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EDITORIAL Tiago Krusse
Is it the end of Fashion or is it a problem of honesty? I believe that the problem of Fashion is due to a variety of facts involving all of them people and people behavior. Firstly there is this economical aspect of nowadays that everything has to be profitable even without having start whatever it is supposed to be created or produced. And this economic eager to do business and to make profit at all costs lead people to corrupt other people. And people corrupt other people in such different kinds of way like paying low salary for a great amount of working hours, by stealing intellectual property rights and copyrights or stepping in values, commitments and purity. I mean a purity of the spirit that even facing a World full of lies can prevail and make its own path. Irony is that for this purity there is a “price� to pay and the path will suddenly turn into an even more demanding task. Only a few will be true to themselves and therefore true and straight to others. In the fashion business we also have to talk about design, we have to understand if designers are fully respected and seen as fully qualified professionals. From other perspective we should also ask if known fashion designers are indeed good designers and if the shows they put up are only outrageous, meaningless and costly mind disturbs? We have also to look at the teaching of design and if the discipline is it truly been respected in its fundaments or is teaching becoming as well a business and a way to produce profit by all means? There is also corruption and intellectual dishonesty among the teaching paths. I do not believe it is the end of Fashion because I truly believe that there is a huge and silent minority of people well educated, well taught or well self-taught and committed with honesty. Beyond that I think the redevelopment of fashion is on a turning point and the evolution of behavior is becoming a primal need to the whole market agents. I know that technology and new breakthroughs are in this line of thought and that sustainability it is not only about the menaces to nature but it has as well this deep concern with a stable social and cultural environment. Good fashion designers are entering a new cycle and it is of a new period for reflections. People know that honesty is not a trend and we all feel that with integrity the right conclusions will arise.
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CONTENTS EXPRESSIONS Opinion by Rodrigo Costa - Greece, Europe, World, Art and Economy
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DESIGN Interview Freddy Van Camp Celebrating the spirit Hydrocork
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Interview Ana Relv達o
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Design Studio Hugo Ribeiro Interview Hugo Poge
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ARCHITECTURE
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Dinesen Showroom
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Apartment in Cracow
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BOOKS The Essence of Value Designing Sustainability
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VISIT AND DISCOVER FLORIANĂ“POLIS, BRAZIL MAY, 15th 2015 TO JULY, 12th 2015 Come and explore design exhibitions, workshops, national and international seminars, and street events focusing on the theme DESIGN FOR ALL.
Official Carrier
Official Magazine
Institutional Support
Initiative
Co-Organizer
Organizer
Sponsorship
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Editor in chief - Founder Tiago Krusse Executive Designers Douglas Silva Hebert Tomazine Leandro Siqueira Lucas Fernandes Text Contributors Francisco Vilaça (Stockholm) Hugo Poge (Reykjavík) Rodrigo Costa (Oporto) English editing K Photo Contributors João Morgado – Architecture Phtography Rui Gonçalves Moreno Advertising http://revistadesignmagazine.com/publicidade/ Office DESIGN MAGAZINE Jardim dos Malmequeres, 4, 2.º Esquerdo 1675-139 Pontinha (Odivelas) | Portugal www.revistadesignmagazine.com Publishing House K Innovative Diffuser, Sociedade Unipessoal Limitada Jardim dos Malmequeres, 4, 2 ESQ 1675-139 Pontinha | Portugal NIPC: 513 314 652 Juridic Consultor Dr. Maria de Lourdes Castelo Branco Accounting Auditoc Media founded in 2011
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Enter the search for good design good-design.com
AUSTRALIA’S GOOD DESIGN AWARDS 2015 Call for Entries 3 February – 20 March 2015 Be a part of one of the longest standing and most prestigious design awards in the world, promoting excellence in design and innovation since 1958. Enter online: good-design.com
OPINION Rodrigo Costa
Greece, Europe, World, Art and Economy … It’s interesting how the homeland of the Thinking has ended also oppressed by the Economy! What would think and say Socrates, Sophocles, Aristotle and so many others Greek, eternally alive, if they were watching the World under rules from people unable for talking about more than profits and losses ?... All of us are feeling a little Greek —powerless—, because who has inducted us in the dreams is, now, waking us through the nightmares. Governors and partners without past are stealing present and future, once they have never thought besides the numbers. In fact, the contemporary economy seems to be a close relative of the contemporary art —or even the mother, so similar they are in its confusion; so close they are in the fool exchange of the papers. Economists have become artists, and artists have become economists —this is not new and would be fun, if the results were not dramatic. Kandinsky, himself, for instance, licensed as a lawyer and student of economy, has ended as an artist, working on mathematical concepts —I suppose—, once I am not able for more than basic accounts — as it is possible to see weird accounts and numbers through Kandinsky’s paintings, dramatic landscapes can be seen painted by economists. I would like to be hopeful about the coming future, but it is need waiting for somebody wise with some power and available to expose the importance of the Thinking. Definitely, the Humanity has to learn how to conciliate life and economy without invert the natural order of the things, what means that the econo-
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Illustration by Rodrigo Costa
my must be at the service of human being, not the contrary. Sometimes, even without being a religious believer, I look at the skies, hopeful on finding any answer from God… and, as usual, I feel to be enough enjoying the light and the clouds building soft and dramatic contrasts. If there is God or not it is not important; important is to believe in the Life and be available for see, hear and learn from her… Yes, this is the point. The human being is not more looking at the skies. Most economists decided to live and commit all world in living back turned to the Life —what we already know does not be possible, once the mathematic may explain how the Universe works but cannot reformulate its architecture, because mathematic is a mere consequence, given the Life to be the unique and unavoidable argument. The same way I hope, from the skies, any answer from God, looking around, through crowds, cars and buildings, I’m looking for any answer from the School as the true human temple or as it should be. However, according to the evidences, I remember Sarah Thornton, once more, and her Seven Days in the Art World, when telling about one classroom without windows and with cement walls, in which fluorescent lamps, long-lasting, cast a gray light… The CalArts building looks like an underground bunker, designed to protect, those who are there, from the sun silly seductions of Southern California... Can the Humanity be hopeful, when the School, instead being a temple, is becoming a shelter for empty souls?...
