Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

London Design Festival 2011: designers Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies showed off their folding boat that’s made from a single, standard-sized sheet of plastic at Multiplex at The Dock last week. 

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

The Foldboat comes in two versions that either collapse into a portable parcel or flatten for easy storage.

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

Each is equipped with a pair of oars made from ash with plastic blades, plus waterproof, floating cushions that can users can cling onto if the boat should capsize.

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

The boat was first presented at Show RCA this summer, where we also spotted Frommeld’s Hose Clip Shelving.

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

See more stories about boats on Dezeen here and more coverage of the London Design Festival here.

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

The information below is from Frommeld and Mathies:


Foldboat is a rowing boat made from a standard sized sheet of plastic. By manipulating the material, we have created live hinges allowing you to fold and un-fold the plastic sheet into the shape of a boat.

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

Currently two versions of Foldboat exist, made using the live-hinge principle. Version one is designed to fold into a small parcel of 1m50 x 60cm, targeted at users who have limited storage space, particularly in urban environments. Version two does not fold into a transport pack and instead remains in a flat sheet of 2m50 x 1m50. Boat 2 is designed for boat renting companies or NGO’s in the case of flood hazards. Both boats require 2 minutes to be assembled by two people.

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

For ‘Multiplex at The Dock’ event hosted by Tom Dixon, we have created 5 bespoke and exclusive boats named ‘The Dock Edition’ that uses Boat 2 as a base.

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

The boats are available for sale and are equipped with a pair of oars (ash + plastic used for boat) and a pair of waterproof pillows for comfort and safety purposes (pillows are water tight and float).

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies


See also:

.

Bote by Big-Game
for Materia
Aquariva by
Marc Newson
Plastiki Expedition
boat

Local Collection by Maxim Velčovský

Local Collection by Maxim Velčovský

London Design Festival 2011: Czech designer Maxim Velčovský presents a series of containers made from semi-finished iron piping at Mint in London.

Local Collection by Maxim Velčovský

The Local Collection comprises pieces of piping that have been diverted from their intended life as part of the city’s plumbing network and joined together to make vases.

Local Collection by Maxim Velčovský

The series was on show as part of and exhibition called Mint Explorers at the west London shop as part of the London Design Festival and the exhibition continues until 30 September. See all our stories about the London Design Festival here.

Local Collection by Maxim Velčovský

This time last year Velčovský showed a series of objects covered in mineral deposits at Mint – check them out in our earlier story and watch an interview we recorded at his Prague studio here.

Local Collection by Maxim Velčovský

Parisian studio Ciguë recently furnished a cosmetics shop with pieces of diverted plumbing – take a look at it here.

Local Collection by Maxim Velčovský

Photographs are by Jara Moravec.

Here’s some more information from Maxim Velčovský:


Local Collection

The Local collection is inspired by local identities. Quite recently the oldest porcelain workshop in the Czech Republic got closed.

I reacted by going to the local ironmonger’s shop. In the global era I started working with the stuff you can find in your neighbourhood. The material and the subsequent process in the context of place and time is what make the design really authentic.

The semi-finished products for the production of piping became my building material for the new collection. In the ironmonger’s I have always been fascinated by the parts whose morphology anticipated a function of the object.

The Local Collection makes use of the morphology of parts displayed in anonymous wholesale metal shops. I see these warehouses as boxes with Lego bricks without the original instructions that got lost. Now we can only use our own imagination.


See also:

.

Story cabinet by Maxim Velčovský Underground Souvenirs
by Maxim Velčovský
Interview with
Maxim Velčovský

London Design Festival highlights


Dezeen Wire:
here’s a roundup of the most interesting London Design Festival events that caught our eye when we weren’t busy at Dezeen Space last week.

Some of the most memorable events of the week involved performances and interaction. An enormous red dress hosted concerts in the East End, Paul Cocksedge transformed old records into amplifiers and Noma Bar’s dog-shaped cutout machine produced instant punched artworks.

At the main hub at the V&A AL_A’s Timber Wave provided a dramatic entrance and the Bourollec brothers’ soft landscape in the Raphael Court offering a place to rest weary feet.

At Designjunction, Another Country showed new furniture and a range of utilitarian accessories and New Zealand brand Resident launched their first collection. Meanwhile, the second edition of Tramshed featured Studioilse’s furniture with removable baskets and new products and furniture by Benjamin Hubert for De La Espada (look out for our story on Dezeen soon).

