"I love Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design"

2022-05-08 09:56:47

PROJECTS/INFORMATION+/–HIVES / BRICK / MUTINA /2022Dating back to circa 4.000 BC, fired bricks can be considered one of the most ancient building materials. Re-thinking such an old product can be rather intimidating, simply because history is likely to have found an original and most appropriate form for it. My new brick for Mutina is a double hexagon- a shape, which is both geometric and organic. Beehives are modelled from hexagons – it is the most efficient geometry to achieve an almost infinitely expandable structure.You can use HIVES in two different orientations – upright and flat. In the upright orientation, the hexagon creates the pattern of a wall. Using HIVES in a flat orientation means that the hexagonal shape determines the structure and shape of the wall. HIVES can be laid in courses and numerous patterns, also referred to as bonds. The bricks can be laid flush with each other or in a staggered arrangement. The angels of the hexagon make it possible to build curved walls and columns.Project assistant: Luisa Kahlfeldt (KG-Design) Client: Mutina IMAGECHAP / STOOL / VITRA /2022At first glance, CHAP seems a rather familiar thing: a stackable stool / side table. It's generic quality makes it particularly adaptable and flexible, ubiquitous. Made of recycled plastic, it is very light and stacks vertically. CHAP functions as a quick to use and versatile stool that can easily be taken to workshops, meetings and gatherings, indoors and outdoors. Its four-legged construction serves as a rig for a small matching tray for storing phones, cables, papers and other office utensils.Project assistant: Timo Weil (KG-Design)Client: Vitra AG IMAGELOCKER BOX / LOCKER BOX / VITRA /2021Agile work routines have been triggering significant changes in the modern workplace. Work no longer takes place at one's own desk, but at different locations - collectively or alone. LOCKER BOX is a portable storage unit which serves as a comfortable carrier for all the work tools that are essential. LOCKER BOX is made of two recycled plastic side panels that are connected by aluminium tubes. The storage compartments are made of heat welded fabric, which is suspended in-between the aluminium profiles. Project assistant: Luisa Kahlfeldt (KG-Design)Client: Vitra AGIMAGERE:MOVE / ELECTRIC CARGO VEHICLE / POLESTAR /2021Re:Move is a small but multi-functional cargo vehicle for last-mile urban delivery in cities. A call from Wallpaper* Senior Editor Nick Compton initiated the design project, which was set-up as a creative collaboration between Wallpaper*, myself (KG-Design) and three other partners. Norwegian aluminium firm Hydro were providing highly recyclable, lower carbon aluminium. They were also responsible for making the characteristic long platform of the vehicle. Electric bike company Cake contributed the electric drivetrain. Last not least, Swedish car manufacturer Polestar mobilised their Coventry-based R&D facility, combining the engineering expertise of Polestar Director of Design Engineering Chris Staunton with Corum Technology.The design project really started with the material from Hydro and a welding technique called friction stir welding, which is pioneered by Hydro. The combination of aluminium profiles and an efficient bonding technology allowed us to build a very strong, lightweight platform, which is basically what Re:Move is all about: a long loading platform on wheels. Re_Move has three wheels - one at the back (equipped with an electric hub motor) and two in the front. The front wheels feature a specially engineered tilt mechanism, which means that the vehicle is leaning into corners. The rider is standing at the rear of the vehicle driving the cargo like a dog sledge or longboard. Together with engineers from UK based Corum, we developed and built a fully functioning prototype of Re:Move, which was presented at IAA (Internationale Automobil Ausstellung) in Munich in 2021. Project assistants: Pascal Hien and Simon Frambach (KG-Design) Partners: Hydro, Polestar, Cake, Corum, Wallpaper. IMAGEDIN / TILES / MUTINA /2021DIN stands for "Deutsches Institut für Normierung", which is the German Institute for Standardization. In Germany, an A4 sheet of paper is called DIN A4.The DIN collection for Mutina consists of 4 different tile sizes following a strictly modular logic: the largest format is a 15 x 15cm square tile; cutting it in half creates the next smaller size and so on. The design of most buildings is based on the idea of modularity. Big boxes that are made up of smaller boxes. Modularity is used to enable diversity within a very strict framework. The concept of DIN is like that. The different tile sizes all fit into the same grid. And they can be combined to create a variety of geometries, surfaces, patterns.There are a lot of different ways to use DIN - from very basic to highly sophisticated. You can pick just one tile size in one finish or you start combining different sizes in different colours and even vary between matt and glossy finishes.Project assistants: Caroline Perret & Luisa Kahlfeldt Client: Mutina IMAGETECE-VELVET / WC FLUSH PANEL / TECE /2021Designing products that are essential and part of our daily routine in such a way that the unconscious is not disrupted: this was precisely the appeal of the design task for a toilet-flush panel.New or different are 2 things: the design and the material. We have combined the two flush buttons into a single form - with the small flush formally integrated into the larger one. Simplicity creates a sense of clarity. For the surface, we use an innovative high-tech material that is soft to the touch and absolutely opaque, but extremely resistant and above all hygienic without leaving fingerprints. The new flush panel is available in six colours selected for the modern bathroom and WC.Design assistants: Timo Weil and Luisa Kahlfeldt (Konstantin Grcic Design) Client: TECE / Laufen IMAGELAUFEN SPACE / INTERIOR / LAUFEN /2020Berlin’s LAUFEN SPACE is a new showroom concept for Laufen, the Swiss brand of high-end sanitary ware. Located on Berlin’s Kantstrasse, the space was conceived as an adaptable hybrid. It merges the characteristics of a commercial showroom, workshop and event space. We divided the L-shaped floorplan of the former antiques store into three different zones. The space at the front is dedicated to hosting events and temporary installations. This section has two large shop windows, which provide great visibility and will stir interaction with passersby on the busy high street. An adjoining smaller space serves as stage for product presentations. The space is tiled in matt black and has a full surface LED screen backdrop facing the window. The third zone is oriented away from the street. It is furnished with a 12m x 3m x 1m industrial shelf, which is filled with Laufen products. The shelf serves as an archive and physical catalogue. Right next to it is a specially designed rig system, which allows for any of the wall hung products to be tested. This area is effectively a workshop for architects and designers to try things out in real life and real time. Berlin’s LAUFEN SPACE is the role model for a new type of showroom – a concept that puts an emphasis on dialogue over representation. The plan is for the space to repeatedly change – just like Berlin, the city that according to publicist Karl Scheffler is fated “forever to become and never to be.” LAUFEN SPACE BerlinLAUFEN SPACE videoProject assistant: Charlotte Talbot (Atelier CT/JM)Client: Laufen AG IMAGEBELL / MONO-BLOC CHAIR / MAGIS /2020BELL is a contemporary mono-bloc chair made from recycled polypropylene. The patented material is generated from industrial waste and can be recycled again 100% after use. The aim was to produce a high-quality chair using a bare minimum of material. The ecological aspiration behind the project also helped us to achieve another goal: we wanted BELL to be affordable for everyone!With just 2.7 kilograms, the chair weighs almost half of an average plastic chair. The uncompromising reduction of material reduces the chair's cycle time in production ( less than 60 sec.) and consequently saves costs. The key to all this is the chair's BELL-shaped shell. It’s bulbous geometry provides not only a highly efficient design, it is also extraordinarily comfortable and welcoming. A specially designed delivery pallet can stack up to 24 BELL chairs, which brings down the transportation volume and optimizes logistics. The bright orange pallet, which is made from the same recycled PP as the chair, can be re-used multiple times or be deployed as store display for retail partners. The chair comes in three colours: Sunrise, High Noon and Midnight.BELL has its own dedicated website:www.bell-chair.com Project assistants: Timo Weil (KG-Design),Jan Heinzelmann (freelancer).Client: MagisIMAGEROKU / WATCH / ISSEY MIYAKE WATCH /2020ROKU draws upon the correlation of two geometries: a hexagon and a circle. The six sides of the hexagon relate to the 12 hours of the dial. The round watch face symbolizes the circular movement of time: the continuous passing of seconds/minutes/hours on the one hand, the punctuation of certain occurrences on the other. The stainless steel watch comes in black or natural finishes, which are matched with a corresponding bracelet in coloured calf leather or stainless steel mesh. The watch is fitted with a quartz movement and has a water resistance of 5bar. Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (freelancer)Client: Issey Miyake WatchProducer: Seiko IMAGECITIZEN / LOUNGE CHAIR / VITRA /2020CITIZEN reinterprets the traditional lounge chair in an unconventional way. The chair’s structure and shape are defined by a framework in bent tubular steel, while a freely suspended seat cushion offers an entirely new seating experience. Hanging on just three steel cables from the tubular frame, the seat can move in all directions, creating a pleasant swinging movement.The correlation between the tubular steel frame and upholstered elements gives CITIZEN its character. The frame defines the spatial structure of the lounge chair, the seat and backrest add volume and colour. All elements of the chair are exposed lending the design visual lightness and a sporty nonchalance. CITIZEN is available in two versions: the eye-catching CITIZEN Highback offering an extra degree of comfort, and the less conspicuous CITIZEN Lowback, which can be used for conference situations and larger lounge areas.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Client: Vitra IMAGEL'IMMAGINAZIONE AL POTERE / EXHIBITION / MAXXI ROME /2020The concept of the show L'IMMAGINAZIONE AL POTERE was to establish a connection between the material invention of Alcantara (sponsor of the exhibition) and the works of four visionary architects: Sergio Musmeci, Giuseppe Perugini, Maurizio Sacripanti and Bernard Khoury. While the first three are representatives of an optimistic post-war period in Italy, Khoury is a contemporary architect, who lives and works in war-torn Beirut/Lebanon. The invention of Alcantara, a synthetic material to substitute leather on an industrial scale, falls into the exact same time as the creative period of Musmeci, Perugini and Scaripanti. The common denominator between all five protagonists of the show is an optimistic approach to technological changes and a vision to shape a positive future. The central part of the exhibition takes the form of a spatial installation, which deliberately breaks with the convention of a museum presentation. The visitor is confronted with a life-size billboard showing the monumental image of an architectural utopia. The billboard picture, which was created especially for the exhibition by Yemenite matte painter Najeeb Alnajjar, merges the architectural works of the protagonists into a speculative landscape collage of the future.Project assistants: Simon Frambach, Pascal Hien, Luisa Kahlfeldt (all KG-Design)Matte Painting: Najeeb AlnajjarClient: MAXXI Rome & AlcantaraIMAGESOFTOTE / TOTE BAG / VERDEQ /2019Verdeq is a small business manufacturing bags from off-cuts from the production of cabriolet tops. Looking through the material stock at the workshop I sighted two different cut-outs of rear windows that could be put together with just a few simple seams to create a perfect tote bag: SOFTOTE. By keeping the cut-out’s beautifully rounded and asymmetrical shapes, the bag still reveals the story of its industrial origin.Project assistant: Timo Weil (KG-Design)Client: VerdeqIMAGECAPSULE COLLECTION / FASHION / HUGO BOSS /2019Fashion brand Hugo Boss invited me to design a CAPSULE COLLECTION for their Fall/Winter 2019 season. The project was not about designing completely new clothes, but about making certain adaptations to existing typologies such as the men’s jacket. I focused on finding a balance between function and elegance. I wanted to design garments that were beautiful, but also comfortable to use. In the end the work was as much about construction and the choice of materials, as putting the right size pocket in the right place. The collection included a men’s jacket and rain coat plus a set of T-shirts with prints inspired by the cities of Milan, New York and Shanghai. The illustrations on the T-shirts are based on my own cartoon creation “Dirty Old”. Project assistant: Friederike Daumiller (freelancer)Project client: HUGO BOSSIMAGEPOWOW / COMMISSION / DESIGN MUSEUM LONDON /2019The exhibition Moving to Mars at London’s Design Museum explored putting humans on the red planet as the final frontier for design. One part of the show looked into the role that design plays in keeping astronauts safe during the voyage to Mars, which can be a seven- to nine-month journey locked inside a spacecraft. "It's not just about making sure that people can be kept healthy and fed. It's also about making it tolerable" - says Justin McGuirk, curator of the exhibition. With this in mind, my first instinct for designing a dining table for the astronauts was to do away with the over-engineered feel of the usual furniture inside space ships. Rather than seats, POWOW provides a circular rail that astronauts can perch on, with their feet held inside floor straps to stop them floating away. The central round table has a telescopic column, which allows to be sunk flush into the floor. With just the circular rail left POWOW turns into a freed up sociable space that encourages the valuable ritual of gathering during the long journey.Project assistant: Marc Gerber (KG-Design) Client: Design Museum LondonIMAGE#21 / FINAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION / SMART /2019In 2019, the revolutionary smart car turns 21 years old. The brand is taking this anniversary as an opportunity for big change: smart will be the first major automotive brand to transform its entire fleet from combustion engines to electric drive. In celebration of the event, smart gave me the commission to design an edition of the very last 21 petrol driven smartfortwo’s to leave the production line. The #21 FINAL COLLECTORS EDITION expresses the rebellious spirit of its coming of age. The shiny yellow front of the car has already entered the new era of clean engines while the rear is lacquered in (dirty) matt black. The project is a cheerful goodbye to a glorious era of automotive history.Project assistant: Marc Gerber (KG-Design)Producer: Brabus / smart Client: smart IMAGECABINET DE LECTURE / COMMISSION / CITE DE BORDEAUX /2019The city of Bordeaux in conjunction with the Musée des Arts Décoratifs et du Design asked me to design a small building to be used as a public reading cabinet during the city’s cultural summer season in 2019. The CABINET DE LECTURE is a 15sqm wooden hut with a 4.5m high single shed roof and a large front opening. The structure is prefabricated in flat parts that can be assembled/disassembled on site. Project assistants: Charlotte Talbot, Marc Gerber (KG-Design)Client: Cité de Bordeaux, Musée des Arts Décoratifs BordeauxIMAGEBEAM / TABLE / ESTABLISHED & SONS /2019BEAM is a sturdy table for working, meeting and dining. Made of architectural i-beam girders the design is reminiscent of a simple work bench. The frame in powder coated red oxide or gun metal black comes in three parts (two leg frames plus cross beam) that are bolted together on site. In combination with 40mm thick tops in veneered oak or black Fenix (a heat-and-scratch resistant, high-end surface material), BEAM can be ordered in alternative formats and in two heights: 74cm (standard seating) and 110cm (standing).Project assistant: Marc Gerber (KG-Design)Client: Established & Sons IMAGENOCTAMBULE / LAMP / FLOS /2019NOCTAMBULE: the night owl or reveller. Mostly invisible during the day, but coming to glamorous activity at night-time. The analogy is fitting. The new collection of lamps is made of blown glass modules, which are see-through and therefore almost inexistent at day-time. But, when you switch them on in the dark, they transform into gorgeous, illuminated lamps. The cylindrical glass modules set the basic grammar of the collection. The single module is a lantern. Several modules stacked on top of each other create a light column, or a suspended chandelier inside a stair well. Extra elements such as a glass dome or a cone shaped head provide added performance for floor standing uplighters and pendants. The carefully calibrated LED technology, which powers the lamps, is discretely integrated into the junctions between the glass modules. Almost absent, but ready to be activated at any (night-)time. Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: Flos IMAGEFILA / TABLE SYSTEM / PLANK /2019Imagine a table, the simplest of tables: a top and four legs; one in each corner. The minimalistic outline of this table is made of uniform aluminium profiles and finished with a thin solid core table top. Taking a closer look at the framework reveals the table’s modular construction: each corner has a solid aluminium corner joint connecting the extruded crossbars and legs. Very long tables would have two additional joints adding a fifth and sixth leg. An even longer table can have eight legs, or twelve … and so on. FILA is an engineered system. The joints are milled not cast, which produces a seamless precision between the elements. A distinct chamfer running down the outside edge of each corner leg is FILA’s signature detail and proof of the special attention to workmanship and quality. FILA comes in a range of standard sizes or can be made to measure. The aluminium framework is anodized in silver, gold or black. The table top in Fenix® offers an extremely durable material, which is soft to touch and anti-fingerprint. Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (Freelance)Producer: PlankIMAGECUGINO / STOOL / MATTIAZZI /2019CUGINO is the result of many tries; it evolved over time with wanting it to be an object that we don’t already know. We designed it over and over, making many variations, trying things out and learning from each new model. I wanted to make an object for Mattiazzi that is ‘not a stool’ and is ‘not a low table’, but could be both. In CUGINO I see an object that is open for interpretation, not given a function from the outset, that finds its use and its place over time. It is not about structure, it is not about economy. It is not appropriation — I was cautious not to quote directly from primitive objects. Because we worked on it for so long and made so many iterations, it came into its own. Project assistant: Timo Weil (KG Design)Client: MattiazziIMAGECOLLECTION 03 / FASHION / AEANCE /2019In early meetings with the two founders of AEANCE I noticed that they would combine their own brand’s technical apparel with more ready-to-wear clothes from their personal wardrobes. This, I thought, was the perfect strategy for approaching AEANCE’s Collection 03: to fill in these wardrobe gaps with garments that weren’t available from the brand before.I made the first silhouettes by pinning pieces of canvas onto mannequins until they started to look like garments. Making a jacket is an act of construction, not unlike building a chair. The 2D material (the textile) is sculpted into a 3D form. We ended up doing 9 different garments, five for women and four for men, including coats, jackets, blazers, trousers and skirts. Each item is simplified to their fundamental proportions. They are lightweight, breathable and comfortable. Silhouettes are constructed using taped seams, laser cutting and bonding. 96% of the textiles that are used are recycled, purely natural, biodegradable or bio-based. The collection has a subtle yet strong colour palette of black, blue, grey, red and mauve.Project assistant: Friederike Daumiller (Freelance)Client: Aeance IMAGEALL ROUND / GLASSES / J!NS /2018The most daunting aspect of designing glasses is that people (of very different physiognomy) are going to be wearing them in their face. Glasses become part of their identity, of who they are. The ALL ROUND collection is inspired by historic models, which were round because of the circular shaped lenses. The round shape of glasses proofs to be timeless and versatile and fitting most people' faces. Our collection explores eight different formal interpretations of round glasses: BIKE, BRACE, CARTOON, INLAY, NEEDLE, LINK, PRETZEL, SAFARI.