots of life in the streets, fantastic ambience and warm weather - but what we find most inspiring is the people we have found here rather than the city itself. Barcelona is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Spain; it has always been more experimental than Madrid, Seville or other cities in this country and is well known for giving opportunities to young Spanish talent or anybody living here. The city is full of students who come here to study fashion or design. Barcelona has a textile’s tradition and recently the government has become quite concerned about its decline. They are making great effort to support the new generation of designers. All new or independent designers have the opportunity to show and promote their work and carry out their own projects. You have the “FAD”, an organization that supports designers who just graduated, “080 Barcelona fashion”, a platform for independent designers and “physic”, a program to create industry, events and initiatives that could help young designers. A lot of independent designers have chosen to open their own spaces where they can show and sell their collections. It is very complicated to introduce products made by independent designers in multibrand shops here - only the coolest shops dare. As a city, Barcelona is open to new trends, concepts and visions, but at the same time its people are quite conservative. Barcelona needs a more international presence, like Paris, Milan, London... and more fashion culture. We never use themes to develop our collections but always work with abstract concepts and aesthetics. For our collection SS2011, we used a natural print of butterflies, python skin, lambskin, linen, cottons and silk to create a clean, tight, stretched and volatile silhouette.
independent scene Joan Zamora Royo and Alfonso Pena ---
Photography David Urbano Style Jaume Vidiella
Carreras are the designers behind Jan iu Mès, a men’s clothing label established in Barcelona. Their approach is based on a restrained aesthetic vision that starts with rigid silhouettes, and their creations emerge from a rational, mathematical view of clothing that is reflected in austere abstraction of forms Find their creations at Jean Pierre Bua - Av. Diagonal, 469 www.janiumes.com
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ceci l ia sorensen What I most like about Barcelona is its mixture of old and new. A good example is the MACBA museum, which is situated in the middle of the Raval area, wall to wall with houses in the rougher old quarter, where women hang up their laundry outside their windows just next to the new, sparkling white Contemporary Art Museum. But in Barcelona you also have to know exactly where to go and what to avoid. There is a strong paradox between experiencing the cultural scene and being a sweaty, bikiniwearing tourist in the Ramblas. I have found it inspiring to live and work in a different country to my own - my work would probably be quite different had I stayed in Finland. While I find Helsinki’s design wise, clean, pure and with a certain strength, Barcelona’s style is more nostalgic, more sensitive and somehow more alive. In the past Catalonia had a very important textile industry, especially in knits, jerseys and woolen fabrics. Many of the wellknown modernist houses in the centre were actually built for textile factory owners. Now there is not that much industry left, as most big Spanish companies produce overseas. Driving around the countryside, especially around rivers, it’s sad to see entire villages once dedicated to the textile industry now completely abandoned and empty. Nowadays there are lots of independent fashion design labels appearing, which is a good thing, since the fashion industry is mostly dominated by big commercial high street chains. This is in contrast to other design areas such as architecture and industrial or graphic design, which have always evolved in many different directions. Barcelona’s fashion scene is obviously a lot
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smaller than that of bigger cities such as Paris or New York. But there is an interesting mixture of different cultures, interdisciplinary design projects and all kinds of music/art/ fashion festivals held regularly that really have an impact on the city’s street view and social scene. Barcelona might sometimes be too laid back but, compared to the more hectic and stressful fashion capitals, here there is always time for a vermouth, tapas and good company in the afternoon, even on the busiest, most stressful days. Part of my collection is made from recycled material. Men’s old white cotton shirts, transformed into women’s by pleating, gatherings and appliqués; original handembroidered initials from antique sheets, cut out one by one and made into dresses, then piece-dyed in the collection’s colors. Each piece is unique. We also do custom made pieces. There is no way of industrially stonewashing a high quality cotton to get that feel of real use and wear. --The Finnish, Barcelona-based designer Cecilia Sörensen (Helsinki, 1976) was winner of the ‘Barcelona ES Moda’ prize 2008 and the ‘Young Designer of the Year’ ModaFAD prize in 2002. She created her own label and shop in 2002. Her collection has been exhibited at fashion weeks in Barcelona, Stockholm, Berlin, Helsinki and Tokyo and she has exhibited in Paris twice a year since 2006. She also designs exclusive pieces for cinema, theatre, exhibitions and commercials. Find Cecilia Sorensen at Still Light - c/ Notariat 8 - Barcelona www.ceciliasorensen.com
Photos above by Nacho Alegre. Shirt details by Roope Alho. Cecilia’s portrait on the other page by Lina Persson
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el de l gado buIl We love to live and work here because Barcelona has many attractive aspects which are an inspiration to those who want to create. Although you cannot compare Barcelona to big capitals like London or Paris - this city attracts lots of people with its nice weather and gastronomy. For us, its diversity, history and culture are big incentives. The sea is another strong element which gives one a totally different perspective. Thanks to a great textile tradition, Barcelona has developed its own aesthetic taste. There were once many textile, dye printing and clothing factories but unfortunately, due to delocalization, many closed down and only a few remain open today. Barcelona has always been the most intellectually important city in Spain. Its geographical situation - close to France and on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea - makes it a very open-minded and sophisticated city, which is reflected in its style. This collection called Joiner Creek is based on a community of people who are living in close contact with nature. It’s pure invention, inspired by the Mormon culture, TV series “Big Love” and other things we like. It mixes wool cashmere tables with hunting prints, kalgan lamb necks with silk. Upper class meets lower class. Besides that, last year we have launched our online shop and are working on a project with Escorpion 497, a well-known knitwear company in Spain. --Anna and Macarena created the brand eldelgadobuil in 2004, after completing their course at the ESDI design school. They soon stood out in the field of emerging design and today they have clients in Barcelona, Madrid, Alicante, Oviedo, Pangai,Tokyo and NewYork Find El Delgado Buil at El Delgado Buil Shop - Lledó 4-6, local 6 www.eldelgadobuil.com
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chu uroz
C h u U r o z is the president of Fa s h i o n Fad . He studied at the S chool of A rchitecture in B arcelona and at the E l V all è S chool of A rchitecture , specialising in the field of industrial design at the E lisava S chool of D esign . H e worked as a designer of men ’ s fashion for companies such as L acoste and A rmand B asi . I n 1 9 9 2 he took part in preparations for the opening ceremony of the B arcelona O lympic G ames . S ince then , he worked as a designer and production designer on many films including J am ó n , jam ó n . He creates the designs and costumes for several opera productions such as La F ura dels B aus , B erlin O pera , C ologne O pera . H e is the creative www . chuuroz . com director of M oritz beer .
Although Barcelona is full of creativity and recognized in the fields of architecture, design and food, it has never become a real fashion capital. Why is that? Barcelona has never become a real fashion capital because it has never worked to be known for its showrooms or its importance in the international purchasing circuit, as other capitals have. This does not mean that we have no independent designers or brands feeding the showrooms of Paris, the capital of independent designers; in fact, Barcelona can claim the highest percentage. However, because we do not make the grade in terms of our showrooms, we also fail to do so in our sales and in attracting international buyers to Barcelona. This has been a major handicap but I think that in today’s world there is great hope and a bright future for Barcelona.
