Hasta La Ideas

Dezeen Wire: William Knight has been appointed as event director of trade show 100% Design by its new owners Media 10, who bought the show from Reed Exhibitions last week as reported in Dezeen Wire.

Here are some more details from Media 10:

Media 10, the new owners of 100% Design, the leading interior design exhibition, have appointed William Knight as the exhibition’s Event Director. Knight joins from the London Design Festival where, since 2004, he has been responsible for growing the overall programme, whilst developing the marketing and strategic planning for the Festival. During his tenure the London Design Festival grew year-on-year; and is now one of the leadin annual design events in the world.

As Event Director for 100% Design Knight’s role will focus on reviving the show as the leading showcase for commercial design talent and excellence whilst delivering a great atmosphere for exhibitors and visitors to do business, network and be inspired. Content will be a critical part of the new role and Media 10’s ethos for all their media sectors has always been to push the boundaries and produce ground-breaking events. Knight’s remit will be to create the very best content and seminar programmes, as well as driving 100% Design’s wider role of delivering international trade for London and the UK’s design sector. The overriding notion is to ensure that 100% Design will once again be London’s un-missable design event and by engaging with the leading companies and brands in the industry – and bringing them back to 100% Design – the event will flourish for many years to come.

Speaking on his appointment, William Knight commented, “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to be taking on the role of Event Director, 100% Design at a critical moment in its history. Media 10 and I share an ambition to develop and grow the show, building on what it’s achieved and taking it to the next stage.”

Regarding Knight’s appointment, Daren Newton, Design Portfolio Head at Media 10 commented, “William’s experience of mounting campaigns and complex events programmes, as well as engaging the design sector, press, opinion formers and wider audiences, will be a huge asset to Media 10 and specifically to the newly acquired 100% Design”.

In a symbolic year for London, the exhibition will be a great opportunity for the city to firmly stake a claim as the design business capital of the world. With regards to this, Knight added, “London’s place in design has never been stronger, thanks to the Festival and the collective effort of the partners that make it the world’s most vibrant annual design event. 100% Design has a huge role to play in reinforcing the city’s reputation and relevance. I very much look forward to being part of the next stage in cementing London’s position as the world’s most important design city’.

During his time at the London Design Festival, Knight was an inspirational figure in its growth and success. Plaudits were led by Sir John Sorrell, who stated, “I have huge respect and regard for Will; I am grateful for everything he has done for the London Design Festival and I wish him every success in his new role”. Director of the Festival, Ben Evans added further praise, “Will Knight has worked on 8 of the past 9 Festivals and he deserves as much credit as anyone for building the London Design Festival into what it is today. We will miss his contribution but he hasn’t gone far. 100% Design has always been a key part of the mix and present since the first year. We look forward to working with him and his new colleagues at 100% Design”.

With 100% Design a firm feature of the London Design Festival, its importance for the future will be very much part of Knight’s plans, “I look forward to supporting the development of the London Design Festival, in this important role within the design community”, he added.

Dezeen Wire: influential New York design store Moss is to close its Soho space on 17 Feb after 18 years of business, due to lagging sales – New York Times

Store owners Murray Moss and Franklin Getchell, whose shop launched the careers of designers such as Maarten Baas and Hella Jongerius, intend to move from the Soho shop to a smaller space where they hope to continue exhibiting and selling new design.

Read our 2007 interview with Murray Moss here.

Dezeen Wire: writer Alain de Botton has announced plans to build a series of temples for atheists in the UK. The first will be a 46 metre-tall black tower designed by Tom Greenall Architects and constructed in London to represent the idea of perspective. 

The move follows the publication of de Botton’s latest book, Religion for Atheists, and his Living Architecture social enterprise to construct holiday homes by the likes of MVRDV, Peter Zumthor and NORD Architecture.

Read more about Living Architecture on Dezeen here.

Here are some more details from Alain de Botton:

Alain de Botton – A Temple for Atheists

Author Alain de Botton has announced a bold new plan for a series of Temples for Atheists to be built around the UK.

‘Why should religious people have the most beautiful buildings in the land?’ he asks. ‘It’s time atheists had their own versions of the great churches and cathedrals’.

Alain de Botton has laid out his plans in a new book, Religion for Atheists, which argues that atheists should copy the major religions and put up a network of new architectural masterpieces in the form of temples.

‘As religions have always known, a beautiful building is an indispensable part of getting your message across. Books alone won’t do it.’

De Botton argues that you definitely don’t need a god or gods to justify a temple. ‘You can build a temple to anything that’s positive and good. That could mean: a temple to love, friendship, calm or perspective.’

