Work of Paul Noorda (1927 - 2010) represents the greatest from the modernist graphic design of the second half of the last century. Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Noorda mooved to Milan in 1954, where he began to design for Pirelli, La Rinascente or Olivetti. After that he designed in 1964 graphic system for the Milanese Metropolitana underground with the architects Franca Helg and Franco Abini, as well as for New York in 1966 under the trademark Unimark International, which he established with Massimo Vignelli. Less known is also his visual system or the Sao Paulo subway, which he designed after the New York. Some more work by Noorda coming soon...

We love tradition and all very well made products. English brand Joseph Bentley is one of the United Kingdom based traditional companies, whose products are made for ordinary use, but with extraordinary production approach. Joseph Bentley established in 1895 and based in Droitwich, Worcestershire, is specializing in production of highly manufactured gardening tools. There are no many changes of contemporary production line since the company was originated more than hundred years ago. Today the label is producing everything from spades and forks to carbon steel accessories and leather gloves or large balls of string.

Rolf Sachs is known for his conceptual based design pieces, which stand somewhere between design and art. In Milan this year, Sachs presented in very nice atmospheric space in the center of the city some of his new, as well as older works. Visitors could see his Dirty Thoughts chair, Ginger & Fred armchairs, Spitting Image armchair or his Chemie collection of lights. As a press material, Sachs gave us a beautiful portfolio in the old-fashioned envelope with Pollock style painting on the surface. Nice presentation, as well as the little paper artwork by renowned designer.

Our favourite designers from ECAL academy in Lausanne, Tomáš Král and Camille Blin have joint their forces and for OKOLO have prepared exclusive collection of products. Their lyrical, conceptual, but very simple style is really our taste.

So we are pleased, that we can introduce our collaboration on collection of stationary objects, which we will present at Designblok 2010 in terms of our bigger The Things collection of various products. See you there more products by Král and Blin and many others in October.

Right now we have launched our regular Active style guide. We love create an atmosphere, the style. Active style guide bring you something like a diagram of our own best activities in a current time and best stuff for these activities. So we create a story, a curated selection of experiences and products.

For us, the September is a best time to discover a Danish coastline, which is famous not only for the natural beauty, but also for the impressive modernist heritage. On the north of Copenhagen you can see the nice beaches and the coastline life, as well as modernist masterpieces by Arne Jacopsen in Klampenborg, unique residence of architect Halldor Gunnlogsson from the year 1958 in Oresund, or building of Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, which was built by architects Jørgen Bo and Wilhelm Wohlert in the year 1958, too. And also many others architectural masterpieces.

On your trip you prepare the best equipment. Parka jacket by danish brand Norse Project, the trousers from the new collection of Supreme, jumper Marni, shoes by Pointer for Comme des Garcons or a modernist walking stick by Nanna and Jorgen Ditzel and many others. This ensemble fits to the danish landscape in September very well.

Architectural work of Gregori Warchavchik (1896 - 1972) is for brazilian modernism movement more than important. Originally born in Odessa, Ukraine, Warchavchik moved to Brazil in the year 1923, where he became one of the few inventors of the tropical brazilian modernism. In Sao Paulo he built between 1927 and 1928 the first modernist house in Brazil, today called as a Casa Modernista.

His design work is not so famous. Here we present two minimalist functionalist tables made of brazilian imbuia wood, which were designed around 1935. In the design is evident Warchavchik`s architectural thinking about the clear tectonic shape.

If you want know something more about the architect and his Casa Modernista in Sao Paulo, read our upcoming magazine OKOLO, where you find a special photo editorial about the modernist architecture in Sao Paulo made for us by photographer Pedro Kok.

Photo courtesy of Wright

At Sachsen Classic we could see the vintage Volkswagen Iltis, too. Piloted by Jürgen Maltens, editor-in-chief of Motor Klassik magazine, this car was the completely something different than the other classic vintage cars on the route.

The robust, originally military vehicle Iltis for the german forces, was produced by the company between 1978 and 1988. Iltis with famous number of 137 is a Paris-Dakar rally winner from the year 1980. Specially developed car in collaboration with Audi was driven by Freddy Kottulinsky and Gerd Löffelmann.

We are very happy, when our friends and collaborators create something together. Graphic studio Ex Lovers based in Prague, which prepared for us among others special curated editorial last week, now collaborate with czech industrial designer Martin Žampach, who designed for us one of the toolboxes in the project Toolbox Redesigned.

Ex Lovers have created a new visual identity for Martin, as well as business card and catalogue with some of Martin`s product designs.

Last weekend OKOLO visited the Sachsen Classic vintage rally, which is held regularly each year during the august in Saxony in Germany. This year, the rally of classic cars from 1900s to 1980s goes through the little town of Glasshütte in beautiful landscape of Saxony Swiss. Unique atmosphere of classic racing cars, which we love so much meets there the historical and craft heritage of famous Glashütte watchmakers. Through the center of a city go about 200 cars ranging from Porsche Spider to Trabant. Three days rally with three time laps began in Zwickau at 19 August and after 580 kilometers ended at 21 August in Dresden.