Is there anything which particularly distinguishes the fashion scene in Barcelona? A “Barcelona formula” was born, resulting in designers like Cecilia Sorensen, who is Finnish but whose work is branded “Made in Barcelona”. This phenomenon of coming to study in Barcelona and creating products which can be labelled “Made in Barcelona” is quite unique I think. Designers who were formed in Barcelona do present this characteristic of having a strong graphic character. This also happens in other capitals like New York and Berlin which develop their own identities. I guess it is a phenomenon that is contagious... Do you have a vision of Barcelona for the future? Can you develop your concept of “Made in Barcelona”? I think that if Barcelona is going to have a future, not only in fashion, but in graphic design, industrial design and all other forms of design, it must harness the world’s energy. The “Barcelona phenomenon” is a formula that no one has yet patented. We can continue to come up with original design concepts and have an important role worldwide if we choose to learn about and utilise the innovative ideas being developed all over the world. If we don’t, it will be a total disaster (laughs). It is the choice that is left to Barcelona, the capital of a strongly emerging European power. Besides your activities as president of Fashion Fad, you are involved in a wide range of activities including the artistic direction of opera and theatre, organising events and set design. Last year I worked on Stockhausen’s operas in Cologne, Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot for the Opera in Berlin with Carlus Padrissa of La Fura dels Baus, and I am also doing some work for my dear Moritz beer, which is 100% Barcelona, in an important catering and cultural site in the city - a mythical Moritz factory
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H o w u r ban nomads can lin k w ith the cosmos . . .
A sustainable time One of the oldest Swiss company – victorinox Swiss Army – created in 1886, celebrates time supporting sustainable projects. This vintage model – infantry -made with a 38mm case in an exclusive Black Ice PVD coating, a pollution-free and nonallergenic technology issued from the aeronautic industry. With a Swiss mechanical self-winding movement and scratch-resistant triple coated anti-reflective sapphire crystal, luminescent hands, numerals and hour markers will show you the right time. A perfect companion on the wrist with the mythic Swiss knife companion In your pocket for a nomad sustainable walk around the world. Victorinox.com
Take your time When Parisian brand Hermès enter the watchmaking industry, they established their own ateliers in Switzerland. To play and be creative with time expression, Hermès understood that manufacturing exclusive mechanisms was a necessity. Following the hermès spirit of luxury, the new creation “Arceau Time suspended” offers a very personal way of time expression. The owner of this rose gold refine and elegant piece, can stop time with a pushbotton, when ever it suits him and catch back the rational time, after a personal “suspended” time. A new consideration of time, thanks to the collaboration of the talented watchmaker jean marc wiederrecht who created a world premiere : a mechanical self-winding module of 254 parts – a 360° retrograde hour , minute and retrograde date hand. An exclusive mechanism for a limited 174 rose gold numbered pieces. hermes.com
showcase
Less is more in XXL The Rado r5.5 is a result of shared vision, passion and innovation with the like-minded British industrial designer, Jasper Morrison. This fruitful partnership continued with the development of the r5.5 XXL, Without compromising on the core style values of the r5.5, this XXL collection has an extra size quartz chronograph movement. Made entirely from high-tech ceramics, case and bracelet seamlessly join together. Case in platinum colour mat ceramic links, 13 ¼’’’ ETA 251.262, quartz chronograph, 27 jewels, 6 hands, 2 pushers, date at 3 o‘clock, small seconds, 12 hour, 60-minute and 60-second counters. - Rado.com
Humans began observing the sky to understand their condition and consider the movement of planets. Our relationship with time has slowly become a reference point for harmonious living. Time was indicated through sound, through bells and regulated community life. Later, time became a matter of survival, especially when exploring the oceans. Time precision became a scientific necessity! For more than 5 centuries, the most sophisticated objects have been invented and designed to capture time in the most useful and beautiful ways — objects that have become the companions of our lifetime. Today, we have accurate time on our mobile phones and computers, however, the watch still remains a special object to possess. One can enjoy the extraordinary efforts of talented and nostalgic watchmakers who invent subtle mechanical conceptions with quartz precision. Others are reinventing how we read time or reconsidering the personal value of the object itself. A large selection of some of the latest creations – from design, concept and tradition – were presented at Baselworld 2011, the world’s most important watch fair. In tribute to the various expressions of time, a monthly report will be hosted by nomadpaper. com and powered by Timein-Tempo.org, a platform created to celebrate time in all its expressions. Natalia Signoroni Founder
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A watch to think Inspired by the Indian calendar Panchang, the Septagraph is a very unique timepiece base on the three thousand years of astronomical observation performed by the Southern Indians and centuries experience of traditional Swiss watchmaking. The calendar is used by millions of people in the world, to analyze their birth chart, the right time for some important event to take place and making predictions. The wristwatch boasts a unique “seven-Day complication” that shows a daily 90 minutes period to be devoted to reflection before action.A precious rose gold companion for men and women, displaying on the dial the time for thinking and the time for action in the most watch-making traditional way … Borgeaudwatches.com
Urban timing Well-known Swiss watch designer Jorg Hysek reconsiders the concept of the watch itself. The SLYDE watch (in black, grey titanium or pink gold) features one of the assets of many smartphones – the possibility to change application by merely sliding a finger over a tactile screen. Slide horizontally and the user can move the time indication between various combinations, even with a tourbillon. Slide vertically and the user can move between personal pictures and videos. It’s a contemporary reflection of our relationship with our mobile phones and timepieces. A perfect fusion of today’s needs. www.hd3.com
Marc Newson Back on time Marc Newson is the designer brain behind Ikepod’s designer watches. After a few years absence in the scenary of watchmaking, they are back since 2010 again. Last year, Ikepod also introduced an hour glass designed by Newson. Each hand made hourglass comprises highly durable borosilicate glass and millions of stainless steel nanoballs, and is available in a 10 or 60 minute timer. A contemporary refine object that remind that origins can be revisited. Do not miss the manufacturing teaser video on ikepod.com
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From wrist to home To switch from anonymous moments to star light moment, The Swarovski DLight has become renowned for its perfect combination of highly successful design and a unique movement. Last year, the watch won the prize for the best design of the year with the Red Dot Award, and confirms the continuation of the line. Designed by Swiss designer Eric Giroud, this piece offers a very sparkling way to read time. At the heart of this technological prowess, 171 “Xilion” cut crystals form the rectangular watch face and give the impression of a crystal bracelet. Made from high-quality stainless steel or PVD, the base for these crystals becomes almost invisible. An oval pushbutton bearing the Swan logo, allows the crystals to light up. The rubber version, already available in black or white, is brought right up to date with an array of striking new colors: red, orange and purple. A strap that allows the watch to be placed upon a base which recharges the mechanism by an ingeniously devised induction system to becomes a clock for the home! - swarovski.com
barcelona special section
“ Cuisine is a language which can be used to express harmony, creativity, happiness, beauty, poetry, complexity, magic, humor, provocation, culture ” Ferran Adrià
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Passionate about wine and music, Sergi FerrerSalat is the founder of a unique wine education centre and restaurant in Barcelona. Monvinic has been named by the Wall Street Journal’s wine blog as the world’s best wine bar, and in Food and Wine as one of the top five wine spots in the world for pairing practices. He also produces high quality wines under the very sophisticated label Ferrer-Bobet ferrerbobet.com / monvinic.com
gastronomy” movement, the first true “haute cuisine” revolution, took place in the Basque country, in the mid 1970s. This was the birth of the “New Basque Cuisine”, lead by great chefs now with 2 or 3 Michelin stars to their name, such as Juan Mari Arzak, Martín Berasategui, Pedro Subijana and Hilario Arbelaitz. The gastronomy scene in Barcelona is full of young talent - chefs who are devoted to their work and crazy about showcasing the magic of our terroir and how it expresses itself throughout each of the four seasons. Young chefs who have developed a strong relationship with local fishermen and farmers as a way to contribute to a more sustainable society. It is worth trying anything that the local land offers every season of the year. Autumn, for example, is a wonderful time to try “Saltejat”(seasonal mushrooms), winter vegetables, game “civet” (wild game stew), seafood and suckling goat. Some of the best new restaurants include Gresca (C/ Provença, 230), Coure (PJ Marimon, 20), Alkimia (C/ Indústria, 79), Dos Cielos (Hotel Me. Pere IV, 272-286), Embat (C/ Mallorca, 304) and Libentia (537 Carrer De Còrsega). As for design and food, the visual aspect of a dish is of utmost importance, as it contributes to the creation of a sense of pleasure and joy in the soul of the diner. Top chefs are fully aware of this. At the same time, new restaurants have not forgotten the importance that design has always had in Barcelona when creating a new space and, thus, the whole thing comes together. Catalan wines should not be missed either, thanks to the new wave of young viticulturists and winemakers who have had the chance, the intellectual curiosity, the open-mindedness and the willingness to gain experience working abroad, acquiring knowledge from the leading “vignerons” around the globe, from France to New Zealand, regardless of the “Old World”/“New World” distinction. Local wines to try include any which truly reflect the essence of Catalonia, which are able to transmit a “sense of place” to the drinker, and which emphasize elegance, finesse, persistence and harmony above power and an overblown style. Nowadays, literally every one of the 12 “appelation d’origine” in Catalonia offers such wines: in Priorat, René Barbier of Clos Mogador; in Penedés, Irene Alemany and Laurent Corrió, of Sot Lefriec; in Costers del Segre, Raül Bobet, with Castell d’Encus, to name just a few.
