Bloom by Raw Edges

Milan 2013: London design duo Raw Edges came up with a bookcase shaped like a weaving loom to display novels by young British writers.

Bloom by Raw-Edges

The Bloom bookcase was commissioned by the British Council to hold works of fiction by literary magazine Granta’s pick of young British novelists.

Bloom by Raw-Edges

Raw Edges came up with a wooden frame resembling a loom – hence its name – that allows books to be slotted over the red threads and held at varying heights by sliding black stoppers.

Bloom by Raw-Edges

The bookcase holds one novel by each of the writers chosen by Granta in its once-a-decade list, which was first published in 1983.

Bloom by Raw-Edges

It was shown at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile during Milan’s design week earlier this month – see our round-up of the best furniture and lighting from the Salone or see all products and exhibitions from Milan 2013.

Raw Edges, a duo comprising Tel Aviv-born designers Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay, previously created a display of hundreds of fabric ribbons for Danish textile manufacturer Kvadrat and a shelf that slides apart to form a desk – see all design by Raw Edges.

Other bookcases we’ve featured lately include a zig-zagging wooden design by Japanese studio Nendo and an extendable bookcase with interlocking shelves – see all bookcases.

Here’s some more information from the British Council:


The Best of Young British Novelists bookcase

British-based design studio Raw-Edges has been commissioned by the British Council to design a bespoke travelling bookcase to house one carefully selected work of fiction from each of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists. The bookcase will also hold editions of Granta magazine.

The highly inventive design means the books themselves take centre stage in the installation. The interactive nature of the bookcase also allows visitors to change the display by repositioning the books. It invites visitors to delve into the stories and also consider the books’ physical qualities and design. The bookcase will be on show during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, where a series of talks will consider the book as a physical object. This commission represents an opportunity for audiences overseas to engage with British design and British contemporary literature.

Before they were household names, they were Granta Best of Young British Novelists. At a celebration to be held at the British Council, on the evening of 15 April 2013, Granta will announce its once-in-a-decade selection of the twenty best British novelists aged under forty. Granta’s first generation-defining list of writers was published in 1983 and set the bar for the following decades.

The April announcement marks the publication of Granta 123: The Best of Young British Novelists 4, which includes a new story from each writer on the 2013 list. Granta 123 will be available to purchase from all good booksellers from 16 April in the UK and 23 April in the US.

Throughout 2013, the British Council and Granta are collaborating on an international showcase of contemporary British novelists, which features the twenty writers selected by Granta’s panel of judges. The first international events – including readings and conversation – will be announced on 15 April and will be taking place in more than ten countries including Russia, Qatar and India.

Books from each Granta Best Young Novelist on the 1983, 1993, 2003 and 2013 lists will be presented around the world in a bookcase designed by Raw-Edges Design Studio.

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Crescent House by Andrew Burns

Australian architect Andrew Burns has installed a charred timber pavilion with deceptively curved walls in the garden of the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation in Paddington, Sydney (+ slideshow).

Crescent House by Andrew Burns

Named Crescent House, the structure was designed by Andrew Burns with a symmetrical geometry that comprises two intersecting arcs within a rectangular frame.

Crescent House by Andrew Burns

Visitors are invited to follow the curve of the walls to a secluded space at the pavilion’s centre, where light filters through tiny perforations to create a wall resembling the night sky.

Crescent House by Andrew Burns

The charred cedar cladding references the frequently occurring bush fires of the region. Meanwhile, the rectangular structure at the back frames a view of the hedge beyond.

Crescent House by Andrew Burns

“The pavilion has an ambiguous presence, between architecture and art object,” says Burns. “The structure responds to elemental themes: darkness and light, the wonder of the night sky, the arc of the sun and the presence of bushfire on this continent.”

Crescent House by Andrew Burns

Crescent House is the inaugural project in the Fugitive Structures programme, a series of temporary pavilions that will be installed annually in the Zen Garden of the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation (SCAF).