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: J!nsIMAGEROOKIE / OFFICE CHAIR / VITRA /2018I designed ROOKIE to be small, agile, and - for office standards - unconventionally simple. It offers an instant level of comfort with as few adjustments as possible. ROOKIE is all about flexibility and change; its design language symbolizes the moment of starting something new, that magic moment of everything still being up in the air. A student could use a single chair at his desk or you could find them on corporate campuses – the chair is made for environments that stimulate the generation and exchange of ideas.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: VitraIMAGEVOLUMES / FURNITURE / GALERIE KREO /2018VOLUMES is a collection of six monolithic objects made in natural bluestone. The pieces are cut away from a solid block creating six distinct forms, approximately of the same volume as a stool or chair. Each type is hinting at a suggested purpose, but not enough to reveal an exact function. “There is a novelty and daring in this non-prescribed use. In that sense, VOLUMES is an experiment in abstraction and one that is quite different to other collections that Grcic has created for Galerie kreo.” (Johanna Agermann Ross).Project assistant: Olivia Herms (KGID)Producer: Galerie kreoIMAGESTOOL-TOOL / STOOL / VITRA /2018STOOL-TOOL combines a chair and a table into a monolithic work place. A demand for stackability has determined its overall geometry. It can be used as solitaire but works just as well in multiplication (place a group together to make a spontaneous meeting space). The project follows a strictly pragmatic concept: achieving the largest useable surfaces for sitting/working with the smallest possible footprint. The two terraced surfaces are designed in such a way to allow not only various seat heights, but also different orientations. The console-like backrest can serve as work surface (laptop table) or perch. The polypropylene plastic (in poppy red, industrial green, light grey) guarantees an easy handling and makes STOOL-TOOL safe to be used both in- and outdoors.Project assistant: Olivia Herms (KGID)Producer: VitraIMAGECUP / CHAIR / PLANK /2018As a traveller one has come to appreciate the benefits of plastic shell suitcases. They are extremely light and flexible, yet strong and good looking. Suitcases made of thin vacuum-formed plastic sheets have revolutionized an entire product species. As a furniture designer I was struck by the ingenuity of this technology, considering how appropriate it was to the production and performance of modern chair shells. The creative potential seemed obvious. However, translating it into a successful formula for a chair took time and learning. With CUP we have developed an elegant geometry for the shell, which combines structural strength with a high degree of flexibility and lightness. The upholstered inside of the shell adds a well-balanced ergonomic quality to the chair, making it a perfect choice for conference situations, waiting and dining areas. The shell in black or white plastic can be combined with an infinite range of fabrics and colours, depending on whether it has to blend with the environment or to be the protagonist.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID) Producer: Plank IMAGECHESS / STORAGE SYSTEM / MAGIS /2018It takes daring and vision to venture into a category of furniture typically associated with sturdy tool cabinets and office filing systems. The challenge was to create a design that remained true to the utilitarian genotype of this furniture, while domesticating it with carefully targeted interventions. Typecasting specific destinations in the home (kitchen, living room, bedroom, kids room etc.) laid the groundwork for what these cabinets became. CHESS comes in a range of sizes, and offers a choice between drawers and sliding doors. The cabinets are powder coated in signal white (RAL 9003) or wine red (RAL 3005) and feature solid oak handles across all models. The wood not only provides a comfortable interface with the furniture, but also adds a tactile material in contrast to the cold metal. Solid oak is also used for the recessed pedestals, which lift the cabinets elegantly off the floor. Each model from the CHESS range can be used as an independent storage unit or as a module within a larger arrangement of cabinets. Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Client: MagisIMAGEMETEO / PARASOL / KETTAL /2018METEO marks the beginning of a new collaboration with Kettal. It aims to explore the largely untapped design potential of modern parasols. Protection from direct sunlight is becoming a quintessential condition for our health and wellbeing. The increasing impact of parasols and other sunshade systems in the planning and furnishing of modern cityscapes, recreational resorts and private dwellings are challenging a renewed approach to this specialized product category. Building on Kettal’s expertise in outdoor furniture the project was driven by the genuine quest for quality in design and performance: a contemporary product, comfortable in use and made of the smartest materials for effective and long lasting protection.METEO comes in two versions: a basic model, which uses a manual pulley system, and a high-end model with an integrated gas piston to assist the opening and closing of the umbrella. Kettal’s own range of sun-shading materials is used in combination with the brand’s standard colour palette. The parasols can be fitted with two alternative types of base plates: in sheet metal or iron casting.METEO videoProject assistant: Charlotte Talbot (KGID)Producer : Kettal IMAGESMART MOBILE DISCO / CAR / SMART /2018Commissioned by smart, main sponsor of the Night Fever exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum, we turned one of the world’s smallest cars, a smart fortwo, into a life size boom box: the SMART MOBILE DISCO. Given the significance of the disc jockey to any successful club night, we mounted a hydraulic crane arm on the back of the car that lifts a DJ booth 3m into the air and over the heads of the dancing crowd. Equipped with an impressive sound system, professional DJ equipment and state-of-the-art lighting gear, we made the smart car become a powerful disco machine for partying anywhere anytime.Project assistants: Sami Ayadi & Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: smart Execution: MKT-AGIMAGENIGHT FEVER / EXHIBITION DESIGN / VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM /2018The exhibition “Night Fever. Designing Club Culture 1960 – today” at the Vitra Design Museum is the first comprehensive show celebrating the night club as one of the most important design spaces of contemporary culture. Designing the exhibition-architecture we tried to internalize a specific design logic that had eveolved in those respective decades. Following the chronological approach of the exhibition, we designed spaces that represented an aura of , but without ever copying famous night clubs. A real challenge was integrating the music in the exhibition. Disco music has to be loud, but how could that be done in an exhibition? We teamed up with Matthias Singer to conceive a space where the visitor is standing on a raised dance floor with an animated light installation that projected against mirrored walls to create the illusion of infinity. Over headphones visitors can choose between various playlists of famous disco tracks and get lost in music. Whilst the installation uses modern technical equipment, it remains abstract in terms of space and time. Project assistants: Sami Ayadi, Alexandra Fürstenhagen, Jan Heinzelmann, Olivia Herms, Tilman Meyer, Charlotte Talbot (KGID)Producer: Vitra Design MuseumIMAGEAPRON / FASHION / PRADA INVITES /2018The key reference for my proposal is the fishing vest which translates a garment into a form of bag - which is what the nylon material is most known for. My first thought was to re-create Joseph Beuys’ famous fishing vest in Prada Black Nylon. In a second step I have worked on a design, which interpret the theme in a freer, more abstract way: APRONProject assistant: Olivia Herms (KGID) Producer: Prada IMAGEMAGLIANA / COMMISSION / GALLERIA GIUSTINI-STAGETTI /2017The MAGLIANA furniture project was created for “Privato Romano Interno” (PRI), a program which commissions designers to develop interior related projects in response to specific architectural buildings in Rome. PRI is curated by Emanuela Nobile Mino.My project is based on a small pavilion by architect Pier Luigi Nervi (1899-1965) in the southern outskirts of Rome. Constructed just after WW2 the 21 x 10,5m Magliana pavilion represents Nervi’s earliest experimentations with metal reinforced concrete. In the same year as he built the pavilion, Nervi patented his technique (ferro-cemento), which was to become the key signature of his architectural practice.Inspired by Nervi's pavilion I designed a large table and lamps using glass fibre reinforced cement (Ductal®). The MAGLIANA table has a 3.6m long tabletop that is supported by 6 'pylons' (legs). Every pylon has a conical base with wing-like seats cantilevering off to either side and a thin neck propping up the tabletop. A stainless steel joint creates an articulated lock between pylon and tabletop. The pendant lamps that are also made of moulded Ductal® have LEDs integrated in the horizontal ring. When the light is switched on, the LEDs illuminate an acrylic disc that is held inside that ring. It then emits light up and down. The disc turns clear when switched off. On May 26th 2017, we were able to install a 10.8m long table and 4 lamps at the Magliana pavilion for one short day (see images). The MAGLIANA project was produced by Galleria Giustini/Stagetti in Rome. The realization of the concrete elements would not have been possible without the support of architect/engineer Silvia La Pergola.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Engineering: Silvia La Pergola Manufacturing: Il Cantiere Producer: Galleria Giustini/StagettiIMAGEANIMAL FARM / EXHIBITION / MAGIS /2017ANIMAL FARM is the title of an exhibition, which brings together more than 15 years of my projects for Italian furniture producer Magis. It was first shown in Tokyo in October 2016, and again in Milano in April 2017. ANIMAL FARM is a playful way to describe the flock of different creatures in the exhibition. Just as ETTORE, the mule, all other pieces of furniture can also be considered an animal or specie. Even though the title Animal Farm makes reference to George Orwell´s eponymous novel (published in 1945), the show has no allegorical intentions.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Client: Magis JapanIMAGEBISTRO / CHAIR / PLANK /2017BISTRO is clearly inspired by Thonet’s no.14, the world’s most popular café chair (since 1859). Designers call it the “chair of chairs”, not only for the fact that it was the first industrially produced chair, but also for its innovative construction which has created its own distinctive typology. BISTRO adopts the circular seat frame and curved legs (both made of beech wood), adding an injection moulded polypropylene backrest and soft seat cushion made in integral skin polyurethane foam. The chair is available in natural or stained black beech wood, with coloured backrests and seats in either black, white, caffe latte, caramel or terra brown. Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: PlankIMAGESOFT PROPS / SOFA / CASSINA /2017A sofa will always have a central role in the home, but it is increasingly used in public areas, creating situations where people can come together and communicate in a shared space. SOFT PROPS creates a territory for human activity, private or public, alone or with others. I wanted this space to be able to appropriate very different situations. The sofa is made up of modular seating elements in two sizes that can be combined in numerous configurations. Starting from its most abstract element, the ottoman, the piece can be composed in various combinations and layouts. The large tubular rail, which recalls the handrails in public buildings or railings on the large transatlantic ships, provides a protective boundary that defines space within space. The user can continuously interact with the sofa by arranging the loose cushions against the rail. Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: CassinaIMAGEPRIMO / CHAIR / MATTIAZZI /2017PRIMO epitomizes the archetypal chair. Its design comprises of only the most basic elements: four legs, seat and backrest. The strictly vertical orientation of its legs gives the chair a strong architectural presence. However, the formal strictness is disrupted by the curved backrest which seems to levitate on the ends of the chair’s hind legs. Standing on its own, PRIMO is distinctively sculptural. When multiplied, the chair conveys an unassuming rationality - making it ideal for a wide variety of uses in the home and contract markets (dining, working, auditorium seating, waiting, and the like). PRIMO’s basic model is made of solid beech. The black lacquered version brings out the chair’s strong and elegant silhouette. In gold, PRIMO celebrates itself as an ultimate icon. For additional comfort and sophistication, the chair also comes in solid American oak with an upholstered leather seat. All models of PRIMO are stackable. Matching the minimalist design of the chair is the four-legged PRIMO table. It exists in different sizes and finishes. Its square-sectioned legs, fixed to each corner of the tabletop, are detachable, allowing for space-saving, ecological shipment. Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: Mattiazzi IMAGEHEAD IN THE SKY / COMMISSION / PROTOTYPE /2017HEAD IN THE SKY is an outdoor space for working and thinking: a safe place for concentration for people who don’t want to retreat into their own private domain, especially mentally. The title hints at the opportunity to keep a clear head, to dream and imagine. While the object is open to the top to give thoughts free rein, verticals along the sides constrain the space. The hot-zinc galvanised mesh structure offers a bench to sit on, a form of table and a shelf within a very limited area. The weatherproof material screens, yet remains permeable.The project was originally commissioned by the Design Museum, London, where it was exhibited as part of the NEW/OLD exhibition. It looked at how design can help people lead fuller, healthier and more rewarding lives into old age.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Co-Producer: The Design Museum, London IMAGEUTOPIA / INSTALLATION / DESIGN BIENNALE LONDON /2016Our contribution to the 2016 London Design Biennale uses a quote by John Malkovich as its title: “Utopia is elsewhere”. The project draws on the fact that there are just a few recurring situations, which allow people across all cultures and ages to wander off into a similar state of daydreaming: sitting in front of a fire and gazing into the flames; lying in the grass and looking into the sky; looking out to sea watching the breaking waves.Divided into two spaces the installations begins with the John Malkovich quote, which is set in classic typography on an outsized easel in a brilliant white space. In an ancillary, darkened room you can sit in comfortable chairs in contemplation around a flickering, hypnotic digital fire, so as to encourage your mind to drift off 'elsewhere'. This is intended to encourage collective dreaming and evoke humanity's primordial fantasy of a better world.Project assistant: Olivia Herms (KGID)Client: Design Biennale LondonIMAGEEPOCSODIELAK / INSTALLATION / PROTOTYPE /2016EPOCSODIELAK is a 3x2x1 meter free-standing Disco Totem, designed in collabroation with graphic designer Mirko Borsche. Made from black powder coated steel profiles, it is equipped with a cluster of strobe lights, lasers, a fog machine and a mixing desk. Powered by a 1200 Watt dynamic sound system, the project proposes a self-sufficient sound/light unit, which has enough whack to turn any space into an ad-hoc disco. The installation was put to the real test on a special party night hosted by Kaleidoscope and ZEITMagazin during the 2016 Salone del Mobile in Milan (see images).Concept: Mirko Borsche & Konstantin Grcic Assistants: Jan Heinzelmann, Tilman Meyer (both KGID), Moritz Wiegand (BB)Produced by: ZEITMagazin and KaleidoscopeIMAGEBRUT / FURNITURE / MAGIS /2016Iron casting is one of the oldest ways of using ferrous metals. The material is heavy and strong. It performs best under compression, which is why it is used as a structural material for building bridges and, on a smaller scale, as bases for heavy machinery. For Magis we have developed a collection of contemporary furniture pieces consisting of a large rectangular table, a height adjustable trestle table, a round table, a small bistro table, as well as a an upholstered bench/sofa.The name BRUT stands for raw and untreated. A solid piece of iron, heavy and uncompromising. At the same time it calls to mind the sweetness of sparkling wine, which speaks of refinement and sophistication, which is also inherent to our project. Project assisstant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Client: Magis IMAGEETTORE / MULE / MAGIS /2016For Eugenio Perazza, founder and head of Magis, the mule is the perfect emblem for representing his company: Magis, the tireless and hard working mule. While we were working on the BRUT collection of cast-iron furniture, Perazza asked me to draw a mule that could be made in cast iron for the company´s 40th anniversary. ETTORE has the size of an Oxford dictionary and weighs 4,5 kg.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: Magis IMAGENUMI / TILES / MUTINA /2016„Piastrelle“, ceramic tiles! Working on my first collection for Mutina, I began to appreciate the beauty of this ancient and simple craft. A piece of clay which becomes a floor, a wall. The idea that matter is made out of discrete units is a fundamental one. It is as much a philosophical concept as a biological fact. The ceramic tile represents just that: a small unit which, once multiplied, turns into something larger than the sum of its parts.NUMI is a collection of square tiles in two sizes (30x30cm and 60x60cm) and six colors. Each of the six is partially glazed with a different geometric form. In multiplication, these forms create a pattern which magnifies into architecture. The smaller NUMINI (5x5cm) are based on the same principle but feature a relief pattern instead of glazing. Project assistant: Caroline Perret (KGID)Producer: Mutina IMAGEMINGX / CHAIR / DRIADE /2016I am a great admirer of Chinese wooden furniture from the Ming dynasty. What I find so compelling about them is the combination of structural logic and formal beauty. The MINGX collection of chairs is inspired by historical Chinese furniture, but the transition from wood to tubular steel has opened up a contemporary, industrial and, admittedly, European interpretation of the classical theme. Note: the seat frame in laser-cut & folded sheet steel is holding the entire chair together. Note also: the thin diameter tube changes the classical outline of the Chinese chair into a fluent and light silhouette. Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: Driade IMAGEREMO PLASTIC / CHAIR / PLANK /2016I wasn’t convinced it could work: to take the geometry of a plywood seat shell and turn it into a plastic injection moulding. Both materials couldn’t be more different. While plywood lamination imposes a lot of restraints on the shape of the shell, plastic injection moulding allows for great formal freedom. After long discussions and careful evaluations we decided to try it - and succeeded, which proofs an interesting point: Thanks to the “unorthodox” transition from a wooden chair to a plastic one, we have unintentionally created a simple and beautiful plastic chair - one that we would never have done otherwise. There is now a REMO plywood chair and a REMO plastic chair. Both types stand on their own merits, which means that they cater for very different uses. While the plywood version is the more sophisticated and elegant chair, its plastic relative offers a more economical, more resilient (for public use) alternative, which can, above all, be used outdoors. The REMO plastic chair comes in twelve new colours. The tubular frame is either chromed or zinc plated (for outdoors). Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID) Producer: Plank IMAGEPROPS / FURNITURE / CASSINA /2016PROPS are furniture elements outside the common typology. PROPS are hardly self-sufficient, however, in relation to other pieces of furniture, they become functional extensions hereof: next to a chair, next to a sofa, next to a shelf. The PROPS series comprises of five alternative elements. Each one has its own specific geometry and size, which, combined with another piece of furniture, creates a variety of uses. All elements are made from 5 mm thick raw metal sheet, which is laser cut, milled and folded.