The Catalan cuisine phenomenon is not global. It has been a revolution lead by the pioneer Ferran Adrià, a man whose work later on spread throughout Catalonia and the whole of Spain. Many other Catalan chefs passionate about our terroir have also contributed greatly to its success: Santi Santamaria, Joan Roca and Carme Ruscalleda are the most visible of this crop, but there are many more. Instead of the “molecular
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Synthesis of elBulli cuisine In the mid-1990s a new style of cuisine began to be forged. Today, this style has been wholly consolidated and may be defined in the following terms:
[1] Cooking is a language through which all the following properties may be expressed: harmony, creativity, happiness, beauty, poetry, complexity, magic, humour, provocation and culture. [2] The use of top quality products and technical knowledge to prepare them properly are taken for granted. [3] All products have the same gastronomic value, regardless of their price. [4] Preference is given to vegetables and seafood, with a key role also being played by dairy products, nuts and other products that make up a light form of cooking. In recent years red meat and large cuts of poultry have been very sparingly used. [5] Although the characteristics of the products may be modified (temperature, texture, shape, etc.), the aim is always to preserve the purity of their original flavour, except for processes that call for long cooking or seek the nuances of particular reactions such as the Maillard reaction. [6] Cooking techniques, both classic and modern, are a heritage that the cook has to know how to exploit to the maximum. [7] As has occurred in most fields of human evolution down the ages, new technologies are a resource for the progress of cooking. [8] The family of stocks is being extended. Together with the classic ones, lighter stocks performing an identical function are now being used (waters, broths, consommÊs, clarified vegetable juices, nut milk, etc.). [9] The information given off by a dish is enjoyed through the senses; it is also enjoyed and interpreted by reflection. [10] Taste is not the only sense that can be stimulated: touch can also be played with (contrasts of temperatures and textures), as well as smell, sight (colours, shapes, trompe d’oeil, etc.), whereby the five senses become one of the main points of reference in the creative cooking process. [11] The technique-concept search is the apex of the creative pyramid. [12] Creation involves teamwork. In addition, research has become consolidated as a new feature of the culinary creative process.
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[13] The barriers between the sweet and savoury world are being broken down. Importance is being given to a new cold cuisine, particularly in the creation of the frozen savoury world. [14] The classical structure of dishes is being broken down: a veritable revolution is underway in first courses and desserts, closely bound up with the concept of symbiosis between the sweet and savoury world; in main dishes the “product-garnish-sauce” hierarchy is being broken down. [15] A new way of serving food is being promoted. The dishes are finished in the dining room by the serving staff. In other cases the diners themselves participate in this process. [16] Regional cuisine as a style is an expression of its own geographical and cultural context as well as its culinary traditions. Its bond with nature complements and enriches this relationship with its environment. [17] Products and preparations from other countries are subjected to one’s particular style of cooking. [18] There are two main paths towards attaining harmony of products and flavours: through memory (connection with regional cooking traditions, adaptation, deconstruction, former modern recipes), or through new combinations. [19] A culinary language is being created which is becoming more and more ordered, that on some occasions establishes a relationship with the world and language of art. [20] Recipes are designed to ensure that harmony is to be found in small servings. [21] Decontextualisation, irony, spectacle, performance are completely legitimate, as long as they are not superficial but respond to, or are closely bound up with, a process of gastronomic reflection. [22] The menu de dégustation is the finest expression of avant-garde cooking. The structure is alive and subject to changes. Concepts such as snacks, tapas, pre-desserts, morphs, etc., are coming into their own. 23]Knowledge and/or collaboration with experts from different fields (gastronomic culture, history, industrial design, etc.,) is essential for progress in cooking. In particular collaboration with the food industry and the scientific world has brought about fundamental advances. Sharing this knowledge among cooking professionals has contributed to this evolution. www.elbulli.com Restaurant elBullicarmen Carmen 15-17 - Barcelona
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This page, from top ‘7 Bowls’ by Martín Azúa and Gerard Moliné for Faces - Design Mix Collection / Ferran Adrià (2005) (ph. Jordi Bernabé / Martín Azúa). On the opposite page, ‘Strainer Spoon’ by Luki Huber for Faces Design Mix Collection / Ferran Adrià (2005) (ph. Jordi Bernabé). ‘Lemon Squeezer’ by Luki Huber for Lèkuè, 2007 (ph. Meritxell Arjalaguer).
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Mar t í n
Azúa
A CONVERSATION ON DESIGN AND BARCELONA
Today Barcelona. The situation is indeed a lot less active, due in part to the economic crisis which is very severe in Spain and which naturally affects production. I came to Barcelona after the Olympic Games in 1992, when there was also a crisis so this is not the first time. I believe, though, that we are living in a reality where design is totally integrated by companies - we have passed the time where we had to fight in order to impose it. Catalan style. Plain in its form and in its foundation. Barcelona doesn’t like excess and tends towards a certain stillness. Madrid, in contrast, is more demonstrative and glitzy. For me, the fashion designer Toni Mirò represents the Catalan style very well, especially in his choice of material which is very important; he uses very beautiful fabrics, plain and not too colorful but in a modern and deconstructed style. Being Basque, I have the ability of an outsider to observe these differences from a distance. B orn in the B asque C ountry in 1965, M art í n Azúa lives in B arcelona where he combines his work as a designer with his teaching work at the E li s a v a D e s i g n S c h o o l . M art í n studied F ine A rts , specializing in D esign at the U niversity of B arcelona . H e also has a postgraduate degree in A rchitecture and E phemeral I nstallations from the P olytechnic U niversity of B arcelona and an M A in S ocial C ommunication from the P ompeu F abra U niversity . C urrently M art í n works as a designer for different companies , as well as carrying out his experimental and investigative work which has been exhibited in individual and collective exhibitions . H e has work in the collections of M o M A in N ew Y ork , T he M useum of D ecorative A rts in B arcelona and T he L a P anera C entre of A rt in L lieda . H is projects have been published in various important international magazines . A wards include : T he C ity of B arcelona A ward 2 0 0 0 , D elta de P lata A ward 2 0 0 7 , F A D A ward for E phemeral A rchitecture 2 0 0 8 , D esign P lus A ward 2 0 0 9 , I nterior D esign P lus A ward 2009, AD D esigner www . M A R T I N A Z U A . com of the Y ear A ward 2010.
