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Great Design: Normann Copenhagen Tablo

3:49 AM Posted by Unknown

Friday I'm off to Copenhagen for the weekend for the Meet the Blogger Photography and Styling Masterclass, taught by the lovely Wendy from Beeldsteil (I showed you her home here) and Tina & Jack Fussel from Traveling Mama. As I'm currently in the last weeks finishing up my University degree (History) it is very likely that I'll be spending my evenings in my hotel room with endless amounts of British Medical Journals from 1917 though.. :)

One of the absolute highlights of my last visit to Copenhagen in january was - without any doubt - our visit to the Normann Copenhagen Flagship store! This enormous store, that is situated in a building that used to be an old cinema, is almost like a a museum. It's perfectly lit and all the Normann Copenhagen products are showcased in a deserving way. There is also an outlet in the basement - with items that are still sold full-price in many European stores :) Today I'll show you one of my favorite items from their collection, the timeless Tablo side table! It was designed by Nicholai Wiig Hansen, a designer that I really admire, and it's a perfect example of Scandinavian minimalism I think :)

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Great Designers: Jean Prouvé

7:13 AM Posted by Unknown

"My father always balanced on the rear legs of his chair," recalls Catherine Prouvé about her father Jean. "That's the way he sat to think about new inventions and design solutions," she says. "He was the only one who could stand perfectly still on only two legs." (Read more of this interview here). Just like Tom Dixon, this genius taught himself the trade. He grew up in France in a creative environment. His father belonged to an art collective: l'École de Nancy. Its main goals were to make art accessible, by combining art and industry. This is an idea that Jean would end up living by!

Prouvé realized that it were the two rear seat legs that would have to endure most of the body weight, which led to his most famous chair with a very prosaic name: the Prouvé Standard Chair. The chair was first designed in 1934, a year after Hitler came to power in Germany: can you imagine? A few years ago Dutch designer Hella Jongerius (from the famous Polder Sofa) was asked by producer Vitra to update the design a little, colour-wise. I think that was very successful: I wouldn't mind owning this one in white! :) I think the Tolvay table (that's shown below in a larger and smaller version) is very pretty as well! Because of the Second World War steel - that was generally used for table legs - was rare so Prouvé used wooden legs! :)

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Great Designers: Pastoe (Dutch Design!)

4:57 PM Posted by Unknown

It's funny, people keep mistaking me for a Danish/Swedish girl :) Online (in e-mails and in reactions on my instagram account), but also when I was in Stockholm, Copenhagen and Malmö. Granted, with my light blonde hair and blue eyes I could easily be of the Nordic variety :) But anyway, I think it's time for some promotion of classic Dutch Design :)

Pastoe, a company that consisted of several designers, was founded in 1913. Last year there was a large exhibition in the Kunsthal in Rotterdam to celebrate their 100 year anniversary. I actually live only a 5 minute bike ride from the original factory. Today I'll present you the SM05 Chair and the KM05 Stool, by far my favourite design pieces from Pastoe. The company did design a lot more lovely pieces of furniture, but I think they have a more distinct retro feel about them. Feel free to check out my Pastoe pinterest board if you're interested. The SM05 chair was designed in 1958 by Cees Braakman and was one of the first chairs that was made entirely out of wire steel. This chair will probably always remain on my wish list (€395 also equals a nice weekend in a foreign city..). When I'm at the Bijenkorf, a large Dutch department store, I'll always sit on it and use my puppy eyes on my boyfriend -- but he won't budge ;)

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Want to see more photos? Check out my Pastoe-themed Pinterest board :)

Follow Nordic Days (Flor Linckens)'s board ✚ Designers: Pastoe ✚ on Pinterest.

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Great Designers: Tom Dixon

6:08 PM Posted by Unknown

It's time to meet another great contemporary designer: Tom Dixon. What you probably didn't yet know about this talented man is that he was knighted by the British queen for his service to British design! Tom Dixon was actually born in Tunisa, having an English father and a mother that was part Latvian and part French. I like that he tought himself how to weld (he dropped out of art school). Dixon was very important in igniting a new spark for the brand Habitat in the nineties -- where he was Head of Design from 1998 and eventually Creative Director until 2008. His work is on show in several important museums across the globe; like the London-based Victoria and Albert Museum, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and of course the MoMa in New York.

He is mostly known for his simple designs with gold and copper tones. I'm a monochromatic kind of person but for these designs I will gladly make an exception :) I think the designs work really well in bright and white apartments, as eye-catchers. My favourite design from Dixon is the black 'Jack' object -- although I wouldn't mind hanging one of his black and gold Beat lights above my dinner table ;) What's your favourite?

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Designers: Massimo Vignelli

5:22 AM Posted by Unknown

Meet Massimo Vignelli! I bet that name won't immediately ring a lot of bells, but if I continue by saying the word 'Stendig Calendar' I'm sure you know who I'm talking about :) You must know that I am an incredible font geek :) This Italian designer, who called himself an architecture groupie as a child, was born in Milan in 1931. Though he didn't invent the typefont Helvetica he would prove to be very important for its popularity. The Stendig Calendar that he designed in 1966 was added to the collection of the MoMa in New York in the same year! The smaller and more simplistic Perpetual Calendar (max 365) was added to his portfolio in 1980. But that's not all: he also designed the New York subway map and all of the subway signs; the logo for Knoll, American Airlines & Bloomingdale's, chairs, mugs etcetera! Make sure to check out the Big Think interview with Vignelli below, because he's also a very funny man :)

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Designers: Charles & Ray Eames

5:14 AM Posted by Unknown

My absolute favourite Mid Century Modern designers are Charles and Ray Eames. This creative couple designed a lot of beautiful furniture pieces, and my house is filled with them! :) She'd studied to be a painter and he was officialy an architect. I love how adventurous they were: if they felt like it, they would just start making movies or child's toys -- or whatever else they wanted to do :) The House Bird was actually not designed by these two, they bought it during one of their holidays. It became famous when it starred in the photos of their famous Eames House.