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: CassinaIMAGENEW CERAMICA / WATCH / RADO /2016The briefing I got from RADO was straight forward: to redesign their most iconic watch, the Ceramica. The redesign of a classic is always challenging. As a designer you take on a clear responsibility not to spoil the legacy of the original. The design process forces you to decide of how close to stay with the original, and how far to depart from it? The original Ceramica still looks pretty amazing today. It is absolutely iconic and pure and that clearly inspired my new design - not only in a formal sense, but also in terms of its uncompromising attitude. I chose to approach the project from a very subjective point of view. I asked myself what would change the original Ceramica into a watch that I would wear today?Rado are absolute experts in their field. They are part of the watch industry which is a very specialised industry. What’s so nice about working with companies like that is that they know everything about what they do. They're extremely focused and professional. I find great pleasure in that. In the particular case with Rado, there is the high-tech ceramic technology. They’ve developed that technology for watch making and therefore have a long history working with it. Most of the Rado watches are made in high-tech ceramic, not metal. The ceramic is injection moulded under very high pressure, which creates an extremely dense, hard end result. High-tech ceramic watches are extremely tough – harder than metal. The material is lighter than stainless steel, it has a much more pleasant temperature when you wear it and it is scratch resistant. The NEW CERAMICA is available in two different sizes, mirror polished or treated satin matt. Some models are automatic, others have quartz movements. Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: Rado IMAGEHUGO BOSS / YACHT BRANDING / ALEX THOMSON RACING /2016Hugo BOSS commissioned my office to create the visual branding for a sailing boat to compete in the Vendée Globe: a round-the-world single-handed yacht race, sailed non-stop and without assistance. Alex Thomson, skipper of the Hugo BOSS sponsored boat, aspires to becoming the first British sailor to win what is referred to as the Mount Everest of sailing. In preparation for the 2016/17 edition of the Vendée, he and his team (and Hugo BOSS) had just over two years to build a totally new boat. The naval architecture of the HUGO BOSS was developed by VPLP and Guillaume Verdier. Its a first of its kind, 60 foot carbon fibre mono hull with foils - giant appendages protruding from either side of the hull to lift the boat out of the water in strong winds. Our job? We painted the boat black, the whole thing: the hull, the mast, the sails. HUGO BOSS is a race machine, it is about speed and competition. We wanted to give it an expression of ultimate performance, make it look determined, even menacing. While the hull is painted in matt black, the deck is covered in tessellating, silver hexagons, a reference to the honeycomb structure (Nomex) of the boat. Onto the sliding canopy, which covers the small area where Alex Thomson is standing to steer the boat, we lacquered a grey monochrome Union Jack in reference to the historical explorers who displayed flags on their boats.The visual impact of the black HUGO BOSS is stunning, specially when seen off-shore and at high speed. That was the task we had: designing the boat to look great in action, most likely seen through the lens of a helicopter camera. HUGO BOSS Southern OceanClip_1: Building the new HUGO BOSSClip_2: HUGO BOSS in actionFollow the race live: vendeeglobe.comProject assistant: Charlotte Talbot (KGID)Client: Hugo BOSS and Alex Thomson Racing IMAGEABBILDUNGEN-FIGURES / SOLO EXHIBITION / KUNSTHALLE BIELEFELD /2016The monographic exhibition KONSTANTIN GRCIC, ABBILDUNGEN/FIGURES at Kunsthalle Bielefeld is a deep bow to the museum’s architecture: the extraordinary building by American architect Philip Johnson from 1968. In worship of Johnson’s vision of a museum which was dedicated to an art that is predominantly wall hung or set on pedestals, I did exactly that: all exhibits are either presented as flat images on the wall, or displayed on plinths (interpreted in varied forms). Thus relieved of their functional existence, the design exhibits obtain an astonishing autonomy. A selection of works from the museums’ art collection that are included in the show are exploring the inspirational correlation between art and design (see images). The show is neither a survey nor a retrospective, but a compilation of works that was inpsired by the subjective narrative of the show.A catalogue of the exhibition was designed by graphic designers Strobo and published by Lars Müller. Project assistant: Caroline Perret (KGID)Producer: Kunsthalle Bielefeld IMAGETHE GOOD THE BAD THE UGLY / SOLO EXHIBITION / DIE NEUE SAMMLUNG /2015The exhibition THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY was devised in three parts: the first one showed the (almost) entire genesis of “Chair_ONE” (1999–2004) consisting of twenty-five 1:1 scale mock-ups and prototypes. The models, which were made of wire, cardboard, sheet steel or 3D printed nylon, were exhibited in specially designed sulfur yellow display cages. Alongside the models, we showed examples of the final production chair (manufactured by Magis Italy). The second part of the exhibi¬tion presented a cross section of industrial design projects from over two decades of my career. The selected projects represented a personal list of favourites. The third and final section was conceived as a scenographic installation for the TT-Pavilion, a project we had designed for the launch of the Audi TT model in 2014. The small building combines a wooden structure with seven original hatchback doors and fuel caps from the TT model. The pavilion was positioned in front of a utopian land¬scape that was painted on canvas exclusively for the exhibition. The exhibition title is borrowed from a classic Western and pointing ironically to the highly emotional potential of design and its reception.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Client: Die Neue Sammlung - Munich, Germany12.11.2015 – 18.09.2016IMAGEPANORAMA / SOLO EXHIBITION / VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM /2015PANORAMA at the the Vitra Design Museum has been the most comprehensive solo exhibition of my work to date. The show included several large-scale installations, rendering my personal visions for life in the future: a home interior, a design studio and an urban environment. These spaces were staging fictional scenarios confronting the viewer with my inspirations, challenges and questions, as well as placing my work in a greater social context. The highlight of these presentations was a 30-metre long panorama (conceived in collaboration with artist Neil Campbell Ross) that depicts an architectural landscape of the future. A fourth area of the exhibition took a focused look at my office’s daily work. This section presented many finished products, but also prototypes, drawings and background information along with artefacts that have inspired me – from an old teapot and an early Apple computer to works by Marcel Duchamp, Gerrit Rietveld and Enzo Mari. In the shift of perspectives between larger and smaller scales, the exhibition demonstrated how design is more than mere problem solving, but a highly complex process that integrates coincidences, ruptures, chance discoveries and a profound engagement with the visual culture of our time.Project leader: Friederike Daumiller (freelance)Project assistants: Hisham Almannai, Sami Ayadi, Alexandra Fürstenhagen, Jan Heinzelmann, Olivia Herms, Charlotte Talbot, Isabel Schurgacz.Client: Vitra Design Museum Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany, 22.03. – 14.09.2015IMAGEVAL / SANITARY WARE / LAUFEN /2015The VAL bathroom collection is based on the conceptual studies we realized for Laufen in 2014 (SaphirKeramik project, Salone del Bagno, Milano). The experience we gained from the original process was now applied to a highly industrialized range of products. The strong architectural forms are enhanced by extraordinarily thin wall sections which are characteristic of the innovative SaphirKeramic material. The basic element of the new collection is a rectangular wall-mounted washbasin, available in different widths (450, 550, 650 and 950mm). Additionally, VAL includes two asymmetrical wash-bowls and two small trays, all of which are direct progressions from the experimental studies of our original project. As an extension to the collection of ceramic pieces we have designed a freestanding bathtub in Sentec, a solid surface material which matches perfectly with the filigree SaphirKeramik. Project assistant: Charlotte Talbot (KGID)Producer: Laufen IMAGESAM SON / EASY CHAIR / MAGIS /2015SAM SON is an easy armchair with a hint of a cartoon character. Propped up on 4 stilted legs, the chair features a softly suspended seat shell between a giant, horseshoe-shaped sausage, the chair's characteristic arm- and backrest. Made from two different rotational mouldings, the chair combines a rigid plastic for its base and a more elastic polymer for the upper part. The exaggerated dimension of the arm- and backrest provides comfort and support, and creates a protective space for sitting in it. SAM SON comes in 4 different colours. It is suitable for both in- and outdoors.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID) Producer: Magis IMAGEREMO / CHAIR / PLANK /2015REMO is a plywood chair that merges the producer´s artisanal heritage with the latest manufacturing technologies. The chair’s defining feature, the T-shaped backrest, is made possible through a sophisticated interlocking joint that attaches the curved seat to the horizontal back rest. This two-piece construction results in an ultra light but strong shell which offers exceptional comfort. REMO is produced in two variations: an all wood version, which combines the laminated seat shell with bent plywood legs, and a stackable version with a leg structure in tubular steel.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID) Producer: PlankIMAGETROTTOIR TORTOISIS / BUCKET / TOLIX /2015The "Chaise A" by French company Tolix is an icon in the history of chairs. Made in sheet metal and tube it combines lightness and strength, industrial esthetics and craftsmanship. When Tolix invited my office to create an object based on the model A, it was absolutely clear to us that, whatever we do, it mustn´t be a chair. Charlotte Talbot, my assistant, came up with the construction of a large vessel made of the chair´s sheet metal spine (in Tolix lingo referred to as "Palmette"). 14 x Plamettes determined the size and shape of the bucket. The object couldn´t have been made without the chair, yet, it doesn´t pander to it. It is simply a large bucket made from sheet metal and tube at the Tolix factory. Project assistant: Charlotte Talbot (KGID)Producer: Tolix IMAGEZIGZAG / SHELF / DRIADE /2015ZIGZAG was originally put on the market in 1996. Almost twenty years later its re-launch introduces a series of novelties to the original project. The shelf's zig-zag shaped structure is as simple and fresh today and remains untouched. However, we took advantage of changes in technology and taste to update both manufacturing and material trim. A palette of new colours for the metal work - black, white, bronze and polished stainless steel - is complemented by two kinds of wooden shelves, oak and American walnut. The clip-on bookends are available in matching colours to all other metal parts or veneered in the same woods as the shelves. An additional, fluorescent red colour is reminiscent of the orange bookends of the 1996 original. ZIGZAG comes in two heights and is assembled without any tools."When you see the ZIGZAG shelves you see that Konstantin was just trying to work something out; it’s old-fashioned in that way. It’s a piece of old-fashioned design and a very thoughtful design: the coincidence of idea, technology and the tectonic. It’s a real piece of furniture making." David ChipperfieldProject assistants: Ascan Mergenthaler (1996) and Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: DriadeIMAGECLERICI / BENCH / MATTIAZZI /2015The CLERICI collection of wooden benches radiates devout serenity. The philosophy and construction of CLERICI is consistent with our first collaboration for Mattiazzi (MEDICI, 2012). The manufacturer´s excellence in technology and workmanship enables the interpretation of a classical typology with contemporary perfection. The precision and simplicity of the benches´ solid construction manifest a calm intensity that lives up to the architectural grandeur and clarity of spaces CLERICI is destined for: museums, waiting halls, restaurants, boutiques etc. The CLERICI collection comprises of a classical bench (as 2-, 3- and 4-seater) as well as a lower, more reclined version (from armchair to 3-seater, with optional upholstered seat cushions). The benches are made in sold oak or stained ash. The upholstery on the low version is available in leather or woven fabric.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi Producer: Mattiazzi IMAGEALLSTAR / OFFICE CHAIR / VITRA /2014With ALLSTAR, we have developed an office chair which makes a strong reference to chairs outside the office. Its rational construction and emblematic appeal yield a form of de-acceleration from the fast-paced dynamic of most work environments. We were keen to design a chair which defies the typical office stereotype. ALLSTAR expresses a sense of familiarity and casualness which make it suited for a wide variety of settings, both professional and domestic.ALLSTAR performs almost all functions of a fully fledged office chair: it has a five-star swivel base, an adjustable synchronised mechanism, seat depth and height adjustment, and an adjustable backrest. The large loop armrest, which shapes the identity of ALLSTAR, also represents the main structural element on which the mechanical unit of the chair is hinged.ALLSTAR is available in different colour versions. The polyamide armrest comes in five finishes (black, white, red, blue or green) which is combined with a wide range of coloured backrests. The swivel base and seat cushion are always black. Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID) Producer: Vitra IMAGEAllstar GalleryAllstar Development LONDON CALLING / LIBRARY STEPS / GALERIE KREO /2014Think of London and the Routemaster Bus. The iconic red double-decker with its open rear platform that allowed you to hop on and off anywhere it stopped. When I lived in London in the early 90’s, the old Routemasters were still in service. They had a narrow spiral staircase at their back which connected the lower and the upper deck. I vividly remember countless travels across town, sitting upstairs in the front row, and watching London’s big city lights as they passed by below me.Of course, LONDON CALLING is not about bus travel. However, the title evokes fond memories I have for the city I once lived in. LONDON CALLING are spiral-shaped library steps. Five steps that take you to a height of 90cm, in a half circle around their central pole. The stairs are made of solid oak. They are constructed to be freestanding, and mobile. Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: Galerie kreoIMAGEALIEN / BOTTLE OPENER / EDITION CHARLIE /2014A bottle opener as key ring. It used to be a common thing. Used to be … Time for a revival. Project assistants: Jan Heinzelmann & Caroline Perret (KGID)Producer: EditioncharlieIMAGETT PAVILION / ARCHITECTURE / AUDI /2014For the occasion of design miami/basel 2014, Audi commissioned us to design a presentation of their brand new third generation Audi TT coupé. I conceived the TT PAVILION as a small polygonal building in wood and aluminum. With a reference to the new-generation Audi TT, the pavilion incorporates seven original TT hatchback doors as wing-like entrances. I think of the Audi TT as a car which you drive from the city out for a tour of the countryside. My resonse to this experience is a small building that symbolizes the remote destination of such a drive. Conceptually, I was interested in applying the high technology used in automotive manufacturing to an architectural context. I consider cars to be very sophisticated industrially produced pieces of architectures. They not only provide a protective shelter but also are perfectly equipped functional spaces for working, communicating, eating and relaxing. The free-standing TT-PAVILION is pre-fabricated and mounted on adjustable pylons, allowing it to be installed in even the most imponderable terrain." Project assistants: Jan Heinzelmann & Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: Audi AG IMAGEDAHLEM / CHAIR / ARFLEX JAPAN /2014Arflex Japan, originally founded in 1969 as sole distributor of the Italian mother brand Arflex, is also producer/manufacturer of an exclusive furniture collection for the Japanese market. The company´s distinguished cultural background inspired me to create a radically contemporary chair for Japan which combines values of both traditional craftsmanship and modernist aesthetics. DAHLEM is characterized by a strictly geometric language, reminiscent of the beautiful chairs by Gerrit Rietveld, Charles Rennie Mackintosh or Frank Lloyd Wright. The chair´s construction is legible in all its parts. Lightness and economy are prime motivations for the way it was designed. The chair, which is exclusively available in Japan is made in walnut or oak, the seat is upholstered in soft leather or fabric. Project assiatant: Charlotte Talbot (KGID) Producer: Arflex JapanIMAGERIVAL / CHAIR / ARTEK /2014Even though our collaboration with Finnish furniture manufacturer Artek started nearly two years before the company´s marriage with Vitra (August 2013), the original briefing from Artek could´t have better anticipated its future destination: the chair RIVAL was designed for home working. In the use of materials RIVAL reflects its roots in the historic company founded by Alvar Aalto 80 years ago. However, the swivel mechanism, invisibly integrated into the seat of the chair, owes strongly to the technical ingenuity of Artek´s new partnership with Vitra. "Being able to swivel offers a psychological clue as to the purpose of the chair. Just as pulling an adjustable desk light into position, and pressing the switch is a symbolic prelude to concentration and work, so is the sense of being able to adjust your seating position at a desk. It is a gesture that can almost be seen as giving the user permission to leave their domestic setting behind, and to start work." (Deyan Sudjic, design critic and director of the London Design Museum). There are two different versions of Rival, a high back and a low back. The chairs come in different wood finishes and with upholstered seats in either leather or 3-d knit fabric. Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: ArtekIMAGELAUFEN / SANITARY WARE / LAUFEN /2014A series of wash-bowls mark the beginning of our collaboration with Laufen, a Swiss producer of premium sanitary ware. Working with a truly innovative material, SaphirKeramik, opened up unprecedented possibilities. The revolutionary ceramic formula, developed and patented by Laufen, is characterized by exceptional hardness and strength, which in terms of design allows for thin sectioned shapes and a high definition of detail. The current designs give an outlook on a complete new product range to be launched at ISH/Frankfurt in 2015.Project assistant: Charlotte Talbot (KGID) Producer: LaufenIMAGEVERTUOLINE / CUPS ETC. / NESPRESSO /2014In an attempt to reach a broader audience of coffee drinkers, Nespresso recently launched VertuøLine, a new capsule system which can make single cup espressos as well as 'Grand Cru' coffees. Nespresso have developed a new form of barcoded capsule which can be read by the machine to optimize the brewing cycle for each specific blend. We were commissioned to design a family of complimentary products (cups, spoons, travel mug, capsule dispenser) for VertuøLine. Project assistant: Charlotte Talbot (KGID) Producer: NespressoIMAGETUFFY / CHAIR / MAGIS /2014Three years ago the Tom and Jerry stools started The Wild Bunch collection. In the meantime two different tables (Butch and Topsy) and the shelving system (Tyke) have been added. Finally, we introduced a chair to the family. TUFFY is based on the original Tom & Jerry stools, using the same nylon spindle for height adjustment. The chair has four legs (instead of the stool´s three) and a T-shaped backrest, which is made in gas injected plastic to provide comfortable resilience. TUFFY is a versatile chair which can be imagined at the studio/office, in schools, at a lunch café, around the kitchen table or the child´s bedroom. Seat and legs are made in solid beech, the plastic parts are available in the typical colours of The Wild Bunch - black, white, orange and blue. Project assistant: Jan Heinzmann (KGID)Producer: MagisIMAGEKEYBOARD / WORK TABLE / MARSOTTO EDIZIONI /2014Continuing our collaboration with Marsotto edizioni, KEYBOARD is a minimal desk with a rotating top extension that allows for different working configurations. The piece is manufactured using white Carrara marble slabs. Project assistant: Charlotte Talbot (KGID)Producer: Marsotto edizioniIMAGEMAN MACHINE / EDITION / GALERIE KREO /2014MAN MACHINE is a collection of furniture pieces developed for Galerie kreo in Paris. Like the CHAMPIONS tables, my previous project for kreo, I based the entire collection on one material (and technique): glass. Glass is surely not the most obvious material for making furniture. Apart from being cold and heavy, there is a prevalent stigma about its fragility. However, if you think about it, glass is one of the most commonly used building materials in contemporary architecture. The idea of MAN MACHINE (named after Kraftwerk´s 1978 album) started to formulate when we began introducing moving elements to the glass furniture. The movement is achieved by using industrial gas pistons, a kind of magic muscle. The performance and leverage of each gas piston is customized according to the exact movement required. On the CHAISE (chair), the piston is used to alter the position of the backrest, on the round TABLE_M the piston makes the table top fold away. The large TABLE_XL has four synchronized telescopic pistons which allow the table top to be cranked up or down. The big boxes (CRATE) have pistons lifting the glass lid, the book SHELF incorporates pistons pushing wooden blocks like sprung bookends. All pieces are made out of tempered glass jointed together with silicone glue. The MAN MACHINE collection is produced in a limited edition of 8 pieces each.