David Report is featured in Luxury Society, a global community for luxury professionals. We are presenting an outtake from the 2007 Future Luxury report. It is interesting to see that the eight trends that we brought forward back then are as relevant today. The trends we pinpoint are: Timeless Quality, Security and Safety, Emotional Branding, Good Karma, Seize the Day, Supreme Regionalism, Food and Health and finally Individual Editions. Read the complete report about Future Luxury.

The Vitra Home Collection has got a new home – the VitraHaus by Herzog & de Meuron. The VitraHaus is a place where you can explore your sense of design. The products in the Vitra Home Collection are arranged according to a variety of living and working situations – classics by designers Charles & Ray Eames, George Nelson, Isamu Noguchi, Jean Prouvé and Verner Panton along with contemporary designs by Maarten Van Severen, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Antonio Citterio, Hella Jongerius, Jasper Morrison and others. Here you can find inspiration for your own home furnishings and also try out, order and buy furniture and other objects on site.

In the VitraHaus you’ll find information about our production and quality control. You’ll also learn about Vitra’s attitudes to sustainability and its approach to the world of work and to its office chairs. Our colour laboratory will assist you in choosing the right colours. In its exhibition “Ein Blick in die Sammlung des Vitra Design Museums” (A Look at the Vitra Design Museum Collection), the VitraHaus showcases a selection of 19th and 20th century chair designs. The Vitra Design Museum Shop features items, accessories and books that may be purchased on site, and you may enjoy fresh local specialities every day at the VitraHaus Café.

So the VitraHaus is a place to learn, to try out, and to consume – an experiential space in which furnishing is accorded the importance it deserves as a means of providing your private life with a place where you feel safe and secure.

Follow this link for a 3D panorama of the VitraHaus.

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From manga to anime to music, Japanese soft power, also known as “Cool Japan,” has captured the world’s attention. In the fashion world as well, the profound creativity of Japanese products has great potential on the international market. As a way of broadcasting Japanese fashion culture to the rest of the world, the government supports the Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo (JFW). Now in addition, tokyoeye has been established to further strengthen Japanese fashion businesses in the world’s fashion capitals.

tokyoeye is a project for supporting Japanese fashion brands in their expansion outside Japan. Taking “Cool Japan” and filtering it through a Tokyo perspective, several fresh, modern Japanese fashion brands have been selected for exhibition in either Paris or Shanghai. In cooperation with local showrooms and press, they will have the opportunity to appeal directly to buyers, press, and consumers.

The goal is to support brands with potential that are planning to extend their business overseas.

Together with a showroom in Paris and industry press, creators will have the opportunity to show their collections directly to professional buyers, to the public and to the press. Several brands already successful in Japan have been chosen by the selection committee.

Two commercial events are scheduled : the “corner” of Colette from February 15th to 27th, 2010 and TRANOÏ SHOWROOM from March 4th to 11th, 2010.

Swedish designer and architect Jonas Wagell got the commission this year to make the design for the Design Bar and the VIP lounge at the Stockholm Furniture Fair. The Design Bar was made of 150 sheets of chipboard, 200 liters of paint, 350 sqm of carpet plus 300 balloons. The conceptual theme for the Design Bar and the VIP lounge were ‘Forrest’ and ‘Industry’. Like a tribute to raw material, craftmanship and refinement, which constitute the backbone of the furniture industry. Jonas Wagell describes his idea like this:

TRADE FAIRS ARE TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTIONS QUICKLY BUILT AND TORN DOWN A FEW DAYS LATER. THIS PROJECT AIMED TO EMBRACE THE TEM- PORARY BY CREATING A SPACE WHICH WAS INFLUENCED BY STAGE DESIGN AND GRAPHICS RATHER THAN POLISHED ARCHITECTURE.

Each designer of DCI (Design Club International) teamed up with two young Shonan modelers to create a 1/4 scale model for an educational project sponsored by the Japanese government to educate DCI’s new modelers. As Alexandre Cornaert, a car designer with DCI explains, “For the modelers to practice and refine their skills, they needed a design to work on. My boss told us we could design the car we wanted, without any constraints, with no restrictions at all. It was pure freedom.”