Crescent House by Andrew Burns

Citing the Serpentine Gallery pavilions in London as an inspiration, the SCAF plans to invite emerging and mid-career architects to design four new pavilions each year.

Crescent House by Andrew Burns

Andrew Burns also recently completed a pointy gallery and studio for artists in Japan.

Crescent House by Andrew Burns

See more architecture that features blackened wood, including a rural residence outside Melbourne and a temporary tower installed in Norway.

Crescent House by Andrew Burns

Photography is by Brett Boardman.

Crescent House by Andrew Burns

Here’s some more information from Andrew Burns:


‘Crescent House’ is the first in an annual series of temporary pavilions to be installed at Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation in Paddington, Sydney. The aim of this ‘Fugitive Structures’ program is to engage a wide audience with architectural thought.

Crescent House by Andrew Burns

Two arcs are set within an apparently simple rectilinear form. The arcs bisect, creating a pair of infinitely sharp points and a threshold to the space beyond. This combination of fragility and robustness seeks to charge the conversations within the space with a particular quality.

Crescent House by Andrew Burns

The structure has an ambiguous presence; between architecture and art object. Through framing, it transforms an ordinary rose apple hedge into a landscape of beauty.

Crescent House by Andrew Burns

The pavilion responds to elemental themes; darkness and light, the wonder offered by the night sky and the burnt quality of yaki-sugi (charred cedar) recalling the presence of bushfires on this continent.

Crescent House by Andrew Burns

The pavilion and has been initiated and supported by Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, BVN Donovan Hill, Andrew Cameron Family Foundation and the Nelson Meers Foundation.

Crescent House by Andrew Burns
Site plan – click for larger image

Crescent House by Andrew Burns
Floor plan

Crescent House by Andrew Burns
South elevation – click for larger image

Crescent House by Andrew Burns
East elevation – click for larger image

Crescent House by Andrew Burns
North elevation – click for larger image

Crescent House by Andrew Burns
West elevation – click for larger image

Crescent House by Andrew Burns
Detail section – click for larger image

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“Milan is a breeding ground for people who copy our products”

Dezeen and MINI World Tour: in this movie filmed in Milan earlier this month, leading designers and manufacturers discuss the phenomenon of copying and how they are responding. “It’s become an increasingly big problem for us,” says Tom Dixon. “People can steal ideas and produce them almost faster than we can now.”

“Milan is a breeding ground for people who copy our products”

“An original design product will have a cost higher than its copy,” says designer Marcel Wanders (above). “It’s very simple. Stealing most of the time is more cheap than buying.”

Unscrupulous manufacturers visit Milan to photograph new prototypes and then rush out copies before the original products reach the market, according to Casper Vissers (below), CEO of furniture and lighting brand Moooi.

“Milan is a breeding ground for people who copy our products”

“It’s very sour if you have presented a product in April and it’s in the shops in September, but a bloody copier has it already in August,” says Vissers, speaking at Moooi’s spectacular Unexpected Welcome show in Milan (below). “This is what happens at the moment.”

Vissers adds that legal action against copiers in Asia is expensive and, even if it’s successful in the short term, it does little to stem the tide: “You need huge amounts of money [to launch a law suit in the Far East] and if you win – if – a new limited company in China will start production [of copies]”.

“Milan is a breeding ground for people who copy our products”

Copiers are increasingly shameless about their intentions, says Tom Dixon, speaking at his presentation at MOST in Milan. “People feel very confident copying things. Some people come around with spy glasses photographing things but other people are more overt and come in with iPads or film crews.”

Dixon says the problem is getting worse, with markets around the world and even the UK market increasingly flooded with copies. “Everywhere we go in Australia or Singapore or India we’ll see many, many copies, and that’s also hitting more and more the UK as well.”