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID) Manufacturer: Glasbau HahnProducer: Galerie kreo, ParisIMAGESIDE TABLE_B / SIDE TABLE / BD BARCELONA /2014There is not much to be said about this project other than - it is what it is. A small side table with a round top, central column and conical base. The table was originally designed to compliment our BENCH_B project (also BD Barcelona), but its distinct elegance and useful proportion make it a perfectly valid product in its own right. Made in architectural concrete it is moulded in one single piece. The table can be used indoors and outdoors, the weight is 14kg. Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID) Producer: BD Barcelona IMAGETRAFFIC / UPHOLSTERY / MAGIS /2013TRAFFIC is a collection of furniture using wire and upholstery.The correlation between the three-dimensional line drawing of the metal rod and the geometric volumes of the cushions marks a significant shift from the common connotation of wire furniture. The unassuming simplicity of its conception impart a pleasant casualness. The refinement of detailing and carefully tailored proportions stimulate a resounding elegance. The inherent logic of construction creates a formal grammar which allows for a number of functional declinations to form the TRAFFIC collection: an armchair, a two seater sofa, a small bench (which also serves as ottoman), a chaise longue. All pieces are available with upholstery in fabric or leather. The metal structure is either powder coated (in high gloss colours) or chrome plated.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: Magis IMAGETHREE & FRAME / BAGS / MAHARAM /2013When Michael Maharam (Maharam textiles) started us thinking about a new collection of bags, THREE bag was the very first design we did. We didn´t really design it, we just made it on the old Singer sewing machine in the office. The very direct, hands-on approach surely informed the bag´s straight forward construction. THREE bag is made from waxed, water-repellent cotton canvas with contrasting nylon trim. It comes in two sizes (medium and large), and three different color combinations (Amber/Neon, Vellum/Neon, Indigo/Black). The experience of THREE bag led to the idea of creating soft geodesic structures, which became FRAME bag. A lattice of black webbing creates an outer framework for the actual bag, which is made of tissue thin synthetic material. FRAME is made of ripstop nylon (orange/Safety or blue/Indigo) with black webbing lattice and a durable vinyl base.Project assistants: Alexander Löhr, Jan Heinzelmann, Pauline Deltour, Jerome Nelet, Olivia Herms.Producer: Maharam IMAGETYKE / SHELVING SYSTEM / MAGIS /2013TYKE, a modular shelving system in laser cut steel forms another addition the The Wild Bunch family (see: TOM & JERRY, TOPSY, BUTCH). Its uprights are partly standing on the floor and partly leaning against the wall, which allows for an absolutely minimal construction.The system can be fitted with shelves in alternative depths/lengths, each of which can be adjusted to various heights.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID) Producer: Magis IMAGEMIGONG / INSTALLATION / HUMBOLDT LAB DAHLEM /2013MIGONG is an installation work commissioned by the Humboldt Lab Dahlem.The Berlin based laboratory was instituted by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation) and the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz to help prepare for the relocation of two major museums, the Museum für Ethno-logische Kunst (Ethnological Museum) and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst (Museum for Asian Art), to the reconstructed Berlin Palace, the future Humboldt Forum.The lab brings together a team of museum curators, designers, artists, and scholars to exercise a series of concentrated, short projects in the field of exhibition design and scenography. MIGONG examines the presentation of a Chinese Emperor’s Throne from the Kangxi period (1662-1722) which is owned by the Museum for Asian Art. The installation is a man-size labyrinth (Chinese: migong) leading up to the throne at its center. Visitors have to find their way through the labyrinth of industrial balustrades in order to get close to the throne. The installation evokes two kinds of references: First, the architecture of ancient Chinese Palaces which is composed of intertwining courtyards and smaller palaces creating a form of safety barrier around the emperor´s main palace. Second, the safeguarding of invaluable works of art from the afflux of visitors in large public museums, which is typically done by rather profane off-the-shelf equipment. MIGONG forms part of the exhibition "Spiel der Throne" which can be visited at the Museum für Asiatische Kunst in Berlin Dahlem from June 18th until October 27th, 2013. The show is curated by Angela Rosenberg. Other artists participating in the project are: Kirstine Roepstorff, Simon Starling, and Zhao Zhao. Project assistant: Olivia Herms (KGID) Commissioned by: Humboldt Lab Dahlem IMAGEAPPT.N°50 / EXHIBITION / PRIVATE COMMISSION /2013There is an apartment in Le Corbusier's famous Cité Radieuse (radiant city) in Marseille, which is almost completely preserved in its original 1952 condition. Appt.N°50 is privately owned and it is thanks to the generosity and passion of its owner/occupant that the place is made accessible to a wider public during the summer months of each year.As proof that Le Corbusier's visionary Unité d'Habitation has the same vibrancy today as when it was originally conceived the apartment is turned into a temporary stage for the ideas and works of contemporary designers. A short series of scenographic installations has been realized over the years; my project is the third in line following Jasper Morrison (2008) and Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec (2010).Apart from placing a selection of my favorite furniture and objects I decided to tag the walls of the apartment with four blown up scans from an original punk fanzine. The punk motifs are tempting a slightly devious link between two completely unrelated worlds: Le Corbusier's architecture and punk rock. Without forcing the idea of common grounds, I find that both have a rawness and uncompromising spirit which I have always found compellingly beautiful. Bringing both cultures together in this project felt most inspiring and, in the end, surprisingly fitting.The installation will be open to the public from July 15th until August 15th 2013.For more information please visit www.appt50lc.orgProject assistant: Charlotte Talbot (KGID)IMAGEOK / LAMP / FLOS /2013The evolution of an iconic project: Pio Manzù´s original idea of creating a "light source that can slide vertically from floor to ceiling and rotate 360 degrees on its axis" was adapted by Achille Castiglioni after his friend´s early death in 1969. A beautiful illustration reveals the painstaking process of refinement which transformed the first schematic concepts into the final product. The Parentesi lamp was launched by Flos in 1972 and has been in continuous production every since. Forty years later, much has changed. The world of lighting has undergone a fundamental shift from conventional bulbs to a variety of new lighting technologies which in themselves are creating new opportunities for the design and manufacturing of lamps.When Piero Gandini, director of Flos, showed me first samples of a thin LED panel based on computer screen technology it made me realize just how big a paradigm shift had happened. Designing a lamp is no longer limited to working around a given bulb. Today, it means designing the actual light source itself. This made me think of the Parentesi as it had always celebrated the bulb in the most direct and beautiful way. Would it be possible to rethink the Parentesi lamp once more, passing the baton of Pio Manzù and Achille Castiglioni into yet another future?Its OK.The incandescent bulb is now a flat disc. The handle for moving the lamp up and down the cable incorporates the electronic engine which drives the LEDs. The weight is cone shaped and easier to install. Only the small ceiling rose stays exactly as it´s always been, a beautifully shaped piece of spun metal, designed by Achille Castiglioni for the iconic Parentesi lamp.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: FlosIMAGEPARRISH COLLECTION / CHAIR / EMECO /2013Collaborating with Herzog & de Meuron Architects on the Parrish Art Museum (Long Island, New York) created an opportunity for developing a bespoke chair for the new building. I was convinced that a chair which would fit the museum´s specific context and needs also had high potentials as a universal product. Looking for a suitable manufacturing partner made us join up with Emeco, producer of the iconic Navy chair. Emeco have a strong history and expertise in making contemporary chairs which combine industrial process and craftsmanship. Their powerful claim "First, Let´s Make Things That Last" became the mantra for our own ambitions. The chair´s form is characterized by the lines of round sectioned aluminum tubing which softly coil around a separate seat element. The entire construction converges in one single element underneath the seat; we call it the "heart" of the chair. Made in die-cast aluminum it is the joint which holds everything together - the legs, the arm-/backrest, the seat. Conceptually, it determines how the chair is produced: in prefabricated parts, spliced together mechanically. The dry assembly of elements demands a high degree of precision, but offering extra flexibility in the production process as well as facilitating future repair work and recycling. Craftsmanship is not anymore defined by hand-labour, but rather by machine processes making precision parts: die-casting, extrusions, injection moulding. The PARRISH chair is available as a high chair or low recliner. It can be fitted with three optional seats: moulded plastic (polypropylene), solid wood (maple or walnut) and upholstery (leather or fabric). In combination with different frame finishes (natural anodized aluminum or powder coated colors) the chair can adapt to a number of different scenarios. From a basic café version (plastic seat) to high end contract and domestic (wood, upholstery) use. A matching four-legged table is based on a similar construction principle featuring a central joint in die-cast aluminum and tubular legs. Tables are available in different sizes and formats and heights. Project assistance: Olivia Herms (KGID) Producer: Emeco IMAGEMEDICI + / SIDE TABLE & STOOL / MATTIAZZI /2013The lone wolf starts a happy family. The MEDICI chair is now accompanied by a round side table and (foot) stool. Notice also the new colour red (PANTONE 032c) for MEDICI.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: MattiazziIMAGEBENCH_B / BENCH SYSTEM / BD BARCELONA /2013I started to work on this project during my bursary at the German Academy Villa Massimo in Rome in 2011. My first inspiration came from the wrought iron benches which furnish the parkway of the academy´s premises. Structural considerations soon led to the cross-shaped leg in cast aluminum which, inevitably, created an image reminiscent of the famous Barcelona chair (1929). The logic and beauty of this leg detail were so definitive, they overruled any initial qualms concerning Mies van der Rohe´s iconic design. Ironically, my project was to be produced by a company based in Barcelona. Nearly a century later, we were able to re-interpret this furniture classic in a new way, making it ergonomically better while turning it into a more systematic, technologically advanced product. Using aluminum extrusions for the curved seat/back profile and slats is a logical continuation of my previous work for BD, but also adds a great flexibility to the production of the bench. BENCH_B can be made to any length from a one-seater chair up to a maximum length of six meters. It can be fitted with optional armrests, it can be upholstered or left in pure aluminium.Click here to watch a short video about the project.Project Assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID) Producer: BD BarcelonaIMAGEPARAMOUNT / MIRROR / ARCHITECTURE FOR DOGS /2012The so-called "Mirror Test" is used by neurologists to examine the self-awareness of animals based on whether or not they can recognize themselves in a mirror. Among the ‘lesser’ creatures the great apes, dolphins, elephants, and rats are the only ones confirmed to recognize the image in the mirror as themselves. Dogs have been ruled complete failures at self-awareness which can be explained by the simple fact that they are relying primarily on senses other than sight. Having said this, there is a group of poodle owners gathering in respective internet forums who fervidly disagree with this assumption. They claim that their poodles are reacting positively to mirrors and displaying unmistakable signs of self-awareness. If this is true, it would perfectly underline two quality characteristics about poodles: that they are notoriously finicky about their looks, and that they are highly intelligent.PARAMOUNT forms part of Architecture For Dogs, which is a Tokyo based project initiated by Kenya Hara. Please check the project webiste to explore other design proposals by Atelier Bow Wow, Kazuyo Sejima, Sou Fujimoto, Shigeru Ban etc. The website offers free construction blueprints to download for you and your dog.Project assistant: Charlotte Talbot (KGID)Producer: Architecture For DogsIMAGEPARRISH / INTERIOR SCOPE / NEW PARRISH ART MUSEUM /2012Over a course of 3 years we have been collaborating with architects Herzog & de Meuron on the NEW PARRISH ART MUSEUM in Long Island (New York). Taking inspiration from the house-shaped artist's studio which is typical for the Hamptons the architects have created a single 600 feet long shed with a low slung double-barreled roof. Our involvement in the project was to design the furniture for the museum´s public program areas (reception, lobby, café, shop) as well as the administrative offices. Most of the furniture is made locally using 100 year old retrieved pine wood (heart pine) which is coherent with the building´s use of simple materials and straightforward construction principles. The café and adjacent outdoor terrace of the museum are furbished with chairs designed especially for the museum and produced by American chair company Emeco. The PARRISH chair will be officially launched at the Salone del Mobile in Milan in April 2013. Project assistant: Olivia Herms (KGID) Architecture: Herzog & de Meuron IMAGEREDUCE-REUSE-RECYCLE / EXHIBITION / VENICE BIENNALE /2012Muck Petzet, architect and general commissioner of Germany´s contribution to the Architectural Biennale in Venice, has assigned us/KGID to be in charge of the exhibition design of the German Pavilion. Entitled REDUCE/REUSE/RECYCLE, the show points to the hierarchical logic of waste management and how the same value system may be addressed to the restructuring of building stock. The exhibition features sixteen projects exemplifying strategies which recognize the less-appreciated buildings and housing estates of postwar Germany as an important cultural, social and architectural resource.Muck Petzet: “The quality of the projects shown here lies in the intelligence of their strategies and not of their interventions. In the long run, the ability to study and identify with the existing inventory counts more than confronting it with something new.”The scenography of the exhibition reflects these ideas by keeping the design to an absolute minimum. Each project is represented by a single large wallpaper image (photographed especially by Erica Overmeer) while a "parcours" of platforms, so-called Passarelle, link the rooms and serve as makeshift seating. Passarelle are those temporary structures typically used in Venice during Aqua Alta (high tide) to provide dry walkways for pedestrians. We are using the elements on loan from the Venice municipality for the duration of the exhibition. Watch: © BauNetzhttp://vimeo.com/48354291Project assistant: Olivia Herms (KGID)General commissioner: Muck Petzet (mp-a)Photography: Erica OvermeerTypography: Thomas Mayfried and Swantje GrundlerThe project is supported by:The Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development (BMVBS)The exhibition catalogue is edited by Muck Petzet and Florian Heilmeyer and published by Hatje Cantz ISBN 978-3-7757-3424-0 IMAGEIN PERIFERIA / EDITION / FILED UNDER /2012IN PERIFERIA is the title of a colour printed silk scarf edited by Filed Under / The motif is based on a photo I took at the "Padiglione alla Magliana", a beautiful small building designed by the Roman architect Pier Luigi Nervi in 1945. It is Nervi´s first building in ferro-cemento, a technique for free forming reinforced concrete, which later became the distinctive signature of his work. The pavilion, which is located in Rome´s suburban periphery, is nowadays occupied by a large parking lot. In order to prevent damages from cars reversing into the fragile skin of the building, the owners have placed a series of used tyres against its facade. "This paradoxical, and still touching, sense of apprehension and protection, is reported by Grcic in his photo portrait of one of the tyres that he decided to replicate on the scarf as a repeated pattern: the sequence of the revolved image makes the tyre appear moving along the silk surface, as an animated picture."Quote taken from a text by art critic/curator Emanuela Nobile Mino.Filed Under is a project created by Annahita Kamali and Florian Böhm. The scarf is hand made in a limited edition of 100. It can be purchased directly through Filed Under /Printed on Twill 100% Silk, 110g/sqmSize: 130 X 107 cmProducer: Filed Under /IMAGEMEDICI / SIDE CHAIR / MATTIAZZI /2012Designing for Mattiazzi was like a personal time travel. It took me all the way back to my professional roots. At the very beginning of my career, I was trained a cabinet-maker. Working with wood is what I learnt from scratch. It is where it all started for me.Mattiazzi make furniture in wood, using both traditional means of production and the newest digital production technologies. MEDICI was born on Mattiazzi’s factory floor. The chair was inspired by the material, the machinery and, of course, the skill and craftsmanship of the people we worked with.Right from the beginning, I was looking for a distinct grammar for my design, a language that would express the characteristics of wood. I liked the idea of working with planks. They signify the very beginning of the production process – a tree trunk that is cut into slices. I like the way in which a carpenter joins wood. It is immediate and direct. The construction remains visible and easy to read. Structure turns into form. MEDICI is a low chair with a comfortably reclined posture. Its generous dimensions give it an embracing confidence. The chair can be used as a solitary piece of furniture or in small groups, in private or public, both indoors and out. It is produced in three different woods: American walnut, Douglas fir, and thermo-treated ash, a wood that is suitable for outdoors. The Douglas fir version is available in natural as well as in yellow and grey stain.