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.