We could admire there a lot of vintage unique, as well as ordinary cars. The editor in-chief of Motor Klassik magazine Malte Jürgens comes with spectacular Volkswagen Iltis, which in the year 1980 won the Paris-Dakar Rally (more on this car in the next special post). Porsche 550 Panamericana Spider with famous yellow colored number 55 was the other beautiful sport special car, which is legendary for its success in Carrera Panamericana racing car event in Mexico. This car from the 1954 was driven by Bernd Ostman. The marathon racing car type represented also the unique MG MGA 1600 from 1959, whose owner Thomas Steinbach drove with this car from Berlin to Beijing some years ago, too. Classic elegance and sport styling was completed by a safari expedition look of a well proportioned grid, as well as some great stickers on the beige bonnet.

Furthermore you could see there very nice Aston Martin DB4 Vantage from 1962 piloted by Donat Pflug or Aston Martin DB 2 from 1952 or an extraordinary Christian Bender`s Lagonda Le Mans V12 from 1939, many Mercedes Benz 190 SL, 300 SL or Jaguar E-Type and of course many and many others. The beautiful experience in the beautiful small town and landscape. The report about watch heritage of Glashütte at OKOLO later this year.

Paris based designer Guillaume Delvigne is one of the youngest generation of french designers, who work under the influence of the poetic design line of Bouroullec brothers. In his last project called Deneb, he combines, now very fashionable materials, cork and glass, into the whole new table centerpiece, which in its form connects the different functions, too. Deneb, made in small edition of 25 pieces, represents the design attitude to make the functional, as well as autonomous art object. The both, vase and tray together, is a great sculptural design piece with elegance and poesy.

Studio Pepe is a great two girls team, which is interesting in unorthodox design styling. Arianna Lelli Marni and Chiara di Pinto create very specific magazine styling and installations, where the things live their own lives. On the picture you can see one of the many styling projects for Case da Abitare magazine. Here Studio Pepe prepared logic setting, where original swiss products represent their country, Switzerland. Sigg bottles, Bird house designed by Vladimir Jaccard from ECAL academy and other products with paper setting created the artificial mountain landscape. Very good presentation of very good stuff.

Today, the postmodern design is considered to be an anti-aesthetic and very wild movement of the design history. But in the 1980s a lot of successful designers created very pure and lyrical postmodern design, too. Many of them were Japanese. There, the Italian radical design of the 1970s was about a decade later transformed by some prominent creators to the specific japanese postmodern style characterized by subtlety,poesy, and very often shape minimalism, which we can find, paradoxically, in classic modernist design. Tokiushi Kita (1942) is one these Japanese masters. For example, he is quite famous for his collaboration with Cassina. For this Italian brand he designed popular Wink chair or Kick table.

But there we present his design of the floor lamp Tomo, which he created for other Italian label called Luci at the end of the 1980s. Very nice composition of the light stands at the beginning of the new period of design in the 1990s. Simultaneously refers to classic Italian modernist light design and thanks to very nice details is a fine example of Japanese design of a decade.

We love pasta. It is a classic meal of an italian road cycling also. At the Tour de France, for example, the pasta is a important light and very energetic meal, which prepare cycling team`s chefs.

So when we saw in one little shop in Rome this great selection of classic Faella pasta, we had to buy some packages. Pastificio Faella was established in 1907 by Gaetano Faella in Gragnano close to Naples. Today, Faella is one of the best producer of various types of pasta, which company sells in very nice old-fashioned packages. Great food for the great cycling trip. Some receipts on OKOLO coming in the future.

Our bmx background is still very strong. We are lovers of all good bmx. These vintage bikes Haro Master and CW California Freestyle are newly restored machines, originally from the 1985. Today both, frame set and complete bike represent the heroic time of bmx culture and colorful pop design, which comes back now again as we presented in our first exhibition called Bmx Visionarists at Designblok 2009. See it in the Our projects section.

Photo by Jared Souney

We love wilderness and a long time trips to hills of our homeland. In the north of Czech republic is a lot of beautiful natural places to walk. Lužické mountain offers us a very good time spent in the nature.

For these nice experiences, we selected there two ultimate products, which could be the best companions in the hills. You need a great shoes, as well as a back pack. Fracap Japan Mountaineering shoes are a handmade boots produced in one small Italian factory and only available to Japanese market. But now you can buy it at Oki-ni. From this store is also Climbers Back Pack produced in Germany by Seil Marschall company, which was established in 1896.

The forest and nature will be also our main themes in the second issue of OKOLO. Don`t miss our collaboration with A1 Architects on a concept of a contemporary woodman cottage or a hidden modernist masterpiece in the forests of Czech republic. Coming soon...

California of 1950s was a really creative hub of design and architecture. Local architects, many of them are very famous, developed there significant approach to modernist architecture, which was influenced by post-war optimism, local subtropical climate and european functionalist manifestos and works of main figures of this movement. West coast modernism was style not only of Richard Neutra, Craig Elwood, Pierre Koenig or John Lautner, but also a lot of other architects, who are today less known masters of flat roofs and glass panels walls.

One of these masters is also A. Quincy Jones (1913 - 1979), a mid-century architect based in Los Angeles, whose style was sometimes more organic and expressive than minimalist and geometric. His work contains everything from luxury villas to urban planning, where he pioneered the use of greenbelts and green design. But his designs of the private residences represent the main part of his work.

