Hasta La Ideas

The annual AIGA Awards are a little like the Oscars, but with better kerning, bolder eyeglasses, and much less Botox. At this year’s gala celebration, co-chaired by Pentagram’s DJ Stout and Su Mathews of Lippincott, guests were encouraged to wear hats shaped like buildings (make your own with this handy template). We dispatched graphic designer Prescott Perez-Fox to lash a cardboard Eiffel Tower to his head and scope out the scene.

From left, AIGA medalists Ralph Caplan, Robert Vogele, and Elaine Lustig Cohen with AIGA executive director Richard Grefé; reveling designers strike a pose in the urbane photo booth. (Photos: Angela Jimenez for AIGA; Denise Ginley and Steven Robinson)

Much like the return of migrating birds and an elevated pollen count, spring brings with it the design industry’s very own prom, the annual AIGA Awards. Last week’s event, entitled Bright Lights Big City and held in Manhattan at the Altman Building, didn’t make use of the pastel ubiquity of April, but instead opted for a deco-inspired architectural theme, where the entire event was set in black-and-white, referencing the Beaux Arts Ball of 1931 in which architects dressed in costumes of buildings they had designed. This year’s guests were invited to design and create hats in the shape of their favorite buildings, bringing some unexpected wit and levity set against the relative severity of black cocktail attire.

However, the focus of the evening isn’t fashion, it is to honor the newest recipients of the prestigious AIGA medal. This year’s honorees were not simply accomplished design professionals in their own right, but together represent four of the essential archetypes of design. Ralph Caplan represents The Observer, following his career as a design author and having gained the unique ability to find perspective and turn that into something informative and enticing. Elaine Lustig Cohen comes to us as The Artist, creating groundbreaking work in typography and illustration, and raising the status of the designer and of design as a whole. Armin Hoffmann is The Mentor, demonstrated by the generations of design students he taught directly, and the enduring popularity of the Swiss style so closely linked to him. Finally, Robert Vogele embodies The Entrepreneur, demonstrating that classic American story of a regular Joe who created a scrappy upstart that became a thriving business and influential design practice. To the younger designers in the audience, it was inspirational—our challenge is how to embrace these qualities in our careers and become the next archetypes of design.
continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Dezeen Wire: Rem Koolhaas’ architecture and urban planning practice OMA scored highest in a competition between ten firms seeking to win the right to oversee an ambitious expansion of Moscow.

The development will help redistribute housing and employment opportunities to a 150,000 hectare site to the southwest of the city and involves creating new infrastructure for transport, industry and energy provision.

See all of our stories about OMA here.

The following information is from OMA:

OMA wins first round of the Moscow City Agglomeration Development Concept Competition

Moscow, 27 April, 2012 | A consortium of experts led by OMA scored the highest of the 10 teams that completed the first stage of the competition to develop the concept of the Moscow Agglomeration.

In 2011, the Russian Federation Council confirmed that the city of Moscow will annex 150,000 hectares to the southwest, making Moscow 2.4 times its current size. The expansion is designed to relieve pressure on the historic city center by redistributing the working places to the annexed part of the Moscow Oblast, thereby addressing transport, ecological and social issues that result from high levels of commuting. Before Moscow’s new administrative borders come into force in July this year, the Council called for a concept for the development of the Moscow Agglomeration, and in February this year the Council invited 10 teams to participate in the development of this concept.

For the first round of the competition, focused on a plan for the Moscow Agglomeration as a whole, OMA proposed a joint framework for the development of Moscow and the Moscow Oblast, under which the administrative border and political mandate could address the entirety of the Agglomeration. OMA proposed logistical hubs outside Moscow’s current boundaries which would be linked to the City and the Oblast through high-speed rail, integrating all forms of infrastructure: transport, broadband, industry, and energy provisions. The proposal also suggested that the development would not rely solely on government funding, but could introduce a public/private mix.

On the proposed development strategy, OMA Partner-in-charge Reinier de Graaf says, “We are very honored to participate in such an ambitious project. In launching this plan, the authorities have taken an important step in addressing the problems of the city at the appropriate scale: Moscow’s proposed expansion becomes a reason to develop a single integrated future for Moscow and the Oblast.”

The OMA team working with AMO, its internal research studio, is led by Reinier de Graaf and Associate Laura Baird. The concept is being developed together with a core team consisting of the Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design, Project Meganom and Siemens. This core team will be supported by an advisory board which includes McKinsey, Ricky Burdett, Saskia Sassen, member of the Committee for Global Thought (Columbia University), the Levada Center, West 8, and RWDI.

About OMA

OMA is a leading international office practicing architecture, urbanism and cultural analysis. Dedicated for over 30 years to the design and realization of buildings and masterplans, OMA is led by seven partners – Rem Koolhaas, Ellen van Loon, Reinier de Graaf, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, David Gianotten and Managing Partner Victor van der Chijs – and sustains an international practice with offices in Rotterdam, New York, Beijing, Hong Kong and soon Doha.

