I just received a press release from Karim Rashid concerning an exhibition in Dubai called Designer Extraordinaire. It seems like the Gulf is the new playground for the designer stars of today. Marcel Wanders and Jaime Hayon are other designers working in the area with new kitschy stores for Villa Moda. The Karim Rashid exhibition will showcase images on aluminium, silk screenprints, originals, sculptures and design products. It’s a good example of a new convergence between design and art which actually will be the theme of the next David Report bulletin (release mid June). It is probably not a coincidence that Karim Rashid, among other designers, is drawn to the Gulf with the perfect combination of fondness for hyperbolized design and limitless amount of money.

Please visit the website of Karim Rashid for further info on his Dubai exhibition.

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tags technorati : karim rashid dubai designer extrairdinaire gulf design designart

Andra bloggar om: karim rashid, design, konst, möbler, dubai

Elektra is the name of a fictive collection of domestic appliances by Hanna Ljungström, member of the design group Lots. Elektra shows a vision for development of the Swedish glass industry. Elektra also shows a vision of how glass could turn the everyday cooking process into a sensual experience and provide enjoyment in everyday life. Three domestic appliances on concept level made of glass, black thermoplastic and gold have been developed in dialogue with Orrefors Kosta Boda - a water kettle, a toaster and a moka brewer.

Hanna Ljungström found a gap in the market concerning domestic appliances between retro design at one side and minimalism at the other. With the Elektra collection Hanna tried to develop a series of products that you don´t have to hide away in a cabinet. Products with a bold character inspired by the catwalks of the grand fashion brands. The handmade organic thermo plastic tops make a nice contrast to the controlled classic relief of the glass. By allowing the tops to be handmade Hanna creates an interesting meeting between industry and craft - a theoretic vision that Hanna finally has made into reality.

The Elektra collection can bee seen at the Röhss Museum in Göteborg, Sweden 19/5 - 3/6 2007. If you would like to communicate with the people bhind Lots, visit their Myspace page where a blog soon is up and running.

I’m also proud to announce that you will be able to read interesting posts by Hanna Ljungström every now and then here at the David Report blog with the start early next week. Welcome Hanna!

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tags technorati : hanna ljungstrom lots lotsdesign kosta boda orrefors swedish glass design craft

Andra bloggar om: lots, lotsdesign, design, hanna ljungström, orrefors, kosta boda, glas, hantverk

I got an interesting press release from Boo (Ben Oostrum Ontwept) about their new exhibition Brick. The project is realised by Ben Oostrum in collaboration with Rob Bonneur.

It opened on May 24th 2007 at the Groot Handelsgebouw in Rotterdam during the manifestation Rotterdam 2007, City of Architecture. The exhibition will highlight the results of the Brick project that was carried out over a three-year period at the European Ceramic Work Centre.

The architecture project Brick was aimed at product innovation. The .ekwc wanted to stimulate the technical and artistic development of the manufacturing and application of brick as a construction material. Architects, designers and artists from both the Netherlands and abroad have been working on the development of a new type of brick since 2005. The .ekwc expects to be able to use this to provide a new stimulus to the application of brick and subsequently the brick appearance of the Netherlands.

The exhibition does not consist of a showroom full of products, but is a special designed presentation of both true works of art inspired by brick and new, commercial designs suitable for further development by the brick industry. A rich, multidisciplinary exhibition based on the experiments the participants entered into with ceramics as a material.

A simple design is the Line Brick Horizontal, a brick with an extra horizontal joint along the full length. During application the image is created of an extra flat brick, while it doesn’t differ from the standard size stone.

A variation is the Line Brick Vertical Brick whereby the standard stone is divided into little rectangle parts by multiple vertical grouts.

The Line Brick Horizontal combined with the Line Brick Vertical gives the Pixel Brick, a stone which creates the image of extra small bricks. Special for this design is the possibility to create pixel-art images, text and more when so-called pixels are chopped off while assembling.

The Cube Brick has a hexagonal basic shape with joints that accentuate the cube’s contours. Interlinked in a wall surface a dazzling “spatial” effect is created.

Here are some words by Ben Oostrum about the Brick project:

“For me the Brick project was a good occasion for an intensive collaboration with architect Rob Bonneur. We have known each other for years, but never got around to working together. This was the perfect opportunity. Thereby we wanted to work from start on the development of a series of producible brick products. No conceptual approach, but a design process aimed at concrete results.
We combined different experiences and backgrounds. Our brick project has turned out a number of innovative brick products. For example we looked into what possibilities the joint offers to beautify the facade image”.

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tags technorati : boo brick design architecture ben oostrum rob bonneur

Andra bloggar om: design, tegelsten, ben oostrum, arkitektur

The current trend towards individualism (even if we socialise a lot through different online networks) and the urge of being special and unique is also to be seen in the hospitality world. I would like to bring forward Hotel Fox in Copenhagen as a good example of this trend. 21 international artists from the fields of graphic design, urban art and illustration have turned Hotel Fox into one of the world’s most exciting and creative lifestyle hotel.