We show here some pictures from his home, which he created in 1965 from one old Barn. He bought it and after remodeled for the practical living space. It is quite exception from other Jones`s residential works, which were especially originally designed buildings. In The Barn we can discover Jones`s architecture qualities in a little bit different manner. The interior is an unique space, where ordinary structure of original Barn meets architect`s own design elements. So, The Barn is an extraordinary example of the californian modernist style used in a very specific conditions.

Now, the building is renovated by the architect Fred Fisher and after that will be the headquarters of the Chora Council, which is part of the Metabolic Studio, a multi-disciplinary Annenberg Foundation project devoted to the study of culture, sustainability and health.

Photo by Toshi Yoshimi, courtesy Elaine Jones.

We asked a graphic studio Ex Lovers from Prague to become our personal curators for a while. David Březina and Zuzuna Kubíková created for us two posts, where you can discover one possible way of graphic design in the future.

"Imagine to come up with an idea of solution. A concept. Set up a playground, a field with rules, algorithm, decide what should be constant and what variable, how and why, where the input data come from. And then...let the machines or the public play and come up with results. Maybe an infinite number of results.These are principles of generative design. Or we can call it open-ended design.

Some graphic designers have been experimenting with this way of designing already for few decades and more are joining this journey — open-minded observers of machines' wild processes and human appetite for playing and creating. The core idea is still in hands of the designer.

A great example of a strong idea allowed full play by involving softwares is Stefan Sagmeister's open-ended visual identity (2007) for Casa da Musica in Porto. Sagmeister based the whole system on the shape of the building. One way of completing it is by using a customized software, kind of a color picker."

"Our studio has involved more old-school machine in — a copy machine — when working on a visual system (2009) for an exhibition on decadent generation of Andy Warhol. We just continued with the Andy's principle of copying in a new way."

Daniel & Emma from Australia are our next great collaborators in the second issue of OKOLO magazine. They prepared for us exclusive selection of their inspirations from holiday to Liberty in London. Within the framework of this collaboration, we created curated editorial called Conversation with Ettore, where work of Daniel & Emma will be presented in context of legendary italian designer.

Here we present Daniel & Emma`s drawings of their Solids collection. You can see there shape and color minimalism, which corresponds with Sottsass`s aesthetic canon very well. To discover work of this design hero, as well as Daniel & Emma and much much more, you should read our second issue of magazine, which will be launched at Designblok 2010 in October.

Some qualities of design can be transformed into the similar forms, but with different contexts of objects. This case illustrates the collection of lights, which young swedish designer David Ericsson created as his thesis project in collaboration with Carl Malmsten Workshop in Sweden. Called Carl Malmsten made me do it, the collection uses the precise woodwork in combination with leather.

The outcome is a very subtle collection, which brings us the similar shape qualities and logic as a 1950s design. There we present one table lamp from the wider collection in context with classic Serge Mouille`s Trépied lamp from 1954. Woodwork x metalwork. Contemporary pure scandinavian approach x elegant french decorative school of 1950s.

How will look the future of the high-heels? One possibility give us son of the famous italian shoemaker Sergio Rossi, Gianvito, who established his own label some years ago. Today he represented the best of the Italian shoe design. But his work is more experimental than shoe of classic italian shoe designers like Giuseppe Zanotti or Bruno Frisoni.

Gianvito debuted with his Carbon collection of sandals, which uses totally new material in shoe design. Thanks to carbon he could create new surprising look, where classic elegance meets futurist minimalism.

Arthur Radebaugh was influential futurist illustrator, airbrush artist and industrial designer. His visions of the new world in the future are exactly and well executed works of a big shining effect, which had to exude big emotions in 1950s America. He worked for automotive industry, as well as for U. S. Army. Here we present his two advertisings for Bohn Aluminum and Brass corporation company, which produced materials for airplanes. Under the thump of art-deco architecture and stream-line movement in design, Radebaught created his own vision of the flight into the future. These drawings are today still really impressive.

In our special review we present some of the most interesting futurist inspiration in modern and contemporary fashion. We show icons of the fashion design, as well as young contemporary designers, who create fashion with strong futurist content.

We can begin in 1960s with Paris couturier Paco Rabanne, who is famous for his costumes for sci-fi movie Barbarella and his futurist visions of the woman dress. On the picture you can see famous model Donyela Luna wearing his signature metallic discs dress.

Pierre Cardin is one the most prolific space-age visionarist of the 1970s. In this time he established his famous style emporium, which produced under the one label all from fashion to furniture and transport. His cosmic fashion is the icon of this period.

Hana Zárubová is one of the talented czech fashion designers. In 1999 she created dress called Smirnoff I, which is made from infusion tubes. The outcome is spectacularly futuristic.

Unexceptionable heavyweight of the contemporary fashion is a Hussey Chalayan. His famous Spring/Summer collection from 2007 is interesting experiment with new technologies in fashion, as well as with motion and kinetic character of the dress.

During this year Amsterdam fashion week local designer Iris van Herpen introduced her new collection Crystallization in collaboration with Daniel Widrig and Mgx Materialise. The pieces were made using computer modeling and rapid prototyping. The future is coming soon...

We have already posted something about italian futurist movement in our special future blog, but when we saw in one little bookshop in Rome this amazing album with collection of two italian post stamps with designs by late futurist painter Giacomo Balla, we have to post it again.