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INTERVIEW
Freddy Van Camp
The Brazilian designer accepted the challenging task to be the new curator of the Brazilian Design Biennial Flroianópolis 2015. Picking up the work already done and working with a team of professionals he assures that the commitment to present a good exhibition is strong. Through Freddy Van Camp’s life we get an impression of facts that had an effect on the history of design in his country until today. Interview by Tiago Krusse
What is the origin of your surname? I’m born in Belgium and came to Brazil with my parents as a child. I was one year old and was raised and educated in Brazil. How it was growing up in Rio de Janeiro in the late 40’s? My childhood in Rio was very nice and easy. There was a huge development in the country and my father who worked for a multinational traveled a lot and we came to know the country quite well. I liked also the mixed cultural milieu and enjoyed the sunny warm weather here. Why did you decide to embrace design? My father was a telecommunications engineer and wanted that I follow him in the same kind of career. I studied in a technical school but there I had to study technical drawing and my teachers noted my ability for this kind of matters and incentive me to specialize myself in this field. At this time they opened ESDI, the Escola Superior de Desenho Industrial, the first design course in Brazil where I was admitted in the third year of its existence. Who were your design mentors and what sort of atmosphere were there among the whole community? Well I had to convince my father that this was a good choice, since nobody at that time knew what Design was, at least in Brazil. Our mentors were the founders of ESDI, most of them designers that were active at the time, a very difficult one by the way, since that was at the beginning of the dictatorship. From the outside we admired the forefathers of ESDI that were still active in the HfG Ulm, some British and Scandinavian designers, besides Eames and some others.
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When have you heard naming design as a profession for the first time? We tried to adapt the word Industrial Design to Desenho Industrial in Brazil and this lead to misinterpretations. We resisted adopting the word Design, what we finally did in the 80’s. Among the design class itself we used Design but for the outside public we insisted in Desenho Industrial and this lead to mistakes and retarded the development of a “Design” culture, as far as I see it now. There was also the notion that Design lead to the development of “sophisticated” products for exclusive markets only. We were not so cleaver as the Portuguese who decided to use the word Design firsthand! Was the Brazilian industry calling for these new professionals? In the 60’s we thought there was a real need for Design following the development that was on its way, as a national policy. The auto industry, the appliances and other products that began to be made in Brazil in the post war era, the substitution of import goods due to the population growth and the need to adapt those products to our habits and culture where some of the arguments to implant a design career. Well I think this succeeded since the industry is using Brazilian design even outside Brazil. Some important multinationals have huge Brazilian design teams that they imported for they own needs. In the early 70’s you went to the United States of America and then to Germany seeking for more knowledge and academic experience. How would you describe both experiences and what sort of background improvement you got from it? This was a great and fascinating experience. I had
Photo by Gabriel PatrocĂnio
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“Rapid prototyping and production are great but by them we could lose our hand ability and performance.”
at that time worked for the Brazilian industry, so to compare the needs and procedures where very interesting. I discovered some interesting facts about Brazil and my background, which really surprised me. How we used materials, for example, we achieved the same results with one third less material, mostly due to costs and with engineering procedures that where more rational and demanding to us designers. I learned too that we were positively more open to other influences, result of our peripheral conditions; that to improvise was a plus factor in an ever changing world, etc. On the other hand learned about service and entertaining design with the Americans and about the environment and sustainability with the Germans, things we never heard about in Brazil. What where you doing until you open your own design studio in January of 1980? When a came back, in the middle of the 70s, I began to teach at ESDI and worked part-time in the industry. I love industry and their possibilities. I think that to socialize Design you need the industry as a part of the system. The decision to open my own studio was due to the fact that 95% of the industry in Brazil had no means to have an in-house designer, since they are too small or use the services of a designer only from time to time. Over these more than 35 years of the studio which key moments and experiences would you find the most important concerning your passion for the profession? I have a great pleasure to do different things. That was one of main attractions I found in being a designer. To design a supermarket, a piece of furniture and later a home appliance or an electronic product really excites me. I had the opportunity to do some of those, thanks to nice clients that later
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became friends. I learned that you should work for clients that could turn your friends, if you wish so. This makes Design so pleasurable! Besides, to have a product over 20 years on the market, fulfilling its needs is another remarkable pleasure, very rare nowadays! How do you conciliate being a designer and a teacher at the same time? I was called to teach by chance. On my way back to Brazil they asked me to replace some of my former teachers, some of them became than my colleagues. It’s not an easy task, but I still think that’s the right combination for someone that teaches project design. This happened with me in Brazil and abroad. The best teachers I ever had where those with experience of the market or the industry. They give you confidence and through their experience shortcuts a lot your learning. Sometime one aspect or the other of your career suffers but it’s very pleasing to practice it. It’s like a permanent dialog!I know that with the academic requirements this is quite difficult today, but Design needs a kind of different approach than normal academic procedures. You have a long teaching career which gives you a more in depth view over educational programs and goals. What are the positive and negative facts you are still getting from this experience? I’m fascinated with the new technologies and think they are essential to Design teaching nowadays. But I’m afraid we are losing something from the old ones. Rapid prototyping and production are great but by them we could lose our hand ability and performance. Sketching is almost gone with the modeling software’s and the electronic data bases are being lost with the obsolete software’s
Visual identity element of the Brazilian Design Biennial Flrorian贸polis 2015 by Pablo Cabistani
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“The theme is Design for All, so this is our main point: to show that design is something not aimed to some “chosen” members of our society, it’s a democratic quality that concerns everybody.”