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID) Producer: Mattiazzi IMAGETOPKAPI / TABLES / MARSOTTO EDIZIONI /2012James Irvine, designer/art-director for Marsotto edizioni wanted the company´s 2012 collection to be composed of large dining tables. Made of simple slabs, my design reinterprets a classic, round pedestal table. Depending on its size, the table is supported by either three (diameter 90 cm & 110 cm) or four legs (diameter 130 cm & 150 cm). All tables are made of white Carrara marble.Project assistant: Olivia Herms (KGID)Producer: Marsotto edizioniIMAGEPRO / SCHOOL CHAIR / FLOTOTTO /2012Starting to work on the chair, we tried to talk to (nearly) everyone who would have a stake in our project: kids, teachers, school janitors, procurement managers for school furniture, even insurance companies. We wanted to learn as much as we could about the characteristics of school chairs, about their production industry, and about the school furniture market.School furniture is a very national affair. Each country not only has its own norms and regulations but also its own school furniture industry. In Germany, 3-4 players dominate a highly consolidated market. Without outside competition, these companies don’t seem to have much pressure to innovate or implement the insights gathered in recent studies on school as a workplace.Recently, and as part of a general attempt to better promote public health in schools, questions of ergonomic seating and working have received much attention. The German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth has recently published a thorough study called “Work Place School.” The study found that dynamic sitting was the most important condition for physical, spiritual and emotional wellbeing. This, in turn, is the premise for healthy learning. While traditional furniture encourages children to sit straight and still, dynamic sitting allows kids to frequently change posture, even to get up during class.PRO is implementing these findings through three design elements. First, the round seat is similar to that of a stool so that it does not prescribe a forward sitting position. Second, the slim backrest gives the torso room to move sideways. The third and most decisive design element is the backrest’s distinctive S-shape. Its lower curve allows for freedom of movement and takes strain away from the lower back and pelvis. The three-dimensional shape provides for enough structural stability that the plastic shell can be produced without fiberglass reinforcement. This, incidentally, increases recycling options.Click here to watch a film by Marc Comes.Project assistant: Olivia Herms (KGID) Producer: FlötottoIMAGE/FILMPRO by Oliviero ToscaniPRO Gallery8-PACK / TABLE / THE WRONG SHOP /20118-PACK is what it is: a rectangular top propped up on a set of legs. Eight, to be precise. The project is about designing what normally would not be designed, producing what normally would not be produced. A plain piece of furniture, almost too obvious to be considered. Doing what I like to do in its most basic form while focusing on quality and precision. Exactly eight, exactly right. A piece of work, pure and simple.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: The Wrong Shop IMAGECHAMPIONS / TABLES / GALERIE KREO /2011CHAMPIONS is a collection of lacquered tables we produced for Galerie Kreo in Paris. The tables are made of aluminum (extrusions and folded sheet) with tops in float glass. PODIFY, the largest table, measures 3.5m in length.The graphics applied on the tables are fictional. They have no meaning other than to create an illusion which outgrows the objective reality of the product. Obviously, the tables are inspired by sport equipment like bikes, skis, and racecars. In the world of sports, speed, performance, and strength are essential. Graphics are used to underline these attributes. The project is not just about surface decoration. I am interested in the psychology of graphics on products, and, more specifically, in how the semantics of certain colors, words, and symbols change the perception of an object.The graphics are spray-painted by Walter Maurer, a lacquerer whose extraordinary skill and craftsmanship became a crucial factor in realizing the project."By transferring the precision that derives from the research and design process from his industrial product designs to these new gallery bound tables, Grcic has been able to question these two genealogies central to the history of product design: of Prouve, Breuer and Rams with their strict principles and geometries on the one hand, and Studio Alchimia and Memphis, with their panoply of ersatz decorative signs and playfully Pop shapes on the other. Instead of just being a tautological game, this is nothing less than a speculative design process aimed at generating a vocabulary of product design for the future." Excerpt taken from a text by art critic Alex Coles.The CHAMPIONS collection consists of 4 large tables (APACHE, BANZAI, JETDOG, PODIFY), and 4 small tables (MONROE, NADA, JAXONE, 465). Each table is produced as an edition of six. The exhibition CHAMPIONS was on show at Galerie Kreo from June 11 until July 23, 2011.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID) Laquering: Walter Maurer, Art + Design WorksProducer: Galerie Kreo, ParisIMAGEJUDD / DIRTY OLD / KG /2011I made this illustration in response to German art magazine MONOPOL´s request for a comment about Donald Judd´s furniture.IMAGECAPPA / SUIT / WALLPAPER & BRIONI /2011Wallpaper* magazine’s invitation to design a bespoke suit for Brioni, one of the world’s finest tailors, turned into an unexpected discovery. At Brioni, they speak of a suit as a made to measure-home. The idea struck me as beautifully modern. In a way, this is the ultimate interpretation of mobile architecture: to live inside a well-fitted, tailored piece of cloth.The CAPPA suit was specially conceived for the “Wallpaper* Handmade” exhibition. It was sewn at Brioni’s tailoring workshop in Penne. The exhibition took place at the Brioni HQ in Milano from April 13-17, 2011.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID) Producer: Brioni (Penne)The unique suit was made with the generous help of Angelo Petrucci, master tailor at Brioni.IMAGECAPPA GalleryCAPPA DevelopmentBEBEK / CONSOLE TABLE / MARSOTTO EDIZIONI /2011Continuing the enjoyable collaboration with Marsotto edizioni from last year, I’ve added a small, wall-hung table (diameter 40cm) to the collection. As is typical for Marsotto, the table is made in white Carrara marble, using a combination of high technology and craftsmanship. BEBEK is made of two slabs, one square, and one round. The table is mounted on the wall with an invisible double-wedge lock normally used in the shop fitting trade.Project assistant: Isabel Thoma (KGID)Producer: Marsotto edizioni IMAGETOM & JERRY / STOOL / MAGIS /2011TOM & JERRY is the redesign of a classic furniture typology – the workshop stool. The three-legged stool comes in two different heights. It is made of solid beech wood with mechanical parts in self-lubricant plastic. Because of its smooth-running mechanism, the stool is easy to adjust and convenient to climb. TOM & JERRY is a versatile addition to working, recreational and private environments alike: an office canteen, a health-food restaurant, or the kitchen counter at home. It’s the working stool of an architect or a scientist, the resting place of a museum guard. It can serve as telephone stool, as valet in a changing room, or as a seat for children at kindergarten.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: Magis IMAGEVENICE / CHAIR / MAGIS /2011Seven years after launching Chair_ONE, it was quite a challenge to design a second die-cast aluminum chair for Magis. Even though we decided on using fundamentally the same technology as we had for Chair_ONE, I wanted the chair to be markedly different from its predecessor. VENICE has much softer, more fluid lines. The carefully shaped seat-cum-armrest casting provides for elegance and comfort. A backrest made from flexible plastic molding emphasizes the chair’s typology and allows for play with color and materials. VENICE is stackable and can be used both in- and outdoors.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: MagisIMAGEAVUS / CLUB CHAIR / PLANK /2011AVUS pays tribute to the characteristic qualities of the leather club chair: great comfort, attention to detail, and refined elegance. However, the use of modern materials processed with cutting-edge technology from the automotive and sports industry make AVUS a radical reinterpretation of the lounge classic. The rigid base in ABS is produced as a twin-sheet molded shell, reinforced with a polyurethane foam core. The flexible upper shell consists of a single sheet of the same material. The soft leather upholstery is zipped into the upper shell in one piece, employing a technology which is common in the production of high-end luggage. AVUS is a compact and physically light piece of furniture with a high degree of comfort. It is suitable both for the contract market (waiting areas in hotels, airports, offices) and for private homes.The combination of plastic shells with leather upholstery provides for an exciting diversity of surfaces. It allows AVUS to be produced in a wide spectrum of color combinations, reaching from complete monochrome to strong contrasts.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: Plank IMAGECAPE / SOFA / ESTABLISHED & SONS /2011CAPE is the first industrially produced sofa I ever designed. I settled on a very typical geometry. This allowed me to direct all my attention to the refinement of comfort, and to the quality of manufacture. For the cover, I took inspiration from the informal way in which loose fabric is draped over furniture in hotels or country estates as an off-season protection. Different fabric options are available for CAPE, thereby making it more usable year round. There are choices of heavier fabric for warmth in winter, and lighter fabrics for summer comfort.Project assistant: Olivia Herms (KGID)Producer: Established & SonsIMAGEHAPPY EASTER / DIRTY OLD / KG /2011I want. You want. IMAGEWAVER / OUTDOOR CHAIR / VITRA /2011WAVER is the first product we created for the Swiss design company Vitra. Aesthetically, WAVER is influenced by the world of outdoor sports. Its construction principles are inspired by windsurfing and paragliding. In both sports, lightweight but high-performance solutions are needed. By adapting these solutions to our needs, we were able to create an armchair which combines a high level of sitting comfort with a simple technical construction. The large swivel base further accentuates the chair’s sweeping dimensions and unconventional lightness.Project assistant: Pauline Deltour (KGID)Producer: VitraIMAGEENTRE-DEUX / SCREEN / AZUCENA /2011A first project for the historic Milanese brand Azucena (founded in 1947). It is the result of a careful and sensitive reflection of the company´s existing collection, containing over 150 pieces designed by Luigi Caccia Dominioni, Ignazio Gardella and Corrado dell`Aqua. The engaging process gave birth to a small project entitled ENTRE-DEUX. It is a rare object with no defined typology, which reaches its maximum expression only in the close dialogue with other products. The screen in anodized aluminium highlights the object by creating a space or territory surrounding them.Project assistant: Olivia Herms (KGID)Producer: AzucenaIMAGEBIRD RADIO / DIRTY OLD / KG /2011Wouldn´t it be great to listen to ...IMAGEBLACK2 / EXHIBITION / ISTITUTO SVIZZERO ROMA /2010The exhibition BLACK2 is a self-initiated project which first came to mind as I was working on the DESIGN REAL show for the Serpentine Gallery in late 2009. I got fascinated by the idea of the totally man made object. The phenomenon of the black and square form and its eternal adaptation to such manifold of different types of objects seemed astonishing and at the same time liberatingly simple. A black/square shape or form cannot be found in nature. This is what interested me: "creation" as a deliberate and conscious act of human intelligence.As is known, black/square has passed through the millenary history of cultures: from the Egyptian stelae to Moses´ engraved tablets of the ten commandments; from certain Chinese ceramic traditions to the Islamic Kaaba, up to the alchemy and philosopher's stone which, as tradition would have it, was the shape of a black cube. There is the metaphysical connotation of black/square as employed by Malevich, and later by Kubrick´s Black Monolith. The islamic Kaaba in Mecca is a black rectangle and so is the (protestant) Bible. Black/square can mean the most basic, economical, even cheap form of something. On the other hand, black/square can represent the heightening or ultimate aesthetic climax, even the mystification of an object.I was able to develop the exhibition with the help and support of the Istituto Svizzero in Rome, in particular Salvatore Lacagnina (head of artistic programming).Project assistants: Isabel Thoma (KGID), Valentina Sansone and Christina Meier (Istituto Svizzero, Roma).Producer: Istituto Svizzero, Roma. IMAGENETSCAPE / PUBLIC INSTALLATION / DESIGN MIAMI /2010Each year Design Miami/ commissions the Designer of the Year a new work as part of the award.As winner of the 2010 prize my project is NETSCAPE, an installation of 24 swing seats made of polypropylene netting and fibre glass. The seats are suspended from a purpose built metal structure in the entrance area of the temporary exhibition tent structure (designed by Moorhead & Moorhead architects, New York). More than a seating element, NETSCAPE is designed to act as a catalyst for social interaction enjoying warm Miami sunshine during days of exhausting trade fair rountine. Click on FILM to watch a short movie clip of the installation.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: Design Miami/Manufacturing: Insect Sails, Maxo Moulding, Michael Barson. IMAGE/FILMCOMFORT / EXHIBITION / BIENNALE DESIGN ST.ETIENNE /2010Constance Rubini, chief curator of the Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Etienne 2010 commissioned me to curate & design an exhibition about COMFORT. My interpretation of it was to decode the material aspect of comfort by showing the tools and devices which are its warrants. A series of very tangible objects making the visitor relate the abstract subject matter back to their very own life reality."Modernity is comfort. Yet, with every new accomplishment of comfort the prospects and expectations are increasing even further. Sustaining comfort of our modern lifestyle is becoming a provokingly complex scenario; keeping up with its ongoing development is creating fundamental challenges to all of us. One of the most striking phenomena related to comfort in the western world is the progressive dematerialization of our physical environment, even to the extend of defying the limitations imposed by gravity, geography and time. Comfort is the ablity to be here and there at the same time. Comfort is having access to information always and anywhere. Comfort is when difficult things are becoming easy. Comfort is the assurance of safety, and health. Comfort is being independant of constraints (whether they are physical and mental)."Project assistance: Friederike Daumiller (KGID)Exhibition texts: Eckhart NickelProducer: Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Etienne 2010IMAGESUBITO / PRESSURE COOKER / SERAFINO ZANI /2010A pressure cooker, SUBITO, is the most recent addition to the collection of kitchen tools I have created under the name "Passami il sale" (pass me the salt). The title of the collection reflects both, the familiarity and ordinariness of a situation, yet the quest for something more. More salt! SUBITO comes in three different volumes - 3Lit./5Lit./7Lit. The body is available in either natural or blackened stainless steel. Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: Serafino Zani IMAGEMONZA CHAIR / CHAIR / PLANK /2010Encouraged by the great success of the MONZA armchair, I have designed a smaller version without armrests, the stackable MONZA chair. Like its big brother the chair achieves notable comfort from its distinctive backrest in injection moulded polypropylene. The MONZA chair is made in solid ash (natural or stained black) which can be combined with different coloured backrests. Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: PlankIMAGE360 TABLE / TABLE / MAGIS /2010Last in the 360° family is an adjustable work table. Just like old technical drafting machines it has a central column which conceals a mechanism for height adjustment (73cm - 95cm). The base is die-cast in aluminium, the tops are made of laquered MDF (dia. 120cm or 140cm x 90cm).Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Prtoducer: Magis IMAGECHAIR_B / CHAIR / BD BARCELONA /2010Chair_B is the extension of last year’s Table_B project. The chair in solid wood features a flip-up seat which allows for horizontal stacking. The underside of the seat is covered with Abet laminate in a range of colours. Project asssistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: Bd Barcelona IMAGEBLOW / TABLE / ESTABLISHED & SONS /2010BLOW is a set of small tables developed for Established & Sons and made by the Venetian glass manufacturer Venini. The project explores the physical boundaries of mouth-blown glass. The main body of the tables is conceived as a free form balloon onto which the table top of hand-made sheet glass is attached. The sensation of the piece lies in the large scale of blown glass as well as in the combination of translucent Venini colours.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: Establised & Sons, manufactured by VeniniIMAGECRASH / UPHOLSTERED CHAIR / ESTABLISHED & SONS /2010The key characteristics of CRASH are its generous dimensions; it is wide and spacious ... and extremely comfortable. To crash out is a nice English expression which comes to mind.Something I’ve been concerned with for years is the way how upholstered furniture is made. There is a huge industry out there producing endless upholstered furniture all made in the same banal way; glueing foam onto cheap wooden structures, then stapling fabric over it. CRASH consists of the same elements, a supporting structure, a piece of foam and the fabric cover. However, we do not bond these elements together. There is a supporting framework made of tubular steel, very simple and straightforward and a loose piece of moulded foam that gets pushed over the frame. The fabric finishes everything off, it is streched over the foam like a jumper.Project assistant: Pauline Deltour (KGID)Producer: Established & SonsIMAGESULTAN / GALATA / TAKSIM / MARSOTTO EDIZIONI /2010Marsotto edizioni is a beautiful collection of furniture made from CNC machined white Carrara marble. The project, which includes pieces by James Irvine, Jasper Morrison, Maddalena Casadei, Naoto Fukasawa and Thomas Sandell is art-directed by designer James Irvine and was launched during the 2010 Salone del Mobile in Milan.My own contribution to the project are a reclined chair (SULTAN) and two different side tables (GALATA and TAKSIM). Project assistant: Friederike Daumiller (KGID)Producer: Marsotto edizioni IMAGENESPRESSO CUP / SAILING TROPHY / NESPRESSO /2010In 2010 Nespresso created an exclusive new sailing regatta for Maxi racing yachts by Wally: the NESPRESSO CUP. Inspired by their shared passion for creative innovation, cutting-edge design and new technology Nespresso and Wally seemed a perfect partnership for such a premier event. I was commissioned to design two kinds of trophies: the main trophy for the overall winner, a challenge cup, and a (smaller) trophy for winners of the individual Wally Class races. Before I started sketching I was looking for any kind of information that would help me understand the specific world of yacht racing: what is its history, who are the people involed, what are the boats, the places. Studying the structures and functionalities of high performance yachts and exploring their usage of particular types of materials formed as much part of my design considerations as observing how athletes would pose with their winning trohy. Ultimately, the design of the NESPRESSO CUP was driven by the same essential elements as competitive sailing: performance, precision, excellence. Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID) Producer: NESPRESSOIMAGE360 CONTAINER / STORAGE / MAGIS /2009Complementary to the 360° chair and stool comes a simple storage container on castors. The container consists of a singular plastic drawer unit which swivels out from a vertical pole to open. The 360° container in ABS is available with five or ten drawers and comes in various colours (black, white, orange, olive green, red, light grey). Project Assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: Magis IMAGEDECISIVE DESIGN / SOLO EXHIBITION / ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO /2009Art Institute of Chicago, Modern WingNovember 20th 2009 – January 24th 2010"Konstantin Grcic: Decisive Design", on view in the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago is the first comprehensive showcase of my work in a U.S. museum. Curated by Zoë Ryan (Neville Bryan Curator of Design at the Art Institute of Chicago), the exhibition is conceived as a studio-like environment.Extending over the full wall space of the gallery, the display processes content in a very didactical way, illuminating the objects through a variety of drawings, models, prototypes, photos, film, text etc. In addition there is an open stage in the center of the exhibition, which puts some objects out into use; visitors are invited to sit on furniture, touch material, experience the spatiality of the products, their geometry and scale.The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, authored by Zoë Ryan.Published as part of the A+D Series by: The Art Institute of Chicago / Yale University Press.ISBN 978-0-300-15104-6Project assistant: Olivia Herms (KGID) Exhibition curator: Zoë Ryan (Art Institute Chicago)IMAGEInstallation GalleryExhibition GalleryDESIGN REAL / EXHIBITION / SERPENTINE GALLERY /2009Serpentine Gallery, London 26.November 2009 - 07.February 2010Like contemporary art, design both shapes and reflects our constantly changing society. Good design understands human behaviour, offers pragmatic solutions to problems and enhances our everyday experience.Curating the Serpentine Gallery´s first design related exhibition DESIGN REAL my concept focuses on 'real' items, industrially made products that have a significance in everyday life. Apart from showing the physical objects DESIGN REAL features an information space which expands on themes developed in the exhibition allowing visitors to investigate the origins and applications of the products on view. A dedicated internet site www.design-real.com, designed by Alex Rich and Jürg Lehni, is the exhibition´s central resource and integral to its concept. A catalogue (designed by Alex Rich) is published on the occasion of the exhibition DESIGN REAL by Serpentine Gallery and Koenig Books Ltd. featuring essays by Emily King and Jonathan Olivares. Koenig Books, LondonISBN 978-3-86560-746-1 Collaborators: Kathryn Rattee (curator, Serpentine Gallery)Alex Rich and Jürg Lehni (graphic concept, catalogue & website)Friederike Daumiller (KGID)IMAGEULD / OLD DIRTY / KG /2009A ULD (Unit Load Device) is a container used to load luggage, freight, and mail on wide-body aircraft and specific narrow-body aircraft. It allows a large quantity of cargo to be bundled into a single unit. ULD containers, also known as cans and pods, are closed containers made of aluminum or combination of aluminum (frame) and Lexan (walls)."Almost all the objects that you can see have at some point been inside a shipping container. In fact, today, 90% of cargo travels by container."Taken from: www.design-real.comIMAGE360 CHAIR & STOOL / WORK CHAIR / MAGIS /2009360° is neither a stool nor a chair, but something inbetween. Its name implies that it swivels around and that one can sit on it in all directions. It is meant for seated activities that require a constantly changing posture. 360° is not intended for long stints of work in a static position. Instead it encourages a form of dynamic sitting, short term, ad hoc, improvised - moving around. 360° comes in two types, as a chair on castors and as a high stool. Both versions have a gas piston for height adjustment. "Konstantin Grcic´s radical take on the office chair shatters the ergonomists´monopoly on workplace design and turns a bumrest into a tool. Sitting on it in a traditional way is the least successful approach - you feel a vertiginous sensation that everything that should be there isn´t. (…) In its efforts to shake off the flattened, generic experience of traditional office furniture, Grcic has made something that asks us to think of a chair-as-tool, or chair-as-device. (…) What´s happening here is a strange trick - where by undoing the direct functional performance of a chair, Grcic makes the 360° somehow more functional. By un-inventing the normative perception of the chair, he asks its user to be party to the imaginative invention of sitting. (…) And somehow this provisional quality feels like a relief from a more conventionally comfortable chair. Sitting on it here in my office, it feels less like work, more like doing something."(Excerpt form a text by Sam Jacob published in ICON magazine, September 2009).Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID) Producer: Magis IMAGE360° Gallery360° Mock-UpMONZA / ARMCHAIR / PLANK /2009Following the projects MIURA and MYTO this chair embodies the further development and deepening of my collaboration with Plank. MONZA connects wood and plastic injection moulding and hence the artisan roots of Plank with the characteristics of modern industrial design.The MONZA armchair is conceived as a simple wood-construction which formally refers to a typology of chairs originating in Scandinavia. The chair’s main character is defined by a back-/armrest in plastic moulding, which on the one hand serves the chair’s structure and on the other provides comfort and colour.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: Plank IMAGEMonza AssemblyMonza GalleryTABLE_B / TABLE / BD. BARCELONA /2009For years I have been longing for an opportunity to work with aluminium extrusions - an industrial technology which combines superior structural properties with an elegantly sleek aesthetic. Inspired by the work Oscar Tusquets and Lluis Clotet have carried out for Bd Barcelona since the early 80's I have designed a wing-like table top using extruded aluminium profiles. TABLE_B spans a maximum length of 3,6 meters and comes with three optional substructures in solid oak, stainless steel or artificial stone.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Structural engineer: Jesus JimenezProducer: Bd BarcelonaIMAGETable_B GalleryProduction GalleryTOM TOM & TAM TAM / ADJUSTABLE TABLES / SCP LTD. /2009Origionally designed in 1991 for SCP Ltd., TAM TAM & TOM TOM were amongst the first work of mine ever to go into serial production. After modest success in early years the pair of tables were re-released in 2009 featuring their characteristic sliding mechanism of the central beech wood column and wing nut fastening.TOM TOM has a circlular top (turquoise) and square base. TAM TAM has a square top (purple) and round base.Producer: SCP Ltd. IMAGEAUTOBAHN / WINDOW DISPLAY / MAISON HERMES IN JAPAN /2009AUTOBAHN is the titel of a window display I designed for Maison Hermès in Japan to inaugurate the new spring/summer collection. Hermès' annual theme for 2009 is "The Beautiful Getaway".The windows were on display from 22.January - 22.March 2009 at the Maison Hermès in Ginza, Tokyo.Project assistant: Pauline Deltour (KGID). Commissioned by: Hermès JaponIMAGEPIPE / DESK / MUJI-THONET /2009Breuer and Bauhaus inspired me to study design in the first place, but they have both marked such untouchable territory in design, you don’t dare to go anywhere near it. Through a joint project between Muji and Thonet it suddenly became realistic to revisit this part of furniture history. PIPE is a series of tables/desks with matching cantilever chair based on the tubular designs from the twenties, produced by the same company as its inspirational source. Muji manufactured by Thonet. Project assistant: Pauline Deltour (KGID)Producer: Muji manufactured by ThonetIMAGE/FILMACCENTO / CUTLERY / SERAFINO ZANI /2009Working with Serafino Zani exposes me to a scale of industrial production which is typical for postwar Italian design. It is a culture which is especially attentive to contemporary design and technology while at the same time having strong links with artisan traditions.Project assistants: Pauline Deltour (KGID) and Jan Heinzelmann (KGID).Producer: Serafino Zani IMAGE2008 / POSTER / LASER /2008Project assistant: Pauline Deltour (KGID)Producer: Laser IMAGEKARBON / CHAISE LONGUE / GALERIE KREO /2008KARBON is produced as a limited edition for Galerie Kreo in Paris.The project exploits the structural possibilities of carbon fibre, creating an object that combines the element of high-tech with that of the hand crafted. I was intersted in achieving an extreme aesthetic which could only be realized using composite materials. The slight deflexion in the large surface, suspended only by four very thin legs, creates a visual fragility which seems to defy any experience of gravity. "The KARBON long chair is tempestuous, perhaps even offensive. Here, we will find no calming orthogonality and the succession of straight lines is too curved to rest our eyes. The softness of the lines of the seat is endlessly troubling in its (supposed) submission to the laws of gravity. In its opposition to straight lines and to the deviant axis of the backrest, the chaise longue becomes an equivocal object. The rigidity that retains the memory of a certain suppleness (not without a certain rigor mortis), expresses a strange strength, an authority: it presents a type of threat, straight and precise. (...) KARBON is a resting place for warriors".(Excerpt from a text by design critic and writer Pierre Doze, published in "GALERIE KREO, Sixteen New Pieces / A New Place", Archibooks 2008)Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: Galerie Kreo Technical consultant: Cem KoeylueerIMAGEKarbon GalleryKarbon CraftCAST 1 / EXHIBITION / 032C /2008CAST_1 is the start of my tenure as unofficial design curator of the 032c gallery space in Berlin. The idea behind CAST is to bring together new, forgotten, anonymous, commissioned, or reissued industrial objects and products. On show were a special 032c edition of folded sheet metal tables DIANA_A,-B,-C (manufactured by ClassiCon) and a selection of eight historical and contemporary designs. The lamps were: Fortebraccio by LucePlan (1998), BL_2 by Bestlite (1930), L-1 8155 by Luxo (1937), Pino T by Baltensweiler (1972), Hebi by Valenti Luce (1970), Cloe by Lumina (1975), Bill by Tobias Grau (2004), and Loft by Jieldé (1950). The special edition of DIANA tables can be inquired directly through 032c.Producer: 032c workshop IMAGEPACKAGE / CHARITY PROJECT / PAPERLOVE /2008PACKAGE is a stack of 2.000 DIN A4 sheets of plain white paper wrapped in pink craft paper. A quote by Charles Eames, taken from the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures in 1971, is printed on the face of the package."What you do really with paper can never quite come up to with what the paper offers. It's something about that broken package, in the way carton is torn, sort of invites you to come in. There's something about taking out that first sheet, that sort of changes that thing." The work was submitted to a charity auction held by Miami design store Luminaire in December 2008. Proceeds from the auction were donated to the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.Project assistant: Maria Jeglinska (KGID)Project initiation: Luminaire IMAGE43 / CHAIR / YII /2008"Yii" is a collaborative project organized by NTCRI (National Taiwan Craft Research Institute) and TDC (Taiwan Design Center) and led by project creative director Jeff Shi. In Chinese philosophy "yii", meaning change and transformation, is believed to be the underlying law behind nature through the flow of time. Inspired by this understanding the project aims to create a new forum for traditional craft techniques in the contemporary context.The cantilever chair '43 is comprised of fourty-three laminated bamboo slats (hence the name) utilizing the structural potential of this fast growing material to create comfort and flexibility. Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID).Project supervision: Jeff Shi (Brainchilds Design Inc.)Master Craftsman: Chen, Kao-Ming.IMAGE43 Gallery43 MakingLUNAR / ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING / FLOS /2008LUNAR provides an intricate solution for lighting big architectural spaces. Inspired by stage lighting the concept comprises of a tubular space frame or rig which can accommodate an indefinite number of light sources (neon, halogen, hqi, etc.) as well as classical designs, such as the Achille Castiglioni Taraxacum lamp.Project assistant: Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: Flos IMAGEMYTO PRINT / DOCUMENTATION / MIKE MEIRE /2008This documentation of the MYTO project shows the process of its creation in a time lapse of photos, drawings, computer diagrams, interviews. The project is told as a story in three chapters relating to the three partners BASF, KGID and PLANK. Cologne based art director Mike Meiré designed the concept and layout of this 80 page publication. The Dutch artist Viviane Sassen was commissioned for the opening sequence of photos.Art direction: Mike Meiré Text editor: Petra SchmidtProduction: Meiré und Meiré Photography: Viviane Sassen and KGID. IMAGEMYTO / CANTILEVER CHAIR / PLANK /2008In late summer 2006, BASF commissioned me to design an application/product using the BASF material Ultradur® High Speed. Its complementary characteristics led to the idea of developing MYTO, a cantilever chair conceived as monoblock plastic injection moulding. The design was significantly influenced by the material. Chemically speaking, this material belongs to the family of polybutylene terephthalate (PBT). Its high flowability, coupled with the strength of this plastic, allows an elegant transition from thick to thin cross sections. The construction of the chair is based on a supporting frame which disolves seamlessly into the net-like perforations of the seat and backrest.MYTO was presented for the first time on the BASF stand at K 2007, the world's biggest trade fair for the plastics industry. The fair took place from 24th of October until 31st of October in Duesseldorf, Germany. The official market launch of the chair took place at the Milan furniture fair 2008 (16.-21.April 2008).In May 2008 MYTO was officially selected into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.In 2011 it was awarded the Compasso D´Oro by ADI (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale). Please check this video by Gestalten TV to learn more about the project.VideoProject assistant: Alexander Löhr (KGID)Commissioned by: BASFProducer: Plank IMAGE/FILMMYTO GalleryMYTO SketchesMYTO ModelsMYTO Crash TestMYTO ProductionMYTO FlowABSOLUT GRCIC / GLASS SERIES / ABSOLUT VODKA /2007In late 2006 Absolut Vodka commissioned me to design a series of glasses to be used by professional bar tenders. Thinking about Absolut it is inevitable that the iconic bottle (designed by Carlsson & Broman in1979) comes to mind; it’s so simple but still cannot be mistaken for anything else. This is what I wanted to transfer to the glasses, without trying to compete with the bottle. The feeling of both simplicity and distinctiveness. When you hold the glass in your hand, see it in the bar or drink from it, it gives a feeling of natural elegance. The result is a glass series that is modern yet timeless, in which the Absolut logo is discreetly embossed in the bottom of the glass without being invisible or unclear. We took great care to balance volume and weight into a perfect form.The ABSOLUT GRCIC series consists of four types of glasses. With the exception of the cocktail glass, all come in two sizes: Long drink glass, 20 & 33 cl, Rocks glass, 20 & 33 cl, Cocktail glass with a stem, 16 cl, Shot glass, 3 & 6 cl.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Commissioned by: Absolut in collaboration with Family BusinessProducer: RastalIMAGE/FILMABSOLUT Production 1ABSOLUT Production 2PASSAMI IL SALE / KITCHEN WARE / SERAFINO ZANI /2007Serafino Zani (founded in 1963) is a family business located in the small town of Lumezzane (northern Italy). In 2006 we started to work on a three year program developing kitchen products and utensils made in steel. The first result of our collaboraton is a collection of laser cut products exploiting basic geometries, asymmetries and sharp cuts, like metal origamis of extreme simplicity.Project assistants: Pauline Deltour (KGID) and Jan Heinzelmann (KGID)Producer: Serafino ZaniIMAGEPASSAMI IL SALE GalleryAL DENTE GalleryLANDEN / PUBLIC SEATING / VITRA EDITION /2007LANDEN is a large freestanding structure which defines a place to sit/stay outdoors - in public. While rejecting the inappropriate patterns of domestic furniture it proposes a structure more accurately modelled on the context of its destination: the city environment. The main structure is made from heavy gauge steel profiles and metal grillage - all coated in plack paint. Its physical presence and strong visual reference engages the public in an immanent experience of urban reality. LANDEN is a meeting hub, a retreat/shelter ... an anchor point. Users of LANDEN climb two steps onto an octagonal platform which is elevated 60cm off the ground. The platform is paved with industrial rubber matting to provide a resistant but comforatble surface for sitting. A large circular cut-out in the middle of the platform allows for open legroom onto a lower suspended platform. Four outward leaning metal shields form a protective fencing/enclosure around the seating area.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Prototype execution: Ludwig Michl GmbHProduced by: Vitra EditionIMAGEMARMARA / SIDE TABLE / HAAZ GALLERY /2007The work MARMARA was made as a limited edition for the exhibition BLOCK, curated by Murat Patavi of Haaz Gallery in Istanbul.Working with marble for the first time I was intrigued by the possibilities of carving a form out of a solid ... which complies to the most ancient idea of 'sculpture'. Normally I work quite in reverse - constructing/building a three dimensional form up from elements. Also I liked the fact that marble is 'heavy'. Again, I normally work towards making things light and mobile. This time the weight became an integral part of the design. Project assistant: Pauline Deltour (KGID)Execution: IMIB, TurkeyIMAGESPACE-1 / INSTALLATION / MUDAM LUXEMBOURG /2007Somewhere between a curiosity cabinet and a multimedia treasure room the SPACE/-1 project is a suspended glass capsule housing the physical and digital collection of the museum´s (MUDAM) multimedia archive. The computer cables are not hidden but are integrated into a technological environment which is completely revealed.Project assistant: Nitzan Cohen (KGID), Jonathan Olivares (KGID)Commissioned by: MUDAM LuxembourgExecution: Chloroform BVBAIMAGEMIURA TABLE / TABLE / PLANK /2007The three-legged MIURA table was designed to accomodate the MIURA barstool. The table can be stacked by folding the top into a vertical position. The structure in powder coated metal is manufactured in different heights.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: PlankIMAGETOP / WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM / AUTHENTICS /2007TOP adds to the family of waste management products for the Authentics catalogue. It can be used either as an individual waste bin or linking it up for the separation of plastic, glass, paper and bio-degradable or non-recyclable waste.Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID).Producer: AuthenticsIMAGEUMBRELLA / UMBRELLA / MUJI /2006Sometimes it‘s more difficult to resist than to act. As designers we‘re easily tempted to renew, replace or change things. One of the virtues of working with Japanese no-brand Muji is using what already exists, simplifying, even leaving things alone, creating objects that blend into the environment rather than making a strong mark.This idea is exemplified in the umbrella project we did as part of our long standing collaboration. The only intervention we made to an existing umbrella is drilling a hole into the end of the handle.Project assistant: Alexander Löhr (KGID)Producer: MujiIMAGENECKLACE PEN / PEN / MUJI /2006Design of a necklace strap/cap for an existing MUJI pen. Project assistant: Alexander Löhr (KGID).Producer: MUJIIMAGEKIMURA IHEI IN PARIS / EXHIBITION / 8F FORUM (MAISON HERMES) /2006Hermès Japon commissioned me to design an exhibition for a collection of photographs taken by Kimura Ihei (1901-1974) in Paris in the 1950s. The 174 colour photos had been edited from the original analogue material and digitally printed on the newest generation of CANON ink jet printers. The photos show a very personal account of the Japanese photographer's travel to Paris just after world war II. I decided to have the photos printed in a rather small format (a size common at the time they were taken) and framed in white passe-partout frames. All photos were arranged freestanding on a series of steel/glass tables, which we had desigend reminiscent of the traditional French garden table. The tables, which were made in different formates and sizes, helped to group the photos according to various themes/sets. The exhibiton was shown at 8F Forum (Maison Hermès, Toyko-Ginza) from Oct.28 2006 - Jan.21 2007 and at Hermès Midosuji Gallery (Osaka) from Apr.6 - Jun.3 2007.Project assistant: Nitzan Cohen (KGID)Commissioned by: Maison Hermès, Tokyo.IMAGEROUND SWITCH / LIGHT SWITCH / MERTEN /2006This project originates in an ideas workshop organized by Stylepark and Merten GmbH, inquiring into the future of domestic switches.The simplest adjustment to Merten’s catalogue is the addition of a circular light switch to the square socket system. With a minor investment the circular light switch adds a spot of diversity to the existing square outlets. The distinction gives each function its own form; square outlets, circular switches. Creating diversity in such a place enriches all the products, giving those that used to look alike theri own identity. A fork and knife both belong to the dinner table, however both maintain their separate function and respective form. Their forms tell us what we can do with them - lift and cut. The distinction between light switch and socket will now allow us to recognize each as individual pieces in a larger system of electrical management.Project assistant: Jonathan Olivares (KGID)Producer: MertenWorkshop supervision: StyleparkIMAGEJUNIOR & SENIOR / PLANT POTS / TERA CREA /2006JUNIOR & SENIOR are plant pots in rotational moulded polypropylene. Both designs are constructed of two parts - an upper vase/vessel and its matching base (for water drainage). JUNIOR is the smaller type with a nose-like handle and a set of wheels . SENIOR, its big brother, has a crown-shaped base. Both products are suitable for use indoors and outdoors. Project assistant: Alexander Löhr (KGID)Producer: Tera Crea IMAGEJUNIOR GallerySENIOR GalleryNOSE JIVE THREE SIXTY / CHARITY PROJECT / PUPPY LOVE /2006For some weeks Puppy had been sitting in one corner of my office feeling bored and kind of under-challenged. Finally I trained him how to stand up opn his nose and spin around like those cool New York kinds doing break dance in the early 80s.NOSE JIVE THREE SIXTY is an interpretation of Eero Aarnio's PUPPY stool for Magis. The project was realized as a one-of-a-kind piece for an auction to benefit the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.Project assistant: Benoit Steenackers (KGID)Project initiator: LuminaireIMAGEORIENT EXPRESS / INSTALLATION / STYLEPARK IN RESIDENCE /2006Commissioned by Stylepark in Residence, organizers of the Cologne Furniture Fair’s major fringe show, we created a kasbah-like temporary restaurant that became the social heart of the week-long festival. The ORIENT EXPRESS occupied the central atrium of the building (a former German Railway headquarter) and combined white chair_ONEs, OSOROMs seating elements and DIANA tables with Persian carpets, while MAYDAY lamps were hooked onto two huge, mosc-like chandeliers. By day the space was a hub of visitors sipping coffee, eating spinach quiche and admiring the lighting. By evening, the tables and chairs were cleared and the restaurant was transformed into a dancefloor, with partygoers swinging from the chandeliers (see film).Project assistant: Benoit Steenackers (KGID)Commissioned by: Stylepark IMAGE/FILMON-OFF / SOLO EXHIBITION / HAUS DER KUNST MUNICH /2006ON/OFF was the first comprehensive overview of my work as I see it – very subjective and free. Projects from almost the past ten years are presented in an order that adheres neither to chronology nor linearity but rather to my personal view of things. Finished products are accompanied by images and drawings that tell of their underlying development. By exhibiting photographs, which are arranged as image sequences or video clips, prototypes, cardboard and foam rubber models, sketches as well as excerpts from correspondence between us and our clients, the steps that led from conception to production of the designs are made visible and comprehensible. The exhibition was held at the Haus der Kunst in Munich from 16.03.-09.07.2006.Project assistants: Nitzan Cohen (KGID) and Jonathan Olivares (KGID)IMAGE/FILMKGID / BOOK / PHAIDON PRESS LTD. /2006KGID (Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design) showcases a comprehensive portfolio of products and design concepts with especially commissioned photographs and original drawings. It also offers a rare insight into the design process by showing the various stages of a product’s development through sketches, models, computer renderings and snapshots at the workshops of KGID and several manufacturers. With texts by Konstantin Grcic, Pierre Doze, Francesca Picchi and conceived by Florian Böhm and Konstantin Grcic, this is the first publication on the work of Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design (KGID).Project collaboration: Florian Böhm Edited by: Florian Böhm Published by: Phaidon Press Ltd.Further info: www.kgidbook.comIMAGE/FILMCLEAN MACHINE / CHARITY PROJECT / FITZSU SOCIETY /2006Isn't the future of cars all about 'clean' ?CLEAN MACHINE is an interpretation of the origional Playsam toy car. The project was made as a one-of-a-kind piece for a charity auction to benefit the World Childhood Foundation.Project assistant: Pauline Deltour (KGID)Commissioned by: Fitzsu Society IMAGESAKE_8 / SAKE LABLE / HACHITSURU /2005Hanae Komachi, a Japanese design journalist and friend, invited me to an unusual project. She asked me to design a new bottle lable for the 200 year old sake brewery Hachitsuru in which her grandfather had been the master-brewer of Hachitsuru-sake. In the long history of Hachitsuru (founded in the edo-period in 1786) I was to be the first non-Japanese designer to collaborate with the company.There are many types of sake. In short, all sake can be divided into two groups: that with added alcohol, and that made with rice only. Most mass produced sake made today has pure distilled alcohol added to it. Cheaper sake has more added alcohol. The type of sake which is contained in the SAKE 8 bottles is ’yamahai-junmai’ - Hachitsuru’s artisans brew SAKE 8 in an authentic sake-making process using only 100% rice. For the lable I played with two circle elements and formed the number ‘8’ -in Japanese culture the ‘8’ is a metaphor for the flow of tradition, without a beginning or an end. Also Hachitsuru means ‘eight cranes’ in Japanese - even the city's name (Hachinohe) makes a reference to the figure '8'.In October 2005 an exhibition at the origional Hachitsuru brewery combined examples of my designs with ancient tools for sake production, traditional and modern sake drinking wares and more than 100 photographs of the sake production.The exhibition was curated by Japanese design journalist Hanae Komachi. The exhibition was also shown at the Kestner Museum in Hannover in 2006.Project assistant: Ika Künzel (KGID)Curated by: Hanae KomachiProduced by: HachitsuruIMAGESake_8 imagesSAKE_8 catalogueDIVERSE / KITCHEN APPLIANCES / KRUPS /2005In 2002 we were contacted by the French Groupe SEB to conceive a range of products for Krups. If the microwave (CHEF) for Whirlpool was all about the future, our experience with Krups was all about today: technical and cost constraints, production in China, strategic marketing. The great thing about the work for Krups is that it was for real. We were building machines with a cable and a plug on the end. They have to function and be safe. The only way to achieve this was through research and development. The process is the laboratory situation I loved: testing rigs, transformers, electric wires, nuts and bolts. The work for Krups embraced the design of a whole range of household appliances: coffee machines, blenders, mixers, toasters, kettles. We were designing a set of formal codes, used across the different product typologies, that would rebuild the brand image. In a situation like this, design becomes a strategic tool for shaping a market identity.Project assistant: Alexander Löhr (KGID)IMAGE/FILMKRUPS GalleryKRUPS ModelsKRUPS MeetingsMIURA / BAR STOOL / PLANK /2005The enormous public attention we received for chair_ONE unavoidably led to a certain categorization of my design. We were suddenly identified with the chair's angular/facetted style. Although I do love the its stealth-bomber aesthectic, I felt threatened by the trap of reapeating myself with this successsful formula. A commission from Plank to design a monoblock bar stool in plastic was the perfect opportunity for me to re-invent my vocabulary of shapes. I was keen to move on from the hard edge to a much softer design. The MIURA stool is strongly based on principles of construction. However, its shape was conceived by working in a much more sculptural manner. The complex free-form surfaces were all designed on the computer.MIURA is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)Producer: PlankIMAGEMIURA GalleryMIURA NYCMIURA ProductionMIURA RealityYOU ARE HERE / INSTALLATION / PARCO DELLE MADONIE /2005YOU ARE HERE is a permanent installation I realized for a collective art project curated by Salvatore Lacagnina for the Sicilian nature resort Parco delle Madonie.Project assistant: Saskia Groenewolt (KGID)Commissioned by: Parco delle MadonieIMAGEMETA / DOORHANDLE / COLOMBO /2004I believe that no object ever exists purely on its own. This way of looking at the world turns even the simplest little thing into part of a hugely complex system. It would be strange to speak of a doorhandle without talking about the door. In turn, the door relates to space –or rather, to two kinds of spaces: inside and outside. Every space has its own sound and light. Than there are all the things, the objects and furniture, that are part of the space. And of course there are the people who inhabit it. We can never speak about objects without imagining people using them.Project assistant: Benoit Steenackers (KGID)Producer: Colombo IMAGEVIVO / PEN / LAMY /2004It may only be a simple ball-point pen, but it took four years to design and develop Vivo for Lamy. In this time we ventured deep into the world of specialist pen making, which revealed an unexpectedly sophisticated macro-scale technology, usually employed in medical equipment or Formula-1 racing. The construction of our pen aimed to reduce the number of mechanical components from four to three. This may not seem dramatic, , but to build a mechanical pen with 25 per cent fewer elements is a considerable challenge. Producing it on a fully automatic robot added an extra thrill. Every design step we made on each individual component of the pen was rigorously monitored in terms of technical feasibility and production costs.Project assistant: Alexander Löhr (KGID)Producer: LamyIMAGEVIVO HandsVIVO GalleryMISSING OBJECT / VOLUME / GALERIE KREO /2004In 2004 curator Didier Krzentowsky invited me to make a work for 'Missing Object', an exhibition at his gallery in Paris. A short text by Christian Schlatter provided the creative framework for the project. According to Schlatter, the Latin root of the word ‘object’ means something that is thrown in one’s way - a definition containing an inherent violence that I found intriguing. The 'missing object' would thus be something that had a strong physical presence, while at the same time being absent (missing). I was immediately attracted by this beautiful thought, but paralysed by what it would mean actually to design such an ambitious object. The result is a solid block of oak with two excavated handles. The purity of the wood, its weight and raw beauty, define its intense physical power. The carefully thought-out proportions of the wooden block and its two handles give the object the enigmatic charm of something that appears legible but whose purpose remains mysterious.MISSING OBJECT is made as a limited edition by Galerie Kreo Project assistant: Saskia Groenewolt (KGID)IMAGECHAIR_ONE / CHAIR / MAGIS /2004Chair_ONE is constructed just like a football: a number of flat planes assembled at angles to each other, creating the three-dimensional form. I think my approach was a mixture of naivety and bluntness. Given the chance to work with aluminium casting I thought that I should take it all the way. The more we worked on the models the more we learnt to understand the structural logic behind what we were doing. What began as a simple sketch, a series of cardboard models, prototypes, is now a real chair. Project assistants: Stefan Diez (KGID), Benoit Steenackers (KGID), Jan Heinzelmann (KGID), Sami Ayadi (KGID).Producer: MagisIMAGEONE GalleryONE PublicONE DetailsONE Off ToolONE SketchesONE DogONE RealityONE GalaxyJET / MIRROR UNIT / AGAPE /2003JET is a small system of mirror-cabinets, designed to be used in combination with washbasins. The lower part of the unit conceals a mechanism that enables the mirror to rotate, allowing easy access to the storage container behind. Single elements can be combined in various ways, emphasising either the vertical or horizontal dimension, according to the position of the surrounding ''satellite'' elements.Project assistant: Alexander Löhr (KGID)Producer: Agape IMAGE4-FRITZ / PRONGS / 3FRITS /2003A fork for French-fries restaurant 3_Frits in Cologne was one of those small commissions that sometimes turn up out of the blue. I really enjoy these little projects, which I use to exercise my creative thinking. A good result is usually born out of a single idea or thought. Adding a fourth tine to the commonly used three-pronged pick gave the fork an unexpected charm. We used a laser to cut out the forks from the stainless-steel sheet and for engraving the floral pattern.Project assistant: Ika Künzel (KGID)Producer: 3_FritsIMAGEGRAN PRIX / JEWELRY / BIEGEL /2003 GRAN PRIX for Biegel is based on the most essential and basic element of jewelry: the chain link. The necklace and bracelet are made in gold, white gold or platinum.Manufacturer: Biegel IMAGECOUP / TABLEWARE / THOMAS-ROSENTHAL /2003The entire Coup series is based on two elements: flat plates and bowls. We took great care to evaluate the proportions of each item according to its use. The second step was to link every plate size to a certain bowl type, creating a family of correlating pieces. Even the teapot was derived from a bowl, and its lid has the shape of a small plate.Project assistant: Stefan Diez (KGID)Graphic design: Valerie KiockProducer: Thomas/RosenthalIMAGELORD / SLEDGE / VALLE D-AOSTA ARTE /2003LORD is a sledge made from an inflated tractor tyre (24") with 9 vulcanised rope handles.The design is based on a hand crafted 15th century wooden sledge, made in the northern Italian region of Valle d'Aosta.There is something beautifully simple about the old wooden sledge. The craftsman, its creator, made the sledge according to a clear set of rules. The world today has lost this kind of simplicity and focus. Our life is no longer built around one single interpretation but rather allows for many different interpretations simultaneously. Objects have become a lot more complex and are constantly changing. Analogue to this experience my sledge no longer fits a set of rules, it is no longer made from wood, nor is it designed to run head down. The new sledge is inflated and round. It's out of control and dangerous !The project 'La Forza delle Cose' was curated by Fulvio Irace for the Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta.Project assistant: Ika Künzel (KGID)Commissioned by: Valle d'AostArteIMAGEPALLAS / TABLE / CLASSICON /2003Made from heavy gauge sheet metal PALLAS makes reference to Jean Prouvé's 'Grande table' of the 1950s. I designed it shortly after the DIANA project, so it was a natural evolution to move on from the small tables to a much larger scale. Unlike with the DIANAs, we conceived the design relatively quickly. The project took us only two months from the first trials to the finished piece. Project assistant: Stefan Diez (KGID)Producer: ClassiConIMAGEPALLAS WorkersPALLAS GalleryPALLAS AirportTIP / WASTE BIN / AUTHENTICS /2003A good deal of attention went into the design of the lifting mechanism of this waste bin. Most pedal-bins on the market are built with a complicated assemblage of wires, rivets, washers and pieces of plastic. We started the design by breaking the existing construction down into its essential parts. By the end we were able to build the entire mechanism (including the pedal) with just two pieces of metal rod and a rubber hinge.Project assistant: Alexander Löhr (KGID)Producer: AuthenticsIMAGEGLOVE / VESSELS / COR UNUM /2002GLOVE is based on a kind of self-reference. The simple vessel with handle(s) had already been a theme in my work for Authentics. Unlike plastic-injection moulding, slip-casting in clay makes it possibile to work with undercuts. This inspired me to design the glove-like handles protruding into the vessel.Producer: CorUnumIMAGEOSOROM / SEATING ELEMENT / MOROSO /2002The search for the right material and technology normally determines a project from very early on, often triggering the design process. With Osorom, a 2 metre seating element for four to six people, everything happened the other way round. The piece was completely designed on the computer, without consideration of how and in what material it could be made. Significantly, I called it Osorom, which is the back-to-front spelling of Moroso, the client.Project assistant: Stefan Diez (KGID)Producer: MorosoIMAGEDIANA_A-F / SIDE TABLES / CLASSICON /2002Just like a font character, these tables are the result of repeated, careful reworking of the negative and the positive. Each line, each radius, each surface was examined again and again in terms of its proportion and form. This type of work is not based on any particular system. The only deciding factor is my subjective eye, my intuition. The first designs of DIANA were fairly complicated - some of the early versions even have a swivel mechanism for rotating part of the table top. The more I worked on the project the more I understood that even a few simple folds were sufficient to create a beautifully three-dimensional form.A limited edition of two-coloured DIANA tables (type A & B) was made for German art magazine Monopol.Project assistant: Stefan Diez (KGID)Produced by: ClassiConIMAGEDIANA GalleryDIANA DetailsMonopol EditionPUFFBALL / INSTALLATION / RENDEL & SPITZ /2001Eigelstein 115 is a building in the centre of Cologne that was slotted into the narrow gap between two existing structures. Its width is only 2.47m. Every year the communications agency Rendel & Spitz, who occupies the ground floor, clear out their offices for one week in January and invite designers such as Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Ross Lovegrove, Timo Salli, Johanna Grawunder and myself to react to the space with an intervention or piece of work. I decided that rather than making something small and narrow for the small and narrow space, I‘d impose something huge in order to prove that the dimensions of the space, if turned into a positive volume, would be perceived as large. I commissioned an inflatable ballon, which had the exact diameter of the building´s section. Visitors had to push the balloon down the length of the space from front to back and back again, which was immense fun.Project assistant: Juliane Witte (KGID)Commissioned by: Rendel & SpitzIMAGECHAOS / SIDE CHAIR / CLASSICON /2001When in 1999 ClassiCon proposed to me a collaboration with a family-run upholstery workshop north of Milan, I decided, in a slightly reactionary way, to design an uncomfortable upholstered chair. What may at first sound cynical actually had a deeper meaning. I wanted to break with the conventions of correct, formal seating. The chair avoids imposing any particular posture on the sitter. Instead, it invites us to do what we do anyway: to perch, fidget, turn, shift. The chair´s volume is extremely narrow in profile, but its opulent front/rear elevation offers all the comfort and security necessary for sitting, even accommodating two people seated next to each other. CHAOS People (see image file) shows people we invited in from the street outside my office. We asked them to sit on the Chaos chair, which was set up in front of a white paper backdrop. The photos were taken the moment they sat down, so that we could capture them in their first intuitive posture.Project assistant: Stefan Diez (KGID)Producer: ClassiConIMAGECHAOS GalleryCHAOS PeopleCHAOS SketchSKY CAB / DIRTY OLD / DRIVE-IN /2001Since the 1960s we‘ve seen cities expand into the sky. Megalopolises like São Paolo, New York or Shanghai are unthinkable without an architecture that reaches out into vertical territory. However, the same cities are still characterized by traffic moving horizontally and by vehicles designed in a horizontal format. There are short cars, there are long cars and there are wide cars, but no concept has ever managed to provide a convincing answer to the problem of traffic congestion in cities. SKYCAB was a project for the exhibition Drive-In in Cologne. Based on a Fiat Panda chassis it is an attempt to exploit the third dimension in car design: the vertical car carries six standing passengers in a space that would accommodate only three seated.Project assistant: Juliane Witte (KGID)IMAGESCHOOL / SIDE TABLE / BÖWER /2000In my first years at school the furniture looked a little bit like this: small tables with vertical compartments for books etc. The piece was originally manufactured as a small batch of ten for a German design magazine (A&W, 1994 ), which made me indulge in some elaborate detail and craftsmanship. Since 2000 SCHOOL is produced by Böwer, a fine furniture company from the heart of Germany. Producer: Böwer GmbHIMAGECHEF / MICROWAVE CONCEPT / WHIRLPOOL MICROWAVE /2000This proposal is the result of an invitation by Whirlpool Europe to work on a conceptual study for a microwave oven. My design, which was projected ten years into the future, aimed to put microwave technology on a par with other appliances, thus integrating it more fluently into the ritual of cooking. Instead of the misplaced box, I conceived CHEF as a built-in device, a station similar to an electric hob. All bulky technology is hidden underneath the kitchen counter. The cavity for the microwaves is created by covering the dish, placed on the station, with tools of various sizes (resembling upside down pots). Project assistant: Clemens Weisshaar (KGID)IMAGECONSIDERING A RON ARAD / DIRTY OLD / KG /2000DIRTY OLD considering Ron Arad´s oversize 'Victoria and Albert' sofa for Moroso.IMAGEBEACH MEASURE / TOWEL / MOEVE /2000So many projects in the 90s were done like this: a producer asking a creative consultancy to invite a group of international designers to give their signature to an already existing product. In this case the producer was Moeve, the consultancy Vogt & Weizenegger. The product in question was a large beach towel which had only one constraint: its measurement. Simple questions often ask for simple answers.Commissioned by: Vogt & WeizeneggerIMAGERELATIONS / STACKING GLASS / IITTALA /1999When I visited the Iittala factory for the first time, in winter 1998, I was most drawn by a machine for pressing glass. There was something so intriguing and beautiful about this alien-looking machine that it became the muse for my product for Iittala, a reworking of an already existing cone-shaped glass (Duralex). The subtle difference lies in creating a small step on the internal wall of the glass for better stacking. It‘s a detail that can only be produced by the two-part mould on my beloved machine.Project assitant: Ascan Mergenthaler (KGID)Producer: IittalaIMAGEES / SHELF / MOORMANN /1999This must be the simplest piece of furniture I‘ve designed. I wanted to throw out the high-tech, over-engineered pretensions of the furniture industry and ignore all of its rules. My shelf may have no firm structure, but it‘s still a shelf. It holds purely through the multiplication of its joints, not through their individual strength.Project assistant: Clemens Weisshaar (KGID)Producer: MoormannIMAGEWALLLAMP / DIRTY OLD / KG /1999The lighting designer Ingo Maurer had asked me to illustrate the opening page of the category 'Wall Lamps' in his product catalogue. This is what I did. IMAGEMAYDAY / PORTABLE LAMP / FLOS /1999Mayday ... Mayday ... were the famous last words before the Titanic sank. The S.O.S. call originates from the French 'm'aider' (engl. 