Design Indaba: Expo impressions

Yesterday was the last day of the Design Indaba Expo. I beat the heat and the crowds and got there early to see what was on offer, and to take a couple of snaps. Of course, the sheer quantity is overwhelming, and the poor lighting made snap-taking fairly tricky. So what I have to show here is just a fleeting impression of some of the things that caught my eye and came out reasonably well on the screen.

Heath Nash's work with discarded plastics is as intriguing as ever, and his naively put-together stall quite charming. This white light made with plastic milk bottles is simply breathtaking.


Product designer Cornelius Lemmer has been doing some Frankenstein work, taking apart many old ball and claw tables and cupboards and meticulously putting them back together to make one piece. They really are quite beautiful. See more of his work here.

I'd seen the lovely woven cane lampshades and cactuses by Michelle Petrie of Abode, but these modular shelvings systems were new, and I like them a lot.


I was rather intrigued by the complex work of Pieter Henning of MockMock. This coated steel table is rather special, I thought. Their website's not up yet, and these tables are still prototypes, but should you stumble upon this in the future (the near future, I hope), click here and you might be able to find out more.
The Zenzulu stand was very zen - it only had three pieces on it! But what amazing pieces they were. The three intricate wire wall sculptures are part of their Jungle collection, and really, these photos hardly do them justice at all.

There was more intricate weaving at the Aid to Artisans stall too. These come from KwaZulu Natal, who seems to be the place for weaving champs.

Really, these few pics hardly make a dent in what was on offer, and it's likely that I didn't even manage to see the lot. Next February, make sure you're in Cape Town to attend the Design Indaba and Expo. You'll be so glad you did.

Design Indaba 09 : Day 2

While the talks I saw on day 1 of the Design Indaba were all engaging with the ethics of design in the real world, the talks I saw on Thursday were all situated right on the needlesharp tip of the high end, where fantasy, imagination, excellence and large budgets meet.

The people I heard speak are so ridiculously famous that it would be silly of me to do a rundown of their work here. However, each one impressed me with one or other thing, possibly worth relating here:

Barber Osgerby - Excellence in process and product
First, I caught the tail end of design duo Barber Osgerby speaking. They were describing the incredibly process-intensive process of making a prototype of this table, involving milling and anodizing hundreds of individual aluminium units that eventually bolt together, partially using magnets. It really was amazing to hear designers talking about the nitty gritty of the process, illustrating how much very hard, hard work goes into realising a high-end product such as this.

Patricia Urquiola - Where flamboyance and simplicity meet
It's something that also arose in Patricia Urquiola's incredibly jam-packed talk, delivered with breathtaking speed and charm: these high-end products often are years in production. The impression, especially with someone as prolific as Urquiola, could be that her designs are churned out, while in fact there's an extensive behind-the-scenes process that takes a lot of time, passion and hard work.

Talking of passion, I liked the way Urquiola paused in her breakneck delivery to tell us how this or that piece carried a lot of emotion for her. And talking of emotion, I'm passionately in love with her Flo Easy Chair (above) and the Tropicalia chair (below).

Ferran Adria - Rigour and honesty
Another Spaniard was up after this - the very charismatic Ferran Adria - the genius behind ElBulli. His committment to exploration in his innovation in a design field as ephemeral as food is quite astonishing, particularly for a non-foodie like me. I couldn't help feeling some sympathy for whoever the Design Indaba had appointed to find lunch for Ferran Adria. What a frightening job description!

Black sesame sponge cake with miso (image from Chubby Hubby)

Marcel Wanders - Fabulous and fun
Lastl up was Marcel Wanders, who says "fabulous" and "fun" a lot. He's clearly a flamboyant and playful personality, and this comes across in his work. There's a sense that, perched as he is on the tip top of the high end, he feels the freedom to do pretty much whatever he likes. And sometimes he does just that, as with his Airborne Snotty vase series, based on high tech analysis of the flying droplets of a sneeze.


But also, he uses his freedom to makes sublimely lovely and rare things, like the Fishnet Chair, only available in a limited edition of 20.

So that's my impressions of the high end so far at the Design Indaba this year. I'll be back again with Expo news soon.

Design Indaba 09 - impressions

I was only able to make some of the afternoon sessions of the Design Indaba conference yesterday, but even just a few talks left me brimming with inspiration.

15:30 - Stephen Burks
Firstly, I saw industrial designer Stephen Burks of readymade projects inc. While his talk wasn't particularly well-presented, it was great to hear about his collaborative projects, linking real unknowns with massive companies like Artecnica, Cappellini, B&B Italia. The project we're most familiar with in South Africa is his collaboration with wireworker Willard Musarurwa on the TaTu series (below) for Artecnica.

