Here’s one I did earlier
While clearing my cellar I stumbled over the box of furniture models from my diploma project dating back to 1998. Although this is a scarily long time ago I still like the design.
Above model of an office desk made from plywood & industrial rubber.
Seaside beauty
I am again and again fascinated by the beauty of engineering projects. This mold / matrix to cast a sea defence wall is one of these examples where the beauty of making these structures is almost more interesting then the final result. It also makes you wonder why not more adventures structures are being cast.
Beads & buttons fun
I saw this ingenious way of displaying buttons in a Madrid shop. The big wheely device looks more like something from a fun fair and turns at will in order to best view all the buttons on display.
This principle could also be used in many other contexts like interpretative devices in museums …etc. And of course as a way of visually displaying information on the i-phone…
paperJam TV set design
Luxembourg based media group ‘Maison Moderne’ has commissioned me to design a TV set for its new venture, paperJam TV.
The design concept is based on an intricate curtain wall featuring numerous cut-outs based on the pattern of the existing paperJam logo. The idea was to create a notion of visual depth and shadows that ‘texture’ the background in an otherwise extremely confined space (4,5m X 3,5m). The pattern also helps to blur the scale and make the space appear larger then it really is.
Additionally we installed RGB LED’s to graze up the walls behind the hanging ‘curtains’. These LED’s are individually addressable, enabling the background to be animated by gently pulsating and changing colour schemes.
Photo: © Olivier Minaire / Maison Moderne (TM)
paperJam TV: www.paperJam.TV
3D tiles
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Outdoor ceramic tiles in the public realm always fascinated me, especially if they are in relief. They seem to be such a good solution for buildings, street furniture and walls. There is an almost endless scope of design options; texture, pattern, light reflection, colour ..etc. The slide show shows examples from Belgium (Ostend), Portugal (Cascais) & France (Le Tréport).
If any reader knows of other fine examples, please let me know. I would like to collect more images and hopefully I can post a more comprehensive collection of examples in the near future.
Vacation-land
I found this 1952 tourism brochure at a car boot sale in Belgium. Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg – vacation-land is a great slogan, the land of leisure and pleasure! I also like the wood carving style font and the friendliness that transpires through the illustrations. Although the message is very simple I think it still works today!
Please check-out the post below with the map on the opposite side of this page.
Vacation-land 2
This is the map on the reverse of the 1952 brochure. Great wood carving style graphics, great colours, great graphic treatment of our neighbouring countries!
The tourist attractions in the 50′s seem overwhelmingly to centre around outdoor activities like walking, kayaking and hunting… all of that surrounded by deep woods and medieval castles. I can’t help thinking that this is still our most valued tourist capital (minus hunting), certainly in terms of branding & positioning. Whilst promoting the country as a shopping or contemporary arts destination still has some way to go we should cherish, cultivate and promote the real gems that are unique to Luxembourg.
Graphic designer: Pe’l Schlechter
Big in Japan
Road works barriers are rarely a pretty site in Europe, but if you live in Japan it is a whole different story. To the delight of the Japanese kids there seems to be an endless variation of cartoon animals that populate the roadside. Not sure it makes much more sense in terms of safety / visibility ..etc, but I guess fun is a good enough reason and you can’t really spoil a construction site with visual clutter either.
Photo © Pierre Filliquet
Volcanic eruption in a coffee cup
I recently acquired this coffee machine designed by Gaetano Pesce at a vintage design auction. Everybody I have shown it looked at me with disbelieve , not understanding why I would spend money on such an ‘ugly’ object.
I beg to differ! Beauty can be something that is not immediately recognised, something that grows slowly on you. The lack of ‘good design taste’ and perfect shapes creates an edginess that needs to be tamed before you can begin to appreciate it. I find the volcano iconography is also quite appropriate for a moka coffee maker…
In other words, it is an acquired taste, a bit like coffee.
Manufacturing pride
While driving through the Burgundy region in France I came across this beautiful old factory building in the small town of Génelard.
I really liked the confident, almost out of scale, presence of the signage on the building. On top of that the signage is not an after-thought but completely integrated into the architecture. Compared to many of today’s undistinguished manufacturing halls it also tells the story of an admirable industrial pride.
Back to nature
I have seen this type of benches before in forests and parks without really appreciating them. But the concept of a bench with a cast structure that mimics root wood, as disturbing as it looks, starts to grow on me. If you choose casting as a technique you can also open up to other shape typologies, no reason to keep the geometric language you pretty much have to respect if you fabricate something in any other standard way.
To then paint it in such a colour makes the bench almost eccentric, even if it goes against the initial idea of making the bench blend into its natural surroundings.
I also wondered if Maarten Baas came here on holiday one day…
Chez Jeannette
The more you can do with LED technology the keener I get of the old fashioned neon sign aesthetics. I saw this great neon sign in Paris above the bar of the Café Jeannette, rue du faubourg Saint Denis. I very much like the way it extends into an architectural feature delineating the space of the bar and not limiting itself to just be a sign.
It also made me think of the great Kraftwerk song ‘Neon Lights’:
Shimmering neon lights
And at the fall of night
This city’s made of light…
A proper cake shop
I really like the look and feel of this cake shop. After seeing so many ‘design’ cake shops and patisseries I found it refreshing to see a shop around the corner from where I used to live that focuses on the cakes and not on an over-designed interior or branding. Even the signage is hand painted on the window.
Of course this is also becoming trendy and its not such a new idea, but it still feels honest and works very well with the idea of selling home made cakes. Also, I like the fact that you can create a beautiful shop with almost no budget and a trip to the brocante. I would love to do a project like that.
- Cake shop in Victoria Park, East London
Shopping info point in Luxembourg city
A very small but dynamic, elegant and highly versatile space commissioned by the Union Commerciale de la Ville de Luxembourg.
Primarily it is a place where visitors can get any shopping information (opening hours, retail services, maps, customised shopping trails …etc) the city has on offer. Within that primary task of giving out information it is also a place where the city’s retailers can celebrate particular themes and organise special events & exhibitions.
Furthermore, the second aim of the space was to establish best practice retail design with innovative materials and finishes. The floor is made from two coloured resin floor (made from cast Polyurethane). The grey brown floor is split in the middle by a central band of white that invites the visitor in from the outside. This band is then folding up to create a central display made from thermoformed partially back-lit white Corian sheets.
By contrast, all the walls are lacquered in a warm dark and super mat Nextel paint finish. This material, often used on control panels and dashboards, is hard wearing and extremely light absorbing to minimise light reflections and emphasis the artifacts & displays. Moreover, the lighting is kept low to focus on the displays and create a beautiful museum like experience.
Cramped into an area of only 50m2 the space is packed with multiple functionalities while keeping a sober and high-quality appearance.
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Hokus Pokus
Here another fine example of a vintage kids furniture piece I recently bought. Named Hokus Pokus, this multifunctional furniture was manufactured in Sweden by AB Bjärnum Möbelfabriker. All in one, it is a high chair that becomes a rocking chair with steering wheel or a desk with seat, depending on how you flip it around. Every aspect and form has a purely functional ‘raison d’être’ which gives the object its visual complexity and its overall shape. This uncompromising and honest approach linking form and function makes this unusual object in my view very interesting.
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