Milan 2014: British fashion designer Paul Smith has applied his iconic striped fabrics to a selection of furniture by legendary Danish designer Hans J. Wegner, which will be presented in Milan next month.
CH07 Shell Chair upholstered in Big Stripe
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Wegner’s birth, Paul Smith picked his favourite pieces from those produced by Danish furniture brand Carl Hansen & Søn for the limited edition collection.
CH28 Lounge Chair upholstered in Big Stripe
The Big Stripe and Stripes fabrics designed by Smith for American textile brand Maharam were used to upholster products including the Shell Chair, Wing Chair and Wishbone Chair, which were created by the Danish Modernist designer between the late 1940s and the 1960s.
CH24 Wishbone Chair upholstered in Stripes. Also main image
Smith’s striped fabrics are woven from worsted wool in a range of colours and the two designs offer different densities of pattern. The Stripes pattern was designed in 2006, while the Big Stripe design launched last year.
CH24 Wishbone Chair upholstered in Stripes
The sculptural Wing Chair, with its characteristic cross seam on the backrest, has been fully upholstered in a predominately purple and green version of the Stripes fabric and a blue and red version of the Big Stripe.
CH24 Wishbone Chair upholstered in Stripes
Earthy tones characterise the Stripes fabric used to cover the seat pad of the Wishbone Chair from 1949.
CH24 Wishbone Chair upholstered in Stripes
Two versions of the Big Stripe design are used to cover the cushions and armrests of the CH163 sofa designed in 1965.
CH24 Wishbone Chair upholstered in Stripes
The back and seat of the CH28 armchair and the Shell Chair are upholstered in sections of the Big Stripe fabric, which has a repeat of almost 2.5 metres.
CH445 Wing Chair upholstered in Big Stripe
The fabrics provide a bold injection of colour that stands out against the wooden frames of the chairs.
CH445 Wing Chair upholstered in Big Stripe
The furniture will be displayed at the Paul Smith Milan shop during the city’s upcoming design week, as well as at Carl Hansen & Søn’s booth at the fair and its city centre showroom.
Paul Smith and Maharam collaborate with Carl Hansen & Søn
To celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the birth of renowned Danish designer Hans J. Wegner, Paul Smith and Maharam are collaborating with Carl Hansen & Søn – the world’s largest manufacturer of furniture designed by Hans J. Wegner – on a limited edition collection of some of Wegner’s most iconic works.
CH163 Sofa upholstered in Big Stripe
With a pioneering and creative Modernist aesthetic, Wegner is best known for his idiosyncratic chair designs, such as the Wishbone Chair. Created in 1950 this piece, with its characteristic Y-shaped back support, became one of his greatest successes; other definitive designs include the three-legged Shell Chair, the minimalist CH28, the CH163 sofa and contemporary classic, the Wing Chair.
CH163 Sofa upholstered in Big Stripe
Paul Smith has personally selected his favourite classic Hans J. Wegner pieces to launch a capsule collection that gives the designs an injection of vibrancy, upholstered in ‘Big Stripe’ and new colours of ‘Stripes’ by Paul Smith. Designed by Paul Smith in collaboration with Maharam, these two worsted wool textiles explore stripes at dramatically different scales, conveying Paul Smith’s imaginative approach to colour and proportion.
CH163 Sofa upholstered in Big Stripe
The collection will be presented at the Paul Smith Milan shop from 8th to 13th April during the Salone del Mobile, as well as at Carl Hansen & Søn’s booth at the fair and its city centre showroom. Additionally, a touring exhibition visiting Tokyo, New York and London will offer further opportunities to view the collection. The pieces will be available at selected Paul Smith shops worldwide, while the textiles are available in Europe through Kvadrat.
In this exclusive interview, British fashion designer Paul Smith shows Dezeen his new exhibition at London’s Design Museum, which contains a room “nicknamed the paracetamol room, because by the time you come out you’ll probably need an aspirin” (+ movie).
Paul Smith
Called Hello, My Name Is Paul Smith the show, which opened today, celebrates Paul Smith‘s career to date and reveals insights into his creative processes.
