KØBENHAVN UPDATE BY FERGS.

This weeks post comes directly from Copenhagen by guest contributor Angela Ferguson.

The Gubi showroom is in the Freeport area of Copenhagen, located in a huge warehouse space of around 2000m2. Everything about the showroom is striking, from the large full scale windows with views out over the harbour, the beautiful wide plank timber floors, the elegant but spare graphics, the elevated timber boxes that serve as meeting rooms - even the staff toilets are divine. And of course there is the product itself.

The furniture in the showroom is predominantly black, which also adds impact. It means the furniture is the focus, and it also emphasizes the simplicity of the designs. The Gubi chair can be either upholstered or left ‘raw’, and it then has a number of different bases. Each base gives the chair a completely different look and function and it means the designer can essentially custom design their own chair.

Other products include storage, workstations, desks, meeting tables, training tables and a room divider. The collection also includes the Bestlite range of pendants, floor and table lamps, a Bahuas inspired light fitting designed by Robert Dudley Best in 1930 and still an iconic design piece today.

Gubi’s meeting table base is inspired by Hertzog and De Meuron’s Prada building in Aoyama, Tokyo and there is also a new bar stool called A3 that is incredibly comfortable and can be sat on forwards or sidewards.

Gubi also experiment with new materials, from a recycled PET product that is similar to felt once re-engineered, to a rubber table top and a sustainable 3D veneer product that used three times less material than usual. Gubi are all about innovation, not just in design but also in their use of new materials, and their products are fast becoming an essential component in many of the best designed projects around the world.

Thanks Fergs, hope you guys are having fun!

STAYING HOME IS THE NEW GOING OUT.

Due to “the new economic reality”, staying home is the new going out. This week we thought we needed some inspiration for sexing up our pads (like we needed another excuse).

Enjoy the weekend at home!

Images. Agent Bauer, Fritz Hansen, Hay

CRYSTAL IS THE NEW BLACK BEAUTY.

Anyone who remembers Stella McCartney’s horse collection for Chloe in 2001 knows she has a soft spot for the ponies. In 2004, Stella, created Lucky Spot, this Swarovski crystal “chandelier” installation for an exhibition and has now installed it at Belsay Castle in the U.K. for a special Easter engagement.

I should be so lucky to have a pony like that in my house, Richard, can you put one in the showroom?

Images. Bloomacious

FROM PROJECT RUNWAY TO PROJECT PK.

Supported by nearly everyone in the design community, Corporate Culture’s Project PK has now become bigger than Heidi Klum.

Project PK innovator Alex Baker comments on his idea and the concept's evolution.

“My background is fashion design and as an avid observer of popular culture was a big fan of the show Project Runway. At the time there was not the design spin off shows of today. So I evolved elements of the Project Runway format and created an event which was specific to our industry. I felt in the today's world a large proportion of design is done in CAD, this distances the designer from the raw matierals.

The majority of the furniture classics have resulted from taking the materials to the limits. The participants have to produce a scale model with an open brief from an array of materials. This takes them back to their roots of their student days, when there wasn't a client to effect the creative process. The designers now can fuse the enthusiasm of when they were a student and apply the knowledge and experience gained in the industry. Having a 75 minute time restraint on the process adds to the intensity of the teams creative bubble.

We are very fortunate to have the Godfathers of design at Corporate Culture with the likes of Hans J Wegner and Poul Kjaerholm and what better mentors to inspire Australian design. I recently attended Project PK Melbourne with the special guest Frederick Moller the VP in our region for Fritz Hansen the event was an eye opener and seeing the passion and work produced at the event exposes the talents of our designers to global brands.

Stay tuned for Project PK going International.”

Move over Michael Kors…

I'LL HAVE WHAT THEY'RE HAVING.

Created by Paris-based Agency Jouin Manku, this amazing 3,000m2 “residence” in Kuala Lumpur, was designed for one of Malaysia’s most powerful families.

The project is designed in 3 layers, base, ring and private house. Each has a distinct volume, which once assembled forms a unified whole. The base, for public functions, the ring, for guests and the private house for the family to inhabit.

“Inspired by the sophistication and richness of the spatial relationships found in Malaysia’s forest and natural landscape, they sought to incorporate not only the vegetation, but also the spatial qualities into the volumes of the project. The tension and harmony, spaces and voids, that exist between the three volumes (base, ring and house) define the character of the project.”

Images. Jouin Manku