The design scene. Barcelona is full of designers, especially graphic designers. Space and communication are considered carefully, offering interesting opportunities for designers. Industrial design reflects the situation of local industry; there are no high-tech industries in particular but very good opportunities to develop products in the furniture and lighting field. Design is very prominent in this city since 20 years ago, when the city went through a major “facelift”, involving architectural interventions in public spaces; streets, squares and public furniture. Architects also acted as designers - examples include Albert Vilaplana and Miralles. There are also a lot of design schools and activities centering around design in Barcelona. Experimental design. I belong to a generation of designers who intend design to be a form of research. I do work for companies but I am also involved in work where I do experiments and organize exhibitions. You also find designers such as Marti Guixé who is close to an artist in his approach but works also with companies. I believe today it’s important to develop both skills simultaneously. In Spain there is little
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barcelona a walk with space for experimental design and very few galleries in which to display it but I hope that in the future the younger generation of designers will push the boundaries, creating a context to develop that kind of design. There is a young collective of designers called “Surtido” who have a webpage and organize a lot of activities; that might be the beginning. Food and Design. I am the curator of a travelling exhibition titled ‘Foodjects’ and have selected all the designer’s projects. The new Spanish cuisine has revealed itself as one of the world’s most creative and surprising, a success linked to a culinary tradition as rich and as varied as the country’s landscapes. Spanish chefs understand cuisine as a language, a means of expression, using new culinary technologies to arouse sensations and emotions. This passion for cuisine has mobilized many sectors: companies producing kitchen and household tools, restaurants, food producers, publishing houses, the media … Cuisine has never been discussed so much or so passionately in Spain. Spanish designers have, of course, collaborated in this phenomenon, designing products and spaces and in this way generating a new image of the country’s cuisine. This new cuisine needs tools to express itself and present its revelations: deconstructed dishes, foams, spherifications, cooking with liquid hydrogen … Chefs and designers collaborate to provide new formats
for food, to appreciate the textures, the flavors, the contrasts and the aromas. What I like about Barcelona. One of the great qualities of this city is what I call its democratic lifestyle. One can go out at night and have just a drink on the terraces without spending a lot of money, any day of the week. Barcelona is very laid back which is what attracts a lot of foreigners. My neighbourhood. My studio is located in Caxia Verdi; just down the street is the Verdi movie theatre ► which is very popular because of its very intelligent, alternative programming and there are many different interesting places nearby. There is one tiny restaurant I like very much called la Casa Portuges ◄ - it’s fantastic because you can taste the wine of the day and traditional dishes from Portugal at a very good price. It might sound strange to speak about Portugese cuisine in Barcelona but what I most appreciate about this city is that it is an incredible melting pot. Just next to Casa Portuges is Cal Pep ▲ , a typical Spanish bottega - very old and authentic. I enjoy the mix of old and new so prevalent in this neighborhood and in the Caxia Verdi. It’s very pleasant to walk around all the terraces in the evening.
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Pages 118 - 120: Ph. Marco Pinarelli
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barcelona a walk with
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barcelona map section www.nomadpaper.com
Giulio Cappellini
Discover the exclusive selection of addresses in each field curated by our critics. architectural tour, galleries, CONCEPT STORES... Soon on iPad TOO!
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barcelona
CONTEMPORARY ART A*DEsk
www.a-desk.org
our liberties and wishes for entertainment, among other things.
7.7
SAVE AS... PUBLICATIONS
7.7 is an independent project from the collective of photographers ‘Photo Noise’, who grouped together in order to create a space for meeting and debating on the role of documentary photography. ‘Photo Noise’ have made a commitment to the creation, use and dissemination of a new channel, in order to become figureheads of independent journalism and social critics, committed to considering photography as a tool to generate reflection and change in society
www.saveaspublications.net
Independent online art magazine DOROPAEDIA
www.produccionesdoradas.com The Doropaedia a.k.a. “the free gold” is an initiative of Golden Productions in collaboration with the Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo de Móstoles-Madrid-CA2M. It’s a quarterly publication based on 3” mini-CD digipack collectibles with songs, texts, visual art and multimedia content in order to reflect different views on a theme. Each Doropaedia is accompanied by a string of activities (concerts, conferences and roundtables) on each of the themes proposed.
Save as…Publication is an editorial project based in Barcelona. Founded in 2008 by Irene Minovas and Ferran El Otro with the aim to produce and promote experimental artistic projects. BOROBILTXOLIBRO
www.borobiltxolibros.com Borobiltxo Libros is a small publishing house in Barcelona which publishes comic books and booklets of illustrators and comic book artists.
PHOTOGRAPHY
ÉTAPES
OJO DE PEZ
A quarterly global and international gaze on graphic design and visual culture with special emphasis on the diversity and richness of Spanish and Latin American culture.
Ojo de Pez is a quarterly magazine offering a new look into the world of documentary photography. Many photographic projects do not easily find places in conventional publishing circuits. For each issue of Ojo de Pez, a renowned graphic editor selects the most interesting reports among those received which, for various reasons, could not be published in other media. Each report includes text reflecting on the reality evoked by the photographs. An undisciplined magazine of documentary photography for those who wish to see reality just as it is, without disguise.
www.etapes.es
LA SANTA
www.lasanta.org La Santa is an association founded in 1993 with the purpose of promoting artistic events outside normal museum and gallery displays. This has marked a new line of experimental work in Barcelona, becoming a recognized promotional platform for artists. It has over 200 active members and many more expressing interest in the latest creations. PAPERMIND
www.papermind.net Papermind, “the After Eight Fanzine”, is a self-financed fanzine made in Barcelona, born of talks in cafes, concerns over the need for
www.ojodepez.org
PIEL DE FOTO
www.pieldefoto.com A new, free publication aimed at spreading the work of young photojournalists, creating photo stories on social themes, making valuable documentaries and asserting its presence in the press.
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WWW.7punt7.net
FASHION METAL
www.revistametal.com METAL Magazine was born as a unique blend of fashion and arts with an international forefront scope. METAL is made in Barcelona, New York, Paris, London and Scandinavia by an influential array of creative minds that assume that a different magazine format is not only achievable, but also utterly necessary. The result is a qualitative publication with five issues per year that is also exclusive and collectable.
City BARCELONA INK
www.barcelonaink.com Barcelona INK is a quarterly magazine featuring writing from and about Barcelona. A magazine which not only has articles about and by well known writers connected to the city in some way - in this category we could mention Toibin, Orwell and Rupert Thomson - but also acts as a platform for new writers based in Barcelona. b-guided
www.b-guided.com A city guide on Barcelona and other spanish cities.
barcelona map section
T o produce an itinerary encompassing all of B arcelona ’ s architectural must - see ’ s is simple and difficult at the same time , due to its diversity of style , its high quantity of famous sites and of talented architects . W ithout trying to define B arcelona in fifteen buildings , this itinerary , or better , this list of buildings , is an attempt to stimulate curiosity and desire to discover this city . A s I believe it doesn ’ t make sense to introduce contemporary architecture without admiring the city ’ s oldest and best loved , the following list presents buildings from different periods of the city ’ s history ; from the middle of the 1 9 th century to the beginning of the 2 1 st century . H ope you enjoy it .
