Willkommen auf Zeitraum

Thirty minutes from the centre of Munich, nestled in amongst the Bavarian hills is Zeitraum HQ. A German company, who for the last 19 years have been producing stunning furniture – natural, unpretentious yet stylish and contemporary. We at Relay are very proud to announce ourselves as Zeitraum agents in the UK and Ireland.


While in Germany we were lucky enough to taste some fantastic Bavarian hospitality and get a tour of their showrooms. All their products are beautifully crafted, using solid woods, finished with natural oils…no harsh chemicals here. Dedicated to sustainable manufacturing, ecology was a founding part to Zeitraum’s philosophy nearly 20 years ago and with such experience putting them ahead of the trend they have produced a truly great collection for 2009.


Always taking wood as their starting point – “it lives, smells good, feels nice, never looks the same and is therefore unique” - they mix in other materials like stainless steel and upholstery to create contemporary furniture ideal for domestic and commercial use.

With a large collection (all available in various finishes) we have had to be strict with ourselves and highlight just five products in this blog entry, but do visit their website at www.zeitraum-moebel.de to see more or email us at zeitraum@relaydesignagency.co.uk.

Code 1

Part of the larger Code family of shelving systems Code 1 is fitted with invisible magnets, recessed below the surface of the wood meaning the units can join together to create a stable wall.



Morph

Designed by Formstelle, Morph illustrates Zeitraum's long experience using wood. Bending ply to create this organic, lightweight form it expresses ‘a combination of stability and dynamism’. Available with or without upholstery.




Soda/Form

Using solid wood in combination with delicate stainless steel frames, both the Soda table (also available as a coffee and cafe table plus a side table) and the Form chair create a stylish aesthetic, which we at Relay think is unique to Zeitraum.





Sit

A classic design, which like all Zeitraum products is available in a number of woods including; European Oak, Wild Oak, American Walnut, European Walnut, Maple, Beech and American Black Cherry. It’s stackable too!



WebWeb

A simple name for a vast variable shelving system…WebWeb.35 and WebWeb.60 offer a myriad of possible shelving designs bespoke to the customer.


Also check out their new lighting family ‘Noon’ and their variable sitting system ‘Side Comfort’. Don’t worry if you miss something - Relay will be keeping you up-to-date with all the Zeitraum news.


www.zeitraum-moebel.de

Hej Örsjö!

Relay Design Agency is proud to announce our appointment as sole UK Agents for the Swedish lighting company Örsjö Belysning. With 60 years experience providing unique lighting solutions for a host of different environments, Örsjö presents the UK market with an exciting and broad range of innovative products.


The Örsjö collection is created by some of Scandinavia’s leading designers including; Norway Says and Jonas Bohlin, as well as Matti Klenell who designed Mushroom (below). With its white lacquered steel and optional orange highlights Mushroom is a perfect illustration of Orsjo’s desire to produce classic designs with a contemporary edge.


Örsjö design and manufacture standard products alongside unique commissions. Over their history they have had a great deal of experience developing customized lighting solutions resulting in several close collaborations with architects and end use clients. All of which have been catching the eye of design journalists and juries across Europe, including Wallpaper, who awarded the Ginko pendant (by Norway Says) the Best Light 2009.



And these designs aren’t just stunning but environmentally sound too. In 2008 ‘Disc’ (below by Doos Arkitekter) was awarded the environmental label - The Swan. All the more notable as the notoriously difficult Nordic Swan Eco-label has never been awarded to a lighting product before!

With its continuing success and several exciting design collaborations and commissions on the horizon, we at Relay will endeavour to keep you up to date on all Örsjö news and product launches as they happen.

In the meantime keep an eye on our website.

www.orsjo.com

KiosKiosk

Relay visited the Super Contemporary Show at the Design Museum this weekend. We enjoyed the playfulness of Paul Smith's Bunny Bin with light up ears (below) and Thomas Heatherwick's bouquet of street lights, however this is not an exhibition you can see in half an hour. With a potted history of the last 40 years of London design (including the birth of Pentagram right up to Industrial Facility's Two Timer clock for Established & Sons) set yourself a few hours and take it all in, especially the Super Contemporary commissions in the centre of the space.


One idea that stood out against the crowd came courtesy of Mr. Wayne Hemingway. He is proposing a series of (new and existing) kiosks around London be offered to young creatives and start-up entrepreneurs for free as a platform to sell their wares directly to the public. So many kiosks are laden down with the same tourist tat while so many young designers struggle to get exposure, surely now is the time to promote creativity as a way out of recession and give the kids a chance!


The first free kiosk will be at More London this summer, with hopefully more to follow. Designers/Creatives/Artists/Start-up entrepreneurs can apply for a slot at www.kioskiosk.co.uk.

If, however, you cannot wait to catch these pop-up stalls for a hit of new talent – New Designers is on its way and we are particularly excited as the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (ICA) have announced its partnership with this year's New Designers exhibition in Islington this July.

For 24 years, New Designers has been bringing together the very best in UK graduate design, showcasing the work, energy and talent of some 3,500 young designers every July in the Business Design Centre, London. It's the freshest and most vibrant show of its kind, and runs for two weeks from Part 1: 9-12 July and Part 2:16-19 July.




www.ica.org.uk
www.newdesigners.com

The summer is upon us!