Space age lights is a name of the exhibition held in Triennale di Milano in Milan until 5 of September. The selection of the Italian lighting designs from 1960s and 1970s presents the typical space age aesthetic based on cosmic optimism of this period, which we exhibited also in our Back to the Future exhibition. On show in Italy you can see works by Joe Colombo, Vico Magistretti, Gino Sarfatti, Giotto Stoppino and many others.

We present it here through the short article in our favourite Italian magazine about design Case da Abitare.

In the past people imagined their future in a lot of fascinating visions. One theme in thinking about the future was also living in houses of tomorrow. The most examples, how people envisioned houses of the future, originated from 1950s and 1960s, when the future was more than optimistic.

In this article we show three of most famous future concepts in housing. All the projects are important examples of modern and utopian architecture of the last century. Mostly the houses were big attractions of the international exhibitions and fairs. Based on new materials, prefabrication and new everyday behavior, which would be depending on new technologies and revolutionary products, the houses are very interesting architecture victims of visualization of the future visions in the second half of the last century.

How will look our everyday life activities in the near future? One possibility give us the last project of London based designer Oscar Diaz, who is also one of the our collaborators for the second issue of OKOLO magazine. Diaz was commissioned for the exhibition New Simplicity prepared by curator Nuno Coelho in London to design something using technology of 3D printing.

Diaz designed new system of creating the keys called While you sleep, where we can make key from data made in parametric software.

There is a text by Diaz:
‘While you sleep’ was commissioned for ‘New simplicity’ and exhibition about simple design curated by design critic Nuno Coelho. Nine designers were asked to investigate the possibilities of using 3D printing technology as a manufacturing tool in the near future.

We decided to question the traditional key cutting service, and propose a product/service scenario where the use of the 3D printing technology will facilitate the copy and storage of keys as data.

Since 3D data can be managed by parametric software and allow easy customization, the type of head can be chosen, and also the texture or color to differentiate the garage key, from the one for the front door house.

Post Office branches could provide the scanning service, and from the data your key would be made easily. You can then send it by e-mail to the key-printing machine, or store it online on a virtual safety box. If you ever lose you key, it will be ready for you to download and print. Making a key could be as easy as using a photo booth or a cash point.

The keys head shape has been redesigned so they can be clipped together without using a key ring. Accessories include a wristband and buttons where is possible to clip one or two keys.

A part from the pieces built with 3d printers, a variety of products which value simple solutions over visual complexity are also exhibited.

In context of our special Future blog, we presented there very new product, which exactly fit in this theme. Belgian artist Carsten Höller designed for german traditional porcelain manufacture Nymphenburg very special edition of tableware called Flying city of Nymphenburg. The design comprises a combination of a service plate, a dinner plate, a side plate, and a teacup and saucer with two different inspirations.

The first one is a rotating Benham disc created by Charles Benham in 1895 and the second one presents the utopian design of Flying city by russian constructivist Georgy Tikhonovich Krutikov (1899-1958) from 1928. He created a visionary design of the futuristic city with flats, shops, factories, hotels and so on completely flying in the sky. This fascinating future is now on the fragile porcelain.

One of the most prolific design visionarists of the last century was an american designer Norman Bel Geddes (1893 - 1958). His aerodynamic and monumental visions of the cities, airplanes or cars of the future are the icons of the design history in USA and are the most famous part of the air-stream design movement of the 1930s and 1940s. Geddes created many designs, which presented his ideal vision of the future based on aerodynamic especially. But his drawings overtook their time and became the idealist and utopians pictures of tomorrow.

So Geddes materialized his style also into the ordinary products, which could be produce more simply. One of the examples is this nice aerodynamic table lamp made of patinated brass, which he designed for Faries manufacturing company in the 1930s.

For last ten days we have been always speaking about the future in its various forms and shapes. But what about the contemporary ordinary objects in the future? Will the plastic products of everyday use be the rare archeological items or collectable antiquities?

This question was also the main idea behind the original project called Plastic Relics by London based studio Committee. In 2009 they collaborated with Japanese design store and brand Cibone to create their own vision of the future of the ordinary objects. They symbolically travelled to the 27th century and designed special boxes with lids made of a contemporary plastic objects. A hand-made lacquered containers are formed by extruding the profile of these plastic pieces (for example cd player Muji, telephone and others). The outcome are extraordinary objects where the lids made of these plastic products are presented as things of value and collector interest which is possible in the future.

Futuristic and space-age visions of the prominent french architects of the second half of the 20th century were so inspirational, that came to comics also. The organic architecture of Pascal Haüsermann and the others could be the basic inspiration in the architectural setting of the science-fiction Franco-Belgian Comics called Le Scrameustache, which was introduced in 1972 by the Belgian artist Gos. The story is about the fictional character Scrameustache and his adventures. On the picture you can see futuristic city with fantastical architecture with forms very similar to work of Pascal Haüsermann.

Carbon is a material of the future of design, maybe... There we present some unconventional use of this material in a contemporary design. More and more young designers use carbon fibres as a new aesthetic, as well as constructional and functional material for various range of products from necklace to urn.

Most concepts of the futuristic traveling devices are not so much stylish and pure in their forms. But design of a car called ATNMBL by our favourite, San francisco based design studio Mike and Maaike is a great exception for this time.

They designed car for the year 2040, which represents the end of driving and alternative approach to car design. The Device rides only for you without driving an is powered by electric and solar. Inside you can find work or living space with seating for seven people. The idea is a contemporary continuation of an utopian device Maison Volante by Guy Rottier, which we used for our collection of graphics Faster than Time also. Not only in its function, but in a nice pure aesthetic, too. Great vision!

