Standard SR, ‘Prouvé RAW Office Edition’ by Jean Prouvé for Vitra

Following the 2011 success of the Prouvé RAW crossover project between furniture maker Vitra and fashion brand G-Star RAW, the partnership has continued with the development of a second limited series, the ‘Prouvé Raw Office Edition’. The second crossover collection revives a series of furniture and lighting originally designed by Jean Prouvé in the 1940s for the offices of major French industrial companies.

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Vitra Slide Tower by Carsten Höller, photo: Julien Lanoo / Attilio Maranzano

Swiss design brand Vitra has opened a 30-metre high slide, the Vitra Slide Tower by German object and installation artist Carsten Höller, at their sprawling Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein in Germany.

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‘Alcove Plume’ sofa by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra

French designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have added ‘Alcove Plume’, a low-slung sofa with an emphasis on casual comfort, to Vitra’s Alcove product family.

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Internationally renowned Swiss design brand Vitra has acquired the Finnish company Artek. Itself a renowned design company founded in 1935 in Finland by architect Alvar Aalto and his wife Aino, art promoter Maire Gullichsen and art historian Nils-Gustav Hahl, Artek was built upon the radical business plan to “sell furniture and to promote a modern culture of habitation by exhibitions and other educational means.”

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‘Prima’ installation by Zaha Hadid for Swarovski

Crystal brand Swarovski has commissioned architect Zaha Hadid to create a celebratory installation to mark the completion 20 years ago of her first major built project, the Fire Station at Vitra Campus, Weil am Rhein, Germany.

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‘Diogene’ cabin by Renzo Piano and RPBW for Vitra

On a hill between the VitraHaus and the Dome on the Vitra Campus in Birsfelden, Switzerland, Italian architect Renzo Piano and the Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) have set up ‘Diogene’, which to date is Vitra’s smallest building ― and largest product.

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100 % Design 2012, as seen by Architonic

Everyone loves a comeback. And they seldom come any bigger in design terms than 100% Design, which, this year, under new management made a very clear statement of intent – to put the creativity and excitement back into this London Design Festival regular through a more considered, almost curated kind of approach to mounting a design trade show. More, please.

Architonic’s photo tour of 100% Design, London Design Festival 2012

'Corniches' shelving system by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra

Inspired by an idea of ‘impromptu storage area,’ France’s famous design duo Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have realised this versatile, customisable shelving system for the Swiss furniture manufacturer Vitra. Available in three different sizes and in either high-gloss black, white or Japanese red, ‘Corniches’ ‘are neither regular shelves nor simple horizontal surfaces, but rather individual, isolated protrusions’ which can serve many purposes within practically any environment. The design was launched earlier this year at Salone del Mobile in Milan. (more…)