Antipod Studio by Claudia Barana

Biography. Antipod Studio è stato fondato a Belgrado nel 2007 da Branko Nikolic, Petar Savic e Milan Stefanovic. Lo studio segue progetti multidisciplinari nei campi architettura, design e interior design. Tutti i soci hanno studiato architettura d’interni alla Belgrade Art University / Antipod Studio – founded in Belgrade 2007 by Branko Nikolic, Petar Savic, and Milan Stefanovic, following years of collaboration. The work involves multidisciplinary projects in the field of architecture, interior, and furniture design. Branko Nikolic (born 1978) studied interior architecture at the Belgrade Art University (graduated 2002). Petar Savic (born 1977), studied interior architecture at the Belgrade Art University (graduated 2002). Milan Stefanovic (born 1977) studied interior architecture at the Belgrade Art University (graduated 2001).

Product. Vime, Salone Satellite 2010. Una sedia tre piedi, 35x37x35 cm, composta da tre elementi uguali. Vime è un’interpretazione contemporanea dello sgabello, di ispirazione rurale. Un’ispirazione che nasce dalla combinazione di forme simmetriche prodotte al tornio. Una sedia facile da realizzare, eco-friendly. E adatta sia alla produzione industriale, sia alla manifattura semplice. È realizzata in legno: quercia, acero, noce / A three-legged stool, 35x37cm and 35cm high, that is comprised of three equal elements. Vime is a contemporary interpretation of side seating, obviously inspired by the rural. The idea was to achieve a contemporary form, but to remind us of the primeveal. The inspiration was combining symetrical forms produced on the turning-lathe. It is simple to make, eco-friendly, suitable for industrial production or simple manufacture. It is made of solid wood: oak, maple, walnut.

Why Design. A: Abbiamo deciso di fare design da giovanissimi. Credo che se a 14 o 15 anni ti piace disegnare o costruire delle cose, sia naturale diventare poi un designer o un architetto / A: We all decided to get involve in design at early age. I believe when you are 14 or 15, and you like drawing and making things, you eventually become a designer or an architect.

Workshop. A: Una piccola stanza con noi tre a lavorare a un grande tavolo / A: Small room with three of us seating at the large table.

Daytime. A: Prima delle 15, telefonate, disegni, mail; dopo le 15 normalmente discutiamo e facciamo brainstorming / A: Before 3 PM phoning, drawing, sending mails, after 3 PM usually talking and brainstorming. Sources. A: Ce ne sono così tante che è inutile nominarle tutte, e il numero sta persino crescendo / A: There is so many of them that is pointless to name them, and the number is growing.

Voting Material. A: Legno / A: Wood.

Other’s Design. A: “404″, la sedia disegnata da Stefan Diezs per “Thonet”. È così intelligente.

The Bad Master. A: Ce ne sono così tanti che è inutile nominarli tutti, e il numero sta persino crescendo / A: There is so many of them that is pointless to name them, and the number is growing.

Design to you. A: Ci piace fare design, semplicemente. Ci piace come quando avevamo 14 o 15 anni / A: I think that we just like doing it, simple as that. Like when we were 14 or 15.

Passport. RIBA International Awards Winners Announced.

100 words. Tre i finalisti dell’edizione 2010 dei Riba International Awards. Sono UK Pavilion x World Expo 2010 Shanghai by Thomas Heatherwick Studios, Timberyard Social Housing in Dublino by O’Donnell & Tuomey e l’Anchorage Museum in Alaska by David Chipperfield Architects. Il vincitore sarà proclamato il 29 giugno. Per ogni finalista c’è in gioco una presa di posizione sul costruito (senso del): orgoglio britannico per l’iperesposto riccio “ciainis”, architettura pensante (a una buona funzione) per il progettone di edilizia partecipata a Dublino, il progetto e la firma per il museo alaskiano di Chipperfield. Ogni direzione è valida. Purché dichiarata.

Passport. Galleria Lia Rumma, Via Stilicone 19, Milano.

100 words. Un cubo bianco alto oltre venti metri, più di mille cinquecento metri quadri progettati dallo studio CLS. Il coraggio di una nuova scommessa. Il rigore nell’aver scelto Ettore Spalletti per una mostra bellissima che lascia tempo al silenzio e al pensiero, al dialogo con lo spazio. La galleria ha le potenzialità di una Kunsthalle. Lia Rumma, l’energia per trasmormare una sfida in un programma. Grazie!

More from the artist. «Disporre i colori uno dopo l’altro per descrivere un’immagine, aprendo lo sguardo a luoghi sconosciuti… l’azzurro è un colore atmosferico, gli azzurri usati nelle mie opere sono sempre diversi, anche dosi quasi impercettibili li distinguono. Uso l’azzurro perchè è un colore che non si presenta mai attraverso la superficie del suo esistere ma è un colore in cui siamo immersi continuamente. E così il rosa… uso il rosa perchè è il colore dell’incarnato, quindi ha sempre la possibilità di trasformarsi a seconda della nostra emozionalità. Nel dormiveglia del mare troviamo il grigio argento. Il grigio è accoglienza, è un colore che si muove verso il bianco ma anche verso il nero, che offre la più alta qualità di tutti i colori», Ettore Spalletti.