Recreation of Paul Smith’s office
“The whole point of the exhibition is really about encouragement,” he tells Dezeen while sat in a recreation of his cluttered Covent Garden office that has been created at the show. “It hopefully gives you the encouragement to think, well, I can move on from a humble beginning’,” he says.
Entrance to the exhibition
Visitors enter the exhibition through a three-metre-square cube that simulates Smith’s tiny first shop on Byard Lane in Nottingham, which was only open for two days a week. Smith’s Covent Garden design studio has also be recreated, with material and pattern samples strewn amongst sketchbooks and colour swatches.
Inside Paul’s Head
In a room called Inside Paul’s Head, images of flowers swirl around screens before morphing into prints covering Smith’s garments and accessories. “It’s nicknamed the paracetamol room, because by the time you come out you’ll probably need an aspirin,” Smith jokes.
The next space is a hand-painted wooden mock-up of the Paris hotel room that Smith used as his first showroom during Paris fashion week in 1976.
Hand-painted recreation of the Paris hotel room Smith showed his first collection in
“I think it was six shirts, two jackets, two jumpers and nobody came,” he recalls. “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, nobody. I was leaving on Thursday and one person came at 4 o’clock, and I was in business.”
There’s also a section dedicated to Smith’s photography: “I’ve been taking photographs since I was 11. My Dad was an amateur photographer and his original camera is there on the wall. I shoot all our advertising and promotional material but also work for lots of magazines as a photographer.”
Paul Smith’s stripy MINI and skis
Smith’s collaborations over the years including a MINI car and a pair of skis painted with his signature colourful stripes are displayed together, along with cycling jerseys and a giant rabbit-shaped bin he has worked on.
“It’s really interesting for me to see,” he reveals. “They’re usually all hidden away somewhere. Seeing them all together is like ‘Oh wow! We’ve done quite a lot over the years’.”
A wall covered in 70,000 buttons is used to demonstrate the unique elements found in each of the brand’s stores worldwide, such as a room decorated with 26,000 dominoes at his recently extended Albemarle Street store in London’s Mayfair district. “It shows my passion to make sure all out shops are different,” he says.
Archive garments
Garments from Smith’s archive flank both sides of a long white corridor and are grouped into themes rather than age, while a movie documenting Smith’s most recent menswear show is played in the final room.
Gallery of pictures from Smith’s personal collection
The exhibition is laid out around a central space lined with a pictures from Smith’s personal collection, encompassing photographs by Mario Testino to framed drawings sent by fans.
Giant Post-it note at the exit
On the way out, a giant Post-it note on the wall reads “Everyday is a new beginning”. Smith finishes by saying: “The idea is you come here, you get inspired, then the next day is the rest of your life.”
Paul Smith plays around with a magnifying glass
The exhibition was curated by Donna Loveday and runs until 9 March 2014 at the Design Museum.
A collection of 1950s and 1960s products by designers including Dieter Rams, Arne Jacobsen and Dietrich Lubs for German electricals brand Braun are on display at the new Paul Smith store in London (+ slideshow).
Audio 1 compact system with record player (white version), 1962, and ‘kangaroo’ system audio stand, 1967, by Dieter Rams at Paul Smith Albemarle Street
Collectors of Braun Design products das programm curated a selection of vintage Braun products in fashion designer Paul Smith‘s recently extended store on Albemarle Street in London’s Mayfair district.
Record player by Dieter Rams, 1960
The emphasis of the small exhibition, titled White, is mainly on audio products such as radios, turntables and speaker units.
Atelier 3 / L 40 compact system and box speaker by Dieter Rams, 1962
“We’re showing 45 pieces, mostly 60s audio but also including some classic household designs,” said das programm director Peter Kapos.
PC4 record player by Dieter Rams, 1965
Dieter Rams was appointed director of Braun’s in-house design department in 1960 and began applying the standards established by the Ulm School of Design a year earlier.
RT 20 tischsuper table radio by Dieter Rams, 1961
Under his direction the company became renowned for producing rational and functionalist designs, which are widely credited as Apple creative director Jonathan Ive’s aesthetic reference for the computer company’s products.