“Milan is a breeding ground for people who copy our products”

Gregg Buchbinder (above), CEO of furniture company Emeco, says the solution is for designers to push manufacturers to make more sophisticated products that are harder to copy. The furniture collection Emeco developed with designer Konstantin Grcic for the Parrish Art Museum on Long Island (below), for example, “was a very difficult project to do. Although the chair looks simple, there’s nothing skipped.”

“The more difficult it is, the more difficult it is for people to knock it off,” Buchbinder adds.

“Milan is a breeding ground for people who copy our products”

Emeco aggressively pursues copyists through the courts and earlier this year won a case against fellow US manufacturer Restoration Hardware, which had copied the iconic Navy chair.

But outside Europe and the US, copyright law is less robust and harder to enforce. “It’s very, very difficult to protect yourself legally,” says Dixon.

Dixon’s company is directly responding to the problem of copying by developing a range of new products designed to make life more difficult for counterfeiters.

“Milan is a breeding ground for people who copy our products”

“What you’ll see [at our Milan presentation] is a number of coping strategies,” Dixon explains. “We’ve been trying as much as possible to invest in tooling and slightly more advanced technology. We’re working on adaptive models where we make specific things for clients. A new bespoke division where we make things for people, so we adapt our products to suit a client’s needs. So there’s ways of dealing with it. We’ve just got to be faster and smarter.”

See all our stories about copying in design ».

“Milan is a breeding ground for people who copy our product”

Milan is the second stop on our Dezeen and MINI World Tour. See all our reports from our first destination, Cape Town. This movie features a MINI Cooper S Paceman.

The music featured is a track called Divisive by We Are Band, a UK-based electronic act who played at the MINI Paceman Garage in Milan on Friday. You can listen to the full track on Dezeen Music Project.

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Grimshaw submits plans for Australian skyscraper

Grimshaw submits plans for Australian skyscraper

News: London firm Grimshaw has submitted plans for a 90-storey skyscraper in a suburb of Sydney, Australia.

The Aspire Tower, designed for a competition held by Parramatta City Council, will have spires reaching to 336 metres and a roof height of 306 metres – higher than the Q1 tower in Queensland, which is currently the tallest building in the southern hemisphere.

Grimshaw submits plans for Australian skyscraper

However, it’s likely Grimshaw’s tower will only hold that title for a few years or months, if at all, after plans were approved last month for a 388-metre-tall tower in the Australian city of Melbourne, due to complete by 2018.

The Aspire Tower is designed to twist upwards from its street-level alignment, maximising sunny northern views for its residents and twisting inwards to the north to disperse the force of the wind.

Grimshaw submits plans for Australian skyscraper

As well as the 700 apartments arranged around 14 six-storey atriums, the tower will include a hotel, bars, restaurants and shops plus a viewing deck over the top two floors.

Grimshaw partner Andrew Cortese said the firm wanted to set a new standard in sustainable urban development. “We hope that the tower will be recognised as a landmark through its balanced achievement of programmatic and environmental innovations, its rationality and buildability, and its uniquely sculptural form,” he commented.

Grimshaw submits plans for Australian skyscraper

Last year Nicholas Grimshaw’s firm was awarded the Carbuncle Cup – a prize for architectural ugliness – for its steel and glass cocoon containing the historic Cutty Sark tea clipper in London. Other projects by the firm we’ve featured include Bijlmer Station in Amsterdam and a museum of steel in Mexico – see all architecture by Grimshaw.

At the beginning of the year we rounded up the ten tallest skyscrapers due to complete in 2013, including the 383-metre Eton Place Dalian in north-east China and The Domain by Foster + Partners in Abu Dhabi – see all skyscrapers.

Grimshaw submits plans for Australian skyscraper

Here’s more information from the architects:


Grimshaw has submitted a Development Application on behalf of Parramatta City Council for a landmark mixed-use tower. The Aspire Tower emerged from a design excellence competition held by the Council and is set to establish a new benchmark for innovative, passive-environmental design in Australian high-rise developments. Designed to act as a catalyst project for Parramatta Square, the tower provides high density, urban residential living which is not only affordable but also sustainable.

