Vitruvius disliked unreality. The ancient Roman architect, engineer and town planner promoted firmitas, utilitas, venustas – solid, useful, beautiful architecture. And the decorative arts, he argued, must follow realism. In his seventh book Vitruvius rails against the...
Just weeks to wait until the Salone Internazionale del Mobile welcomes the world to the annual design exposition. Spread across the city but centred in the Brera district, one of the focal points is La Pelota where the UK's designjunction will present EDIT. Rather...
Woven in linen and cotton Red Meander was designed by Anni Albers, famed alumnus of the Bauhaus in Germany and founding faculty member at the legendary Black Mountain College in North Carolina. It was she who can be credited with developing and disseminating a...
Humans since 1982 are a Stockholm-based design group. Their studio name is based on their date of birth, which causes your scribe to ask what were they before 1982? Too imponderable for a short essay. More ponderable is 1982 is the year famed Swedish photographer...
Raw-Edges say "picnic in an enchanted forest", your scribe envisions Moomins in a Finnish forest. Either way it means one thing. The talented folk at Raw-Edges have done it again. Commissioned by Kvadrat to design the firm's stand at the 2013 Stockholm Furniture Fair...
The cow as villain is probably urban myth, but Chicago's reputation as a lodestone for architectural excellence began after the conflagration in 1871 when a bovine was blamed for bowling over a lantern and setting the city ablaze. Bold buildings soon followed and the...
The Alf Onnie curtain shop in East Ham, London, was on its uppers. Established in 1920, the family owned curtain company was one net curtain away from financial disaster. But then along came Alex Polizzi. Star of BBC television reality show The Fixer, Polizzi uses her...
Go on. Lean deep into the hairpin curve. Forza Tappeti Rug Revolution 2013 at the Salone Internazionale Del Mobile, Milan will be an exhilarating ride. Celebrating its second successive year at the Salone, Forza Tappeti is a COVER magazine exhibition presenting the...
DOMOTEX 2013 visitors voted "Diversity" by Angelo Contemporary Rugs, Belgium. as the people's favourite. Representing the diversity of humanity, the rug is handknotted from recycled wool and viscose. The designers say Diversity "stands up for the idea that it is only...