“The influence of Braun Design on Apple design is well documented,” Kapos told Dezeen. “From the 2001 iPod onwards, Apple has been helping itself to all kinds of bits and bobs, producing a curiously accelerated collage of Braun Design.”
L 460 wall-mountable round speakers by Arne Jacobsen, 1967
Other Braun Design members are also represented in the collection. The oldest piece in the store is Hans Guglelot’s combined record player and radio from 1955, and homeware designs by Reinhold Weiss and Gerd Alfred Müller are also on show.
G 11 table radio by Hans Gugelot, 1955
The items will be displayed in the recently opened store until 7 October and Kapos will be giving tours of the exhibition in its final week – more details here.
Audio 1 compact system with record player (white version), 1962, and ‘kangaroo’ system audio stand, 1967, by Dieter Rams
Amidst the architectural and cultural ruins of post-war Germany, industrial designers considered their role in the task of reconstruction. In 1953 the Ulm school of design opened. It taught that rationally organised objects of daily use might serve as models for a more rational social form and thereby guide the maelstrom of productive forces to a more acceptable result. They called this utopian project ‘systems design’. The following year, the Braun Company approached the Ulm school with a brief to modernise their audio line. Designers Otl Aicher and Hans Guglelot, lecturers at the school, established the Braun style and produced the blueprint for a comprehensively integrated programm of household electronics.
The Ulm school is represented in the exhibition by two pieces: Gugelot’s G 11 / G 12 record player and radio combination, issued in the 1955 the inaugural year of Braun Design, and Gugelot and Rams’ SK 4 phonosuper of the following year. This pair of foundational objects are the first encountered by the visitor.
Prüfplatte A 1, unattributed, ca 1960
An in-house design department was established at Braun in 1960; Dieter Rams was appointed its director in 1961. You can see from the pieces on the bridge shelf how the Ulm style was both retained and transformed in the products issued after the services of Ulm freelancers had been dispensed with. Post-1960 Braun designs remain orderly and rational, according to functionalist principles. But the first designs’ rather Scandinavian-modern references to nature are replaced by a more severe and emphatically industrial material vocabulary.
Just as important was the transformation in the interrelation of individual designs. The Braun audio designs of the 1960s were no longer conceived as single items related to others in the programm by a more or less common aesthetic. Now, the program was thought of as a single integrated system consisting of functionally compatible elements under a fully unified aesthetic regime. In this way the entire Braun programm of the 1960s unfolded as a unitary modular system.
KF 21 coffee machine by Florian Seiffert, 1976
The examples presented in the main space have been selected to express the formal and functional unity and systematicity of the 60s Braun program. The audio designs of this period, all by Dieter Rams, may be divided into two groups: light weight turntables, small radios and speaker units, and larger more substantial system elements. The largest of these at the far end of the room is the Audio 1 integrated system sitting on the ‘kangaroo’ modular stand. Despite the formal variety, the distinctive characteristic of 1960s Braun Design is its overarching coherence. It all ‘locks’ together.
It’s interesting to think that at this time Dieter Rams was also drawing furniture designs on the same principles for production and sale by Vitsoe, then Vitsoe+Zapf. The idea was that audio design, furniture design (and toaster design for that matter) should fuse into a single interlocked whole – a total rational environment that we might imagine extending outwards to the design of buildings, districts and cities…
KM 3 mixer system by Gerd Alfred Müller, 1957
Because space is limited the emphasis of the exhibition is placed on audio products. However, the Braun program of the 1960s also encompassed extensive kitchen, misc. household, lighter, dry shaving and photography ranges. The pair of ‘Das Braun Programm’ posters by the till presents something of this scope.
As in the audio segment, these products related to every other as parts of a rational, aesthetically unified whole. Indeed, the graphic design of these posters itself, in its systematic arrangement on a grid, contributes to this unity, as did the design of every other piece of Braun printed material from packaging down to guarantee cards and instructions for use – see as examples the KF 1000 headphone and MX 1 111 child’s toy.