1. Mercat de La Boqueria, 1860 Josep Mas i Vilà La Rambla, 105 METRO L3 Liceu / BUS 14, 38, 59, 91 2. Palau de la Música Catalana, 1905-08 Lluís Domènech i Montaner c/ Sant Francesc de Paula, 2 METRO L1 L4 Urquinaona BUS 17, 19, 40, 45 3. Casa Milà, La Pedrera, 1906-10 Antoni Gaudí Pg. de Gràcia, 92 METRO L3 L5 Diagonal BUS 7, 16, 17, 22, 24, 28 4. Fábrica de Hilados Casarramona, 1909-1911 Josep Puig i Cadafalch c/ de Mèxic, 36-44 METRO L1, L3, Espanya
--Tus Vilà. Architect. Born in Barcelona (1978) where he lives and works. Since 2005, he runs his own studio of architecture taking care of interior design, exhibition, temporary architecture and graphic design.
5. Pabellón de Alemania, 1929 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Av. d e l M a r q u è s d e C o m i l l a s METRO L1 L3 Espanya BUS 9, 13, 27, 30, 37, 50, 56, 57, 65, 91, 109, 157 6. Casa de la Marina, 1952-54 José Antonio Coderch de Sentmenat, Manuel Valls Pg. de Joan de Borbó, 43 METRO L4 Barceloneta BUS 17, 39, 45, 59, 64, 157 7. Condominio, 1960-64 Francisco J. Barba i Corsini Rda. del General Mitre, 1-13/19-25 BUS 6, 16, 34, 70, 72, 74
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8. Condominio Meridiana, 1960-64 Josep Martorell, Oriol Bohigas, David Mackay Av. M e r i d i a n a , 3 1 2 - 3 1 8 METRO L1 L5 Sagrera BUS 62, 96 9. Canódromo Meridiana, 1962-63 Antoni Bonet i Castellana, Josep Puig i Torné c / d e C o n c e p c i ó A r e n a l , 1 65 BUS 11, 12, 34, 36, 62, 96 10. Colegio de Médicos, 1966-75 Robert Terradas i Via Pg. de la Bonanova, 47 BUS 14, 22, 64, 70, 72, 75 11. Fundació Joan Miró, 1972-75 Josep Lluís Sert P l . d e N e p t ú – P a r c d e M ontjuïc M E T R O L 1 L 3 E s p a n y a / L 2 L3 Paral·lel BUS 50, 61 12. Anella Olímpica de Montjuïc, 1985-92 Carles Buxadé, Federico Correa, Joan Margarit, Alfons Milà, Vittorio Gregotti, Arata Isozaki, Ricardo Bofill, Moisés Gallego, Francesc Fernández, Santiago Calatrava, Beth Galí, Màrius Quintana, et alter. Av. d e l ’ E s t a d i – P g . d e Minici Natal METRO L1 L3 Espanya BUS 13, 50 13. Torre di telecomunicazioni di Collserola, 1989-92 Norman Foster & Partners Tu r ó d e Vi l a n a 14. Condominio, 1992-95 Josep Llinàs c/ del Carme, 55 M E T R O L 2 S a n t A n t o n i / L 3 Liceu
Left Roca Barcelona Gallery designed by Studio Carlos Ferrater - OAB Barcelona
BUS 14, 20, 24, 37, 3 8 , 5 9 , 6 4 , 9 1
www.cpinos.com
15. Recinto Fórum de les Cultures 2004, 1998-2004 Elías Torres, José Antonio Martínez Lapeña, Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Alejandro Zaera Polo, Josep Lluís Mateo, y otros. Av. de la Diagonal, 1 METRO L4 El Maresm e / F ò r u m BUS 7, 36, 41, 141
EMBT
16. Torre Agbar, 1999-2005 Jean Nouvel, B720 Av. de la Diagonal, 2 1 1 METRO L1 Glòries BUS 7, 56, 92, 192
Architects ANTONI GAUDÍ
WEBSITES
www.mirallestagliabue.com ALONSO-BALAGUER
www.alonsobalaguer.com
www.actar.es www.plusarquitectura.info www.soloarquitectura.com www.ggili.com www.arquinfad.org
TONI GIRONES
www.tonigirones.com RCR ARQUITECTES
www.rcrarquitectes.es B720
www.b720.com BAILO+RULL
www.addarquitectura.net
EDUCATION www.etsab.upc.edu www.etsav.upc.edu www.coac.net www.salle.url.edu www.iaac.net upcommons.upc.edu/pfc/handle/2099.1/3981 upcommons.upc.edu/pfc/handle/2099.1/1436
www.antonigaudi.org LLUÍS DOMÉNECH I MONTANER
COLL-LECLERC
www.coll-leclerc.com
MAGAZINES
CONXITA BALCELLS
CLOUD 9
www.ondiseno.com www.elcroquis.es www.coac.net/quaderns www.tectonica.es www.tccuadernos.com www.via-arquitectura.net www.arquitecturaviva.com
JOSE LUIS MATEO
BOOKSHOPS
BOPBAA
www.eupalinos.com www.rasbcn.com www.laie.es
www.fundaciodomenech imontaner.org JOSÉ ANTONIO CODERCH
www.balcells.es
www.etsav.upc.edu/arxcoderch/ RICARDO BOFILL
ALBERT DE PINEDA
www.pinearq.com
www.ricardobofill.com MBM ARQUITETES
www.mbmarquitectes.cat CARLOS FERRATER
www.e-cloud9.com http://www.mateo-maparchitect.com
www.ferrater.com CARME PINÓS
www.bopbaa.com
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BOADAS Tallers, 1 - Tel + 34 9 3 3 1 8 8 8 2 6 Metro L1/L3 CATALUN YA Since 1933, both prominent figures and ordinary people on the street have been hunting out this whiskey bar to discuss the happenings of the day, to enjoy good conversation and to relax. Boadas has always been a meeting place for intellectuals and great personalities in art, literature or politics, for early avant-garde artists, people from the entertainment industry and for wandering night owls. Dali, Picasso and Hemingway were clients of this cosy corner on more than one occasion, as were local celebrities. Its walls, with their photos and memorabilia, are certainly a testimony to the energy of Barcelona. DRY MARTINI
www.drymartinibcn.com Aribau, 162 – Tel + 3 4 9 3 2 1 7 5 0 7 2 Metro L3/L5 DIAGONA L Opened in 1978, Dry Martini is considered one of the best cocktail bars in the world by Tyler Brûlé, founder of Wallpaper magazine. Its impressive wooden bar and classic décor, precisely combined, contribute to its fame. GIMLET
www.gimletbcn.com Rec 24 - Tel + 34 93 3 1 0 1 0 2 7 Metro L1 ARC DEL TR I O M F Gimlet is a tribute to the American-style cocktail bars of the 30s and 40s; well illuminated with jazz music playing in the background. ICE BAR
www.icebarcelona.com Ramon Trias Fargas, 2 – Te l + 3 4 9 3 2 2 4 1 6 2 5 Metro L4 CIUTADELLA - V I L L A O L I M P I C A
A new local; modern and cold - very cold. Ice Barcelona is a cutting edge bar created by a well-known Dutch designer, famous for his particular way of making art. A terrace, an ice bar and a smaller bar area is only an approximation of this place. With an average temperature of 5 degrees below zero, the bar, furniture, sculptures and vessels are all made of natural ice. Customers wear special thermal clothing whilst enjoying one of the delicious cocktails on offer.