Popular talks and presentations included a discussion on the state of British manufacturing at Tom Dixon’s Dock, Marcel Wanders’ presentation at the V&A (see our story on his new collection for Marks & Spencer here) and a lively Pecha Kucha at Designjunction, which will be available soon on Dezeen Screen.

We explored the new exhibition at the Ligne Roset Westend showroom for Dezeen Screen, where you can also see interviews with the exhibitors at our micro-exhibition Dezeen platform.

See all of our London Design Festival stories here.

Dezeenwire

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Dezeen Screen: Victoria Spruce at Dezeen Platform

Victoria Spruce on Dezeen Screen

Dezeen Screen: in this movie filmed at Dezeen Space, London footwear designer Victoria Spruce talks about her collection of sculptural shoes, exhibited at Dezeen Platform last week. Watch the movie »

Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990 at the V&A

Postmodernism Style and Subversion

London Design Festival 2011: divisive designs from the 1970s and 1980s are brought together in a retrospective exhibition entitled Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990, which opened at the Victoria & Albert museum at the weekend.

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The exhibition examines the radical ideas that defined the movement and its relationship with popular culture and mass consumption.

All images copyright V&A images unless otherwise stated.
Top image: copyright Jean-Paul Goude

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Over 250 objects are being exhibited from the archives of renowned architects and designers including Philip Johnson, Aldo Rossi, Memphis, Studio Alchymia and Neville Brody.

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Above image: Private Collection

Also on show are artworks by Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons and music videos featuring New Order and Grace Jones.

Postmodernism Style and Subversion

Above image: copyright Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates

See responses to the postmodern revival in our Dezeen Wire stories including Rowan Moore in The Observer, Alice Rawsthorn in The New York Times and Justin McGuirk in The Guardian.

Postmodernism Style and Subversion

Above image: copyright April Greiman and Jayme Odgers

Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990 runs until 15 January 2012.

Postmodernism Style and Subversion

Above image: copyright Peter Saville

See all our stories about the London Design Festival here and all of our V&A stories here.

Here are some more details from the V&A:


Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970 – 1990

Supported by the Friends of the V&A With further support from Barclays Wealth 24 September 2011 – 15 January 2012

Postmodernism Style and Subversion

The V&A’s major autumn exhibition is the first in-depth survey of art, design and architecture of the 1970s and 1980s, examining one of the most contentious phenomena in recent art and design history: Postmodernism. It shows how postmodernism evolved from a provocative architectural movement in the early 1970s and rapidly went on to influence all areas of popular culture including art, film, music, graphics and fashion.

Postmodernism Style and Subversion

The exhibition explores the radical ideas that challenged the orthodoxies of Modernism; overthrowing purity and simplicity in favour of exuberant colour, bold patterns, artificial looking surfaces, historical quotation, parody and wit, and above all, a newfound freedom in design. Many modernists considered style to be a mere sideshow to their utopian visions; but for the postmodernists, style was everything.

Postmodernism Style and Subversion

Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970 – 1990 brings together over 250 objects across all genres of art and design, revisiting a time when style was not just a ‘look’ but became an attitude.

Postmodernism Style and Subversion

On display are the subversive designs of the Italian collectives Studio Alchymia and Memphis; graphics by Peter Saville and Neville Brody; architectural models and renderings including the original presentation drawing for Philip Johnson’s AT&T building (1978); paintings by Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol; Jeff Koons’ stainless steel bust of Louis XIV (1986); performance costumes including David Byrne’s big suit from the documentary Stop Making Sense (1984); excerpts from films such as Derek Jarman’s The Last of England (1987); and music videos featuring Laurie Anderson, Grace Jones and New Order.

Postmodernism Style and Subversion

Professor Martin Roth, Director of the V&A, said: “It feels right to hold this exhibition now, 40 years on from when the first ideas of what we now know as Postmodernism emerged. Many of our visitors will have personal recollections of the time and can reflect on the impact of Postmodernism on their lives as well as on the wider design culture and practice. There are so many layers to the subject that we hope that the younger generation will be interested to discover more about this dramatic period of art and design history, and its lasting impact. “The exhibition is arranged in three broadly chronological sections identifying the key aspects of postmodernism. The first gallery focuses largely on architecture, the discipline in which the ideas of postmodernism first emerged. It shows how ‘high’ and ‘low’ cultural references were blended into a new critical language, which was aimed both at the inadequacies of Modernism and the alienating conditions of late capitalism. This opening section also introduces the way in which postmodern designers and architects like Aldo Rossi, Charles Moore and James Stirling combined motifs of the past with elements of the present. Designers of the time, including Ron Arad, Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo, assembled cultural fragments in an ‘ad hoc’ manner, applying the technique of bricolage across many different disciplines. The centrepiece of the gallery is a full-scale reconstruction of an architectural façade by Hans Hollein from the 1980 Venice Architecture Biennale.