One of the exhibits in our installation Back to the Future at Ještěd last weekend was conceptual design piece called Catastrophe by Maxim Velčovský. It is a big porcelain vase covered by rubbish and looks like it was discovered in the mud after the unknown catastrophe.

In context of it, we present there three utopians ideas about the future as a post-apocalyptic world. Their authors are looking for the special shelter protecting people against the dangerous environment on the earth after the unknown future catastrophe. Visions was created mainly by utopian modernist architects and thinkers in context of the period fear from nuclear weapons.

Similar architectural approach, which stood at birth of Ještěd in 1960s, was also the main idea behind the design of Maison Quéré, which was built between 1969 - 1973 by not so much famous french architect Roger Le Flanchec.

Private villa in small city Ploumoguer in the heart of Bretagne is a great example of the Le Flanchec`s futurist vision of modernist architecture. Architect was one of the many post-war followers of Le Corbusier. All his work, above all private residences from 1950s to 1980s, we can discover in spectacular landscape of Bretagne only. Maison Quéré, which was designed for Théo Quéré, is the finest example of Le Flanchec`s work, as well as futurist visions in french avant-garde of the 20th century.

It is here! The first pictures from our installation Back to the Future. The others you will be able to see in our next issue of OKOLO magazine, which we will present at Designblok 2010 in October.

An unique curatorial installation located in one of the suites of the iconic Ještěd Hotel is a symbolical homage to the historic and fine-art significance of this remarkable modernist building. The entire styling of one hotel room represents various futuristic and cosmic designer visions from the past to the present. Thus, the objects that “became our future in their presence” conceptually complement the overall futuristic atmosphere of the building, designed by Karel Hubáček, as well as the interiors inspired by cosmic optimism and designed by Otakar Binar. Back to the Future is an experimental exhibition that will transport visitors to visions of the near and far future by means of artifacts of all types and various visual styles and epochs. The constant human attempts at innovation and acceleration are symbolically depicted not only by furniture and lighting, but also by many other products that express, each in a specific way, the formal, functional, philosophical, and theoretical ideas of our predecessors and contemporaries. All these ideas are always ahead of their time.

We have prepared a series of graphic prints with the themes of speed and the future on the occasion of the special installation in the Ještěd Hotel, entitled Back to the Future, which presents various futuristic visions from the past to the present. However, we do not show the latest technologies and materials, but five outstanding means of transport from the last century, which will transfer you into the year 2100 faster than you can imagine. Their form and function were much ahead of the time.


Bugatti 100P airplane

Ettore Bugatti was not only the master creator of homonymous cars, but also an ardent conqueror of speed records on land, at sea, and in the air. Thus, his construction knowledge is necessarily reflected in the lesser-known project of the 100P airplane, which he developed in collaboration with Belgian engineer Louis de Monge in 1937 for the purpose of speed record breaking. The incredibly timeless structure and design of the airplane, constructed with counter-rotating propellers, were ahead of its time and surpassed the shapes of several jets by several decades. However, the only specimen that Bugatti managed to make was never put into operation due to the German invasion of France during WWII. Exhibited in the EAA museum in Oshkosh in the USA, it is a mere silent witness of the visionary ideas of the famous French designer.


Cinneli Laser

Track cycling is one of the sports in which aerodynamics and speed play such an important role that they constitute the formal aspect of the sport’s design. The Italian manufacturer of Cinelli bikes definitely knows a lot about this fact. The rare witness of this search for technological development, desire for speed, and visual perfection is primarily the legendary model of Laser. The Cinelli Laser track bike was gradually developed by the Italian manufacturer from 1979 to early 1990s. During this time, individual models won 28 Olympic gold medals, several primacies in the use of special materials and manufacturing methods, the Compasso d`Oro design award in 1991, and a redesign by American artist Keith Haring.


Maison Volante

Utopia and desire for the future played an irreplaceable role in the artistic avant-garde of the last century. Guy Rottier, the French architect, designer, artist, theoretician, and philosopher, ranks among the personalities whose utopian visions and real architectural projects still instigate our imagination. Apart from sculpturesque houses in the form of human heads and imaginary bus stations made from buses, Rottier designed a utopian flying house called Maison Volante in 1964 when he was living in southern France and northern Africa. This plastic capsule house with a propeller should have been equipped with everything one needs to lead a happy life. The inhabitable helicopter, complete with a bed and a bar, demonstrates how architectural visionaries of the 1960s were ahead of their time.


Ghia Streamline X Gilda

In 1955, the American manufacturer of Chrysler cars presented, in collaboration with the Italian carriage builder of Ghia, established by designer Giovanni Savonuzzi, an exceptional prototype of the Ghia Streamline X Gilda car. The model, made for display purposes only, combined American pushfulness with Italian elegance and an aesthetical vision of the future. This red-and-silver unique car was inspired by the trend of turbine airplanes; the idea was to hide a turbine engine under the hood. However, at that time, small turbine engines would not fit inside the aerodynamic Ghia; thus, the place allocated for the engine remained empty. Nevertheless, the car made a splash at the Turin exhibition, after which its design became an inspirational basis for many lot-produced Chrysler models.