or formats where they are registered. Web is so ephemeral it really scares me, and our students are so fascinated with it that it’s difficult to argument with them. On the other hand they provide any student or designer with the same creative possibilities and facilities in any part of the world, equalizing the means that are available to anyone that practices Design. Is it school and university giving the helpful means for designers to succeed with their professional goals? Well this is not an easy question. We do have a very large number of design courses in Brazil. Not all have the same quality, but most of them have a good evaluation of the Ministry of Education, which is done on a regular basis. On the other hand on the exhibitions we have, like the biennial that we are promoting this year you find a lot of interesting and successful projects done by designers throughout the country. The same with the Graphic Design Biennial promoted by ADG. The great number of Brazilian designers that works with success abroad is also impressive. Unfortunately we have no surveys about this matter. The Laboratorio Brasileiro de Design Industrial was an important institution for the Brazilian design. What is the story behind it and why didn’t endure? It’s a long story and I will try to abbreviate it: The laboratorio began as institution dedicated to promote courses to complement the knowledge and expertise of recent graduated designers and to develop projects for small and medium industry. Latter, in its second phase, developed and promoted a series of seminars and events to subside the design culture in Brazil, continuing to develop projects. It was associated to ICSID and tried also
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to insert Brazil in the international design scenario, where it succeed to some extent, especially through exchange of experts and practitioners. In its third phase, was associated to SENAI (a technical learning facility for the industry) and there was dedicated exclusively to develop design projects for any kind of industry. It was closed during a period of economic crisis due to the lack of funds. It was a great loss to Santa Catarina and to Brazil. You were recently chosen to be the new curator of the Brazilian Design Biennial Florianópolis 2015. Why did you accept the invitation? Well another difficult question! The Biennial is the only national event to promote Brazilian design. At the time the former curator decided to quit the loss we could have would be a disaster for the profession and our society. We decided to step in as an effort not to lose all the work that was already done and to show that we can come to a good exhibition and event, despite the difficulties. It’s a design task as any other one. What is your plan and program for the event? Are you keeping former ideas or it will be all a new set of proposals? We can’t dare to lose or discard all the excellent work done, so far, by the former curator and staff. But we have the obligation to review all the aspects of the concept on the light of the time left and prepare for other possible difficulties that we will find along the way, until the inauguration. Which challenges and risks were taken in consideration when there is only three months to the event? The time left is really short but we are calling in
Panoramic view of Florianópolis from the Morro Santa Cruz Photo: Courtesy of SANTUR – Santa Catarina Turismo
more experts to help us tackle the task. We need to take some shortcuts and to rationalize all the aspects of the exhibition production and supporting events. Designers are good at it! How is the whole team responding to this urge in delivering a good and memorable event? Incredibly well, the team, mostly of younger and enthusiastic professionals is totally committed to make more goals, so that we can win this match by a good score! What are the essential things you’ve put in consideration regarding the expectations and goals of all the people involved with the biennial? The theme is Design for All, so this is our main point: to show that design is something not aimed to some “chosen” members of our society, it’s a democratic quality that concerns everybody. Everybody has the right to have design on their material goods or messages. With design we will live better! Is there any main features or the event will
be presented as a multidisciplinary and complementary sequence of exhibitions? We will have a series of interconnecting exhibitions enhancing the “Design for All” concept. We will show projects or products for people with special needs, for the emerging middle class, for the public use and done with a participatory drive by creative collectivities. Besides we will show the state of the art in new rapid production, and a review of the production in the State of Santa Catarina. In parallel we will have seminars, workshops and other events. Were all design areas taken into consideration? Most of the areas that are concerned, or have a direct link, with the above mentioned sequence will be shown in the Biennial. What are your personal expectations? I think we will have a very special event that will show that design is a quality that we can’t afford not to have it, from now on! Design for All, Design to live better! We deserve it definitely!
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CELEBRATING THE SPIRIT Design: Rui Costa Photography: Margalha Fotografia
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The grandchildren of Francisco Ferreira decided to pay him a tribute by creating a specific label to the Homenagem wine. Stéphane and Vanessa Ferreira requested designer Rui Costa to develop an identity that would celebrate the spirit of the name Quinta do Pôpa. The property is located on a hillside of Douro Valley Wine Region, near the municipality of Tabuaço, at Viseu district on the north of Portugal. Francisco Ferreira was known by his nickname Pôpa. The family decided it was time to praise the man and the name and in that way underlining the roots, vision, goals and mission of a place where top quality wines are produced. Rui Costa, born in Lisbon in 1975, is a graphic designer. In 1994 he went to London to study graphic design and three years later he was beginning his professional career. He returned to Portugal where he collected good working experience for an agency as well as a freelancer and since 2005 he’s producing for Action4 Ativism. He was requested for this job for Quinta do Pôpa because the two managing grandchildren wanted someone in which they could fully rely, avoiding the risk of misunderstandings and keeping the essence of the purpose of the tribute. So that was the reason they call upon a friend that from a given portrait of the Pôpa would be able to comprehend the man, his origins and life. Rui Costa did a research about Francisco Ferreira and from the information gathered he soon realized that he should respect the values of the Quinta do Pôpa. He saw only a few photos of Pôpa and a particular portrait him in which he’s represented with a subtle smile. That smiling expression was the motif the designer knew he want to capture. In the describing text we were provided the designer mentions that “as the sketches developed I came across the idea of using the actual black from the glass bottle as part of the illustration”. The drawing was reduced to the essential, turning it simple. The outcome is like the designer says “a simple white stencil-like image of Pôpa that blends with the bottle but stands out strongly”. The typography was designed to resemble a signature on the front and on the back like a poem shaped text. www.quintadopopa.com
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HYDROCORK
A floating cork flooring water resistance is a new state of development in this type of product and through its performance it brings a whole new range of possibilities for building solutions. We’ve asked Carlos de Jesus, communication and marketing director of Corticeira Amorim, about this technological innovation and the structure of the product. Interview by Tiago Krusse Photos: Courtesy of Corticeira Amorim
What is Hydrocork? Who developed and when? Hydrocork, by Wicanders, is the first floating flooring that combines reduced thickness (6 mm) and water resistance, while still providing all the advantages of cork. Cork is a natural and renewable material, composed of 40 million cells for cm3. When used in flooring, cork guarantees thermal efficiency (providing important energy savings), acoustic insulation (until 53%), walking comfort, physical wellbeing and better impact resistance. Hydrocork was developed by Corticeira Amorim, the world leader of cork solutions. What level of intolerance it has to water? With Hydrocork the cork boards are water resistant therefore they will not swell when exposed to humidity. This is a major development in terms of cork flooring performance, meaning that the same floor can be installed in all rooms of a house or a commercial building. How does the Corktech technology works? Corktech is a technology developed by Amorim, which maximizes all the characteristics of cork through the use of cutting-edge production methods. The Corktech technology is the process behind the flooring as-