Postmodernism Style and Subversion

The second part of the exhibition is devoted to the proliferation of postmodernism through design, art, music, fashion, performance, and club culture during the 1980s. Performers such as Grace Jones, Leigh Bowery and Klaus Nomi played with genre and gender, creating hybrid, subversive stage personas. Like the music, objects and architecture of the time, these celebrities were themselves constructed from ‘samples’. This section of the exhibition is saturated with audio-visual installations, creating a dynamic club-like space to display objects including fashion photography by Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton, stage ensembles worn by Annie Lennox and Devo, turntables used by hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash, and dance costumes related to the choreography of Karole Armitage, Kazuo Ohno, and Michael Clark.

Postmodernism Style and Subversion

The final section examines the hyper-inflated commodity culture of the 1980s. This boom decade saw money become a source of endless fascination for artists, designers and authors. From Andy Warhol’s 1981 Dollar Sign paintings, to Karl Lagerfeld’s designs for Chanel, consumerism and excess were trademarks of the postmodern. Brands including Swatch, MTV and Disney were also keen to employ leading designers to apply postmodern style to their products; one example on display will be a Mickey Mouse tea set designed by Michael Graves for Disney. As the novelist Martin Amis put it in 1984, ‘money doesn’t mind if we say it’s evil, it goes from strength to strength.’

Postmodernism Style and Subversion

By the late 1980s, many had started to declare the death of postmodernism – without being quite sure what would take its place. The exhibition concludes with art and design from this uncertain moment, encouraging visitors to consider what relevance the postmodern episode might have for the present day.

Postmodernism Style and Subversion

Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970 – 1990 is curated by Glenn Adamson and Jane Pavitt

The exhibition takes place at the V&A from 24 September 2011 – 15 January 2012

Postmodernism Style and Subversion


See also:

.

Alternative Design for MoMA Tower by Axis Mundi The Louwman Museum
by Michael Graves
O’ Mighty Green by STAR Strategies + Architecture

Dezeen Screen: Roger Arquer at Dezeen Platform

Dezeen Screen: Roger Arquer at Dezeen Platform

Dezeen Screen: in this movie filmed at Dezeen Space, Spanish designer Roger Arquer talks about the furniture he made for his daughter using wooden spoons, rolling pins and a pastry brush. Watch the movie »

Dezeen Screen: Saint James and Ruché at Ligne Roset Westend

Saint James and Ruché

Dezeen Screen: in this movie filmed by Dezeen at the Telling Tales exhibition at the Ligne Roset Westend showroom, central London owner of Ligne Roset Robert Hasty talks about pieces by Jean Nouvel and Inga Sempé. Watch the movie »

Today at Dezeen Platform: Stewy

stewy

Dezeen Space: east London street artist Stewy joins us at our micro-exhibition Dezeen Platform at Dezeen Space today.

stewy

His work focusses on an A to Z of indigenous British animals, created in no particular order.

stewy

His imagery has progressed from small black and white pigeons, first made in 2007, to his most recent work, a 6ft high white horse.

stewy

Stewy will stencil an animal onto the plinth, then exhibit the framed stencil on top.

stewy

Stewy’s work can be found in London, Brighton, Hastings, Birmingham and Manchester.

stewy

Each day, for 30 days, a different designer will use a one metre by one metre space to exhibit their work at Dezeen Space. See the full lineup for Dezeen Platform here.

stewy

More about Dezeen Space here and more about the London Design festival here.

stewy

Dezeen Space

17 September – 16 October
Monday-Saturday 11am-7pm
Sunday 11am-5pm

54 Rivington Street,
London EC2A 3QN


See also:

.

