Metalworks, designing & making
Within the framework of European Capital of Culture 2022, held in Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg), I have curated and designed the exhibition ‘Metalworks, designing & making’ at the Konschthal in the city of Esch.
Esch was at the center of the European steel industry over the past hundred years or so and its heritage is shaped by the industry, offering an very poignant context to the exhibition subject.
For this project some forty contemporary design objects have been selected and divided into sixteen fabrication categories, each one of them exploring a particular method of processing metal.
Highlighting the diversity inherent to the material and the creative approaches, the different categories range from craft to high-tech. Each object has been carefully chosen for its intrinsic qualities and for its strong visual expression: They explicitly illustrate the manufacturing process by way of their form or finishing.
The exhibition illustrates how a material in combination with creativity and technical innovation lead to countless formal possibilities and encourage new exploration.
Participating designers:
Ron Arad, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Destroyers/Builders, Christophe De la Fontaine ( Dante Goods and Bads), Tom Dixon, Konstantin Grcic, Thomas Heatherwick, Jakob Jørgensen, Xavier Lust, Sigve Knutson, Max Lamb, Joris Laarman Lab, Philippe Malouin, Muller van Severen, PELLE, Lewis Power, Maarten van Severen, Studio Swine, Jonas Trampedach, Danny Venlet, Michael Young, Oskar Zieta.
Additionally, the Konschthal has edited a book in conjunction with the exhibition, published by London based Sternberg Press and available here: sternberg-press.com/product/metalworks/
Curation, exhibition scenography & design: Georges Zigrand Design Consultancy
Co-curator: Charlotte Masse, Konschthal
Graphic design: Laurent Daubach / Designbureau
Signage & street furniture design
After developing a comprehensive urban signage and wayfinding concept for the Kirchberg area in Luxembourg-city, the scheme has now been implemented at all strategic locations & tram stations across the area.
The graphics, information and city map have been developed in compliance with stringent future accessibility guidelines and go way beyond the standards in terms of contrast and readability requirements.
The implementation and future changes of the map can be done independently by the client within their existing IT capabilities to ensure the high level of adaptations required for a fast changing urban area.
The overall concept consists of a system of bespoke designed elements, adapted to different urban scales and their context. The illustrated Morris column type street furniture is also bespoke and build in mostly untreated aluminium to enable the recycling of the raw material without additional treatments.
Client: Fonds Kirchberg, Luxembourg
Concept & design strategy: Georges Zigrand Design Consultancy
Graphic design: Laurent Daubach, Designbureau
mirror mirror, cultural reflections in fashion
mirror mirror, cultural reflections in fashion is a temporary exhibition at Mudam, Contemporary Art Museum of Luxembourg. It is showing the in-house fashion design collection acquired over the last 25 years. Some truly visionary pieces that have become iconic for its time.
We designed this exhibition in a space never before been fully used for this purpose due to its architectural presence, challenging light and lack of possibilities to fix or hang anything. We hijacked some architectural elements and played with the space to connect and oppose the different works. The display follows a fluid path of crossovers and intersections, reflecting the hybrid nature of these pieces and creating a dialogue between them.
Artists:
Hussein Chalayan
Helmut Lang
Martin Margiela
Hiroaki Ohya
Grit and Jerszy Seymour
Walter Van Beirendonck
Junya Watanabe
Bernhard Willhelm
Exhibition dates: 30 Oct 2021 – 24 Apr 2022
Collection: Mudam
Curator: Sarah Zigrand
Scenography: Georges Zigrand
You are here
After developing a comprehensive wayfinding concept for the Kirchberg area in Luxembourg-city, and a prototype at the Central Parc, we have now rolled-out the first module of our system at the Place de l’Europe. The overall concept consists of a family of modules adapted to different urban scales and their context. The implementation of the signage system across the area is planned over the coming 12 months.
Graphics, text and city map have been developed in compliance with stringent future accessibility guidelines and go way beyond the standards in terms of contrast and readability requirements.
Any future changes of the map can be done independently by the client within their existing IT capabilities to ensure the high level of adaptations required for a fast changing urban area.
Client: Fonds Kirchberg
Concept & design strategy: Georges Zigrand Design Consultancy
Graphic design: Laurent Daubach, Designbureau
When car users become pedestrians again..
After developing a comprehensive new signage strategy & design manual for all the city of Luxembourg’s car parks (almost 20 different structures), Fort Neipperg, the first renovated car park has now opened to the public with our implemented design strategy.
Our user-focused approach has been to establish a clear hierarchy of the information and to prioritise on the more vulnerable, pedestrian user ( the driver / user outside the car). We separated the signage system for drivers & pedestrians for clarity and reduced the graphic interventions & colours to a strategic minimum to maximise their effectiveness. Our main aim was to make the perception of the space and the navigation within the space as intuitive as possible.