sembling, using a multilayer structure. In the underlay or core layer grains of cork are used, with different dimensions and weights and different combinations mainly explain the unique benefits of Amorim’s flooring solutions. What are the secrets of cork when considering durability and performance? Cork has some intrinsic characteristics that are hardly replicated by any other kind of material. Its unique composition – 60% of cork is made up of an air like gas - and the use of state of the art production technology allows us to offer to the market flooring solutions are highly durable, while maintaining the same performance during its life cycle. In this particular range, Hydrocork features a 0,55 mm wear layer and has a great market guarantee of 15-25 years for the commercial and residential segments, respectively. The product was developed to whom and what is its range of use? Hydrocork collection is available in 12 wooden premium visuals, with genuine natural appearances, that are available in the dimensions 1225 x 145 mm. It is suitable for home and commercial environments. 19
Why do you consider this new collection an important milestone to the flooring market? Hydrocork is a game changer in the flooring industry. It is the first floating flooring solution that comprising a reduced thickness core of agglomerated cork composite (ideal for renovations), maintains all the characteristics of natural cork (described earlier), with the added advantage of being water resistant. Measuring only 6 mm of thick, Hydrocork can easily be cut and installed on almost all kind of surfaces, an important asset for the actual real-estate market. To which countries will the product be most exported? Taking advantage of Amorim’s distribution network, Hydrocork was conceived for the global market and not for some specific countries. Yet, in this launching phase, the priority markets identified are Germany, Scandinavia, Netherlands and France. What sort of innovative possibilities could we expect in the future from this area of business? Amorim’s approach to Research & Development + Innovation has the market as a main driver. In this particular area of flooring, we will be focused in the continuous development of flooring solutions that fulfill the market expectations, both in terms of visuals and performance. 20
INTERVIEW
Ana Relvão
A Portuguese designer that decided to went abroad searching for a closer involvement with the industry. She likes to focus her work in innovation especially when it concerns to materials and technology. For someone who never dreamed to become a designer she’s now absolutely immersed in aspects concerning the good skills and capacity of producing good work for users. Interview by Tiago Krusse Photographs by Gerhardt Kellermann
What sort of memories do you keep from your childhood? The fact of our house was always full of kids… playing games on Spectrum with my brother. Tiny journeys exploring new places with my family on Sundays. The drawings at the restaurant table. To come back home and having tapas for dinner. That Freddie Mercury died in one of those Sundays and my mom cried a lot. Riding bicycle till there is no light outside. Opening all toys to see how they were inside. Searching for ET’s inside walls... Yes... 3-months-summer-holiday everyday on the beach with something like 40 friends and that once I decided, against my mom’s will, to paint my hair in pink. How it was to be 18 and settling in Lisbon? Did moving to a bigger city change at the time your perceptions about life? Personally, I was amazed. Here we also need to notice that I’m coming from a very conservative family where I was always the little girl. Even though I’d never behaved like that. Moving to Lisbon, a total new “huge” city to explore all by myself and to live together with friends was sounding better than ice-cream. Lagos was a nice city to grow up, those 3 months summer holiday on the beach were more like luxury, but by the end of the day, once I was back home, I was always the little girl. In fact, I was just needing to do things on my way. The changing itself was not so easy, and soon I was missing my mom’s meals, or crying because I was missing my family and friends. Even the beach itself. Slowly I found places that I really enjoyed in Lisbon,
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and discovered that my flat mate Claudia was really good in cooking. The change from Lagos to Lisbon mainly represents that independence, from being a teenager and becoming a young adult. What reasons lead you to apply for design? In fact, I never dreamed about becoming a designer. Actually never knew what it was until studying it at University. On my 18’s, I still had no idea what I wanted to be. I liked Sciences, Sports and Arts in general: Painting, Sculpture, Theatre, Photography and have always been interested about Style. I had a huge passion for Geometry and Psychology, just didn’t know what to do with it. In 2004 opens the degree on Art and Multimedia in FBAUL and I got interested because it was something new. For my mistake, I applied only for the Faculty during second phase of inscriptions, and there weren’t more vacancies available for Art and Multimedia. So I applied for Equipment Design, achieving the vacancy to sing in on the faculty. I realized I wanted to be a designer during a class with Professor Marco Sousa Santos, when he gave us a briefing to design a lamp. “Class, each one of you has to design a lamp”, “Good, now I’ve made a sculpture”, I thought. Marco continues: “A lamp consists of a lamp, socket, electric cable, switch and plug. However these objects alone do not work as lamp: they need something to support, give body, and something to protect our eyes from direct light “. For me, here there was a light! “This thing is a puzzle!” I drew a doodle while he was still talking. When I showed it
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Hooks, 2013, for Ervilha Criativa
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to him, he replies “That already exists. See the lamp Parentesi by Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzu.” Besides having discovered what I wanted to do for life, at this time I also found my first designer hero. What sort of atmosphere you found at the faculty? Which positive and negative aspects you’ve kept from those learning years? At FBAUL I have to say that I loved the idea of having some classes together with Sculpture, or Art and Multimedia; that people from other areas of interest were my classmates; that Design and Art were taught with the same cultural background. The most negative aspect might have been the macrobiotic food at the canteen. All the rest was handable. How would you describe the teaching level and the whole design program? Were there any real connection between the academic and the real world? First we have to understand that the faculty should work as a brain wash. Kids arrived with preconceived ideas about Design that are mainly not true. Look at my case: I was convinced that Design was about making things nice, something like Sculpture, but for objects. So the academic world is, and has to be educative. Mainly. It gives you tools and not exactly the answers. In fact, I don’t have that much to complain about my studies. If I would change something I would try to fit on the program Psychology. If a designer designs for someone it isn’t just understanding about ergonomics and cultural differences. I think designers
should know more about such things like perception, cognition, attention, behavior, motivation, and so on. You had begun working in the design field while you were still a student. Tell us about that experience and how it made you more focused concerning your professional goals? While I was still a student, I felt that my mission on the faculty was accomplished. I got enough tools. So I was keen to go for new challenges and have to deal with new ingredients such as clients, money and complicated time schedules. I sent my portfolio and was called for an interview. Got the job, did the job. Had problems with a client and lost the job. Until today I don’t know if I lost it, or run way from it. I got my head back in school. Later I had to do an internship it was part of the studies program. Got a position at Miguel Vieira Baptista’s office and felt totally in love with is work, our work. When it reached the end, he invited me to continue to work there as an assistant. Had to finish the design degree but my head was not at the university anymore. Did it, and never went back to school. Never felt the need to continue my studies and do a Master, for instance. What were the primary reasons that made you search for opportunities abroad? Curiosity? I’ve to say that I didn’t like the way things were going for design in Portugal at the time and I was interested to work in the industrial design field. Also, felt I was too young to settle myself and don’t get to know more about the world.