In our futuristic blog we have to mention futurist movement of the early 20th century avant-garde also. One of the most influenced style of the last century painting was established in Italy in 1909 by F. T. Marinetti. Painters like Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla or Gino Severini developed significant visual style based on dynamism, speed and hope for the new future. We selected for the blog two beautiful drawings by Umberto Boccioni and late futurist painter Enrico Prampolini. Both of them are dedicated to dynamism of a cyclist, which we love so much.

Our special exhibition Back To the Future is held at Ještěd this weekend. On this occasion we have prepared exclusive "Back to the Future blog", where we will present some most fascinated things with future content. Our trip to the future we begin with something extraordinary.

Bertone Carabo was designed in 1968 by Marcello Gandini. Its design based on the Alfa Romeo 33 chassis was presented at the Paris Motor Show as a futuristic concept of the super sportscar.

See You at Ještěd!

Wallpaper magazine is one of our main inspirations. This week we received our two special covers, which we have designed in terms of Wallpaper Handmade issue in their special application, where everybody could design his own magazine cover.

OKOLO Covers are dedicated to our two projects: the first and the last one. OKOLO graphic presentation at Designblok 2009 and upcoming exhibition Back to the Fututre at Ještěd.

In context of our last article about new use of leather in contemporary experimental design, we selected here some interesting designs with leather from 1950s. Most of work was designed as a unique and limited design with decorative and artisan approach. Designers like Jacques Adnet or Jacques Quinet, both from french decorative movement, used leather as a highly luxury material, which covered whole objects. On the other hand, for example Paavo Tynell and Carl Aubock designed precious accessories with small leather details combined with metal. In these and some other inspirational design objects you can discover leather in various forms as a important material of 1950s decorative art.

All pictures from archive of Wright, Chicago

We discovered some experiments with leather, which become more and more fashionable material in contemporary design. Raw material formalism or modern and pure take on tradition? Starring Simon Hasan, Hermés, Bouroullec brothers, Dan Funderburgh and Tortie Hoare.

Our exhibition Back to the Future is coming soon. Here is one picture of our special serie of the graphic prints called Faster than Time, which we made for the show at hotel Ještěd. The collection of these four prints shows some of the most exciting travelling future concepts from the last century. In the picture is an utopian living device called Maison Volante by french architect Guy Rottier. More info about the whole collection and Guy Rottier will be published soon to this blog. Our futuristic installation is held between 16th and 18th of July at Ještěd.

At Tempelhof, unique airport from war era, where was held between 9. 6. and 13. 6. 2010 the main exhibition event of Berlin design week, we met young dutch design paar Daphna Issacs and Laurens Manders. They showed there own serie of lamps called Tafelstukken made of porcelain and oak. For their precise form and pure aesthetic these lamps won one of three main prices of the DMY.

Daphna and Laurens will be our next great collaborators in the second issue of our OKOLO magazine also. There are some their immediate perceptions from this year Berlin design festival:

"Of course our DMY award.. We are so happy for it... My first time in Berlin and second stay there for Laurens. So our experience from the city was very strong... Yaam, little Jamaica in Berlin. It is great to see that nowadays it is possible to have these kind of places in the city. It is a kind of Jamaican republic Am Spree... DMY festival, which was a great and relaxed experience. And thanks to all the exhibitors and visitors with their great reactions!... Our cardboard jugendgasthaus, a real experience! No, it wasn't made from cardboard, but the noise was terrible!"

Thank You for it.

Best stationary products from R.S.V.P. paper store in Berlin Mitte. You can find there czech iconic Koh-I-Noor pencils, as well as Moleskine, swiss Caran d`Ache pens or old fashioned cards and lists. You can buy it also online.

Between 16 and 18 July we invite you to the future trought our special installation in iconic modernist building of hotel Ješted close to Liberec, Czech republic.

At DMY we also explored two great small and very simple designs of toys standing between function and pure art object. Adrien Rovero showed there his leather Skinni animals designed for traditional shop with leather goods called Thomas Posenanski during last year Vienna design week. The similar pure and very playful aesthetic has also collection called Safari by young designer Bertille Laguet from ECAL, who presents his work in Helmrinderknecht gallery also in Berlin in 5 June - 24 July 2010. Very simple and logical system of construction made of steel wire and foam originated very elegant animals
like hippopotamus, giraffe or crocodile.

We can not forget about famous design of Animals puzzle (1959) by Enzo Mari for Danese. The similar forms of classic italian design object greatly complete two other
contemporary products.

Like a presentation and promotion of this year Vienna design week (1 - 10 October 2010) prepared austrian design pair Mischer Traxler at DMY show in Berlin special kinetic installation made of wood construction, where small chocolate balls rode through system of special labyrinths. In between was shown products by various designers from Vienna design week. Check this leaflet with nice illustration of a project and shown works.

Our very favourite designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec created for the summer months special installation in one of the apartments of iconic Le Corbusier`s building Unité d`Habitation in Marseilles.

More and more prolific and precise french designers have fitted an apartment by own designs including Steelwood serie for Magis and last lamp designs for Established & Sons, Venini and Bittossi. Their contemporary shape and color elegance exactly fit into french colorful 1950s style, which we love so much. We present here a quick look on the apartment, as well as compare of Bouroullecs designs with icons of mid-century french modernism of Jean Prouvé, Charlotte Perriand and Boris Lacroix. Confrontation is based on the similar shape logic, use of materials and simple archetypes.