As one of the tallest structures in Australia, the engineering of Aspire Tower consciously orientates itself to the wind and to sunlight. The highly adaptable facades accommodate all of the various planning arrangements of apartment type into a modular system. The tower’s striking sculptural form twists upwards from its Church Street alignment to maximise the capture of the sun, the breeze and northern views for its residents.

The accommodation within the tower is situated in two east and west facing wings which are connected to a perforated central core. These wings open up to the south to catch the prevailing air movements, while twisting inwards to the north to disperse the downward force of the wind. By resolving wind and ventilation, the tower creates a comfortable and accessible habitat at all levels, in both its private and public domains. The design has consciously set out to ensure that all apartments have an equity of view, ventilation and light.

Sitting 90 storeys above ground, the tower’s spires reach 336m, while the 306m roof height of the habitable terraces creates a distinctive silhouette for the city’s emerging skyline. The mixed-use nature of the tower also creates a new precinct with 700 residential apartments. These ‘vertical neighbourhoods’ are configured around 14 six storey communal atria with soft and hard landscaping. The precinct also includes 150 hotel rooms, bars, restaurants and retail as well as a spectacular public function including a restaurant space, experience centre and viewing deck over the top two floors.

The tower will also create a new public and civic realm for Parramatta. This new public realm, created from the re-development of Church Street and a new square on axis to St John’s Cathedral, forms the western precinct of Parramatta Square. A vibrant public domain will emerge from the activities on the square with the perimeter uses of retail, building lobbies and transport connections.

Speaking about the achievements and ambitions of the project, Grimshaw Partner, Andrew Cortese, said: “Grimshaw’s approach is derived from the practice’s research on the habitat of tall buildings and on the design of the public and environmental infrastructure of cities. Aspire Tower on Parramatta Square is a rare opportunity to invest in and construct a viable and vital piece of city-making.

“The project has the ability to transform its place and set a new achievable standard in affordable and sustainable urban development. We hope that the tower will be recognised as a landmark through its balanced achievement of programmatic and environmental innovations, its rationality and buildability, and its uniquely sculptural form.”

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Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

Milan 2013: a collection of furniture designed by Konstantin Grcic for Herzog & de Meuron’s Parrish Art Museum in Long Island has gone into production with American brand Emeco.

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

Presented at Salone Internazionale del Mobile, the Parrish collection of chairs and tables by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco was originally created for Herzog & de Meuron’s barn-like Parrish Art Museum, completed last autumn.

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

The pieces are made from tubular recycled aluminium, held in place under the tractor-inspired seat by a component with six connecting points referred to as “the heart”.

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

The range now includes a lounge chair and side chair plus tables in two heights, made of sandblasted aluminium with clear, red or black finishes.

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

Chair seats come in wood harvested close to the Emeco factory in Pennsylvania, upholstery in leather or fabric, or reclaimed polypropylene like that used in Philippe Starck’s Broom chair shown last year.

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

Emeco is famous for aluminium furniture, having created the much-copied classic Navy Chair for the American armed forces in 1944. In recent years they’ve produced chairs with top international designers including Jean Nouvel, Philippe Starck and Michael Young. See all our stories about chairs by Emeco.

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

Other products by Grcic in Milan included a remake of Achille Castiglioni’s iconic Parentesi lamp for Flos, and angular wooden stools and tables for Italian brand Mattiazzi. See all our stories about design by Konstantin Grcic.

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

See all our stories about design at Milan 2013 »

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

Here’s some more information from Emeco:


Detailed to perfection with a classic appearance, the Parrish Collection by Emeco and German designer Konstantin Grcic was first made for the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York.