AMO, the counterpart to OMA’s architectural practice, is a research studio and advisory service working in areas beyond the traditional boundaries of architecture, including media, politics, sociology, renewable energy, technology, fashion, art, curating, publishing and design.

Best of HDW takes a closer look at some of the most exciting projects featured in Design Museum Holon’s “Designers Plus Ten” exhibition.

The “Local Souvenirs” designed by Johnathan Hopp in collaboration with Sarah Auslander are some of Israel’s most recognizable and widely sold design objects. The glazed earthenware replicas of important Israeli buildings include many of Tel Aviv’s famous Bauhaus beauties, like the one at 28 Rosh Pina Street, designed by architect Arieh Cohen in 1935 (below).

Before Johnathan set up his studio in Yafo, where he both designs and produces his ceramic projects, he studied Industrial Design at RISD and interned at Marcel Wanders’ studio in Amsterdam. His process, which has evolved significantly over the last decade, usually begins with “photographs and manipulations of photographs.”

I then make some paper mock-ups and models until I feel confident enough to make a plaster, wood or plasticine model for casting. Occasionally, I have a craftsman make the model or the piece for me when I don’t have the equipment or the skills necessary for the job. The model is then duplicated in a RTV silicone material and plaster molds are made of the silicone part. Ceramic slip is cast into the mold, then glaze is applied and sometimes ceramic decals are used on the glaze.

Right now Johnathan says he’s interested in “the ‘Properness’ of design objects. As opposed to art, which is allowed—indeed expected—to be rude, ugly and inappropriate, design is expected to be sweet, pretty, polite and tasteful. In my work I enjoy prodding these boundaries and challenging these expectations.” Certainly, his Local Souvenirs are very sweet, so perhaps he’ll explore the rude, ugly and inappropriate next for a change of pace.

(more…)

Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle is, by its own description, “one of Germany’s most varied and interesting art schools. Situated at the meeting point between East and West, it has had to reinvent itself for nearly a 100 years and does so to this day.” I must admit that I’m not familiar with the the past century of Burg Halle’s history, but if their recent graduate exhibition in Ventura Lambrate is any indication, the school has an excellent design program.

Here’s a look at several of the works in their jam-packed, two-story booth in the warehouse space on Via Massimiliano:

Julia Brümmer – Herr Holzinger

…combines firewood storage and a rack system. It provides easy access to firewood and creates space for books and much more. Through different add-ons, such as hooks, shelves, seating area or a lamp, Herr Holzinger offers various uses. Herr Holzinger can be built individually or in multiple modules side by side. Due to the variable stack height of 60 cm or 120 cm, Herr Holzinger can be built both, as a high room divider or as a lower sideboard.

Anne Rossner – LeseLIEGE

Observed many times, most people can’t stay in the same reading position very long. The idea—one surface entirely made of cushions. All cushions can be moved individually to create the favored position: pushed down or pulled out. They provide support for the different arrangements, making it cuddly and comfortable.

Matthias Zänsler – Couch Flanders

Flanders is a furniture for living rooms or maybe even for the office. A furniture between chair and sofa, that can be rolled out to a couch area on the floor. The nearly three-meter long cushioned fabric is wrapped around a wooden body and then clamped to a tubular steel frame. Inspiration for this furniture was a roll of carpeted floor in a hardware store.

Oliver Reinecke – Hyde Table & Gap Chair

Hyde is a table which offers special storage. Inside its table top one can find a hidden channel, providing enough space for things which are needed at a workplace like hard drive, power supply and other office accessories. Three plates close the storage channel and create a free table surface.

The Gap Chair is composed of three components that can be arranged individually by the owner in color and material. A plastic part connects the individual parts and creates a joint that allows the attachment of additives such as a table surface or a reading light. Easy assembly, few parts and a small packing size underline the customizing concept.

Hannes Trommer – Papillon

AS if by magic, Papillon changes from a flat board into a sculptural table lamp. This is made possible by a cleverly thought-out folding mechanism that gives the lamp form and stability.

The material used is a laminated composite made of plywood and linen, with integrated LED technology and wiring. The wedge-shaped recess in the arm allows clamping of the lamp on a tabletop with no fastening elements whatsoever. Compared with conventional table lamps, Papillon features an extremely compact design for packaging and storage, as well as user-friendly setup.

(more…)

Director, Concept & Design Team
Nokia
Berlin, Germany

Nokia’s Location & Commerce Applications sub-unit is seking an experienced leader to manage the Concept and Design team, a multi-disciplinary team consisting of product strategy, user research, creative copywriting and user experience design. This individual will be working closely with the Director of UX program management and the creative leads to ensure successful operation of the team. The Managing Director of the Concept and Design team will report to the Vice President, Applications in Nokia’s Location & Commerce business unit, which builds and runs all consumer facing location products for Nokia and non-Nokia devices including maps.nokia.com (Web & HTML5), Nokia Drive, Nokia Maps, Nokia Public Transport and more.

» view

The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.

(more…)