Floor level information consists of a range of carefully selected bright colours, in conjunction with illustrations and large scale numerals. They are only indicated on the exit stairs bloc, creating an intuitive ‘visual pull’ towards them.
Client: Ville de Luxembourg, Service Ouvrages d’Art, Génie Civil, Constructions
Concept & design strategy: WW+ Architektur & Georges Zigrand Design Consultancy
Graphic design: Laurent Daubach
Illustrations: Linda Bos
Twist & turn
It started as a custom designed & developed LED standing light for the Chateau de Bourglinster, commissioned by the Ministry of Culture in Luxembourg. Now the project has developed into a series of products featuring dimmable and continuously rotating LED discs with bespoke electronics fitted to a CNC turned wooden stand.
Concept & design: Georges Zigrand Design Consultancy
Lighting engineering: integratedlight UK
Kulturhuef – Printing Museum, Gutenberg reloaded
In collaboration with graphic designer Laurent Daubach we have designed a permanent exhibition about the history of printing for the Kulturhuef in Grevenmacher, Luxembourg. The pièce de résistance of the exhibition is a timeline with integrated showcases, spanning over the whole length of the main gallery. The timeline gives the visitor an educationally valuable overview of technical and related political changes from the beginnings of printing up to the 21st century.
Old meets new
In collaboration with the Service National des Sites et Monuments Nationaux we are re-designing the interiors of the Chateau de Bourglinster, on the outskirts of Luxembourg-city. Until the project is completed, here a little sneak preview showing a partial prototype test of a custom designed & developed LED standing light for the castle. The light will be dimmable and feature continuously rotating LED discs with bespoke electronics fitted to a CNC turned wooden stand.
Home sweet home
A recent interior design project, finding the right balance between old & new, vintage & contemporary design, in the quest of ageing gracefully…
Follow me
In collaboration with Luxembourg based architects WW+ we have been commissioned by the city of Luxembourg – Service Ouvrages d’Art, Génie Civil, Constructions – to develop a signage concept & design manual to implement a comprehensive new signage system across potentially 15 public parkings owned by the city ( starting with the parkings Knuedler & Neipperg). A challenging task considering that the buildings have very different layouts and circulation principles.
Our user-focused approach has been to establish a clear hierarchy of the information and to prioritise on the, more vulnerable, pedestrian user ( the driver / user outside the car). We separated the signage system for drivers & pedestrians for clarity and reduced the graphic interventions & colours to a strategic minimum to maximise their effectiveness. Our main aim was to make the spacial perception and the navigation within the space as intuitive as possible.
Floor level information consists of a range of carefully selected bright colours, in conjunction with illustrations and large scale numerals. They are only indicated on the exit stairs bloc, creating an intuitive ‘visual pull’ towards them.
Graphic design: Laurent Daubach
Wiedersehen macht Freude
My deckchairs, fitted with a custom designed fabric which shows all the colours of the 28 EU member state flags proportionally ( see post ‘Work hard, play hard’ ), have re-surfaced this summer in the old town of Luxembourg City. A year after the Luxembourg Presidency of the European Council they have been distributed to several city centre sites and used as public space furniture over the summer months.
Unfortunately we might have to take some classic blue, red & white out for next year.
Graphics: Laurent Daubach
Romain Urhausen – a journey through space & time
In collaboration with the curator Marguy Conzémius from the CNA (Centre national de l’audiovisuel) and the London based graphic designer Melanie Mues, we have designed a retrospective exhibition of the luxembourgish photographer Romain Urhausen.
Romain Urhausen, born in 1930, has accumulated such an enormous bulk of work over his lifetime that one of the challenges was to fit a maximum of artworks into a rather challengingly small space. Furthermore, we thought that photographs, sculptures, inventions & design objects from the 50’s up to the 90’s deserve an analogue rather then a digital display solution. The visitor therefore is invited to discover in a hands-on and interactive way, a large number of artworks from the artist’s journey through space & time.
ROMAIN URHAUSEN – FOTOGRAF exhibition at the CNA Display 01 & 02 in Dudelange, open until 30.10.2016
Back to the stone age
The national heritage agency in Luxembourg (Service des Sites et Monuments Nationaux ) has asked me to design & develop a bespoke information panel system for two distinct archeological sites. Both sites are unsupervised, which required a simple and robust solution against weathering effects and vandalism.
The steel support structures have been designed as light & unobstrusive as possible to integrate them visually into the sensitive archeological sites.
The information panels are manufactured in the northern Vosges region in France, famous for its glass manufacturing tradition. The panels are made from vitreous enamel in one of the only remaining vitreous enamel factories in Europe. This traditional technique, where the graphics are silkscreened on low carbon steel and fired at up to 850 C°, is extremly hard-wearing, UV stable and weathering proof.
