For the last issue of Esprit magazine we have prepared another text and illustration. This time on hidden organic architecture from the 1950s and 1960s featuring 8 unique houses from all round the world.

Cruising around wonderful design galleries in Paris is one of the best activities for us. Right now we have discovered some older pictures which we took one day when galleries were closed. The result is "Behind the Reflection" editorial presenting some extraordinary pieces of vintage furniture behind the windows of the closed galleries.

The Journal from Tacchini was the best print presentation which we have seen at Fiera during the last month Salone del Mobile in Milan.

Italian brand Tacchini has surprised us very much with its beautifully designed and art directed third issue of The Journal which features its new furniture collection. Designed by Barazzuol/Malisan, styled by Gabriella Zecca and photographed by Andrea Ferrari, The Journal is minimalist yet playful design catalogue highlights with the new re-edition of Bianca armchair by Italian modernist Franco Albini. The armchair was originally designed by Albini in 1939 for Villa Monzino on Lake Como.

Claesson Koivisto Rune, Gordon Guillaumier and Patrick Norguet with their new product are also included.

Congratulation for this beautiful publication.

Our small curated survey of the actual take on postmodernist aesthetic in the contemporary design, architecture, fashion, graphics or advertisement. Is postmodernism back?

Last month on Salone del Mobile we have exhibited our Mollino book in the installation of Fulvio and Napoleone Ferrari at 10 Corso Como concept store.

Small presentation of the curators from Casa Mollino, who also had collaborated on our book, has included some of the publications on Carlo Mollino as well as shelve with some objects referring to the designer and his work. The installation was a brief invitation for exhibition called Carlo Mollino, Mollino Pharmacy which is now on show at Nottingham Contemporary museum in UK. It includes our book as well. More info soon.

Thanks for the opportunity to exhibit in the legendary concept store and mainly thanks to Fulvio Ferrari (pictured above) for his kind collaboration during our architecture and design adventurous in Italy.

Animals which we have seen at Salone del Mobile in Milan last month.

Commissioned by Depot Basel from Basel, Switzerland, Radical Sitting, Hidden Experiments in Seating Furniture 1900 - 1990

 is an illustrated curated book including timeline of some of the lesser known, but really interesting experiments in the seating furniture designed during the 20th century. The project was created for SEATS 05 exhibition at Depot Basel.

For its photo-shooting we have teamed up with photographer Jaroslav Moravec and Prague-based Vitra showroom, where we have shot this series of pictures including beautiful Vitra chairs miniatures. The result are "surrealistic" still lives where miniature chairs create compositional background for lesser known icons of the 20th century design, this time in the form of our publication only. Maybe sometimes, they will have their own miniatures too.


Text from the publication:

Presented in the context of the SEATS 05 exhibition project by the Depot Basel gallery, which focuses on unusual forms of contemporary seating furniture, this concise publication deals with various principles of lesser known experimental seating furniture made from 1900 to 1990. We search for hidden icons from the history of design over the last century that still offer a fresh perspective on the theme of sitting in its diverse forms. 



Radical Sitting, Hidden Experiments in Seating Furniture 1900 – 1990 brings together a time axis of 25 various pieces of seating furniture from the whole world. Chairs, armchairs, stools, chaise longues, and sofas tell stories of designers and artists and their perpetual urge to experiment and make formal or functional innovations in the field of sitting. Thus, our selection introduces clear historical contexts into the current exhibition project by the Depot Basel gallery and strives to present lesser known designer works, which not only enrich our knowledge in the field of applied arts, but also stir inspiration in contemporary designers who look for the new, undiscovered, unconventional, and experimental as their predecessors did. Our selection could certainly include a myriad of other brilliant designs that are probably more famous than the ones presented here. However, our selection deliberately concentrates on less commonplace designs. Apart from other things, we wish to demonstrate the fact that designer innovation has not always been in the hands of the most renowned iconic designers, as one might conclude from the current interpretation of the development of design.


The following pages show a conceptually created selection of experimental seating furniture, which strives to set up a continuous historical line and highlight essential innovations in the field of sitting in various periods, as well as reveal genuine unique pieces that were without parallel in their time. All the examples depicted herein are characterized by visual or functional distinctiveness or uniqueness no matter what issue is tackled – whether a chair should have eight legs or just one is addressed, or whether it features an innovative functional solution. Each style is represented by the most interesting unique pieces found during the course of our research. We also attempt to provide an even geographical representation in order to create an overall global perspective of the given issue. 



Last but not least, our brochure should serve the designers themselves – they could use it as a “source book” for their production and find, with a little help, the right path to set out on. The rear part contains several empty pages that function as a notepad. If you take interest in something from our selection or find inspiration in it, you can immediately make notes. Radical Sitting, Hidden Experiments in Seating Furniture 1900 – 1990 is far from aspiring to create a comprehensive study on radical seating furniture. On the contrary, it outlines an unknown history to current professionals and laypersons, creates contexts, and at the very least, presents truly unique designer works that deserve our attention.

Thanks Matylda Krzykowski, Depot Basel, Vitra and Jaroslav Moravec.

There are two elegant lightning solutions for table from French VIA.

Inspired by mountaineering and vintage workwear fashion, this rucksack from Pierre Hardy is the masterpiece of the blending of styles.

Pierre Hardy has incredible ability to highlight important iconic features and use them in his own fashion way. This bag for Spring/Summer 2012 has an authentic vintage shape, but with the use of the strong flashy colors and typical graphic bold lines so typical for Hardy, rucksack becomes so fresh with the caricature-like atmosphere almost. And that is the point where high fashion meets classic shapes and creates its own original style.

At the Kvadrat party celebrating their Hallingdal 65 project held last month in Milan we have met very friendly New York-based designer Stephen Burks of Readymade Projects.

Burks is famous for his use of raw materials, craft producing techniques, use of textile, as well as colorful exotic style inspired by traditional African visuality and production. We have met him during the party at Kvadrat Hallingdal 65 project in Jil Sander showroom. Wonderful collection of many objects designed by international crowd of talents, including Burks, and using iconic Hallingdal 65 textile, which was designed in 1965 by Nanna Ditzel, was one the highlights of Milan show.

But now we are more interested in the visuality and whole lifestyle of Stephen Burks, who wears special edition Converse x Missoni Auckland Racer trainers. Their knitted surface is very similar to Burks products, which are characterized by strong use of colors, patterns and tropical motives as Missoni style also.

It is great to see that the designer demonstrates his creative style in his fashion as well. As a small context to it we present here Play screen, which Burks has designed for Kvadrat Hallingdal 65 project.