It’s another busy week for London’s art and design. The summer season is stepping up a gear with major events appearing on the horizon, including Prima and 100%. Here at Relay we couldn’t be more excited. With a brilliant opening of ‘SHOW ONE’ at the Royal College of Art the graduates of the Fine Art and Applied Art schools exhibited their final projects. Keep an eye out for ‘SHOW TWO’ (26 June – 5 July) where the Schools of Design get their chance to shine.


The Barbican follows on from its successful exhibition ‘Le Corbusier - The Art of Architecture’ with ‘Radical Nature - Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969–2009 (19 June - 18 October). Including the work of design names like Ant Farm and the legendary Richard Buckminster Fuller alongside contemporary artists like Heather and Ivan Morison and Henrik Hakansson (Fallen Forsest 2006 pictured below), the exhibition looks to be this summers big show.


If you get a chance to drop into the Haunch of Venison’s new gallery, behind the Royal Academy on Piccadilly, we recommend the Jorge Pardo installation (below). Again Pardo deftly creates forms which play on the boundaries of art and design, whilst creating elegant forms and bold aesthetics.



www.rca.ac.uk
www.barbican.org.uk
www.haunch0fvenison.com

Milan 2009 – Nava Clock

Most of the time it is the simplest ideas that are the best. None more so than Denis Guidone’s Legale clock for Nava (Italy). Available in black or white varnished wood this desk clock allows the user to change from summer time to winter time in one simple gesture…we love it!

www.navadesign.com

Milan 2009 - Moustache and Skitsch

As the new kids we think it’s only right that we should big up the other new kids. Two potential superbrands launched during the Fair. Skitsch is the brainchild of Renato Preti and Cristina Morozzi, while Moustache is a new company from the guys behind Domestic.

Both have attracted the absolute crème de la crème of European design talent. Between them they have produced pieces by Front, Matali Crasset, Maarten Baas, Todd Bracher, Campana Brothers, Xavier Lust, Inga Sempe…..the list goes on and includes the Dazzle Chair by Bertjan Pot for Skitsch (below)



Both companies seem to share a common ideal, which is best summed up by Skitsch as “Emotional Contemporary Design”. Our only disappointment was the Moustache space was closed on the two occasions we tried to visit, but then maybe that was the point…….

Check them out at;
www.skitsch.it
www.moustache.fr

Milan 2009 – Tromp-l'Oeil

One trend this year we couldn’t help notice (or was it just a trick of the light?) was the use of Tromp-l'Oeil. Nowhere more successfully than by the ubiquitous Front design team, this time for Moroso (Italy). Covering their designs with prints which mimicked draped silk, geometric cushions and wood grain their optical illusions were fun and inventive, with tongue planted firmly in cheek.



Other examples of Tromp-l’oeil were the legendary Gaetano Pesce for Meritalia (Italy) with his landscape vistas which seemed to borrow from the nearby Santa Maria presso San Satiro with its iconic painted perspectives by Donato Bramante.

A further example that the recent regard for Baroque, marked by the major exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, is being felt in contemporary design.



www.moroso.it
www.meritalia.it
www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/baroque

Milan 2009 - Zeitraum

Can sustainability be a trend? That’s the idea at the core of the latest collection from German manufacturer Zeitraum, and that’s precisely what attracted us to them.

Sustainability has become a buzzword for marketeers and politicians alike, but when will we get to a place where the buzz has gone and it is just second nature? In many parts of Northern Europe the ideas of recycling, reducing waste and only using materials from responsible sources is so engrained into their consciousness they don’t understand the fuss. We look forward to the day when that happens in the UK.

Zeitraum has apparently been a trend setter – sustainability has been a corner stone since their inception 19 years ago.



Timeless elegance, classic styling, honest, tactile furniture from sustainable materials are the buzzwords we should be using to describe Zeitraum. High-tech is ditched in favour of high-touch. Taking their cue from nature, where nothing is superfluous and everything makes sense, details have a specific meaning.

Morph chair combines organic curves with some sharp angles to give an unusual form. The light appearance takes up very little space both physically and visually.

Nyord table references traditional kitchen or refectory tables, and invites friends to sit side by side. There is no head of the table. It’s all about socialising.

Honest. Character. Substance. The new definition of luxury.


Visit www.zeitraum-moebel.de for more information.

Milan 2009 – 100 % reincarnated!

As in previous years environmental design took centre stage. However, this year brands talked less about ecology as a trend but rather as the norm for furniture design and production. Notable mentions include ‘Elephant Skin’ promoted on the Ingo Maurer stand under the slogan ‘If you believe recycling is the future, you are living in the past’. This new design initiative seeks to address all the used material that cannot be recycled because it is either too inconsistent or dirty - behold the Reincarnated Stool and Table, made from 100% baked used plastic.



Environmental design wasn’t limited to the northern European manufacturers either. Italian design house Danese Milano launched a series of recyclable products finished with environmentally friendly paint and colours by Ilva – continuing Danese’s legacy for iconic design, but now with responsible manufacturing.


Other brands showcasing great environmentally sound designs included Zeitraum (Germany) and Buzzispace (Belgium). Please see our other Milan blog entries for more information.

The highlight for anyone interested in Green Design was the Interni Design Energies at the Universita Degli Studi di Milano. Filling the massive courtyard and much of the interior was the best in new thinking around green design. Our pick of the bunch were – Marc Sadler’s Hot-Pot and Luca Trazzi’s T-Energy.






www.elephantskin.nl