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

The externally modest building of the Parrish Art Museum holds an internal complexity, just like the Parrish Collection – a set of chairs and tables with a subtle design and a heartfelt technical core. “Developing the mobile interiors for the Parrish Art Museum brings us to the peculiar psychology around chairs used in public spaces – exploring the idea of comfort using very little material.

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

Considering the public self-awareness in a museum seat, the Parrish chair was given a generous seat and a round tube, forming a belt that defines the space around you – a space where you can feel protected,” says Konstantin Grcic.

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

The Parrish lounge and side chairs are part of a modular collection, featuring three frames with four optional seats. The recycled aluminum sandblasted frames are available in clear anodized, red or black powder coated finishes.

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

The frames can be combined with different seat types; reclaimed polypropylene, locally sourced wood from Lancaster, PA, Danish fabric from Kvadrat or three luxurious leathers from Spinneybeck. These choices enable different combinations, creating a versatile family. All chairs with reclaimed polypropylene seats are suitable for outdoor use. The table bases are available in two recycled aluminum sandblasted finishes, the clear anodized aluminum finish or the black powder coated finish, in two different heights as café and side tables, which can be combined with two alternative Trespa table tops in pastel grey or black.

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

“The collaboration with Emeco was always an important part of the project, something I had in mind as an obvious choice for the kind of furniture we needed. It is simply the only company I could think of who could bring a nice mix for this interior concept, specialists in aluminum, delivering another kind of material appearance, environmentally sound, perfect for the both indoor and outdoor and being such a truly American company – it was a perfect match,“ says Grcic.

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

“When Konstantin asked me if Emeco would be interested in collaborating with him on the Parrish Art Museum I was thrilled. Konstantin is one of the most innovative and original industrial designers of today,” says Emeco’s CEO Gregg Buchbinder. “Konstantin’s degree of perfection combined with his analytical rigor made the product development process deliberate and thoughtful. He managed to leverage our heritage and at the same time push Emeco into the future. The Parrish Chair reminds me of something Le Corbusier might have designed in the 1920’s; yet at the same time, it looks fresh, modern, and original – it’s a real artifact of our current culture, a future classic,” Buchbinder continues.

Parrish by Konstantin Grcic for Emeco

“I have always had a fascination and admiration of the hard physical labor of the production of the iconic Emeco Navy chair. My ambition for the collaboration was, therefore, to do something that uses the same aluminum work but makes the process more effective, less physically challenging. I think the design of the Parrish chair comes from a close understanding of what Emeco can really do,” says Konstantin.

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ABC Center House by Kakuro Odagi and Daisuke Narushima

With a terrace sheltered beneath its overhanging eaves, this building by Japanese architects Kakuro Odagi and Daisuke Narushima functions as an information centre for prefabricated show homes in Yokohama (+ slideshow).

ABC Center House by Kakuro Odagi and Daisuke Narushima

The two-storey building is positioned within the ABC Center, where visitors come to see full-size mock-ups of prefabricated houses, and serves as an administrative centre and an enquiries point.

ABC Center House by Kakuro Odagi and Daisuke Narushima

Designed as a collaboration between Odagi, of Odagi Planning & Associates, and Narushima, of Narushima Architecture Office, the ABC Center House features a mono-pitched roof covered in skylights and solar panels, as well as mixture of different cladding materials that include timber and stone.

ABC Center House by Kakuro Odagi and Daisuke Narushima

“In contrast to most model homes, where the building products pretend to be the surface of real materials, the real materials are applied in a graphical way in this building, as if they look like the imitated materials,” says Kakuro Odagi.

ABC Center House by Kakuro Odagi and Daisuke Narushima

The architect also explains that, like the show homes, the building was designed without any reference to its industrial surroundings. “The architecture may be seen to be fitting into the daydream-like landscape at a glance, but it is free from the model-home park’s merchantability,” he adds.