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CLUB SOLO
www.clubsolo.es P a s aj e d e l a C o n c e p t i o n , 7 – Te l + 3 4 9 3 2 7 2 38 80 Metro L3/L5 DIAGONAL Located in the heart of Barcelona, with an elegant and subtle, more masculine New York style, Club Solo is becoming one of the best places in town for a drink. LA CONFITERIA S a n t P a u , 1 2 8 – Te l + 3 4 9 3 4 4 3 0 4 5 8 M e t r o L 2 PA R A L . L E L Located in one of the most modern parts of Barcelona and decorated like the early twentieth century shop it once was, this place has a great atmosphere, a wide range of drinks and great music selection, predominately a variety of genres of jazz. LA PENULTIMA
www.myspace.com/lapenu R i e r a A l t a , 4 0 - Te l + 3 4 9 3 4 4 2 3 5 0 8 Metro L2 SANT ANTONI La Penultima is a small winery located in the heart of Raval which is enjoying great success among the young and fashionable of Barcelona. Whilst employing Barcelona’s latest design trends, it retains an old-fashioned charm – a combination reflected in its taste for baroque pop.
MARGARITA BLUE
www.margaritablue.com J o s e p A n s e l m C l a v e , 6 – Tel + 34 93 412 54 89 Metro L3 DRASSANES Margarita Blue is a meeting point for lovers of the cosmopolitan side of Barcelona. Boasts a young, carefree and happy atmosphere, an original kitchen, good music, DJs and cocktails. MAU MAU LOUNGE
LIKA LOUNGE
www.maumaunderground.com
www.likalounge.com P a s s a t g e D o m i n g o , 3 - Te l + 3 4 9 3 4 6 7 2 6 1 1 Metro L3/L5 DIAGONAL To enjoy the best of everything in a luxurious atmosphere you do not go to New York; it can be done comfortably in the Lika Lounge. With an ice bar as a curiosity, nights here are a real experience. Numerous special events, designed with care and great-tasting cocktails make this place a good way to enjoy Barcelona by night. LONDON BAR
www.londonbarbcn.com C a r r e r N o u d e l a R a m b l a , 3 4 , Te l + 3 4 9 3 3 1 8 52 61 Metro L3 DRASSANES The London Bar is one of the most emblematic of Barcelona’s bars, existing for nearly a century (built in 1910). Constructed in the Art Nouveau style, it retains all of its furnishings - marble, cream-coloured wood, wrought iron bars - and the atmosphere they create. In the beginning it was favoured by local circus artists, but over time became a stage for musical performances of all kinds, from jazz to rock.
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F o n t r o d o n a , 3 5 - Te l + 3 4 93 441 80 15 M e t r o L 3 PA R A L . L E L Maumau is an old warehouse now transformed into a laid back lounge, club and cultural center. Maumau Underground is also a popular online website with music and cinema news. PIPA CLUB
www.bpipaclub.com P l a ç a R e i a l , 3 – Te l + 3 4 93 301 11 65 Metro L3 LICEU Founded in 1980, this nonprofit institution brings together those smokers seduced by the magic and flavor of the pipe, with those who, moved by curiosity, decided to approach its facilities to enjoy a drink or dinner in special surroundings. With jazz as background music, the Pipa Club offers different rooms, predominated by London-style decorations and taste.
i n c ol l ab or at i on w it h
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WWW.ECODESIGNBASEL.COM
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ECODESIGNBASEL IS A S W I S S - B A S E D P L AT F O R M OPEN TO THE WORLD… … that seeks to contribute to the evolution of our society by promoting beauty with sustainability as a value, as a heritage. The aim of EcoDesignBasel is to introduce a spirit of sustainability into every creative initiative and to inspire sustainability through the notion of beauty. This will eventually bring a responsible attitude into our everyday life, gestures, moments and consumer habits. With an annual event in Basel and a second in a different city every year, EcoDesignBasel focuses on creating a worldwide promotion and action platform on beauty and sustainability. It is a glamorous platform offering rare opportunities for exchanges both within the creative community itself and in its interaction with business, science, media, policy makers and the public at large.
A M AT T E R O F S U R V I VA L This bridging effect is created through seminars, lectures, roundtables and urban events involving contributions from leading fashion, food and object designers, architects and artists, including human and natural science specialists. The conception of an object, a building, a dress or a food menu is deeply related to a personal consideration of human beings within society.By making sustainability beautiful, EcoDesignBasel will beautif y the sustainable lifestyle and thus contribute to its –breakthrough– which is in fact a matter of survival. Each year EcoDesignBasel will develop a new collaboration with a city around the world to organise “eco beauty in the city”,a project focusing on specific topics such as water, solar design, wind architecture and sustainable food. The results and conclusions will be promoted during the EcoDesignBasel event in Switzerland and through the various elements of the platform. Through its events, the web and smart-phone applications, EcoDesignBasel will promote leading designers, institutional initiatives and young creative talents who are exploring and incorporating sustainability in their work. The platform will link up expert knowledge of sustainability with creative networks through contests and workshops. An application that updates the public about beautifully designed sustainable objects or concepts – a love affair between idea & form with environmental and social excellence – in every moment of life!
Register now on ecodesignbasel.com to keep in step with beauty&sustainability and share your daily eco attitude with the world! Launching November 2011
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no mad for EcoDesignBasel
sustainability around the world from food to furniture, from housing to mobility, from art to luxury. no mad presents projects where design meets sustainability
a conversation with formafantasma
DESIGN
“Botanica” by Formafantasma is a project that was commissioned by an Italian foundation called Plart, which is dedicated to restoring and conserving works of art and designs that are produced from plastic. In two other installations ‘Baked’ and ‘Autarchy’, Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Fallesin, the designers behind Formafantasma deal with the complete cycle of production of objects. Their terra-cotta bowls are made from mixing flour and agricultural residues. Objects made of materials, technologies simple and archaic forms that evoke the collective memory. At the end posing some simple questions: Where do the objects that we use come from? why do we continue to produce and consume without thinking? We live in a time when the system design itself should be questioned. It is all about a commitment to engage a sustainable mind. What does ‘sustainability in design’ mean to you?
First and foremost, a project is sustainable when it combines durability, uses resources in an appropriate manner, and we can dispose of it effectively when it is no longer needed. We can also understand sustainability in other ways, for example by encouraging the user to be more critical and aware with the objects and the production process. Sustainability has to do with the search for alternative scenarios, to imagine alternative worlds with their work, chasing a dream. What influence can designers have on the way we consume? Certainly one way is to bring the production to the center of everyday life. Our project Autarchy for example in a conceptual or symbolic way proposes the use of readily available materials, belonging to everyday life as a means to re-introduce the production process into the everyday. With production having been relocated, we have lost the ability to recognise the objects
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that surround us, except in an indirect way through the idea of brand or lifestyle. In your work ‘Botanica’ you have experienced the production of plastics both pre- and post- Petroro. Do you intend to evolve this project? It would be very interesting but it would take more funding to understand how these materials can develop potential ‘in the contemporary world’, so we would need to work with a team of experts. When you touch design for mass production, what will you do for sustainability? We hope to soon begin a project for an Italian company that we value very highly. That said we cannot predict. If we work for companies that are looking for a partner, they need to make research funds available, otherwise our studies would be impossible to achieve · (Kaoru Tashiro) www.formafantasma.com
EcoDesignBasel Making Sustainability Beautiful
recyclable minds
design for download
Good ideas, in order to spread, need legs, but also shoes. We have learnt this from the Brazilian company Grendene, that gained acclaim on an international level in the shoe-manufacturing sector, with their brands IPANEMA and Melissa. For the famous flipflops and shoes designed by the most famous international fashion and industrial designers, it studied phthalate-free PVC. Versatile and completely recyclable it is free from the most damaging of plastic materials. The company has been self-producing it since the Nineties. For Melissa in particular it developed Melflex®, a non-toxic material made with mineral salts derivates from calcium-zinc, not harmful to health. Grandiene, heralding a responsible use of water and electricity, has set up a steering committee within the company. One of its members is industrial designer Fernando Mascaro from Sao Paulo. Specialist in sustainable industrial design, he has contributed to diffusing the discussion on these topics with his book “Haverá uno das idade Coisas Lèves”, published in Brazil by Senac and sponsored by Melissa. Of which he says: «It’s part of Melissa’s DNA to subvert the natural order of how shoes can be conceived and used, therefore, we develop work towards expanding the search for “non-shoes”. Simple shoes have something timeless about them so Melissa wants to transcend the traditional looks on the “ways of walking” by using recyclable and recycled materials. For that the creation team is dedicated to sharing new experiences based on sustainable innovation to create new and extra-ordinary values to surprise its consumers, the real owners of the brand. Sustainable concepts for recyclable minds, that’s the point.»· (Porzia Bergamasco)
N O I H S A F
www.melissa.com
FURNITURE
‘Everything can be made anytime, anywhere, by anyone’. The Design for Download program, by the Dutch collective Droog Design and EventArchitectuur Minale-Maeda, is simple in its effects and results. More complex is the mechanism that has allowed it to be made, thanks to Agentschap NL, a national ministerial body. The elements are basic, used in homes for all tables, cabinets, desks, shelves, sofas ... The difference with a normal collection? They can be made individually, as desired, by assembling various components made of CNC. Almost like a tailor’s pattern, it is downloaded from a digital or 3D design and then carried home for a carpenter to do or achieve in a laboratory for rapid prototyping (unless, that is, you are able you do it yourself). Comparisons and instructions are always available online.