More from CLS. Il progetto della galleria di arte contemporanea Lia Rumma a Milano nasce dalla sovrapposizione di volumi elementari con proporzioni diverse tra loro e con un diverso rapporto tra spazio interno e luce naturale. L’edificio, di più di mille metri quadrati, sorge su un lotto rettangolare e si articola su quattro livelli di cui uno interrato. Lo spazio e la luce sono gli elementi che definiscono i grandi volumi delle sale espositive oltre ai materiali: cemento ecologico bianco Tx Millenium per le pareti perimetrali, cemento grigio industriale per i pavimenti interni ed esterni a sottolinearne la continuità.

Passport. Why Design Now, Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York, fino allo 09.01.2010.

100 words. Quarta edizione della triennale del design per il museo newyorchese. Dividendo il terreno della progettazione per macro temi, i curatori in carica al museo, llen Lupton, Cara McCarty, Matilda McQuaid e Cynthia Smith hanno fatto ricerca tra 2006-2009. Interessante la sezione Simplicity, di cui anticipiamo un estratto.

More from Cooper Hewitt Museum.

Angle chopsticks, CarryOn collection, and InOut pitcher. Manufactured by Mater. Designed France, Denmark, and United States, produced Vietnam and China, 2007–8. Courtesy of manufacturer. Based in Denmark, Mater is a home-accessories company that supports traditional crafts, local economies, and natural materials. Mater is a member of the United Nations Global Compact, an independently audited framework that helps businesses align their practices with universal values in areas such as human rights, labor, and the environment. By applying creative thinking and ethical standards to product design and manufacturing, Mater seeks to leverage business to engender a more sustainable and inclusive global economy. Mater worked with French designer Aurélien Barbry to introduce the Angle chopsticks, ergonomic bamboo implements inspired by Japanese oki table settings. The InOut pitcher, designed by American designer Todd Bracher, has a minimal barrel form and a beak-like spout. Bracher made the pitcher white in order to avoid using dye and employed a rough finish to avoid the use of potentially toxic glazes. Danish designer Jakob Wagner created Mater’s CarryOn collection, a set of white porcelain bowls and plates fitted with nesting bamboo cutting boards for informal dining and serving. Like the InOut pitcher, the CarryOn collection employs white porcelain with a rough finish to protect workers and the environment. All three products are created by skilled craftspeople in small factories and workshops in Vietnam and China.

Pluralis chair. Cecilie Manz (Danish, b. 1972). Manufactured by Mooment. Denmark, 2009. Oregon pine. Courtesy of manufacturer. Human beings are drawn to flat planes: we sit, sleep, and build on them; we work, eat, and drink at them. Cecilie Manz plays with the language of planes to expand the functionality of familiar objects, from tables and chairs to ladders and shelves. In her Pluralis chair, three staggered surfaces share legs, merging a cluster of furnishings into a single artifact: seat, stool, table, and step. Drawing on the tradition of minimalist art, the chair contemplates the nature of cubes, lines, and intersections. It is also supremely functional, offering a convenient place to sit with a child or set down a glass.

Ash Wood bed. Naoto Fukasawa (Japanese, b. 1956), Muji design team. Manufactured by Ryohin Keikaku Co. Ltd. Japan, 2009. Ash wood. Courtesy of Muji
Bedding (seersucker & double-loop stitch combination). Haruna Morita (Japanese, b. 1980), Muji design team. Manufactured by Ryohin Keikaku Co. Ltd. Japan, 2009. Cotton. Courtesy of Muji. Torch light. Yohei Kuwano (Japanese, b. 1980), Muji design team. Manufactured by Ryohin Keikaku Co. Ltd. Japan, 2007. Polycarbonate, LED. Courtesy of Muji. Muji, whose name means “no brand,” is a Japanese company that has become a global purveyor of low-cost, high-quality goods that respect the environment and express a low-key, functional point of view. Economy drives the Muji ethos. By seeking out simple methods of production and basic materials that are not excessively processed, the company creates objects that share a unified sensibility without professing to be stylish and of the moment. Looking at common needs such as lighting, sleep, storage, seating, and dining, Muji has created 7,500 objects suitable to urban living.

t.e. 83 hanging lamp. Christien Meindertsma (Dutch, b. 1980). Manufactured by Ropery Steenbergen for the t.e. collection. The Netherlands, 2009. Flax, porcelain, rubber. Courtesy of Thomas Eyck. Design producer Thomas Eyck commissioned Christien Meindertsma to create a series of products inspired by the traditional Dutch rope-making industry. Meindertsma conceived a rich line of objects using flax, a versatile fiber derived from a plant that grows plentifully in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Collaborating with a master rope maker, she used flax harvested from a local Dutch farm to create simple objects for contemporary life. In a series of hanging lights, the rope maker wound strands of flax around the electrical supply cord, combining power delivery and functional support into a single element. The connecting pieces were created in a specialized wood-restoration shop. Other works include a stool that resembles a ball of string, a rug made from a bound length of rope, and a power cord wrapped with rope. Meinderstsma’s Flax collection is part of a family of products that Eyck is building in collaboration with contemporary designers, who are working with special materials and skilled craft workers to create limited series of objects.