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“I couldn’t find motivation in seeing myself doing things like chairs.”
Applied for a grant and sent my portfolio to the three studios I liked more in the world: Stefan Diez Office in Munich, Industrial Facility in London, and Martin Azua in Barcelona. I’ve got the grant and two positive answers, one from Stefan and the other from Industrial Facility. Stefan was first. Prepared my 20kg bag, left my apartment in Lisbon and took an airplane to Munich. In Munich, Germany, which sort of connections you found and you felt that were lacking since your faculty years? The connection with industry and media. How would you describe your working experience for Stefan Diez studio? Crazy but very important. Crazy because all that changes were too fast for my dyslexic brain. I felt like I was ending one life and starting another, where all the channels of communication were different. To live every day speaking and working in a language that is not mine and it’s also not the one from them, was for me too complicated to handle. It took me something like 3 months to feel a bit more fit in. The experience with the office, with Stefan and all his assistants and interns was great and I loved the attention they give to model making. Also the working atmosphere was really good, which in the end makes everything easier. At the time I was still looking for what I wanted to do. I thought if I would like to be a furniture designer, I would recognize it there, since the projects have so much quality. But I didn’t. I couldn’t find motiva-
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tion in seeing myself doing things like chairs. Don’t get me wrong, there are unbelievable good designers doing it, I just think I’m not one of them. Did you felt growing in aspects of knowledge and making progress on how to handle with a competitive market and technologically advanced industries? Work-in-progress. When did you open your own studio? It was a spontaneous decision or you had it all planned? It came earlier then I was expecting. After Stefan Diez Office, did a traineeship at designaffairs. After that, an since there was no available position for a junior designer at designaffairs I was forced to move on. After sending some portfolios and pondering a lot, I thought it could work. Even in Germany designers have to struggle a lot to be fully recognized as key elements of economic development. What opportunities you’ve found for your studio and which sort of obstacles you still have in your way? We have to remember that it’s not because design is something more established in Germany than in Portugal that the things get easier. And Munich is a city with more than 10 000 designers together. It’s a big game! A different game. And maybe because it’s so competitive, everyone wants to “kick asses”. The motivation is huge and that creates an interesting competition field, pushing the work quality up. That’s something that I really appreciate.
Lamps, 2013, for SZM and in collaboration with Gerhardt Kellermann
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“Let’s be honest, Industrial Design is still a man’s profession. Industrial machines, dust, statics, computer programs and drills are not a woman’s thing.”
For me, besides the big obstacle that the German language is still for me, there is another one, which is the fact that I’m a woman. And here is where every man will roll their eyes: “what do they want more?” Let’s be honest, Industrial Design is still a man’s profession. Industrial machines, dust, statics, computer programs and drills are not a woman’s thing. Even my mom laugh when I said that I bought a CNC machine. I would like for instance to be paid the same way, or that clients don’t come to me because I’m a woman expecting nice stuff and sweet shapes, or whatever feminine means, but because I’m competent. But that is not just a German problem. You were founder and partner of an industrial design association. What were the reasons and mission behind that idea and is it still running? That was part of the reason why I opened my office. Gerry, Herbert Schultes and I decided to rent an office on Munich’s countryside and become designers associated from each other. In the end it was an association just between us. Everyone was working on their own, but we joined forced every time the work bigger. Since Gerry and I moved back to Munich, It got complicated to keep this association. What is the reality of intellectual property rights and copyrights in Germany? The same as it is in Portugal. The law is the same. How is it like to work with big companies and how you deal with your entrepreneur side of your activity?
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There are many types of clients, and when I’m selecting with whom I want to work I try to keep the same criteria, whether it is a big company or a small one. I’ve to have a strong connection with it and mainly share the same vision. But in the end, clients are clients, independently from their size. I see everything as projects/time. Normally clients are the ones paying the bills. Then there is the entrepreneur side and ideas of things that I want to do by my own. Then there are not so much weekends left. Do you still keep a working connection with Portugal? Do you feel any substantial development from Portuguese brands? Is there a special project you would like to mention? Can someone be who is not? It’s not because I moved to Germany that I forgot all the good things Portugal can offer. Among them, I think Portuguese crafts quality is excellent. Mainly I keep connections doing small series of objects where there are artisans involved. It’s the case of my work with Ervilha Criativa. I was asked to work with clay, but not really interested in doing decorative objects. I thought where could we innovate using crafts production and we ended up making a side table with a flat surface with a 400 mm diameter. No machine in the world could have done it better than the hands of Paulo Oscar, the artisan involved in the project. About brands themselves, I cannot speak that much. The ones I find most information about are normally the ones that I don’t find a personal connection with. You have brands working with good quality, but ending up being too kitsch. There is a market for it,
Preparation element for Bulthaup as part of the Bulthaup Design Team, 2014
and good that things are flowing well for them. Just that Portuguese design is way much more than that, and it is a challenge to change that image of what Portuguese design is. You told us that you were always fascinated with style. How much importance do you give to aesthetical quality of products? I always saw style as a form of communication. Whether if we are talking about objects or persons. And communication, or how the object communicates with the user, is one of my favorite topics because it deals with the perception. The aesthetical quality is part of it. With your professional background and your perception about the world do you have any ideas about the future of design and in which segments it will most needed?