Hi,
I am very pleased, that I can start the official web of OKOLO. We start blog, which will be about all things around. Our enthusiasm and hedonism from our creative projects about design, such as collections of products or curated exhibition will live now on web 24 hour per day.

Blog will not be only information source of design and all around, but especially the platform for a different, more curated style presentation. For our these days we prepare for us complete selection of our special projects, which we have done in one year of our activity. We also present main moments of our inspiration. OKOLO is introducing.
Check bellow and enjoy it.

Our creative visionarist number one is Carlo Mollino. Designer, architect, photographer, car racer, acrobatic flyer, skier and lover is a most various creative man of the 20th century. Our passion for all his interests has exactly the same direction. Project about Mollino from OKOLO coming soon...

Richard Wright established own gallery and auction house specializing in 20th century design in Chicago. Its collection of unique furniture and other design is one of the most fascinated complex of information about design. If Wright is based in Chicago, we introduce as a homage selection of famous Chicago designers from the second half of the last century. Enjoy Keck brothers, Higgins and Krueck & Sexton.

Dj, skateboarder, bmx enthusiasts, design collector and contemporary hedonist is Californian based Andreas Stevens, aka Dj Greyboy. We admire Greyboys life full of amazing things from vintage bmx to mid-century modernist. Now we look inside his mid-century masterpiece, the private house by architect Edward Killingsworth in San Diego. Built in 1957 as light and almost invisible residence, now is home of Dj Greyboy. Look at interiors to see the exactly stylish aesthetic, which we love in OKOLO so much.

One of our main guru is Jim Bauer, creative director of bmx products company Odyssey. He is a pioneer in establishing bmx like to design and art related area. His designs for Odyssey represents the look on bmx product in some last years. His own bikes are really to this. Check it!

Exhibition in Window gallery in Prague between 5. 4. and 2. 7. 2010. In seven windows we showed seven materials changing in time from 1800 to today. Contemporary design and old antiques created together special window styling including various products from old knives, fabrics, jeans, chairs to contemporary conceptual design, fixed-gear bike and much more.

Every historical period endows human creativity with its unmistakable traits. Its overall atmosphere is, then, formed by objects designed at a specific time and produced for their immediate purposes. Today we admire most of these things as beautiful artifacts that provide a unique opportunity for us to touch the past. Through what means will future generations use to view our time? It will surely be designs that have existed in our world for over hundred years and impart the basic appearance to most human products - design and antiques. These two separated fields attract each other perilously. Their form is immensely related to the materials used and, primarily, to the manufacturing method. Antiques are transformed into design; craftsmanship is transformed into industrial lot-production. However, handicraft is returning to contemporary design and, thus, updates the existence of precious artifacts from our ancestors, which the exhibition presents in the context of contemporary lifestyles. Specific formal and content confrontations between old and new objects, divided according to the materials used, represent a unique opportunity to consider their meaning and origin from a different perspective.

For exhibition called 120 x 120, which was held at Botas 66 Gallery in February 2010 we created special “curated postcards”. Brief of a exhibition was to create something in size of 120 x 120 mm to put into plastic box from compact disc. So we create cards of three themes: Op-art inspiration, Brazilian Silhouette and Vintage Rally. To every theme we made graphic motif cut into paper by laser. Our aim was to create visually interesting pieces, but also with curated and theoretical qualities. To every image is added also small text about motif on it.
Op-art inspiration presents one card with abstract picture inspired by classics of op-art movement.
Brazilian Silhouette presents two cards with two silhouettes of chairs from 1950s brazilian design. Designers of chairs are Martin Eisler and Carlo Hauner. Both chairs have very strong shape qualities.
Vintage Rally presents two cards with motifs from classic rally competition of 1960s and 1970s. The first is advertising on legendary Bell helmet and the second is Mercedes 230 SL famous for its rally history.

This exhibition was the first show at Botas Gallery 66 in Prague held in january 2010. We present there iconic czech motorcycle Čezeta 175 from 1960s completely disassembled.

The Čezeta 175, Type 501 light motorcycle, familiarly nicknamed the “Pig” because of its striking “nose” is now one of the icons of the Czech design of the 60’s. The then optimistic aesthetics of round organic shapes and bright colors popular at the turning point of the 50’s and 60’s did not only influence the design of furniture, porcelain, glass or textile, but they also influenced the everyday industrial design, such as motorcycles, radios, television sets, kitchen appliances and many other highly sophisticated products, thanks to which the so-called “Brussels style” of the postwar organic design achieved such an unbelievable popularity and a wide consumer consumption. In this respect the “Pig” which was manufactured by ČZ Strakonice represents one of the most successful products of that period of time. Immediately after its launching in the market in 1957, this light motorcycle, or if you prefer a scooter, became a favorite companion of holiday festivities throughout the former Czechoslovakia. Its design which was inspired by the American streamlined movement, but also by the phenomenal Italian Vespa scooter became an overnight dream for all boys, small or big alike. This icon of the time period on which the girls were able to sit sideways and the gentlemen were shifting the gears by their heel, hitting the specially adapted, cradle-shaped gear lever as not to damage their favorite “Botasky” has been actually also turned to the likeness of a plastic toy or a porcelain figure called Lovers on a Motorcycle. And it is precisely the Botas 66 sneakers, which together with Čezeta 175 motorcycle represent the authentic witness to the design and style of the 60’s culture.
The Anatomy of ČZ exhibition thus introduces for the first time this unique motorcycle, disassembled nearly to the last component. Therefore do not hesitate and take advantage of this unique opportunity to peek under the hood of the brilliantly shaped Čezeta 175 and to discover the world of components, which in its time powered this cult design fad of the Czechoslovak industry.

