Letter from Norway

The recent series of 'Norwegian Wood' projects has impressed with its experimental sustainable designs in wood. This innovative open-air stage has become a focal point in the centre of the municipality of Sandnes. The glass roof covers a level, flexible space, creating an acoustic shelter within the open public square - sound is amplified during concerts and background noise is reduced. The semi-transparent roof structure is supported on bunched columns in slender sections of solid, untreated oak – reminiscent of a cluster of trees. (September 2008)

Krzentowski collection at La Galerie des Galeries

The Galerie Lafayette, a Parisian institution for nigh on a century, has long been nurturing the raw creative talents of artists and designers alike.

In turn, the latest pioneering show set to grace its hallowed halls, Today More Than Yesterday and Less Than Tomorrow, is a model collaboration between two of the champions of the design underdog.

The show will present a selection of cherry-picked work from Didier and Clemence Krzentowski's seminal collection of design. Gradually accumulated over the last thirty years, the vast collection is one of the most influential and comprehensive in the world.

The Lafayette, more specifically La Galerie des Galeries (the top floor of the former), will - from the beginning of this month - host an exhibition of 164 pieces from the Krzentowski's collection.

Didier and Clemence, with the assistance of their own institution the Gallery Kreo, (now in its tenth year), have accrued some of the most prolific pieces of design ever produced.

The pioneering pair founded Gallery Kreo as a means of supporting, informing and fostering design talent - regularly resulting in creative collaborations between the Krzentowski's and their countless proteges.

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow, will be divided into sections representing 7 domestic locales (kitchen, office, bedroom etc) in order for viewers to appreciate each object in its own 'habitat'.

Resultantly, the fluidity of the Krzentowski's collective process is made astoundingly evident. Like a living, breathing mass, the collection can, in the words of the gallery, 'never be a finished whole'.

With work by industry heavyweights ranging from Le Corbusier to Hella Jongerius and Marc Newson to Rudolpho Benetto - the array of design on show is set to be a true reflection of the Krzentowski's enduring passion and, of course, their impeccable taste.

Regium Waterfront project, Italy, by Zaha Hadid

The upcoming Maxxi National Modern Art museum in Rome will be the first Italy project by Zaha Hadid to be completed in 2009, but meanwhile the architect has a growing number of ongoing projects all over the country, including a modern art museum in Cagliari, a housing block in Florence and a train station in Naples. Last week, one more was added to the list, when the agreement for the Regium Waterfront project was officially signed at the Italian embassy in London.

The complex, realised with private as well as public funding, will consist of two different buildings; a Museum of the Mediterranean History and a multifunctional building for performing arts, including a library, auditoriums, gym, craft workshop areas and a cinema. Keeping its connection with the Reggio Calabria area strong, the museum will be devoted to one of the most famous people coming from the region, Gianni Versace.

Website
http://www.zaha-hadid.com

Q&A with architect and director of Llewelyn Davies Yeang, Ken Yeang

Malaysian-born architect and director of Llewelyn Davies Yeang, Ken Yeang has been synonymous with skyscraper design for years; and his focus, embracing the growing demands of green design, swiftly developed into an extended analysis for the contemporary eco-skyscraper. He insists that in order to be both ecologically sustainable and high rise, a building needs to be the perfect balance between engineering infrastructure and mimicking nature - Yeang approaches each building as an addition to the earth’s living, breathing eco-system. Adopting techniques used in urban planning to analyse sites horizontally, he proposes their almost literal vertical application on skyscraper design – from circulation analysis, to vertical green zones.

In his new book, Eco Skyscrapers, the architect touches on aspects of his green design theory and presents stages of his 30-year-long research, through a plethora of plans, models, sketches, details and diagrams.


INFORMATION
Eco Skyscrapers, by Ken Yeang, (ed. Ivor Richards) Images Publishing

Website
http://www.ldavies.com

MINI Design Competition 4

Design, Enter, Win: New Design Competition
Time to get out your cameras, pens, paper, and other design artillery and get crackin' on the newest MINI Space design competition. The theme is "Always Open."