De Botton has begun working on the first Temple for Atheists. Designed by Tom Greenall Architects, this will be a huge black tower nestled among the office buildings in the City of London. Measuring 46 meters in all, the tower represents the age of the earth, with each centimetre equating to 1 million years and with, at the tower’s base, a tiny band of gold a mere millimetre thick standing for mankind’s time on earth. The Temple is dedicated to the idea of perspective, which is something we’re prone to lose in the midst of our busy modern lives.

De Botton suggests that atheists like Richard Dawkins won’t ever convince people that atheism is an attractive way of looking at life until they provide them with the sort of rituals, buildings, communities and works of art and architecture that religions have always used.

‘Even the most convinced atheists tend to speak nicely about religious buildings. They may even feel sad that nothing like them gets built nowadays. But there’s no need to feel nostalgic. Why not just learn from religions and build similarly beautiful and interesting things right now?’

Dezeen Wire: publishing and events company Media 10 has bought design trade show 100% Design from Reed Exhibitions – Event Magazine

Here’s the full release from Media 10:

MEDIA 10 ADDS ‘100% DESIGN’ TO ITS EXPANDING PORTFOLIO OF EVENTS

Award winning event organisers and publishing company, Media 10 has acquired the leading interior design exhibition, 100% Design London from Reed Exhibitions.

Media 10, which runs the revived Ideal Home Show, Grand Designs Live and Clerkenwell Design Week add 100% Design to their portfolio of design and architecture events and magazines. On the publishing side, Media 10 owns Icon, OnOffice and The Clerkenwell Post. Since 2010, Media 10 has launched Grand Designs in South Africa and Australia, these being the first of a series of planned international ventures for the company.

100% Design was launched 15 years ago and is admired for being the country’s first and leading contemporary interior design exhibition. It is an event primarily aimed at architects, interior designers, specifiers and retailers but attracts a high percentage of visitors with a pure passion for design. The 2011 event, held at Earls Court, attracted over 18,000 visitors.

Lee Newton, Managing Director of Media 10 Ltd commented: “To add 100% Design to our portfolio shows exactly how far our company has come in only 9 years. We are delighted to be the new owners of this prestigious design event and it will complement our existing events and magazines perfectly. We have a proven track record for reviving and enhancing brands and delivering the very best exhibitions in the market and look forward to re-invigorating 100% Design.”

“We firmly believe that with the experience and contacts we have in this market the event will produce immediate growth in terms of exhibitors and visitors, as well as adding unique content, ensuring 100% Design flourishes for years to come. I can confidently say this because with our existing brands we cover the complete consumer demographic for home and design, with the Ideal Home Show and Grand Designs Live, and with Clerkenwell Design Week, we have an event that brings the very best in design to the trade in their environment. This acquisition will complete the circle and demonstrate that Media 10 – with the aforementioned events – and our publications in this sector are the leading UK Company in the market.”

Justin Tadman, Managing Director of Reed Exhibitions commented on the sale saying, “100% Design London is an iconic show and we believe the event will be enhanced by the synergies provided by Media 10 ‘s portfolio of design exhibitions and magazines. Media 10 is a well respected company and we are delighted to see 100% Design London continue with new owners who are so well established in the interior design sector.”

Reed Exhibitions continues to own and run 100% Design Shanghai and 100% Design Singapore, a recent launch, as well as several leading interiors events in Europe.

Media 10 will seek to include many of their existing clients into 100% Design London and believe that the scope for better content, more illustrious brands and speakers of the highest profile is all eminently achievable for the 2012 show.

Newton added: “We will look to engage with as many of the prestigious design companies as we can for 2012 and are committed to bringing in the best seminar programme that the industry has seen. We have a proven track record of filling our events with the very best in content and 100% Design offers us the opportunity to fulfil this again at Earls Court in September.”

The event will be split into four distinct areas, encompassing 100% Interiors, 100% Office, 100% Kitchens and Bathrooms and 100% Eco Design and Build– all will be entered by a Media 10 ‘trademark’ tunnel, delivering the visitor to the heart of the 4 zones. There will also be a design arcade – 100% New Design – showcasing new and innovative products from Britain’s best student designers. Within each of these areas there will be a mixture of exhibition space, interactive ‘feature’ installations and a celebrity chef restaurant.

The whole event will also offer a range of packages for sponsorship as well as VIP and student visitor programmes.

Dezeen Wire: an annual report released by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat in Chicago reveals that the number of buildings over 200 metres tall completed in the last year has increased for the fifth consecutive time.

88 skyscrapers were constructed in 2011 in total, with the three tallest skyscrapers being Kingkey 100 in Shenzhen, the Al Hamra Firdous Tower in Kuwait City, and 23 Marina in Dubai.

Last month the CTBUH predicted what the tallest buildings will be in the 2020 – see the results of that report here.