ABK 20 wall clock by Dietrich Lubs, 1985
Presented on the bay of shelves are a few iconic examples of Braun household products. Of these, Reinhold Weiss’ HL 1 multiwind desk fan and KMM 1 coffee grinder are particularly important. Weiss joined the Braun Company as a graduate of the Ulm School in 1960 and continued to practice systems design according to its original idea. Ram’s designs tended to be simple cubular forms. A tension between rational rigour and idiosyncrasy in the arrangement of control elements provides ‘interest’. Weiss’ designs, on the other hand, are both more fully abstract and three dimensional. The device is broken down into functionally discrete units – base, stem, motor block, fan head, cowl – that are then articulated as sculptural elements, a series of volumes, densities, textures and masses. The result is at once functionally and constructionally concrete, and highly abstract.
It’s interesting to compare Weiss’ functionalism with that of his colleague Gerd Alfred Müller, whose iconic KM 3 food processor sits on the top shelf. Müller articulates the functional elements of the device – motorblock/gearing/tool – with great clarity as distinct strata imposed upon a flowing organic form, a horizontally ordered series of cuts. This form encloses the bowl; notice how its lip aligns with the top edge of the gearing block. A distinctive feature of 1960s Braun Design is the fine balance struck between difference and identity. Rams, Weiss and Müller drew up designs with very distinct characters that nevertheless belonged unambiguously to a single programm.
Tonearmwaage tone arm scale by Dieter Rams, 1962
The period of Braun Design is defined as 1955 – 1995, beginning with the first of the modernist designs and ending when Dieter Rams stepped down as Director of the Design Department. However, our exhibition focuses almost entirely on designs issued before 1968. In 1968 the Gillette Company acquired a controlling share in Braun and thereafter stopped the economically irrational practice of cross-subsiding product lines. In particular, profits from the dry shaving sector, which made up the largest part of company earnings were no longer permitted to offset losses incurred by the grandiose design folly that was the Braun audio program.
Interesting as it was, outside a small group of German middle class intellectuals there just wasn’t the demand for it. Post-68 Braun Design was increasingly led by market research, which very quickly brought about the demise of the functionalist adventure in systems design. To be sure, great designs still continued to be produced at Braun after 1968. See for example the astonishing KF 21 coffee filter on the plinth opposite the shelves. But these tend to stand out as singular designs. Shaped by marketing requirements, what remained of the programm increasingly found itself reflecting existing conditions. Perhaps, the expansive ‘kangaroo’ system stand (of which only a small part is shown here) represents the last attempt at designing in a truly utopian mode, that is, one that reaches beyond what presently exists to something qualitatively new…
Under the present stewardship of Proctor and Gamble, owners of the Gillette Company, Braun continues to extend the company tradition of offering products of the highest quality in terms of design and manufacture. Its offering is now almost entirely restricted to personal grooming. Recently, a number of interesting discontinued products of the Braun Design period have been re-issued. Amongst these are Rams’ DW 30 digital watch of 1979, Dietrich Lubs’ AB 30 vs alarm clock and Rams and Lubs’ superb ET 66 calculator. These are displayed for sale in the till area.
6a Architects abstracted Paul Smith‘s hand drawings to create a repetitive relief pattern of interlocking circles to cast in iron, a common material around the British capital.
“Cast iron forms an understated background to the city’s streets; its railings, gratings, balconies, and lamp posts,” said the architects.
Thin edges of the circles are embossed to cast shadows across the surface, which is patinated and marked from the casting process.
The facade covers an existing eighteenth century shop front, and its colour and style provides a sharp contrast to the other Georgian buildings in the Mayfair area of London.
Three small drawings by Smith have been cast directly into sections across the facade.
Curved glass cabinets protrude through the ironwork to display items of furniture, set against a white background.
At the entrance to the shop, the panels curve inward to the large stained oak doors.
The new Albemarle Street shop front for Paul Smith builds on a familiar material tradition in London. Cast iron forms an understated background to the city’s streets; its railings, gratings, balconies, and lamp posts. Paul’s brief was an eclectic collection of references, images, textures and traditions, encompassing military medals, woven hats and finely drawn gold ingots alongside sharp tailoring, the soft fall of cloth, craftsmanship and delight in surprise.