Each room is an individual piece of art. From whacky comical styles to strict graphic design. From fantastic street art and Japanese Manga to simply spaced out fantasies. You will find flowers, fairy tales, friendly monsters, dreaming creatures, secrets vaults etc etc. Hotel Fox has been around for a while but when I visited it the other day again I decided to write a post - because it is a fun hotel with a lot of personality!

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tags technorati : design hotel boutique hotel fox lifestyle hospitality

Andra bloggar om: design, hotell, kreativitet, inredning, köpenhamn, fox

As I mentioned two weeks ago I recently organised a trend trip to Mallorca for the Global Brand Team of Absolut Vodka on the theme “Future Luxury”. I define future luxury as experience based, regional and caring. Mallorca is visualising these trends when it is transforming from an average charter destination to an island with a lot of interesting hotels, restaurants, shops, spas, galleries etc. On top of this the island has a beautiful nature and neat villages. It is definitely worth a visit. Below is a collection of snapshots from the trip. I will also make separate posts on two good hotels on Mallorca in the near future.

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tags technorati : future luxury palma trends mallorca vacation

Andra bloggar om: mallorca, palma, framtidens lyx, semester, trender

Lifeiscarbon has just released their latest compilation of cool northern music called nordicmoods. They are regularly scanning the Nordic countries for the best new music and probably most of the artists are new to you (at least they are for me…).

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tags technorati : nordicmoods music lifeiscarbon

Andra bloggar om: musik, compilation

The inauguration of Second House of Sweden, the world’s first embassy in Second Life will take place on May 30. As I have reported on before, Olle Wästberg, the director-general of the Swedish institute are looking much forward to bringing official Sweden to Second Life.

Below is the first sneak preview of the Second House of Sweden.

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tags technorati : swedish embassy second life olle wästberg second house of sweden

Andra bloggar om: svenska ambassaden, olle wästberg, second life, second house of sweden, internet

The magazine Wallpaper is celebrating their issue no 100 with a cover competition called “100 Wallpaper* covers”. Simply go here and give your vote for your favourite Wallpaper cover since the start back in September 1996. If you would like some inspiration from the Wallpaper team, please follow this link and see their own votes.

Do you want to know my favourite Wallpaper cover? It’s here. I forgot to say - the winner gets a set of Wallpaper City Guides.

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tags technorati : magazine design media wallpaper 100 wallpaper covers competition

Andra bloggar om: tidningar, media, wallpaper, design, tävling

The Beauty of Islam is a project by Linnea Sellersjö about Islamic architecture. Linnea Sellersjö is a multi-creative artist, writer, photographer and fashion designer from Sweden with roots in Pakistan. The Beauty if Islam is the result of a four-year research of the myths and cultures of the Islamic world. It’s about city planning, courtyards with fountains, space and light. Through the pictures Linnea Sellersjö would like to bring forward true beauty. To show a new side, or a different side, of Islam that has not been predominate in media lately. Linnea asks us to think about the state of culture in our western world at the same time as most of these buildings first saw light. Linnea would like to show us that the Islamic culture has much more to offer than fundamentalists and suicide bombers. She wants her The Beauty of Islam project to be an experience of total loveliness.

Here is a pdf (size 4,1 MB) with more photos and text about The Beauty of Islam by Linnea Sellesjö (text in Swedish). Through this link you will find a movie where Linnea shows images and talks about here project (in Swedish).

If you would like to see the photos from The Beauty of Islam in real life you can go to her exhibition in Copenhagen at Nordiska Ministerrådet until May 31. The address is Store Strandstraede 18.

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tags technorati : the beauty of islam photography architecture linnea sellersjo islam

Andra bloggar om: islam, arkitektur, the beauty of islam, linnea sellersjö, fotografi, bilder

Brionvega has recently been relaunched by the design company V12. The new TV with a built-in DVD player from Brionvega called Alpha was launched at the Milan Design Week and is a nice example of a rational and functional design with a lot of built in emotion. It’s one of the biggest challenge for a designer to be part of an update a classic brand. You have to face the legacy of some of the greatest designers in history.

According to Brionvega good design is no longer simply for an “elite” but is demanded by a far wider audience interested in continuous development. With so many designs and products available, how is it possible to distinguish a truly outstanding design from one that is simply trendy. This reasoning goes hand in hand with my wish for a new type of sustainable products, which is iconic products with supreme quality in the terms of both design and material. Different designers like Hannes Wettstein, Mario Bellini, Richard Sapper, Marco Zanuso, the Castiglioni brothers and Ettore Sottsass have all, in cooperation with Brionvega, tried to come up with the answer to what constitutes the perfect design.

I think that the designers at V12 came pretty close to it this time.

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tags technorati : brionvega v12 iconic design tv consumer electronic

Andra bloggar om: brionvega, design, prylar, tv