Your designs will be shown on MINI Space where the top three will be chosen by the MINI Design team. In addition, MINI Space users can vote for their favorites, and the most popular design will win a Wacom tablet.
Prizes (click for info)
1st - Apple Macbook Air
2nd - Canon digital camera
3rd - Design book by PHAIDON press
4th (Popular Vote) – A Wacom Design Tablet 20 top finalists will receive recognition on MINI Space.
Creative Briefing/Some Tips for You
Reinterpret the topic "Always Open" by designing a background for the MINI Space website. We took our inspiration for this theme from the MINI Cabrio Campaign, but your work does not need to feature the MINI brand, or even the MINI car to win. Our theme can be taken literally, but it certainly doesn’t have to be. When you think "Always Open," you can think of anything from a flashing neon sign in front of a shop late at night, to a creative mind hard at work, always open to new ideas and new channels of inspiration. Remember, in the end, this is still about creative use of space, and since your space is your computer background, we want you to think creatively, but also logically, about using it. Keep in mind that the left side of each uploaded background will always be covered up by MINI Space content. Think about how your design can work with the format of the site and fit with the content that is already there. We want your designs to be seen clearly by all our users. So maybe you want to use vector graphics and photos to create a really stunning and original design, or maybe you want to use other forms of expression, such as collage, drawing, sculpture, or typography. The voting system is now updated but the competitive design edge remains the same, so go for it! To sum up: - Designs should be created to work both as a background image for the homepage of MINIspace.com and as a stand-alone image.
- The design can be made out of any type of still media (photographic, illustration, graphic, etc.) as long as you have the rights to all design elements that you use.
- You are welcome to use MINI material in your design but it is NOT necessary nor will it increase your chances of a win.
- Your image should be 1280x800 pixels in size and JPG format.

Deadline
Upload at least one (and up to 9) design/photo until 1st of April 2009, 11:59am GMT.

Link:

http://www.minispace.com/en_us/background/?country

Wallpaper* Select Prints

Wallpaper* Selects

Wallpaper* magazine works with the most exciting and acclaimed photographers in the world, despatching them to far flung corners to shoot boldly and beautifully. Now you have the chance to own limited edition prints of our unique archive of work by Jonathan de Villiers, Mauricio Alejo, Jonathan Frantini, Christopher Griffith, Stefan Ruiz, Daniel Stier, Benedict Redgrove and Joël Tettamanti.

A collaboration between Wallpaper* and contemporary art publishers Eyestorm, Wallpaper* Selects offers you the opportunity to start collecting some of the most compelling contemporary photography, produced in editions of 10, 20 or 30 and signed and numbered by the artists. All of the works have appeared in Wallpaper*, having been commissioned especially for the magazine, but have never before been available to buy.

http://www.eyestorm.com/wallpaperselects

Rooikop

For the quirkiest designer accessories, and interior elements, with sustainability and conscience!

Rooikop (Afrikaans for Red head) is the brainchild of Zoe Willems - Eco entrepreneur deluxe!
And as her red hair was often the cause of ridicule - it is now her brand with endless opportunities! So too the humble plastic bag, despised for its contribution to the landfill is transformed, to become a beautiful designer bag

On the weekend of the 19-22 of Feb Rooikop was launched at the Homemakers expo, and the response was phenomenal!
Our growing product range includes designer handbags, and interior elements i.e. lamps.

Rooikop's Products are mainly manufactured from recycled plastic packets.
So you, yes YOU, buying one sexy bag, equates to 16 less plastic packets in your local landfill!
We will be opening a recycling centre in the near future.

We know that you will enjoy the gallery of images or visit our site (www.rooikop.co.za)

And be encouraged! By the fact that one creative idea has led us to do our bit towards saving the planet!

Contact Details
Website: http://www.rooikop.co.za
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

Le Corbusier cards, by Stefi Orazi

Cité de Refuge, Paris, Le Corbusier (1929 - 1933)


Illustrator Stefi Orazi has for some time been taking inspiration for her work from icons of modernist architecture and design across her home city of London, so it wasn't suprising that she had started to look further afield.

INFORMATION
The cards cost £12 for a pack of six.

Website
http://www.thingsyoucanbuy.co.uk

ISCM World New Music Days 2009

ISCM World New Music Days 2009
in Sweden: Visby – Växjö – GöteborgSeptember 24 – October 4

The 2009 edition of ISCM World New Music Days will be held in Sweden between September 24 and October 4. The festival will move through three cities, each with a strong contemporary music profile. The first part will be in medieval Visby on Gotland, the meeting place in the Baltic Sea, the second one in Växjö and the Kingdom of Glass and the last one in Sweden’s gateway to the western seas and the Continent, namely Göteborg. The artistic theme for the 2009 festival is Listen to the World!

Second Solar spaceship, Germany

The small German city of Böblingen is now home to what might be the world’s biggest and most elaborate children’s toy. The Second Solar spaceship, designed by Different Futures and constructed for the Sensapolis fun park earlier this year, is a three-level, 850 sq m interactive replica of a real shuttle, albeit one better suited to exploration of the cognitive rather than the galactic variety.

Website
http://www.sensapolis.de

Address
Flugfeld-Allee
Böblingen-Sindelfingen