Another of Burks' local collaborations is with Kunye African Trends, who came up with the handmade Love Seat for Cappellini, 16:15 - 5.5
The exuberant Parisian design team, 5.5 was up next. The four young industrial designers regaled us with images of their amusing projects that aim to play with the position and function of design within the lifecycle of an object. The project I'm most familiar with is their recent Sponge House for ScotchBrite.

One of their earliest projects, Réanim, really tickled me. In order to inject Design right at the end of the cycle, they set up a furniture "hospital", where people could queue with furniture on its last legs, get a diagnosis and a prescription for cure. Here, for instance, what's clearly needed for this chair is a crutch.


Et voila! Take two tablets and call me in the morning. Check out the 5.5 website to see more of their fun projects.

17:00 - Bruce Mau
Bruce Mau's talk was practically a call to arms, taking the view that the momentous events of the last year, including Obama's election and the global economic crisis, are all events to view with energy and optimism, as they're reasons to wake up and engage with the world and ourselves.

Mau's Massive Change and Institute without Boundaries projects look at the possibilites of Design to be a force that can change the way we operate on this planet. I came away from the talk infected with Mau's optimism and willingness to DO something. Below this post you'll see the YouTube video for Mau's 2010 Denver Biennale that's currently in planning. "In Good We Trust" is something I can get excited about.

So, a common theme amongst all the speakers I saw yesterday was the need for sustainability, cooperation and an insertion of human relationships into the world of design and production. Let's see what comes up in today's talks. See you at the Design Indaba!

Polyhedra by Haldane Martin

Anyone who follows this blog will remember our September interview and studio visit with designer Haldane Martin (read the interview here). At the time, I took a couple of snaps around his studio, including this beautiful paper model he was working on.

Now we're very excited to let you know that at Design Indaba 2009, Haldane will be releasing the outcome of all that model-making: it's his Polyhedra Modular Coffee Table system, and it really is something quite extraordinary.


The intriguing structure of this table is derived from the three-dimensional structures seen by electron microscopes inside human hip bones, as well as on the Weaire-Phelan foam bubble technology as used in the Beijing Olympic Watercube building.

The amazing thing about how Haldane Martin has used these five interlocking dodecahedron and tetrakaidecahedron shapes, is that they are completely reconfigurable, thanks to ingenious inbuilt magnets that hold them together. Haldane puts it well when he says "you could describe it at post-rational Lego for grownups"!

I can't wait to see this in real life, and will be doing exactly that when I visit Haldane Martin's stand at the Design Indaba Expo, opening on Friday 27 February at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).

Design Indaba

At last, the week of the Design Indaba has rolled around, and from Wednesday to the weekend, this is the event that's filling up my diary.
Highlights for me include Ferran Adrià of elBulli, the world's best restaurant. Then, of course, there's Dai Fujiwara - creative director of Issey Miyake. He's someone I know of because of his intriguing A-Poc series of designs, and I'm interested to learn more.


Other highlights include locally born car designer, Keith Helfet, furniture designers Patricia Urquiola (that's her Tropicalia chair above) and Barber Osgerby, and also designer Marian Bantjes.(that's one of her designs below).


There's lots, lots more, and I'll be keeping you filled in on just what's happening at Design Indaba 2009. See you there!

Design Indaba 09 : MBOISA

One of the events at every year's Design Indaba is the Most Beautiful Object in South Africa (MBOISA) Award. This year, objects are being judged "according to a variety of criteria resonant with the 21st century, including aesthetic appeal, social significance, sustainability, economic impact, lifestyle appeal, entertainment and cultural flavour."

We've been sent a couple of pics of some the Beautiful Objects that are in the running.

The Crysanthemum centrepiece by artist and electrical engineer, Michaella Janse van Vuuren of Nomili looks extremely beautiful.


I'm looking forward to seeing the delicate Ribbon Plate by Kendell Warren Ceramics in the flesh at the Expo.

The Pretty Filly bench by Richard Stretton of Koop Design, is part of his rather yummy Pretty Filly range of furniture.

To see them all, and to cast your vote, visit the Design Indaba Expo, opening on 27 February.

Design Indaba 09 coming up

February is Design Indaba month, and I've no doubt that the diaries of design-savvy types are already blocked out form 25 - 27 Feb to attend the conference and the Expo too.

I'll be covering the Indaba, letting you know what I heard from the impressive lineup of international and local speakers, which includes Patricia Urquiola, Bruce Mau, Barber Osgerby, as well as the "best chef in the world" El Bulli's Ferran Adrià.

I'm getting very excited about the Design Indaba conference, and also about all the fresh new design on show at the Expo. Hope to see you there.