Client: SSMN (Service des Sites et Monuments Nationaux)
En collaboration avec le CNRA (Centre National de Recherche Archéologique)
Graphic design: Arnaud Mouriamé
Presidency of the European Council design project – part 2
The Presidency campfire meeting room, for the Luxembourg presidency of the European Council
By analysing the usually conventional set-up of meeting rooms for diplomats & heads of state one thing becomes clear, there is always a certain distance between the individual seatings – not too close and yet not too far away from your interlocutor. On this occasion I was able to challenge this status quo by creating a space where everybody had to decide for himself how close he or she wants to sit in relation to their interlocutor (and how good a friend he or she really is).
The ‘campfire’ is a space for people that share a common project & a common cause. A place where you can sit all night talking to friends, sorting out differences and coming out with a stronger bond… even if that looks like a difficult thing to achieve at this moment in time.
Presidency of the European Council design project – part 1
For the luxembourgish Presidency of the European Council from 01.07 – 31.12.2015 the Ministry of Culture has commissioned me to design three spaces in the Justus Lipsius building of the Council of Europe in Brussels.
This part of the project consists of an curiosity cabinet made from 45 individual front or back-lit boxes. The cabinet shows a more unusual side of luxembougish history & culture, mixing together an apparent random selection of oddities and stories from past and present. One of the aims was to focus on the people (artists, writers, film makers, cooks, engineers & inventors) but also institutions, industries & customs that contribute to the fabric of the country, showing a side that would be little known outside its borders.
The content has been developed in collaboration with the Ministry of culture and a booklet has also been produced to help the baffled visitors to understand the slightly obscure images & objects.
Last but not least, luxembourgish artists Paul Kirps and Filip Markiewicz have also produced specific artworks for the cabinet.
Click here to download the exhibition booklet
Graphic design: designbureau.lu
Lego style outdoor furniture for the almost grown-ups
Conventional tables and chairs wouldn’t have worked that well for the terrasse of my local hangout. The cultural centre Carrérotondes in Luxembourg, with its concerts, exhibitions, kids theatres and parties required a flexible way of sitting (and drinking). The Lego principle gives plenty of options on how to configure the modules, leaving it up to the user and the moment to choose how to use them.
Materials: Custom designed male & female rubber connectors combined with water resistant low-cost plywood.
Photo © Sven Becker
Max Planck Institute, Luxembourg
Some images of my latest interior & furniture design project for the new offices of the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law located in the Weicker Building in Luxembourg-city.
The building itself was designed by Richard Meier & Partners Architects, a building with a very specific formal identity. The challenge was to find a suitable visual language that fits the architecture and, at the same time, cover all the functionalities and representative needs required by this prestigious client – all of this within a framework of a EU wide open tender procedure. The result is a mix of products from high-end furniture manufacturers and a range of custom-designed objects to ensure a coherent visual language and quality throughout the building.
Developed in collaboration with Teisen-Giesler Architectes
Client: Max Planck Insitute Luxembourg
Office & library surface: 4500m2
Photos © Christian Mosar
Outdoor furniture – extra bold
Designed for outdoor spaces like nature reserves, parks & forests, this seating range is composed of large & chunky shapes with very simple profiles. The large – single piece – wood parts are made from locally sourced oak trunks with a simply sawn finish to resist weathering and vandalism. Due to its thickness, the wood can be sanded down if damaged but can also happily live with the added texture.
The wood profiles and tubular powder coated steel tubes are both an integral part of the structure and form objects with a strong visual contrast between natural and man made materials. The simple & sculptural shapes should integrate well in natural environments, yet stand out enough to be noticed for its quality.
Have a seat and enjoy
The City of Luxembourg commissioned us to develop an furniture and colour guidance manual for the terrasses on one of it’s most prestigious squares in the city centre. After many years of wild west behavior of the restaurants and cafés, using mostly cheap looking plastic furniture, branded umbrellas, primary colours and endless clutter the city wanted to clean up.
The new scheme, involving a selection of muted colours and more attractive furniture typologies has now been implemented, giving the square a more dignified and calm appearance while focusing on the quality of the space, the trees and the architecture.
One of press critics wrote at the time that we want to take colour and life out of the City, thankfully the chap in his all red training outfit plus hat has turned-up on my photo (on the right) to prove that it is not furniture & umbrellas that are creating a colourful city life!
Cheap & cheerful
Creating a street stall for a one day event to sell hand made scarves from Bangladesh is not my usual design brief, especially if the budget had to be kept at an absolute minimum. But there is always a way, even if it means going to the DIY shop..
Scarves designed by Luxembourgish designer Anne-Marie Herckes with the assistance of the Vocational Training and Employment Generation Project of the NGO ‘Friendship’.
Georges Zigrand Design Consultancy 
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