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The Droog are also implementing a real network of local producers of low and high technology. The benefits? It removes the cost and pollution of transport, resolves the problem of storage, and rewards the buyer with greater participation. In order to make digital design tools - now the genesis of all products – other companies have got involved: Mediagilde, Cathal McKee (CMK1), Catherine Jasserand (Ivir), Hans Lensvelt, Institute of Relevant Studies, Joris Laarman and Michiel Frackers. It is a platform to change the market, with more attention to online shopping, the involvement of different brands and a new form of distribution, based on the game and also on the exchange. All users can put their final models online and increase the collection · (PB) www.droog.com
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ENERGY
taming the wind turbines Why not change the shape of wind turbine blades, managing to make them more attractive and more functional? This the question Dutch NL Architects asked, for a pleasure project. The discussions held with Ton Matton and One Architecture were made by the South Korean administration, and pulled together the American collective Urban Green Energy. This is how the larger flower farms were born - still in prototype form - and were able to branch out with several blades in the characteristic shape of the bud. They are based on the Eddy turbines that use dual-axis, patent of UGE, which allows a helical movement both horizontally and vertically, distorting the traditional form with three blades. By eliminating the traditional wear of bearings for vertical turbines, they offer greater durability and energy production, with less vibration and resistance. Dutch architects have wanted to increase its benefits - the silence, the least visual impact, the greater chance of catching the wind, the resulting open position - by designing the Power Flower, which, in different models, use 3 or 12. New shapes are in development, such as a triangle, a square or a pentagon, imitating the blades of carbon fibre and fibreglass, and a steel drum. So ideally their ‘Urban Windmills’ will be in all the cities, creating parks and gathering places, creating a new landscapes of a world that might be · (PB) www.nlarchitects.nl - www.urbangreenenergy.com
ARTthat makes a difference A-Z, is the most classic way of ordering knowledge and things. Andrea Zittel has the ability to order everything she does in an encyclopaedic fashion. And the American artist – who moved from New York to Joshua Tree, California – does so much: sculptor, designer, graphic design, nutritionist, fashion designer, carpenter ... with the sole aim of ‘better understanding human nature and the social construct of needs and desires.’ Putting art at the service of the functionality of everyday life, she has put her artistic and entrepreneurial activities into An Investigative Institute of Living. With other artists, along a stretch of California desert, she has formed the experimental art community HDTS (High Desert Test Sites). It consists of several sites, activities and works. The intent is to create alternative mechanisms to those of the traditional art circuit, outside the conventions of patronage and economic circumstance, to develop an alternative perspective, with site-specific works about life and the places where they happen, establishing a relationship between contemporary art and the home of art. The community is self-financing and pursues an off-the-grid lifestyle to create a new definition of ‘daily life’. The last workshop was titled
‘How to survive’. It took place in April 2011, in the Pioneertown area, for 12 participants, with Michael Parker and Alyse Emdur invited by Andrea Zittel in her AZ West study. The purpose? Build a solar oven. And do it with your own hands, the common denominator of the art of Zittel, experimenting with the rules of a different life. AZ West is the ‘Ground Zero test site’ used as a home, place of study, and research and development laboratory for reallife experiences. Ecology also occurs here: a mental attitude that can change the perspective from which you make and use things · (PB) www.zittel.org - www.highdeserttestsites.com
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Do you care about tomorrow ? To promote the core values that have contributed to 127 years of success and fame, Victorinox Swiss Army launched last April: « Time to Care », a year long initiative celebrating “The Spirit of Innovation and Sustainability.” I t consists of two initiatives : a travelling photography exhibition celebrating sustainable design and an international sustainable design competition . T he events seek to promote and generate innovative design solutions . T he project received great success with the participation of worldwide international institutions . S even projects have been selected among all submitted student entries . T he three final winners will receive financial and logistical support for the production and promotion of their project during two years . A final online public vote is organized until A ugust 3 1 st on T imet o c are . v i c t o ri n o x . c o m / e n / n c / v o te - w i n / h tm L by Natalia Signoroni
Solving the problem of plastic, one chair at a time SEA CHAIR PROJECT To avoid accumultating plastic waste into our Oceans A solution for marine debris that turns the discarded plastic clogging oceans and beaches into building material, and the disused boats in fishing fleets into mobile chair-making factories. Alexander Groves, Azusa MurakamiKieran Jones, three designers students of the RCA in London, have made a machine that collects and processes the plastic from other marine debris ready for reuse. They need funding to turn a small fishing trawler into a fully functioning chair making factory and to produce a small series
of chairs to be exhibited at Milan 2012. Sustainability: the problem of plastic in Oceans is too vast to tackle with one solution; it needs lots of different approaches. They approached the project by visiting Britain’s most polluted beach for micro-marine debris and decided to tackle the problem on a local level, engaging with the areas existing industry and local communities. They have joined various beach cleans across the UK and have collected a large quantity of micro plastic that they will hopefully use to bring awareness to
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this global problem. They believe that by tackling the problem on a local level, they can empower people to overcome seemingly insurmountable problems collectively. UNITED KINGDOM Project team - designers: Alexander Groves, Azusa Murakami, Kieran Jones. Royal College of Art, London timetocare.victorinox.com
timetocare.victorinox.com EASY POD WASHER An ancient chinese laundry trick in a modern package By using Chinese honey locust, a traditional soap source, and wrapping it in a portable package made of biodegradable paper, the Easy Pod Washer is a smart alternative to
one of the main sources of water pollution - chemical washing powders. EASY POD WASHER designed to solve the laundry inconvenience during the trip. It utilizes the Chinese traditional soap pod to replace the chemical washing powder that usually causes heavy pollution; the packaging is inspired by soup pod, a portable solution. Sustainability:
E JEWELRY Making sustainability beautiful A responsible and aesthetic way of recycling electronic junk
Convenient and portable, its outer covering is biodegradable and water-proof. The washing bean can be self-dissolved. CHINA Project team - designers: Yingying Zhou, Shijiao Li, Sicheng Wang - Tongji University, China. www.tongji.edu. cn/english/inc/index.asp
Waterless Toilet Imitating nature by creating pathogen-free organic compost. Turn off the tap: a “wc” without the “w”
Only a fraction of the millions of tons of electronic junk tossed out each year gets recycled. Most of it, including the toxic elements, ends up in landfills. The ejewelry project salvages what’s valuable - the precious metals contained in e-waste - and converts what is leftover into objects of lasting beauty. The project EJ - stands for e-jewelry, environmental justice, and encompassing “junk.” The goal is to bring attention to one of the fastest growing types of toxic waste in the world coming from discarded electronics, including computers, ipods, cell phones,... The idea is to create a new line of e-jewelry out of reclaimed materials. The purpose is to educate and promote change by turning the unwanted into the beautiful and create new value through repurposing. Funds raised from this project will go towards cleaning up and promoting recycling programs in the countries that get stuck with our toxic waste. Inspired by the beauty of amber stones that are created by the resin of living trees - which preserve snapshots of life that educate future generations - the e-jewelry serves to preserve the precious metals present in e-waste while also preserving the environment for future generations. Sustainability: The two designers approach to sustainability starts with making it meaningful because change lies in the individual actions of citizens. The team name, Kuleana, means both responsibility and privilege in Hawaiian - it encompasses their view that earth has given people the privilege of enjoying its riches, we have the responsibility to care.