Cycling revolution is our second collection of "curated t-shirts", which presents iconic bike design of last 40 years. On t-shirts You can explore our graphic versions of Schwinn Stingray, Klein Attitude and Bianchi Pista.

Exhibition held at Designsupermarket festival in Prague in December 2009. We created concept, visual style and installation.

The accompanying exposition CraftDesign maps contemporary trends in an approximation of experimental design and traditional crafts. This is the essential thought driving the creative processes behind the works made in small and limited series or as one single original piece. This pushes the works even further from the traditional understanding of industrial design. This sort of “craft approach” rises from the need of the authors to be as close as possible to the realization of their visions and ideas, forcing them to become craftsmen or work closely with craftsmen when manufacturing every one of their pieces. This moves the manufacturing process from factories to designers; ateliers, making the final product much more authentic and emotionally charged. The tools used by the designers to materialize their visions and ideas become an important, delicate and personal link between the idea and the actual finished work. This exposition presents several works of young and mature Czech authors shown alongside the tools used to make their individual objects. The displayed tools are not the actual tools used by the designers; they provide a conceptual link allowing us to imagine how the objects were made. CraftDesign shows not only trends in contemporary design, but also a selection of factory-produced quality tools used by the authors to materialize their ideas and visions. It also encourages an exchange of ideas between industrial production and crafts.

Authors: AAKK Forever, Jakub Berdych, Jan Činčera, Tamsin van Essen, Antonín Hepnar, Petr Kavan, Maestrokatastrof, Kateřina Matěchová, Papelote, Daniel Pošta, Martin Prokeš (Nakahanu), Rozbíjím se, Klára Šumová, Trash Made (Anna Kozová), Maxim Velčovský

Hedonist is a collection of our "curated t-shirts" with motifs of design from 1950s, when form and beauty sometimes won over strictly function. Designers became true hedonists in creating beautiful shapes and emotions. On t-shirts you can explore real designs by Gio Ponti, John Risley and Gino Sarfatti. To every t-shirt is added also paper box with text about real design on it.

Magazine OKOLO, which we first presented in october 2009 introduces some ideas about objects, buildings and their creators. Design is an emotional matter, which never leaves us underwhelmed. I will be very glad if this magazine opens your interest and affects your emotions. The content of the magazine is a personal view on architecture, design, fashion and style. I am not intending to present new design trends, rather I present some original creations that are worth seeing. I try to show some of them in a new, contextual light. I search for continuity, permanent tendencies and the truths across the previous and the contemporary. But above all I am admiring.

At Designblok 2009, held in the second week in october, we debuted with
three projects: Bmx Visionarists, Toolbox Redesigned and Hedonist.

Bmx Visionarists was curated show featuring selection of most contemporary cycling parts on bmx riding. Our aim was to present bmx industry as a specific part of a industrial design.

Toolbox redesigned presents special commissioned works of three czech designers. Maxim Velčovský, Martin Žampach and Studio Goldberrries show their own vision of uncommon toolbox for bicycle enthusiasts.

Hedonist is a collection of our "curated t-shirts" with motifs of design from 1950s,
when form and beauty sometimes won over strictly function. Designers became true hedonists in creating beautiful shapes and emotions. On t-shirts you can explore real designs by Gio Ponti, John Risley and Gino Sarfatti. To every t-shirt is added also paper box with text about real design on it.

OKOLO is a creative group with a focus on the fields of design, architecture, art, style, fashion, and the entire scope of cultural city life which, thus, becomes the subject of our activities in Internet journalism, curatorial exhibitions, and special projects and events through which we strive to collaborate with creative individuals from various fields. Interconnecting them and searching for exceptional contexts, we attempt at finding new ways of expressing fine art creativity and methods of its presentation.

The group was founded in 2009 on an impulse by Adam Štěch, Jakub Štěch, and Matěj Činčera. Our key interest focuses on creating original projects in the form of exhibitions and products, such as the BMX Visionarists exhibition, which presented the design of BMX bikes, the CraftDesign project, which focuses on one of the most significant trends in contemporary design, and the Anatomie ČZ exhibition concept in 66 GALLERY. We incorporate the ideas and theoretical insights that we try to impart through our exhibitions into our products as well. For this reason, we strive to transform an ordinary T-shirt into an extraordinary exhibition medium. The theme-based Hedonist and Cycling Revolution
T-shirt collections are equipped with a brief, yet important informational text about the design depicted on the T-shirt. Thus, our products are always enriched with a considerable spiritual and expert dimension, which is the most important aspect for us.


contact:
astech@seznam.cz
+420 723 74 62 48


thanks for long-time collaboration and help:
Jára Moravec, Maxim Velčovský, Klára Šumová, Lucie Koldová, Honza Novák, Martin Prokeš, Martin Žampach, Tomáš Procházka, A1 Architects, Honza Kloss,
Studio Činčera, Qubus, Oficina