Wasara tableware. Shinichiro Ogata (Japanese, b. 1969), Wasara Co. Ltd. Japan, 2008. Reed, bamboo, bagasse pulp. Courtesy of designer. The phrase “paper plate” usually conjures images of haste and waste, not spiritual enrichment and ecological awareness. The Wasara collection of disposable tableware speaks to traditional Japanese hospitality, which employs diverse plates and bowls to focus attention on individually prepared food items. Wasara’s serene, inventive forms enhance the sensual experience of dining while offering the convenience of disposability. Paper tableware must be made from virgin pulp, owing to the impurities in recycled material. The Wasara collection is made from a mix of reed pulp, bamboo, and bagasse, or sugarcane pulp. Bagasse is a waste product of the sugar-processing industry, while reed and bamboo are fast-growing, non-timber plants.

Passport. 1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces V&A London, from 15.06-30.08.2010.

100 words. Il potere della superficie ridotta. V&A Museum affida a Abraham Thomas una ricognizione planetaria in cerca di progetti di piccola taglia che ridiano un senso al caos urbanistico della metropoli contemporanea. Il curatore – segno dei tempi – si è affidato a un blog che in una decina di post chiave riassume la sua visione del progettare prima che del costruire. Ultima tappa, prima del rientro a Londra, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Architecture Biennale. Da leggere. Annota Abraham Thomas: «I’ve just got back from a very productive research trip to China. In addition to meetings with architects and designers in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, I spent a day at the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Architecture Biennale. Shenzhen is emblematic of China’s recent urban development, being the very first city to be given special economic zone status (in 1979). Located at the far northern end of the Hong Kong MTR train system, Shenzhen is also one of the main gateways into mainland China. Making the trip to Shenzhen was particularly relevant for the ’1:1′ exhibition as four of the architects invited to submit concept designs for the exhibition have built installations for this year’s Biennale. It was fantastic to be offered this rare opportunity to see examples of built works by these architects that we’re collaborating with – and more importantly, to have the chance to see how their built commissions work in a quasi-exhibition context».

More from V&A. The V&A is commissioning a group of international architects to build a series of structures throughout the Museum which will respond to the theme of the ‘retreat’.  The starting point for these experimental projects will be the idea of a small enclosed space representing an escape from the chaos of urban life to an area for peace, contemplation, shelter or creativity. One of the central aims of the exhibition is to move away from explaining architecture through drawings and models and instead allow the visitor to experience the architecture itself.

Passport. Explosions, Fires, and Public Order, photographs by Sarah Pickering, essay by Karen Irvine, ed Aperture.

More from Aperture. Sarah Pickering’s Explosions, Fires, and Public Order is a visually arresting glimpse into the secret world of civil defense by one of today’s up-and-coming artists. Combining four series, Explosions, Fires, and Public Order begins with Public Order, a project exploring the Metropolitan Police Public Order Training Centre, a simulated urban environment where officers rehearse responses to civic unrest. The Explosions series documents the tactical use of controlled explosions by the British military to add realistic stress to training exercises. The Fire Series and Incident, Pickering’s most recent work, were produced while she was an artist in residence at the UK Fire Training College. There, she photographed blazes set inside meticulously and elaborately constructed home interiors, as well as the stark, charred remnants of fake urban settings. Pickering’s projects reflect an aspect of the current zeitgeist: terrorism matched with omnipresent anxiety. “My work explores the idea of imagined threat and response, and looks at fear and planning for the unexpected, merging fact and fiction, fantasy and reality,” she states. While the images in Explosions, Fires, and Public Order have a transcendent formal beauty, they are a disquieting reminder of the delicate balance between order and chaos.

Passport. iPhone killer by Ronen Kadushin.

Category. Strong design.

Adjective. Thinking (?).

If it were a furniture… (It coul be Do hit chair for Droog by Marijn van der Poll).

Passport. The Independent Design Guide – Innovative Produtcs from The New Generation by Laura Houseley, ed Thames and Hudson.

100 words. 400 progetti. Da catalogare.

Passport. Mendini > Depero, Mart – Casa d’Arte Futurista Fortunato Depero Via Portici, 38 Rovereto (TN), fino 17.10.2010.

1oo words. Depero era un Mago; Mendini un alchimista. Il primo tesseva arazzi, il secondo sulle traccie di monsieur Proust ha fatto dell’infinitamente piccolo un manifesto di pensiero e una texture progettuale. C/o la Casa del Mago il dialogo è serrato. Per l’occasione porte aperte anche al nuovo caffé futurista.

Passport. 7000 by Fritz Frenkler + Anette Ponholzer for Thonet.

100 words. In principio, la funzione.