'help me').I designed the MAYDAY lamp to be a tool. It has a practical handle which incorportates the ON/OFF switch and two spikes to wind up the 5 meter long cable. A big hook on the end of the handle comes in helpful to install the lamp wherever needed. The big white funnel is at the same time reflector and protector. Its smooth polypropylen plastic gives off a warmly diffused light and is strong enough to absorbe any bashing. MAYDAY is not designed for anywhere in specific. It rather comes in handy in all sorts of expected/unexpected situations: Taking it to the garage for work underneath the old Mercedes Benz. Taking it to the garden where it can hang from a tree. Using it on top of a ladder or lying on the floor trying to get the cat from behind the cupboard. Kids love MAYDAY inside their self-made cardboard house. I have one next to my bed for late night reading. Another one sits by the front door of my apartment ... just in case.Project assistant: Klaus Hackl (KGID)Producer: FlosIMAGEMAYDAY GalleryMayday PrototypeMAYDAY RealityINTORNO ALLA FOTOGRAFIA / ONE-OFF / ASSOCIATION J.VODOZ & B.DANESE /1999An exhibition at the Associazione Danese (Milan) in 1998 gave me the unique opportunity to collaborate with my sister, Tamara Grcic, an artist. The title and theme of the show was 'Intorno alla fotografia' (Around the Photograph). Instead of putting a frame around her photographic self portrait, I decided to do quite the opposite. Mounting a raw metal plate just in front of the picture deliberately blocked the image off from the viewer. Only moving up close and peeping behind the metal plate allowed an intimate glimpse of her face.Project collaboration: Tamara Grcic IMAGEHUT AB / COAT STAND / MOORMANN /1998The coat-stand HUT_AB is based on a simple idea: stacking two tripods on top of each other offers 6 ends for hanging coates rather than just 3. Made from solid ash HUT_AB folds conveniently into a thin long stick.Producer: Moormann IMAGEH2O / BUCKET / AUTHENTICS /1997One of the nicest compliment for a designer is to find one´s own designed product somewhere, accidentally. In 1997 I had designed this simple plastic bucket H2O for German producer Authentics ... years later I came across it on a street corner in downtown Chicago. The original bucket comes with a plastic lid which the old dude seems to have discarded as unpractical.Project assistant: Ascan Mergenthaler (KGID)Producer: AuthenticsIMAGEMOONWALK / NECKLACE / CHI HA PAURA ... ? /1997MOONWALK is a jewellery design project for Chi ha paura ...? The necklace is made of thin PVC film with screenprinted text. The words are taken from an interview with Lady Miss Kir of the former band Deelite: "I´ll do anything to escape being boring, beige, la blanc - I wear different clothes all the time. Like, at the moment I am wearing a space-picnic-on-Venus gingham outfit. My latest fantasy is about jumping on a moon walk, you know, a blown-up trampoline thing in a dome. I fantasise about putting it on my roof and jump, completely loosing grasp of time, space, gravity. I´ll do anything to escape being boring, beige, la blanc - I wear different clothes all the time. Like, at the moment ..."Produced by: Chi ha paura ... ?IMAGEPRADO / DESK / SCP LTD. /1996Prado was inspired by a shelf that I‘d built for my own office. It had the depth of a table, which inspired me to turn it into a desk. Even though it‘s made from wood and is reminiscent of a traditional desk, it‘s based on a very modern idea: it has a lot of open surfaces rather than closed storage space, which seems less relevant in the computer age.Producer: SCP Ltd.IMAGE2 HANDS / LAUNDRY BASKET / AUTHENTICS /1996I started to work with Authentics in 1994, just when plastic was beginning to enjoy a huge revival. Authentics had a strong belief in mass production as a means to produce good design for a wide audience. It was a fantastic moment, both for Authentics and for me. Work felt easy and natural - and of course the best thing was that we were successful with it.2-HANDS was one of my first products I designed for Authentics - a large open basket with two handles. Producer: AuthenticsIMAGENEW NORMALS / EXHIBITION / HAUS AM WALDSEE /2022We often find objects and rituals in our everyday lives that appear self-evident, but would have been barely comprehensible a short time ago: A smartphone on a desk seems hardly remarkable to us today but this flat object would represent an inexplicable enigma for viewers from the past. In this way, our respective new realities are repeatedly changed by objects as well as the behaviours attached to them, and our lives are constantly transformed by their use and their increasing everyday nature.For the exhibition I have created environments in which his design objects interact with materials and everyday objects of our present. These so-called “NEW NORMALS” refer to a future in which other constellations of living and working together are tested and confront the viewers with their own ideas of utopian and dystopian futures.Curators: Anna Himmelsbach, Ludwig Engel, Konstantin Grcic Project assistants: Marie Kurstjens, Tobias TrübenbacherClient: Haus am Waldsee, Berlin BIOGRAPHY /2020Konstantin Grcic (*1965) was trained as a cabinet maker at The John Makepeace School for Craftsmen in Wood before studying Design at the Royal College of Art in London. He set up his own office in Munich in 1991. Today, Konstantin Grcic Design GmbH is based in Berlin. The office is active in several fields ranging from industrial design projects, exhibition design and architectural collaborations. Amongst his renowned clients are Aeance, Authentics, Cassina, ClassiCon, Flötotto, Flos, Galerie Kreo, Kettal, Laufen, Magis, Muji, Nespresso, Plank, Smart and Vitra. He is the recipient of numerous awards such as the Compasso d`Oro for his MAYDAY lamp (Flos, 2001), the MYTO chair (Plank, 2011) and the OK lamp (Flos 2016). Work by Konstantin Grcic forms part of the permanent collections of the world´s most important design museums (a.o. MoMA/New York, Centre Georges Pompidou/Paris). Grcic defines function in human terms, combining formal strictness with considerable mental acuity and humour. His work is characterised by a careful research into the history of art, design and architecture and his passion for technology and materials.IMAGELITERATURE /20202022Konstantin Grcic. New NormalsHaus am Waldsee, Berlin, published for the Haus am Waldsee by: Ludwig Engel und Anna Himmelsbach (ISBN: 978-3-7533-0187-7)2016Konstantin Grcic Abbildungen/Figures, Ed. Friedrich Meschede, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Lars Müller Publishers Zürich 2016 (ISBN 978-3- 03778-505-8)2015 Konstantin Grcic, THE GOOD. THE BAD. THE UGLY.Graphic design by Florian Lambl, all photographs by Gerhardt Kellermann. ISBN-13:978-3-86335-864-82014Konstantin Grcic, PANORAMAconcept and design by Florian BöhmVitra Design Museum, edited by Mateo Kries and Janna LipskyISBN 978-3-931936-07-52013Konstantin Grcic, I PROTAGONISTI DEL DESIGNHachette, edited by Vando Pagliardini with text by Ali Filippini2011Konstantin Grcic, I MAESTRI DEL DESIGNBiblioteca del Sapere del Sole 24 OREedited by Andrea Branzi with text by Cristina Morozzi.ISBN 9-771973-6393752011Konstantin Grcic / CHAMPIONSCoulerus Contemporaines, Les Cahiersin collaboration with Galerie kreo, text by Alex Coles, photos by Erica OvermeerBernard Chauveau Éditeur, ParisISBN 97829158378722010Konstantin Grcic / DESIGN ETC.Archibooks, edited by Marion Vignal with text by Pierre Doze.ISBN 978-2-35733-118-12009 DESIGN REAL, Curated by Konstantin Grcic Serpentine Gallery, Koenig BooksISBN 9-78386560-746-12009Konstantin Grcic, DECISIVE DESIGNA+D Series, The Art Institute of ChicagoYale University Press, edited by Zoe Ryan.ISBN 978-0-300-15104-62008MYTO, The Making OfConcept and design editing by Meiré & MeiréPublished by BASF and Plank2006MIURA Stool, NYCConcept and photography by Florian Böhm Published by PlankISBN 978-88-9027728-0-62005KGID, KONSTANTIN GRCIC INDUSTRIAL DESIGNPhaidon Press, edited by Florian Böhm with texts by Francesca Picchi and Pierre Doze.ISBN 0-7148-4431-4IMAGEKG DESIGN /2020Konstantin Grcic Design GmbH is based in Berlin, Germany.Current team:Kathrin Hasskamp (head of operations)Frederic Rätsch (designer) Pascal Hien (designer)Simon Frambach (designer)Tobias Trübenbacher (designer)Caroline Perret (freelance)Charlotte Talbot (freelance)Friederike Daumiller (freelance)Jan Heinzelmann (freelance)Sami Ayadi (freelance)Former team members: Alexander Löhr, Alexandra Fürstenhagen, Alexandra Weigand, Anja Trudel, Ascan Mergenthaler, Benoit Steenackers, Caroline Perret, Catarina von Matern, Charlotte Talbot, Clemens Weisshaar, Eva Kraus, Femke Teunen, Friederike Daumiller, Hisham Almannai, Ika Künzel, Irina Sasse, Isabel Schurgacz, Isabel Thoma, Jan Heinzelmann, Jerome Nelet, Joana Machado-Morais, Jonathan Olivares, Juliane Witte, Klaus Hackl, Luisa Kahlfeldt, Maria Jeglinska, Marc Gerber, Marie Kurstjens, Marie Rahm, Nitzan Cohen, Olivia Herms, Pauline Deltour, Sami Ayadi, Saskia Groenewolt, Sophie von Bluecher, Stefan Diez, Synnøve Stave, Tilman Meyer, Timo Weil, Verena Herber, Yuya Ushida. Contact:Konstantin Grcic Design GmbHKurfürstenstr. 13D-10785 Berlin Germany Tel: +49 30 94859210Email:[email protected] contact: [email protected]: [email protected] POLICY /2020With this privacy policy, we inform you about our processing of your personal data. We process personal data in accordance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the German Federal Data Protection Act (Bun-desdatenschutzgesetz – “BDSG”).1.Who is responsible for data processing and who can I contact?Controller within the meaning of Art. 4 (7) GDPR is:Konstantin Grcic Konstantin Grcic Design GmbH Kurfürstenstr. 13D-10785 Berlin [email protected]+49 30 948592102.For what purpose and on what legal basis do we process your personal data?a)Fulfilment of contractual and pre-contractual obligations (Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR)The processing of personal data (Art. 4 No. 2 GDPR) is carried out to provide this web-site and to provide our services, in particular to conclude and process contracts, to in-voice, to carry out pre-contractual measures, to answer enquiries in connection with our business relationship and for all activities necessary for the operation and admin-istration of our company.The purposes of the data processing depend primarily on the concrete product. Further details on the purpose of data processing within the framework of contracts can be found in the respective contract documents and terms and conditions.b)In the context of balancing interests (Art. (1) (f) GDPR)In addition, we process your data to protect legitimate interests of us or of third parties such as, in particular, in the following cases:•replying to your inquiries outside of a contract or pre-contractual measures; •assertion of legal claims and defence in legal disputes;•guaranteeing our IT security and IT operations;•measures for business management and further development of products.c)Based on your consent (Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR)If you have given us permission to process personal data for certain purposes, the law-fulness of this processing is given on the basis of your consent. A given consent can be revoked at any time. Please note that the revocation will only take effect in the future. Processing that took place before the revocation is not affected by this.d)On the basis of legal requirements (Art. 6 (1) (c) GDPR)In addition, we are subject to various legal obligations, i.e. legal requirements (e.g. tax laws), which require the processing of data.3.WebsiteWhen you visit our website, information is automatically sent to the server of our web-site by your browser. This information is temporarily stored in a so-called log file. The following information is collected without your intervention and stored until it is automat-ically deleted: IP address of the inquiring computer, date and time of the access, name and URL of the retrieved file, website from which the access follows ("referrer URL"), if applicable the search engine used by you, browser used and if applicable the operating system of your computer as well as the name of your access provider.The legal basis for this type of data processing is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. The legitimate interests pursued by us are in particular:•ensuring a smooth connection of the website,•ensuring comfortable use of our website,•evaluation of system safety and stability,•for other administrative purposes.We use technically necessary cookies on our website. The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest for doing so is enabling you to use our website. The data will not be combined with other personal data. We do not use cookies for advertising or analysis purposes.4.ApplicationsWhen you apply for a job with us, we collect the data you enter. These are usually your contact data (title, first name, surname, e-mail address), data on your possible em-ployment with us (salary expectations, notice period, earliest starting date), data from your message, curriculum vitae, cover letter and certificates which you provide to us. We process these application data exclusively for the purpose of the recruiting process. Legal basis for the data processing is § 26 (1) BDSG, as far as the data processing is necessary for the decision about the establishment of an employment relationship. If you provide us with data that is not necessary for application, the processing of this voluntary data is based on your consent; the legal basis is then § 26 (2) BDSG or § 26 (3) BDSG (insofar as in individual cases special categories of personal data within the meaning of Art. 9 Para. 1 GDPR are concerned).5.Who receives my data?Within our company, those individuals that need your data in order to fulfil our contrac-tual and legal obligations will have access to it.We pass on data to the following categories of recipients if this is necessary to fulfil an existing contractual relationship between you and us or to implement pre-contractual measures (Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR) or to safeguard legitimate interests (Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR). •IT service provider•logistics service provider•financial institutions for payment purposesInsofar as processing is necessary to safeguard legitimate interests, for example when using logistics and IT services, it is our legitimate interest to outsource functions.In addition, your personal data will be forwarded or transmitted if this is required by law (Art. 6 (1) (c) GDPR) or if you have consented (Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR). 6.How long will my data be stored?If necessary, we process and store your personal data for the duration of our contrac-tual relationship, including, for example, the initiation and execution of a contract. It should be noted here that our contractual relationship may, depending on the individual case, be a continuing obligation for a number of years. For contractual relationships, but also for other civil law claims, the storage period also depends on the statutory limitation periods, which, for example, according to § 195 et seq. of the German Civil Code (BGB) are generally three years long, but can, in certain cases, also be up to thirty years..In addition, we are subject to various storage and documentation obligations, including those arising from the German Commercia Clode (Handelsgesetzbuch – HGB) and the Tax Code (Abgabenordnung - AO). The periods for storage or documentation specified there are 6 years for correspondence in connection with the conclusion of a contract and 10 years for accounting documents and business letters (§§ 238, 257 paras. 1 and 4 HGB, § 147 paras. 1 and 3 AO). Log and cookies files are generally deleted after the end of the respective browser ses-sion, at the latest after seven days, unless their further storage is exceptionally neces-sary and lawful. 7.Which data protection rights do I have?You have the right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), the right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR), the right to erasure (Art. 17 GDPR), the right to limitation of processing (Art. 18 GDPR) and the right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR). The restrictions according to§ 34 and § 35 BDSG apply to the right of access and the right of cancellation. You also have the right to object to data processing by us (Art. 21 GDPR). If our processing of your per-sonal data is based on consent (Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR), you can withdraw this at any time; the legality of data processing based on the consent until withdrawal remains unaffected by this.Regardless of this, you have the right to file a complaint with a supervisory authority – in particular in the EU Member State where you are staying, working or allegedly in-fringed – if you believe that the processing of personal data concerning you violates the GDPR or other applicable data protection laws (Art. 77 GDPR, § 19 BDSG).8.Are data transferred to a third country or to an international organisation?In general, no. If, in exceptional cases, data is transferred to third countries (countries outside the European Economic Area - EEA), this is only done on the basis of an ade-quacy decision of the Commission or on the basis of standard contractual clauses of the Commission (available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:039:0005:0018:EN:PDF) or binding corporate rules.9.Is there automated decision-making in individual cases?In general, no. Should we use such procedures in individual cases, we will inform you separately if this is required by law.IMPRINT /2020www.konstantin-grcic.com is the official website of Konstantin Grcic Design GmbH.Contact: Konstantin Grcic Design GmbH Kurfürstenstr. 1310785 Berlin Germany [email protected]+49 30 94859210Commercial Register Entry: Amtsgericht Carlottenburg, Berlin, Germany HRB 218438 BVAT-Nr.: DE330975350Managing Director: Konstantin GrcicCopyright: © Konstantin GrcicKonstantin Grcic grants permission to use, copy or print all content appearing on this website for the purpose of obtaining information about Konstantin Grcic Design. For a commercial use this is valid only after a previously given consent in writing. Layout and design of this presentation as well as the contained information are protected according to copyright law. This must also be observed if materials of third parties appearing on these Internet pages are used or copied for the purpose of obtaining information.No liability is assumed for the content of external links. The operators of the linked pages are solely responsible for their content.CREDIT /2020This website was designed and programmed by Alex Rich & Jürg Lehni (FIELD TRIP).IMAGE