Cornaert’s ideation sketches for the project he named Decadence involved slender lines, voluptuous volumes, long and imposing proportions and magisterial presence. As he says, “The design is slightly provocative, but with a real need to move forward and hope for a better future. Extravagance, abundance, nonchalance, opulence, impertinence, elegance, irrelevance, impudence, insouciance, arrogance, insolence . . . all these words define our world today, and thus the creative context of this design concept. There is a need for quality and honesty today like they had during the Renaissance period. Their sculptures were an ideal of perfection and power. They harmoniously coexisted . . . That’s why they became icons of absolute beauty.”

A suggestively long hood combined with a backward cabin position that provides speed and character defines the car’s proportions. The central front lamp and integrated front and rear spoilers give a classical sport touch to the design. The high ground clearance, a synonym of luxury, is combined with a low roof line to keep the car light and dynamic, and the centre point of both front and rear side character curves located behind the centre of the wheels give the impression of perpetual motion.

What’s so interesting about this design is its proportions. As Cornaert clarifies, “The proportions are the key point to my design. I always try to play with new proportions, but when I’m working for a client I usually have to base my design on an existing chassis and it’s incredibly limiting. So for me, freedom means new proportions. The Decadence project is a stylistic exercise, trying to push the limits of visual balance.”

Asked what he sees as the future of car design, the young French designer replies, “Right now it’s a very blurry time for the auto industry. Everybody is wondering which way to go. On the one hand everybody agrees that we need efficiency, but on the other hand, the luxury class cars (large, with very big engines) are selling better than ever. I think that whatever the car class is, the design of tomorrow will have to be visually efficient and optimise the space with larger cabins. The real challenge though is to make those people who are angry at cars for destroying the earth to change their opinion so they become friends again.” Unfortunately this doesn’t sound like a friendship that can be resurrected overnight.

This is a new post by David Report contributor Kristina Dryza.

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Artek celebrates its 75th anniversary substantially all year long in 2010. The first jubilee event will take place in Stockholm in February, where Artek will open a new showroom. The opening of the Stockholm location also marks the launch of DRESS THE CHAIR!, a worldwide campaign to celebrate the skills and knowledge of Artek’s know-how.

Dress the Chair! The aim of the campaign is to highlight the quality and craftsmanship of Artek products. Artek has invited renowned designers and artists to be inspired by Artek’s classic armchairs, focusing on the iconic Armchair 400 designed by Alvar Aalto. Affectionately nicknamed ‘The Tank’, the armchair was first shown at the Milan Triennale in 1936.

During the opening week of the Stockholm showroom, Artek’s master upholsterer will work in public to demonstrate the methods of upholstering. Artek will also present Ilse Crawford’s personal vision of ‘The Tank’ – her interpretation of Artek’s roots. Artek has also the pleasure of introducing Fanny Aronsen’s tactile and colourful fabrics used as covering for iconic Artek armchairs.

From Stockholm, DRESS THE CHAIR! will go on tour to Milan, New York, Sydney, London, Tokyo and Helsinki. Along the way, new artists and designers will be invited to participate in the campaign, and their personal visions will be published one by one as the campaign reaches each new metropolis. As the tour ends in Helsinki, all visions will be brought together for a final show.

Art and Tech Forever When Artek was founded in 1935, a Manifest was drawn up, inspired by Functionalism. The vision was to interconnect modern visual arts, rational furniture production and popular education. The philosophy of Artek has been moulded by strong and talented people whose ideologies and radicalism are today more vibrant than ever. Artek’s original values - long-term durability and high quality combined with a clean form language - are still the company’s driving forces.

ILSE CRAWFORD heads her design company Studioilse alongside her brand consultancy. A figurehead for design that puts the human being at the centre. Studioilse has a definitive approach to creating charismatic and long lasting brands through design. Fascinated by what drives us, brings us together and ultimately makes us happy, her studio manifests this through brands, buildings, furniture and products. Past projects include the award winning Mathias Dahlgren restaurant and the Inn brand. The studio is currently working on an events space in Hungary, a collaboration with Tadao Ando.