I don’t believe that this era of individualism will last forever. To many designers designing things because they want to have a voice and make its own interpretation of an object is unrealistic. Have you been into design fairs lately? It’s so boring... you walk through and say “I like it, i like it not.” But where is the innovation? Designers are making design to their own problem. How do you evaluate our own contribution to Design? Do you set specific goals you would like to achieve or you just flow by just upgrading your qualities through time? If I could, I would always make a revolution! For you Good Design stands for what? User-friendly, innovation driven. www.anarelvao.com
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DESIGN STUDIO HUGO RIBEIRO
Graduated in design by the Escola Superior de Artes e Design from Caldas da Rainha, in Portugal, Hugo Ribeiro has open his own studio with a mission set for providing a wide range of professional services. Innovation and mixing different materials are important elements he likes to underline. These three products reveal a little of a design orientation and simplicity. Photographs by Hugo Ribeiro
Agaphanto, 2014. A lamp inspired by nature and its aesthetic quality. The structure is made of cork supported by the branches of the Agapanthus flower, also known as lily of the Nile. After a drying procedure, allowing several original compositions and a wide range of colors. It was designed, tested and produced respecting the perfectionism that nature provides and each one is a unique and original piece, custom made.
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CrokĂŠ, 2014. This corner table is inspired by traditional Portuguese stools and the art of crochet. The structure is made of pine wood in which crochet lining involves a shelf inside, ideal for storing a book, clock, among other objects. The cover is made of wasted plastic bags, introducing the art of crochet as a method and repetition.
Kit, 2014. A versatile holder for mobile phone, pens, pencils, cards, small objects and agendas. With a simple, versatile and stylish design highlights the nobility of cork. The side stand in metal it’s presented in several colors.
www.designstudiohugoribeiro.com
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INTERVIEW
Hugo Poge
A Portuguese graphic and product designer, who fell in love with his Icelandic wife, and is managing to keep a prolific professional activity during the last four years in Reykjavik. Fully connected to the land and to the community, Hugo Poge leaves us an in depth impression about his work in country that he embraced with all its idiosyncrasies.
How long have you living in Reykjavik and why did you decide to move to Iceland? I’ve been living in Reykjavik for the last four years. I decide to move to Iceland because my wife is Icelandic and at the time she received an invitation to work for one of the biggest Icelandic brands NIKITA Clothing and I was given flexibility to work in Iceland by my former company back in Portugal. Four years ago the economic crisis hit Portugal just like it hit Iceland and things got harder, nevertheless the recovery in Iceland started sooner. Was it hard to adapt in Iceland? What were the ups and downs? The hardest thing was the language and the job market. But when you have a strong support from your family and friend’s things get easier. There are many good things about living in Iceland, life is more relaxed, the traffic is slow and it’s easy to deal with the small daily problems. What was it like to experience such a drastic economic changes that Iceland has been facing since the beginning of the crisis? Do you see any progress? There were a lot of changes in the Icelandic economy and some things have been fixed. Before the crisis Iceland, like many other countries, the population lived a lot on loans and the salaries were real high compared with other European countries. The banks and the house market totally collapsed and during the last two/three
years they have been recovering. The prices and taxes today are higher than before, there is a long road ahead to in order to fix everything. During this period music and design have been growing more and more and with better quality. Your academic background is design and communication. What are your thoughts about design as a strategic resource when considering communication management? I think communication design is very important for the products in order to be successful on the market. Sometimes designers don’t have the background to communicate the products they are developing. In my opinion every detail counts and is very important for the success of a product. Design, samples, production, packing, communication and sales, it all counts. If you have a view and a strategy for all these areas, your product arrives definitely stronger in the markets and have better chances of surviving in a competitive market like we are living today. This is why I think the design schools need to pay more attention to these areas in order for the designer to a have a broader view in the end. You have a wide professional experience through very different companies. In which areas did you gain more knowledge and know-how? Through my professional career I tried to work in
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“Through my professional career I tried to work in different areas in order to gain a better overview of the value chain.”
different areas in order to gain a better overview of the value chain. I started working in the 90’s at Expografe, one off biggest booth/exhibition company in Portugal. There I had the chance to design and create booth for the biggest brands and products in the world, I then had the chance to work has a decoration designer at the EXPO ’98 World Exposition. After this great experience I was part of a design team called Gordon and Smith which is the first American brand of skate/surf and there I had the chance to see my graphics sell all over Europe. In 2001, I opened my first design company with a few friends and with that I gained a lot of experience regarding the overview you need to have in this business. I worked with many different types and sizes of companies. What where the projects that gave you more sense of fulfillment? Probably when I started working for Expografe because there I had the chance to work and learn with special people of the old generation of graphic designers in Portugal. When I started working for Expografe I had the chance to work and learn with great people, especially the older generation of the graphic designers in Portugal. Even now after I started my own brand MYNKA, I need to do and learn something new every day. What is the essence of Mynka? Built, designed and created in the deepest, coldest end of the earth in Iceland there is a brand that was born to welcome the ice, the snow and all nature elements combining them with the architecture of cities like Lisbon, NY, Beijing and its own Reykjavik. Mynka is born. A brand that plays with style,
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quality and design to bring you the coolest garments you have ever seen. It is said that technology and culture are always in constant state of redeveloping. Do you see the same happening with design? Yes, all the design is in constant redevelopment because now the world is smaller. Today we have internet where you can talk and exchange experiences with the world at a click of a button. We have today more and cheaper technology than even before, like computer, printers, cameras, programs, apps, which help us to minimize mistakes. Anyone today can have a good computer, a nice 3d printer (for samples), nice camera like Go Pro to see how the products looks like. Many tools are now available to help designers to do better and more than ever before. Now you can try and test more before you put out a product and with that improving its quality. The producers are today more open to new ideas and they are also nearer the designer and distances shorter. Some years ago I visited some factories in Portugal and the owners called me crazy because I wanted to do something new. How are designers seen in Iceland and is the profession recognized? Yes, like I mentioned before, during the last years design got stronger and recognized in Iceland. Icelanders are very much into buying product from Icelandic design. The designers are recognized by the Iceland’s Academy of Arts and if you are a designer you have all the rights as a designer otherwise you are a technical designer self thought and you are not a designer and cannot call yourself a designer.
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“There are many signs that the Icelandic economy finds itself at a crossroads of new opportunities and directions.”