The ground floor rustication of the Georgian townhouse and the ornamental language of the 18th century shop front were reinterpreted and abstracted in a sinuous pattern of interlocking circles cast into a new solid iron facade. The repetition of the typical Regency shape brought an optical complexity, which with the play of sunlight and shadow turns the pattern into a deep surface texture. Seen obliquely it seems woven, like a fine cloth.
The surface is further enlivened by the latent makers’ marks of the casting process and the natural patination of the cast iron. A more intimate discovery is to be made in the trio of small drawings by Paul cast directly into panels scattered across the façade.
Curved windows project from the darkly textured iron as luminous vitrines, with a nod to the curved glass of the nearby arcades. A secret door of stained oak lies flush with the cast iron panels: the inverted carving of the timber recalls the mould and sand bed prepared for the molten metal.
The cast iron panels curve in to the recessed oak entrance door, a gently bowed iron step evokes worn away treads. Over time, the iron threshold will polish under foot, recording the life of the building in its material.
British fashion designer Paul Smith has extended his Albemarle Street store in London to include a room lined with dominoes and a patterned iron facade by 6a Architects (+ slideshow).
Paul Smith took over the building adjacent to his existing shop in London’s Mayfair district to create a new flagship store on the corner of Albemarle and Stafford streets, which opened last Friday.
Menswear, womenswear, accessories and furniture are all displayed across rooms of various sizes.
In some spaces garments are hung on simple metal rails and in others they are folded on wooden shelves.
Selected items are laid out on tables with sculptural wood tops and thick metallic stands.
Square wood tiles are used for the floor in the men’s zone, with ceramic tiles and timber planks in womenswear areas.
In the accessories room 26,000 dominoes line the walls, forming a pattern of scattered dots that looks like an encrypted code.
The dominoes are flipped over where used above shelves to provide a less chaotic background to display the accessories against.
Red picture frames and a blue staircase match the colourful upholstery of Paul Smith’s furniture.
London studio 6a Architects designed a bespoke cast iron store front based on Smith’s hand drawings.
Transparent cylindrical pods protrude through gaps in the iron panels and act as display cases for furniture pieces.
The basement has also be turned into a flexible gallery space and will host a series of exhibitions throughout the year.
The imposing facade incorporates Paul’s hand drawings in bespoke cast iron panels designed in conjunction with 6a architects.
The interior is decorated with an eclectic mix of stunning design pieces and intricate details, such as the 26,000 dominos covering the accessories room walls.
Significantly extending the pre-existing Paul Smith shop on the corner of Albemarle and Stafford Street, the new space expands into the neighbouring building and will sell clothing and accessories for men and women as well as a selection of furniture.
The basement has been converted into a flexible gallery space that will host the work of various artists throughout the year, starting with Walter Hugo’s portraits during Frieze art fair.
Dezeen Wire: in a review for The Guardian, architecture critic Jonathan Glancey says that the new Maggie’s centre in Nottingham is like something out of a fairytale and “is clearly designed to make visitors smile” – The Guardian
Glancey claims that architect Piers Gough of CZWG and fashion designer Paul Smith, who was responsible for the interior, have triumphed in their attempt at creating a homely environment for those affected by cancer, adding: “From a purely architectural and design point of view, few hospital buildings – this side of the other eight Maggie’s Centres built in Britain since the 1990s – are as welcoming.”
British architect Piers Gough of CZWG and fashion designer Paul Smith have completed the latest Maggie’s Centre for cancer care in Nottingham, UK.
Maggie’s Nottingham is located beside Nottingham City Hospital and is scheduled to open next week.
The walls of the building comprise four interlocking ovals, elevated above the ground and clad in green glazed tiles.
Paul Smith furnished the centre, adding brightly coloured walls and patterned armchairs to sitting rooms, a library and therapy rooms.
Like other Maggie’s Centres, the building also includes a large kitchen, where those affected by cancer are invited to come for a cup of tea and a chat. Maggie’s was founded fifteen years ago and his is the second of three centres opening in the UK this year, following one recently completed in Glasgow by OMA.