Traditional toilets use roughly 30% of the total water used in a household - up to 13 liters of water per flush. Young Mexican designers has found a way to eliminate the use of water, and turn waste into pathogen-free organic compost. Due to the current and future problems with water scarcity they took on the task of undertaking a project that prevents the production of waste water created by the existing toilets, by the creation of a waterless toilet, which is designed for urban areas as well as areas with no access to drainage. Always taking into account the current paradigm created by the w.c. so the perception of the user for acceptance is a key factor to succeed. The waterless toilet is a device that separates solid and liquid waste, through a separator and the implementation of a series of simple mechanisms that help to do it. Once separated, the solid wastes are dehydrated by drying mixture of earth-lime, so that it becomes a pathogen-free organic compost. Finally liquid wastes go down the drain, since the treatment of greywater is much simpler and safer. Sustainability: to completely eliminate the use of water for human wastes disposal, by creating a sustainable productive cycle focused on the proper use of water, imitating nature, by creating pathogen-free organic compost and eliminating the production of sewage.
USA Project team - designers: Jennifer Jeng,Yahayra Rosario Cora, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah timetocare.victorinox.com
MEXICO Project team - designers: Oscar González Muñoz, Cristián Corcuera Coutiño. Mexico City cristiancorcuera.com/proyectos/Tesis_Final_ Bano_seco.pdf - flickr.com/photos/waterless_toilet/sets
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timetocare.victorinox.com FORTUE SUSTAINABLE FUEL STOVE Inexpensive alternative for healthier cooking practices The Fortué Sustainable Fuel Stove uses biogas or biomass technology to provide developing communities with an inexpensive alternative to solid-fuel cooking systems. Elegant, flexible and cost-effective, it will save forests from deforestation and make the air inside homes cleaner and safer. Fortue Sustainable Fuel Stove aims to reduce health risks from cooking fuels in developing communities around the world. 2.5 billion people worldwide rely on solid fuel energy for cooking. Burning solid fuel for energy releases harmful toxins into the air, in developing countries people cook indoors on open fires, this causes Indoor Air Pollution (IAP). Not only does use of solid fuels cause IAP but it also depletes the worlds natural resources due to deforestation and IAP claims the lives of 1.5 million people each year. The Fortue Stove would provide a safer, cleaner and healthier household environment by significantly reducing the emissions from cooking fuels as well as reducing the risks
LEAF Project Producing water out of thin air and solar power A low-maintenance, selfgenerating water source that uses solar power to produce 20 liters of drinkable water a day. LEAF is inspired from a natural leaf that produces dew drops on it. Water is artificially generated on it through condensation. The electricity generated through
associated with cooking on open fires. “The proposed solution is to provide a safer, cleaner, healthier household environment...” The end users of the fortué™ sustainable stove will be developing communities, globally. The main users will be women or girls who are in charge of running the household and purchasing or gathering fuel for cooking as well as cooking the food itself. The fuel technology solution for the fortue stove is methane gas. Methane is one of the cleanest gases, produced human and animals waste. A viable solution for developing communities where families do not have the income which affords fuel for cooking energy. The implementation of a methane digester is relatively simple and inexpensive and requires the specific design of the fortue stove to create enough pressure for cooking. Sustainability: Sabina Popin always aim to design responsibly, this not only means considering sustainability but also the bigger picture of the product from inception to realization. Recently she had the opportunity of being apart of the Slow Design movement in Australia with A Bit Slow, and therefore to explore other ways of implementing sustainability into her designs,
solar energy, helps in cooling the metallic surface on the top of the unit and its temperature is monitored and varied with the help of an electronic circuit. Due to the change in temperature, due drops are generated on its surface and gets collected through the slope surface into the earthen pot. The water slowly trickles through the sand and at the bottom of it is a layer of sand. The filter has to be removed from time to time to clean it, but otherwise, you’ve got yourself a low-maintenance water generating unit. On the other hand, the water gets cooled as it is stored in the earthen pot. The LEAF is 18 feet tall and collects 20 liters of water in 24 hours and structurally strong as all the components fit into each other. Sustainability: to generate water and make it drinkable. INDIA Project team - designer: Anurag Sarda. Maeer’s Mit Institute Of Design, India. mitid. edu.in/main.html
socially, environmentally and economically. In her work she does not consider sustainability at any one point during the design process, it is in fact an integral part at every stage as much as aesthetics and function. AUSTRALIA Designer: Sabina Popin. University of Technology, Sydney. www.sabpopin.com/index.php?/project/ humanitarian
SAFETYNET Saving fish - and fisherman - from extinction Every year 27 million tons of fish are thrown, dead, back into the oceans because they are unmarketable, or too young to legally sell. Throwing unwanted “by-catch” fish overboard threatens the health of the world’s oceans and the livelihood of fishermen. The SafetyNet’s inspired design incorporates “escape rings” into a trawling net system, giving juvenile and endangered fish a much-needed second chance. The SafetyNet is a new trawling system that will cut down on the by-catch and subsequent discarding of juvenile and endangered fish. By exploiting fish behavioral habits and physiology the trawl will separate different species and ages of fish. SafetyNet meets all the requirements set forth by the UN in their definition of sustainable development - providing for today’s needs while setting up a better situation in the future. Sustainability: 40% of the world’s population relies on fish as their main source of food. At present, unsustainable fishing practices mean that we are in danger of depleting our fish supplies and trawling species such as cod into extinction. Something has to be done now to change these practices that have been going on since the 1970s and the introduction of commercial fishing. In Britain, fishermen are discarding 2 out of 3 fish due to non-selective fishing gear. The SafetyNet system has been designed to release juvenile and non-target fish (most importantly cod), in order to allow fish stocks to replenish and support us in the future, rather than just today - as well as safeguarding the livelihoods of fishermen. UNITED KINGDOM Project team - designer: Dan Watson. Royal College of Art, London UK. Project video :vimeo. com/21894812
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THE bet University of Art & Design
Bachelors • Industrial Design • Graphic Design • Photography • Media & Interaction Design • Cinema • Fine Arts Masters • Luxury & Design • Product Design • Art Direction • Cinema • European Art Ensemble www.ecal.ch
Lausanne Switzerland
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