ABC Center House by Kakuro Odagi and Daisuke Narushima

The square-shaped skylights are dotted across the surface of the roof to bring natural light to both the outdoor terrace and a top-floor seminar room, which opens out to a narrow balcony.

ABC Center House by Kakuro Odagi and Daisuke Narushima

Glass walls separate the terrace from a customer lounge and information desk on the ground floor, plus an office and storage area are located alongside.

ABC Center House by Kakuro Odagi and Daisuke Narushima

We’ve featured a few buildings relating to property sales on Dezeen. Others include a pointy property showroom in China and a showroom with a rampart-like facade in Singapore.

See more architecture in Japan »

Photography is by Daici Ano.

Here’s some more information from the architects:


ABC CENTER HOUSE
2012 Yokohama, Japan

ABC CENTER HOUSE is an administrative building in a model-home park located in the inhospitable area with factories and industrial plants in Yokohama city, Kanagawa prefecture. This two-storied building is used as an office where customers first come to get information and where various events and seminars related to homebuying take place.

ABC Center House by Kakuro Odagi and Daisuke Narushima
Ground floor plan

In general, the model homes are remodeled almost every 5 years in an attempt to promote their own merchantability and are equipped with the latest technology and specifications. The relationship with the surrounding environment and other neighboring model homes are ignored, and as a result, self-contained houses based merely on commercial value are standing independently on the park. It is ironic that every design of the house, consisting of factitious and mass-produced materials that would appeal to the dream of the buyer, all look much the same and has no distinctive qualities at all. In response to this context, we intended to create a place where visitors can experience the openness of the space and its value. The architecture may be seen to be fitting into the daydream-like landscape at a glance, however, it is free from the model-home park’s merchantability.

ABC Center House by Kakuro Odagi and Daisuke Narushima
First floor plan

A large shed roof with randomly-placed top lights covers the three parts of the building: the lounge connected contiguously to the terrace, the seminar room that looks like it has its interior and exterior reversed, and the semi-outdoor terrace under the eaves. It makes a gentle unity of the three spaces while maintaining each spatial identity. The terrace also serves as an intermediate space between the outside park and interior.

In contrast to most model homes, where the building products pretend to be the surface of real materials, the real materials are applied in a graphical way in this building as if they look like the imitated materials. This finishing gives a coordinated impression, seen from a distance, with the surrounding model homes in appearance of materials, while its actual contrary state can be seen from close by. Every material, whether it is for interior or exterior, is treated equivalently and mapped across the boundary of the adjacent room. The crossover of surface elements generates a relationship between the inside and outside space of the architecture itself and the one between architecture and landscape. Thus the outward extending space can be felt wherever you are: expansive space is created within a small building.

ABC Center House by Kakuro Odagi and Daisuke Narushima
Cross section

Architect: Kakuro ODAGI (Odagi Planning & Associates) + Daisuke NARUSHIMA (Narushima architecture office)
Location: Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Structural Design: Yosuke KINOSHITA
Structural System: Wooden
Storeys: 2 Storeys
Maximum Height: 8,950 mm
Building Area: 81.86 sqm
Total Floor Area: 93.44 sqm
Project Year: 2012

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Rick Mather 1937-2013

Rick Mather, photo by Andy Matthews

News: American architect Rick Mather, whose projects included the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, UK, and the masterplan for London’s Southbank, has died aged 75.

Mather studied architecture at the University of Oregon before moving to the UK to study at the Architectural Association. He founded his studio Rick Mather Architects in London in 1973.

Nominated for the Stirling Prize in 2010 for his extension to the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Oxford, Mather’s practice also designed masterplans for several universities across the UK.

His other award-winning work included the £20 million extension to the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, London, which won a Civic Trust Award after its completion in 1999, the same year he completed an extension to Dulwich Picture Gallery in south London and was appointed to masterplan the city’s Southbank development.

More recently he completed an extension to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia, USA.

Mather also served on the councils of the RIBA and the Architectural Association and was a trustee of the V&A Museum.