Here’s some more information from Maggie’s:
Fashion designer Sir Paul Smith, architect Piers Gough and Sarah Brown to open Maggie’s Nottingham on Wednesday, November 2.
The official opening heralds a new era of cancer care and support for people affected by cancer across the Nottingham region, bringing hope and solace to thousands.
Located next to the Breast Institute at Nottingham City Hospital, Maggie’s Nottingham will complement the treatment on offer at the hospital, offering an evidence-based programme of support to help people through the emotional and practical complexities of a cancer diagnosis.
The centre, part of Maggie’s Joy of Living campaign, of which Sarah Brown is the patron, is the ninth Maggie’s Centre in the UK and is designed by architect Piers Gough CBE, Founding Partner at CZWG Architects llp.
The near symmetrical design and generous height allows Maggie’s Nottingham to have a sense of space and balance. The elevated oval building of glazed ceramic tile floats over a smaller basement, with plants growing up the sides. Balconies will extend from the kitchen and sitting rooms and provide places from which to look out onto the landscape, which is designed to use scent and texture to create a secluded and uplifting area for people to enjoy.
Piers Gough said: “The light, peaceful and non-institutional design of Maggie’s Nottingham will be a sanctuary for all those who walk through the door. Sheltered by trees, the centre will be a homely, comfortable space next to the busy hospital, where anyone affected by cancer can come to relax. The centre is a safe space where visitors can engage with nature while being sheltered from the elements. From the outside the playful appearance will entice people to take a look through the door; once they do the harmony of light and space will create a uniquely welcoming environment.”
Piers Gough CBE is a well-known architect and was a personal friend of Maggie’s founder, Maggie Keswick Jencks. He is famous for his bold and imaginative architecture and has created a playful, open plan design for Maggie’s Nottingham.
Nottingham-born fashion designer Sir Paul Smith has designed the interior for Maggie’s Nottingham. His design will include photos taken during his travels round the world.
He said: “I am delighted to be involved in creating this centre for people living with cancer and their family and friends. It will be a great resource for everyone and a fantastic new addition to the city. Piers Gough is an incredible architect and it has been a joy to work together on the design.”
Maggie’s Nottingham will serve the Mid Trent Cancer Network, situated next to the Breast Institute at Nottingham City Hospital. The Mid Trent Cancer Network covers the populations of Nottingham, North Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire – an area of approximately 1.3 million people. Within this area, there are over 4,000 new cases of cancer a year.
Maggie’s Chief Executive Laura Lee said: “People across the region have put a tremendous effort into fundraising to make this centre a reality and today the local community should be proud of the lasting legacy they have created for the thousands affected by the devastating consequences of cancer. Our thanks must go to The Nottingham Post and Lynette Pinchess who have been fantastic in raising awareness and rallying support within the community.
“Maggie’s proven programme of support will act as an antidote to the isolation and despair of a cancer diagnosis. Piers Gough has designed a truly unique environment, which will help to facilitate this support, by making people feel safe, inspired and valued. Under one extraordinary roof, Maggie’s will help people to find their way out of the hopelessness of cancer.”
To celebrate the opening of Maggie’s Nottingham, Paul Smith has designed an exclusive pair of bone china mugs which are inspired by the homely interior he has created for Maggie’s. Available in two designs, the mugs feature a ‘Dog at Home’ and a ‘Cat at Home’ print and are available from Paul Smith’s Willoughby House Shop in Nottingham and online at www.paulsmith.co.uk. 20 per cent of sales will be donated to Maggie’s.
2011 is a landmark year for Maggie’s, as the charity celebrates its 15th birthday and its growth to 15 centres which are either open or in development. In the space of 15 years, Maggie’s has helped nearly half a million people to build a life with, through and beyond cancer. There are three new centres opening this year which will greatly increase the level of support available to the growing cancer population of the UK.
Dezeen podcast: in this podcast recorded at his London headquarters, fashion designer Paul Smith talks about recent projects, his rise to fame and the weird and wonderful contents of his studio. (more…)
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