Dezeen Platform:
C.A.N
Dezeen Platform:
Roger Arquer
Dezeen Platform:
Sivan Royz

Today at Dezeen Platform: mode:lina

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Dezeen Space: visitors to Dezeen Space today can listen to the ambient sounds of the local area through a tangle of corrugated plastic tubes, courtesy of Polish studio mode:lina at Dezeen Platform.

modelina_audiochmura

The Audiochmura instalation, which loosely translates as “sonic cloud,” will amplify sounds recorded in the streets surrounding Dezeen Space on Rivington Street.

modelina_audiochmura

Each day, for 30 days, a different designer will use a one metre by one metre space to exhibit their work at Dezeen Space. See the full lineup for Dezeen Platform here.

modelina_audiochmura

More about Dezeen Space here and more about the London Design festival here.

modelina_audiochmura

Dezeen Space
17 September – 16 October
Monday-Saturday 11am-7pm
Sunday 11am-5pm

54 Rivington Street,
London EC2A 3QN


See also:

.

Dezeen Platform:
C.A.N
Dezeen Platform:
Julian Hakes
Dezeen Platform:
Evelik Kasikov

Series Two by Another Country

Dezeen_Another Country_1

London Design Festival 2011: British company Another Country presents its second range of furniture together with a new chair and collection of accessories at designjunction this week.

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Series Two features a dining table, benches, coffee table and sideboard made from ash and walnut with metal detailing.

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All the pieces can be dismantled to make transportation more straightforward.

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Two young British designers have created new ranges of accessories including Simon Donald‘s desktop tools in lime wood.

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Donald has also designed a desk clock that complements the forms of the Series One furniture – see our previous story

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Ian McIntyre has created a range of ceramics including a jug, pinch pot, plate bowl and cup.

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The pieces explore the properties of different clays including industrial terracotta, stoneware and porcelain.

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See all our stories about designjunction here and all the stories about the London Design Festival here.

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Here is some more information from Another Country:


Another Country launches a second furniture collection, a chair by Mathias Hahn and a range of accessories at designjunction during London Design Festival 2011.

Dezeen_Another Country_10

British firm, Another Country, experts in beautifully hand-crafted, contemporary wooden furniture, will launch their Series Two collection this September, alongside two new ranges of interior accessories.

designjunction, an exhibition of the best of contemporary design, will be held in an exclusive central London location. Here Another Country will display an extensive range of products, including new launches and pieces from their acclaimed first collection.

Dezeen_Another Country_11

Building on the success of their Series One collection, Another Country celebrates its first anniversary with the launch of Series Two; this collection of furniture is a purposeful departure from the aesthetic of Series One. It is constructed from pale ash and rich walnut, with metal detailing, and makes use of clean, angular shapes. Although different in form, Series Two upholds the values of the brand and is therefore a further celebration of quality craftsmanship; the series, just like Series One, is hand-made in Another Country’s Norfolk and Dorset workshops. Series Two is also cleverly designed for easy transport: all leg systems fold inward, trestle-style, whilst the sideboard can be dismantled and flat packed. The new range of furniture includes a dining table, benches, a coffee table and sideboard.

After a long period of careful development, Another Country is very pleased to introduce its first chair. The chair has been designed to complement the Series One collection of furniture and has been designed by young German design talent Mathias Hahn. Hahn is renowned for his functional yet playful approach to product design and has achieved a wonderful chair for Another Country that is robust, functional yet equally charming and individual. Mathias has previously collaborated with Another Country on the design of Desk One and Bar Stool One.

In a move intended to extend their offering to objects for the home, two new accessories ranges are being launched at designjunction, both of these are designed by young British designers and both are manufactured in the UK.

Simon Donald has designed a handsome and hard-working desktop accessories range that consists of a pen holder, a tape dispenser, an eraser pot and a pencil sharpener. The range is made of lime wood in a Welsh workshop. Simon has also designed a Series One-inspired desk clock that will be presented alongside the desktop accessories.

The second accessories range consists of a beautiful pottery collection designed by Ian McIntrye. Designed, crafted by hand and fired in Ian’s kilns in Hackney, East London, the range is a carefully considered reworking of traditional, functional, table top ceramics. The collection is made up ofindividual pieces that each explore the qualities of different clays. It includes a jug, pinch pot, plate, bowl and cup. The clays used include industrial terracotta, stoneware and porcelain. The collection is a fine interpretation of Another Country’s concern with contemporary craft; each piece is entirely hand-made, multi-functional and designed to endure, both stylistically and practically.

Visit Another Country at designjunction from 22 to 25 September 2011. Victoria House Basement, 37-63 Southampton Row, London, WC1B 4DA


See also:

.

Woodware by Max Lamb
at Gallery Fumi
Furniture by Resident at designjunction Interview: Assemblage 1
by Toogood