Photograph is by Andy Matthews.

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Iris van Herpen exhibition at the International Centre for Lace and Fashion

Haute couture garments by Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen will be displayed at an exhibition of her work in Calais, France, from June.

Iris van Herpen exhibition at the International Centre for Lace and Fashion
Skeleton dress by Iris van Herpen

Considered a pioneer of 3D printing in the fashion industry, Van Herpen utilises both new technologies and hand crafting techniques to create intricate sculptural designs.

Iris van Herpen exhibition at the International Centre for Lace and Fashion
Crystallization by Iris van Herpen

A 3D-printed piece modelled on the transformation of liquid into crystal (above) and a voluminous handmade dress that references billowing smoke (top) are among the items to be shown.

Iris van Herpen exhibition at the International Centre for Lace and Fashion
Synesthesia by Iris van Herpen

Thirty pieces designed since she began her own label in 2008 will be exhibited in total, along with photographs and footage from her catwalk shows.

Iris van Herpen exhibition at the International Centre for Lace and Fashion
Chemical Crows by Iris van Herpen

The Iris van Herpen exhibition will be open from 15 June to 31 December at the International Centre for Lace and Fashion in Calais.

Iris van Herpen exhibition at the International Centre for Lace and Fashion
Escapism by Iris van Herpen

A design from Van Herpen’s Crystallize collection features on the front cover of our one-off 3D printing magazine Print Shift. We also interviewed her for a feature in the magazine.

Iris van Herpen exhibition at the International Centre for Lace and Fashion
Capriole by Iris van Herpen

She recently created a dress modelled on splashing water during a live week-long web broadcast. Photography is by Bart Oomes.

Iris van Herpen exhibition at the International Centre for Lace and Fashion
Micro by Iris van Herpen

See more designs by Iris van Herpen »
See more stories about architecture and design exhibitions »
See more stories about fashion »

Read on for further details from the museum:


The International Centre for Lace and Fashion of Calais consecrates a new exhibition to Iris van Herpen. At 29, this young Dutch fashion designer has largely impressed the fashion world with her futuristic sculptural costumes. Through the presentation of thirty pieces created between 2008 and 2012, the International Centre for Lace and Fashion invites the spectator to plunge into the avant-garde universe of this prodigious creator!

Iris van Herpen exhibition at the International Centre for Lace and Fashion
Mummification by Iris van Herpen

Iris van Herpen

Iris van Herpen is a young Dutch designer (born Wamel, 1984) who has made a considerable impact in the world of Haute-Couture in recent years. Following in the footsteps of Martin Margiela, Hussein Chalayan and Rei Kawakubo, her innovative, sculptural dresses represent a major contribution to the conceptual end of high fashion, deconstructing and examining the creative process and the relationship between clothes and the human form.

After training at the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in Arnhem (Netherlands) and a passage with Alexander McQueen, Iris van Herpen set out to develop and explore her unique combination of traditional craftsmanship and technological innovation. Invited by the prestigious Chambre Syndicale de la Haute-Couture to show her first Parisian collection in July 2011, Iris van Herpen creates clothes of subtle, poetic, unsettling beauty. Their sculptural forms, enriched by the play of light, place them somewhere between Haute-Couture and contemporary art. And yet the designer does seem intent on creating designs which can be worn by everyone, capturing and reflecting the wearer’s personality and aspirations: she launched her first ready-to-wear line in March 2013.

Iris van Herpen exhibition at the International Centre for Lace and Fashion
Radiation Invasion by Iris van Herpen

Exhibition Layout

The International Centre for Lace and Fashion of Calais highlights the recent collections of Iris van Herpen through the presentation of thirty dresses and numerous photographs. The exhibition gallery is a large, minimalist plateau some seven metres tall and sixty metres in length, a majestic backdrop against which to appreciate the creations of this celebrated Dutch fashion designer, unique pieces which blur the boundaries between art, design and fashion. The gallery’s light walls and polished concrete floor will be plunged into twilight, with lights carefully placed to ensure that all eyes are drawn to the dresses on display.