Are there any design associations or institutions in Iceland? How do they work and what are their goals? Yes, The Iceland Design Centre, established in 2008, has raised general awareness and understanding of design. It promotes the field and provides information locally as well as abroad, nurtures innovation and ensures development. An annual, four-day festival, Design March is among its primary undertakings. Showcasing fresh or classic pieces, it is a wonderful platform for designers to meet the media, the public as well as foreign guests. All across Reykjavik, in warehouses, shops, galleries and restaurants and even in the streets, a wide variety of events, lectures and exhibitions reflect the field’s versatility. The purpose of the Iceland Design Centre is to achieve more appreciation of the importance of good design and architecture for society. Its role is to promote design of all kinds as a vital and profitable aspect of the Icelandic economy, and thus to enhance competitiveness and economic gain. Are these professionals seen as relevant contributors for society? There are many signs that the Icelandic economy finds itself at a crossroads of new opportunities and directions. Design is a resource, and it is vital to make use of it. The highest-achieving nations place great emphasis on design in product development and marketing, and see good design as one of their most effective tools in a climate of growing competition. Research carried out in Britain shows that the cost of design, as against other production factors, is relatively low; and that, of individual production tasks, design yields the biggest return.
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Iceland has many well-qualified designers and architects, who have studied both in Iceland and elsewhere. It is of great importance for Icelandic society that the expertise, training and talent of these people be put to good use. Design is relevant in all sectors of the economy, from construction, production, the fisheries, tourism and food production to services and the knowledge industry. And design is not confined to Icelandic applications; expertise can also be exported. The importance of increasing the role of design in the Icelandic economy is thus obvious. In which areas of design is Iceland more developed and productive? Many designers and companies enjoy international success, including product designer Katrín Ólína, with her enchanting, colorful world. Sigga Heimis, noted for her colorful, functional product design, contributes to the Icelandic design community by sharing her experience. High-tech prosthetics company Össur is a leader in the field; gaming company CCP creates the virtual world of EVE ONLINE by consciously cultivating excellent product designers, fashion designers and graphic designers. The most developed and productive areas are the fashion design and industrial design. You opened MDM Solutions in 2012. What sort of opportunities and risks you saw when you decided to go ahead? I’m a very positive person and I only focus my energy on opportunities. The opportunities are the international experience I have and my different approach to the market. Right now we work with more than ten companies from Iceland and another ten from other different countries (Chile, Hawaii, Australia and Portugal)
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Which services are provided by the company? The main services are sourcing street wear / surfskate-snowboard wear and wetsuits; fabrics and accessories. We’re producing graphic design: corporate design; brand design; print design and multimedia design. Working for brands has agent and in distribution. Our values are quality, exclusiveness and contemporariness. What’s the strategy regarding competitiveness and distinctive experience? I saw an opportunity in the market in these areas. I felt a big need for these expertise’s here in Iceland. It can be complicated to be based in Iceland, far away from the main land and start a brand or looking for something special which is not available here. In Iceland there are no factories for producing garments or fabrics, and because of that we can help connect Iceland and Portugal. Is it team work? What are the crucial aspects taken into consideration to be successful with the tasks requested? Yes it is team work. I think the crucial aspect is to work as a team with all the stakeholders around MDM Solutions. Are you working in new projects or products? I have 4 projects as I always need to design new lines. With Mynka I’m working on new graphics for the next clothing line, new skates and snowboards graphics with the factories that will produce these products for the brand. Onezeroone Wetsuits is a brand for which I designed the logo ID, I have my signature line Wetsuits and sourcing. It’s been an amazing journey to see the brand grow in Latin America. Fresh lines is a new Portuguese brand of snow-
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boards. They invited me to design de ID logo and all the graphics for the first snowboard line that came out this winter in Portugal. GT Board it’s a Hawaii brand of bodyboard boards and the owner is a 6 times world champion bodyboarder. Last season I designed the ID logo for his sub brand GT fins and the box for his fins. Now we are working on new graphics for the boards and the line looks awesome. What are your great expectations as a designer? I look forward that all the different disciplines of design can together create products with the objective of building a better world for humans and their environment having in mind a more sustainable and ecological planet. www.mdmsolutions.is
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DINESEN SHOWROOM
In a 19th century building located in Copenhagen, in Denmark, the OeO Studio produced not only a simple concept that evokes and promotes the qualities of a brand’s passion for wood but also created an inspirational space for architects, designers and consumers. Design: OeO Studio Text: Tiago Krusse Photographs: Anders Hviid
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The OeO Studio captured the spirit of the Dinesen history on working with wood and has created an emotional and sensitive atmosphere through a 600m2 new showroom. The new space was programmed inside a building from the 19th century, located in Copenhagen, in Denmark. The work was commissioned to the OeO studio in the summer of 2014 and in November of that same year the doors were opened to the public. The fact of being two Danish companies has surely made it easy the work and the purposes for the new set. The importance of a new design concept for a showroom of a family company with more than 110 years of qualified craftsman’s work with wood was in need in a sense to promote a wider experience through the qualities and possibilities of
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the use of the raw material. But it was meant to go even beyond than a simple play for the senses, “the showroom marks a new direction for Dinesen as we seek to inspire architects, designers and consumers with the beauty of not just Dinesen floors but our entire range of products” said Thomas Dinesen. The new set was divided in a way to promote two distinctive experiences, one named “Tree of a Kind” and the other “Extraordinary by Nature”. The first one keeps the spirit of the former structure of the showroom’s 19th century building and takes advantage of the space by displaying the planks and making use of their different dimensions and expressions to establish different perceptions and impressions of the applied products. In the main gallery the presence of
a monumental wooden structure gets nuances when exposed to light and shadow. A reception was programmed and the concept was taken from the coffee culture that could be found nowadays in the streets of Tokyo. At the space “Extraordinary by Nature” the concept was to build a program like it was an apartment composed with a ballroom, dining area, library, custom-made kitchen and a wine cellar. The whole area is under a sequence of color tones walls and the describing text mentions that “the overall mood is inspired by Danish painter and master of light, Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916).” The essence of the concept was to enhance affinities with the raw material by presenting its elegance and the good use made out of it. For Thomas Lykke, of the OeO Studio, “our goal has been to create an
inspiring new showroom that allows visitors to immerse themselves fully in the world of Dinesen. The company offers much more than perfect, immaculate flooring and we wanted to inspire people to think in new and different ways.” He also mentioned that it was important to underline the brand’s commitment to the values of a family business started in 1898. In the words of Thomas Lykke “you can really sense their deep passion for wood in each and every floorboard from their workshop.”