FANNY ARONSEN, who stands behind the brand carrying her name, has been living many years in Paris, Amsterdam and Bruxelles and now returned to Stockholm. All fabrics are designed in her studio in Stockholm and produced by the best weaving mills in Europe. Characteristics of her collection are timeless, tactile qualities where an artistic expression and contemporary design are combined. She is also Professor in Textile Design at Konstfack in Stockholm.

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Don´t get confused, NoEarlyBirds is not a newly discovered species. It is the name of a new Swedish furniture manufacturer and the result of a 10 year old dream of architect Per Söderberg and creative director Peter Simonsson to create a brand that reflects their personal believes regarding design and lifestyle.

With over 20 years of working experience in the fields of interior design, architecture and the fashion industry, they now felt the time was right to realize their vision based on the values emotional, inspirational, uncompromising and honesty. The first collection by NoEarlyBirds goes by the name of “New Habits”. A system of shelves, tables, benches and a stool based on an ingenious cross-leg structure inspired by the distinctive shape of a birds leg.

The almost obvious, yet innovative design and the ambition to create an extensive and coherent collection with interesting colours, materials and detailing – this is what makes the whole just as interesting as the parts.

“With the New Habits collection I wish to encourage new ways of furnishing homes and public spaces, while at the same creating timeless furnitures that age with beauty”, says Per.

We want to be able to control every step of the production and we have been extremely careful in the choice of materials and finishes regarding quality and environmental impact. To produce in Sweden was therefore a natural choice.

Per Söderberg holds a degree from the Domus Academy, Milan. Among his former projects you’ll find the storage system Funk, private houses, shops, restaurants and office interiors for clients such as Moschino, J.Lindeberg and Orrefors. Peter Simonsson has formerly worked at David Design, Adidas and Björn Borg among others. Design agency Kurppa PHA and photographer Peter Gehrke are also involved in the project.

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The knowledge company Designboost is announcing today that Ross Lovegrove will attend and talk at DesignBoost February 12 at Arkitekturmuseet in Stockholm. Also Henrik Otto, design manager at Electrolux and Jens Fager, the new hope for Swedish Design, will come and share their visions about how we create design for a better life.

The complete list of speakers and panelists look like this: Karim Rashid, Ross Lovegrove, Stephen Burks, Ineke Hans, Katrin Olina, Ilkka Suppanen, James Irvine, Richard Hutten, Bjarke Ingels, Henrik Otto, Gert Wingårdh, Thomas Sandell, Satyendra Pakhale, Ilse Crawford, Monica Förster and Jens Fager.

It’s free entrance to the BoostTalk on February 12, but you must register at mija(at)designboost(dot)se no later than February 8. Designboost says it is important that everyone should be able to be inspired by creative talks about design regardless of thickness of wallet…

-Ross Lovegrove in one of the leading Design icons and we are of course very happy that he has chosen to participate at DesignBoost. On  the other hand Jens Fager is just in the beginning of his career. I am sure that we will here a lot about him in the future, says David Carlson, from Designboost.

-The theme for DesignBoost at Arkitekturmuseet is “Design for Life”. It’s important to look at sustainable design with a holistic view. At DesignBoost we will discuss how companies and organizations can use design as a competitive advantage. It will be interesting to listen to Henrik Otto, how he is working with design thinking as chief designer at Electrolux, says Peer Eriksson, from Designboost.

As reported earlier DesignBoost will take place at Arkitekturmuseet in Stockholm February 11-12. The overall theme is “Design for Life”. As earlier years Designboost has invited speakers from all over the world which represent the true frontline within design.

Today Designboost reveals four new speakers for the BoostTalk (lectures) on February 12th.

Karim Rashid – one of the most prolific designers of his generation. Over 3000 designs in production, over 300 awards and working in over 35 countries…

Ilse Crawford – a creative director and designer who crosses the worlds of brand creation, interiors and design.

Satyendra Pakhale – A cultural nomad born in India and now working from Amsterdam.

Monica Förster - One of the leading young designers from Sweden.

Last week Designboost revealed the name of the first nine speakers: Stephen Burks, Ineke Hans, Katrin Olina, Ilkka Suppanen, James Irvine, Richard Hutten, Bjarke Ingels, Gert Wingårdh and Thomas Sandell.