These creations are arranged by date and by collection, displayed on stands so that they can be seen from all angles. These original Iris van Herpen dresses are placed in confrontation and conversation with the photographs displayed immediately opposite them. Visitors can also see the dresses in motion, with footage of van Herpen’s catwalk shows projected on the big screen in the auditorium.

The radically original forms and materials used in Iris van Herpen’s works qualify them as “wearable sculptures”. The pieces displayed here demonstrate her ability to craft complex designs which draw on a wide variety of techniques, with interweaving elements, intricate lacing and fluting. Certain parts of the body, notably the shoulders and hips, are accentuated with voluminous extensions. Some materials make recurring appearances: leather in various forms and styles, acrylics subjected to various manipulations, metal chains and plastic straps. The colour palette is deliberately muted, offset with occasional metallic effects and flashes of iridescence.

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Dutch Design Week announces new director

Dutch Design Week announces new director

News: Dutch Design Week has announced its new director as business manager and consultant Martijn Paulen.

He will be tasked with providing financial stability to the annual Eindhoven event after an audit last year revealed that Capital D, its publicly funded parent body, had racked up losses of €945,000.

Paulen, who is director of innovation and learning strategies at TiasNimbas Business School, an institution with campuses across the Netherlands, takes over from interim director Bas Braad, who was appointed in December to replace creative director Hans Robertus and business director Robert-Jan Marringa.

Dutch Design Week announces new director Martijn Paulen

Capital D has now obtained additional financing to cover last year’s deficit and fund this year’s Dutch Design Week and the Dutch Design Awards, the Eindhoven organisation announced. The new funding will also enable Capital D to continue running two European schemes – digital media project SmartCulture and design initiative PROUD.

Eindhoven’s design community has undergone a turbulent year, with Design Academy Eindhoven last month appointing graphic designer Thomas Widdershoven as its new creative director after a period of turmoil that saw the departure of school’s chair Anne Mieke Eggenkamp and the resignation and subsequent return of the heads of the three masters courses.

Our coverage of last October’s Dutch Design Week included a furniture production line set up in an old factory and a lamp that can cast coloured shadows – see all news from Dutch Design Week 2012.

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Park Life folding armchair by Jasper Morrison for Kettal

Milan 2013: British designer Jasper Morrison has added a folding armchair to his Park Life collection of outdoor furniture for Spanish design brand Kettal.

Like the other pieces in the Park Life range, launched last year for Kettal, the armchair has an aluminium frame that is both lightweight and durable.

Park Life folding armchair by Jasper Morrison for Kettal

Jasper Morrison designed the chair with a cross-bracing hinge beneath the seat, which allows it to fold flat for easy storage.

The seat and backrest are made from porotex, a fabric made of PVC-coated polyester.

Park Life folding armchair by Jasper Morrison for Kettal

Morrison presented the new Park Life chair at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan last week alongside Village, another outdoor chair for Kettal. See more furniture by Kettal on Dezeen.

The designer also presented a chair inspired by camping furniture for Italian brand Mattiazzi. See more design by Jasper Morrison on Dezeen, including the iconic 1986 Side Table and the 2007 Crate Series.

Park Life folding armchair by Jasper Morrison for Kettal

See our pick of the best projects from the Salone »
See all our stories about design at Milan 2013 »

Here’s a bit of information from the brand:


Park Life is a complete family of furniture for outdoors, whose clean cut profile is adaptable to a wide range of different situations. Lightweight, yet extremely durable, it’s easily stacked for transport or winter storage and its technical sophistication and careful consideration of ergonomics besides a lot of care over how it looks are all intended to ensure a long life, both structurally and visually.

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Jasper Morrison for Kettal
appeared first on Dezeen.