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Douglas Natur (FL) 28 x 300 mm 1
Douglas (FL) 28 x 300 mm 1
Oak (FL) 30 x 125/150/175 mm 1
Douglas 28 x 200-400 mm 1
Sideplanker FÅ (FL) 28 x 200 mm 1
Oak Natur (FL) 30 x 200/225/250 mm 1
Fyr 35 x 150/200/250/300 mm 1
HeartOak 30 x 500 mm 1
2
Oak 30 x 125 mm 3
Sideplanker 28 x 150 mm 4
Sideplanker 28 x 200 mm 5
Oak 22 x 300 L= 1200 mm 12 12a Oak 30 x 250 L= 750 mm 14
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Douglas 28 x 300 mm 17
Douglas 35 x 300 - 450 mm 13 Douglas Natur 35 x 450 mm 18
GrandOak 30 x 300 - 500 mm 13a
HeartOak 30 x 450 mm 20
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APARTMENT IN CRACOW Architecture: Ekotektura Photographs: Jakub Gadzalski
An apartment in Cracow, Poland, with 72m2 was reformed by architect Piotr Pyrtek and assistant Dorota Orczewsa, both from the Ekotektura studio. The work produced in the interior design of this apartment was completed in 2014. The place owned by a busy couple that works from home regularly was reformed in a way that could allow them to optimize the space keeping harmony on the fruition of the whole and a balanced use of its solutions. Functional ideas and infra-structural solutions were implemented in order to fulfill the couple primary and secondary demands. The architects divided the apartment in a day part, gathering the living room, kitchen and a home office, and a night part with the entrance hall, wardrobe, toilet, laundry and a bedroom. The minimalistic atmosphere created reveals not only an aesthetic harmony between materials but also a
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visual comfort. The apartment integrates different systems, like a multifunctional folding table, lighting design or a home server. Optimizing the space and providing the necessary features to increase the pleasure of living the day-to-day routines and leisure seems to be main objectives. The plant shows how the space promotes integration and a disposition that allows proceeding with different daily activities at the same time. There is a continuous flow between areas that gives a sense of open and wider space. Bright colors and clear contrasts were chosen to promote a stimulating atmosphere, either for working or for relaxing during the day. The private night space it is hidden behind an invisible curtain located on the border of light and dark color.
laundry entrance home office
kitchen
bathroom
living room
bedroom
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BOOK RECOMMENTATIONS
The Essence of Value / Mario Pricken Publisher: Publicis Publishing ISBN: 978-3-89578-446-0 Hardcover English 240 Pages 100 Illustrations 2014
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Most of the times we, as consumers, have different attitudes towards products. Sometimes we buy things we need making an evaluation about the balance between price and quality and in the end the final decision is becoming more and more due to a rational decision about our need of the product. Like each one of us is different therefore our needs vary in different sorts of ways and they could be related to social context, cultural background or economic situation. There are times when we have a clear thought of what we need to buy and how much can we afford to purchase those products. In the other hand there is also a whole lot of purchasing done in a compulsive way, when it’s our instinct lead by a consumer habit or just by a need to fulfill a desire. This new book by Mario Pricken has the purpose of providing “a comprehensive catalog of questions to help us generate our own ideas for giving products that special something which transforms them into objects of desire.” The conclusions and thoughts are based on the analysis done over more than 300 products, objects and events by supervising their entire lifecycles and through it obtaining patterns that make them valuable. The author gives us some very interesting perspectives, well illustrated, about when value emerges, when it is desire and he identifies 80 parameters found in biographies of exceptional cars, watches, luxury foods, designer furniture, artwork and services. Through the Value Catalogue there is in depth social and anthropological research about Creation, Uniqueness, Availability, Time, Transfer, the staging, the irrational and Functionality. Beyond of just providing us with very useful information and observations to real cases, we believe that the art of Mario Pricken in this book is to entertain us with well structured and well illustrated facts he gathered to this immense piece of work. There is also this honest approach to theme that we like it mainly due to the author’s ability of producing rigorous analysis without trying to influence us with his own perspectives but aiming to providing bridges and knowledge about the objective and subjective elements of product value.
Stuart Walker is a Professor of Design for Sustainability at the Lancaster University and Emeritus Professor, at University of Calgary, in Canada. He is author of several publications and his designs have been exhibited at reputed institutions. This Designing Sustainability – Making radical changes in a material world, published in 2014, is a work of reflection aimed to students attending courses in design and sustainability as well as to qualified designers. Stuart Walker says he “attempt to make a contribution to the debate about designing sustainability through an interwoven process of thinking and doing, writing and designing.” The book is a critical and political document interested in making an evolution on the discipline focus on the nerve, the creating process. There is this clear vision of some of the worse aspects of industrialization and the scheme designed to make profit by feeding a worldwide and irresponsible consumerism with useless products that are “shiny novelty surrounded by hyperbole”. All these critiques based on solid arguments but more than that is a call to our intelligence and to our use of the good sense. It is our opinion that Stuart Walker conceived this book to the individual, the designer, the man or the woman, to promote the shift from an imposed world of numbers, to reverse it from the chaotic and unsustainable natural and social environment that we are all submersed. He aims at the creating process because it’s the point in which design has to question and raise discussions, challenging the status quo of irresponsibility and harmful conventions. He underlines the importance in understanding the facts of provenance and consequence, the causes and the effects. It is also a calling to the return of values, of moral and ethical a priori or posteriori thinking. From the introduction to the epilogue there are profound reflections that promote changes towards evolution, an evolution by an improved or rediscovered behavior seeking for harmony and equilibrium. A most positive and generous work of thoughts, with specific proposals, schematic guidelines and conclusions, all well documented, providing good design orientations and solid principles. No doubt that this book is a powerful and spiritual tool for a better living. Education at his best!
Designing Sustainability / Stuart Walker Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 978-0-415-74411-9 English 187 Pages 2014
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www.revistadesignmagazine.com