Best wishes for great holidays and a happy and healthy 2011

Dictatorship 1967-1974: the print resistance

The exhibition of documents titled "Dictatorship 1967-1974: the print resistance", organized by the Cultural Foundation of Journalists' Union of Macedonia and Thrace Daily Newspapers  is being transferred to Athens. In collaboration with the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation (ΜΙΕΤ) the more than 120 publications printed during the Junta period and circulated in illegal or nearly so circumstances, within Greece and abroad, along with the complete visual environment that was installed last year in  the Cultural Foundation of Journalists' Union of Macedonia and Thrace Daily Newspapers, will be hosted from the 16th of December 2010 until the 30th of January 2011 at  the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation - Eynard Mansion, in Athens (20 Agiou Konstantinou St.).

It is the first time such a big number of printed documents of anti-dictatorship action has been gathered in an effort to systematically document this material and representatively reflect its big dispersion geographically and the wide political spectrum they represent. 

 A volume of the same name as the exhibition will be published at the same time with it's opening. In it,  the Cultural Foundation of Journalists' Union of Macedonia and Thrace Daily Newspapers has gathered all the informational and visual material of the exhibition along with the minutes of the workshop organized last February with the same theme. 

The full list of the exhibition contributors and the archives from which the exhibits come from is as follows: 

Co-organized by

National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation (MIET)

Cultural Foundation of Journalists' Union of Macedonia and Thrace Daily Newspapers (ESIEMTH)

Organizing Committee ,

Christos Zaphiris, Ilias Koutsoukos, 

Dimitra Kehagia, Giannis Kotsifos, 

Scientific Editor - Texts

Vaggelis Karamanolakis (Historian, University of Athens)

Graphic Design 

Thanassis Georgiou

Overseer - Co-ordinator 

Christos Zaphiris

Museological and Museographical Design and Construction 

TETRAGON Ltd.:  Eleni Vretzaki

The documents and objects exhibited are from the archives and collections of the following organizations and persons:  

Archives of Contemporary Social History 

Company of Rescuing Historical Archives 1940-1974 Central And Western Macedonia 

Greek Literary Historical Archive 

Greek Parliament's Library 

Association of Imprisoned and Exiled Resistance Members 1967-1974

Company for Studyind the History of Left Youth 

Christos Zaphiris

Manolis Kandylakis

Vasileios Nikolitsios

Kostas Pyrzas

Photographed by Dinos Michail in 2009 at the first  exhibition in Thessaloniki.

To Lee, With Love, Nick

Credits

Direction: Nick Knight

Edit: Ruth Hogben

Performance: Ajak, Anais, Flaviana, Jeneil, Joan Smalls, Kinee, Quack, Rose, Sedene, Trissan

Music: Bjork

Styling: Edward Enninful

Hair: Martin Cullen

Make-Up: Inge Grognard

Manicure: Marian Newman

Director of Photography: Daniel Landin

Casting: Jess Hallett

Production: Gainsbury and Whiting

Production Design: Joseph Bennett

Thanks to VMI, Kinetic, Machine Shop, Kirby AFX, Pirate, Park Royal Studios, Souvenir and Simon Kenny

Special thanks to the team at Alexander McQueen and the British Fashion Council

from SHOWstudio

How the past inspires the future - Vogue and Asian models

Asian models are not a common occurence in US Vogue. We rarely see them in major editorials, let alone a cover. Yet the trend of more and more Asian beauties making their catwalk runs for many major fashion houses forced the magazine to dedicate a whole article to them, with Steven Meisel mimicking the famous Cecil Beaton photograph of Charles James gowns, this time using only Asian models and Oscar De La Renta being the couturier of choice.

The result is breathtaking, the models looking gorgeous despite the (unnecessary for me) faux Mohawks (American fashion editors still think a punk hairdo makes a layout edgy). I would have preferred having Julien d'Ys do some of his incredible pile ups on these girls. Or Thanos Samaras for that matter. Check the original photo below. Meisel may be very skilled but he missed the atmosphere completely, going instead for a very flat lighting. Gone are the masterful chiaroscuro effects and sculptural details of the Beaton shoot. Pity.

Thessaloniki Graphic Design 1980-2009

 

Click on the image to see the details of this extraordinary show 

For non-Greek speakers:

Tonight, at the Centre for Contemporary Art of Thessaloniki, Red Creative presents their book about Thessaloniki's graphic design history from 1980 - 2009, as a reminder of their 20 year anniversary. The event begins a 19.30

There will be a seminar dedicated to it on Saturday 11th of December, from 11:00-15:00 at the Centre. Speakers are Dr. of Typography and Graphic Communication Klimis Mastoridis, designer and typogrpher Aggelos Bakas and publisher Manolis Savvidis.

Tomorrow, 9th of December, a poster show accompanying the edition opens at the Centre, lasting only 4 days (closes on Sunday 12th of December). The show is curated by the Centre's director, Syrago Tsiara.

Why I think iPhone 4 is a major design failure

I am one of those who gush and oooh and aaah over most of the stuff Jonathan Ives designs for Apple. I already own an iPhone 3G and work in an office full of various Mac computers (from Power G5 to all shorts of iMacs to a MacBook Pro). But the current iPhone never did it for me. From the beginning, seeing the leaked device, up to now that I have handled the device, played with it, talked with many users and read a lot about it, I still don't like it.

First of all the design of the first three iPhones (2S, 3G, 3GS) was brilliant. Curvy, thin, elegant, different than anything else in the market. And they still look different than all other smart-phones out there. Instantly recognizable. Easy to hold. The feel of that backside curve in your palm is absolute perfection. Than the flat design for iPhone 4 comes along, with its beveled corners. Just like all the rest of the competition. Gone is the curve that made it so nice to hold.

Glass - back and front. Great idea, aesthetically perfect. But why make a device that is supposed to be handled a bit rough, one that usually lies on the back side, have glass there too? How ergonomic is that? How many fingerprints can one handle? (On the plus side, it does make for easier protective membrane application. But still). And the metal edge all around to hold that glass into place (among other things)? I don't need an iMac in my pocket, I have it on my desktop, thank you very much.

After many months, apple finally had to remove all traces of a white iPhone from their website. They cannot manufacture it because the white back surface with the glass diffuses the flash light of the camera so it ruins the photos you take (or try to). How can a big company such as this, with an incredible industrial design record, announce a product, much less take pre-orders for it, before testing it to see if it works properly? Latest news do seem to indicate it might be released next year. We'll have to wait and see.

I would be interested to find out your thoughts about this, so please feel free to add them in the comments.

Vinyl cut out clocks by Pavel Sidorenko

Last night I was at a small bar in my hometown listening to a friend DJ (Narita playing a great DJ gig as usual), when I spotted a clock made from an old vinyl record on the wall next to the DJ booth. I immediately thought that it was a great idea for a DJ gift but poorly executed (i.e. how about making clock hands like record player arms instead?) . Today, thanks to a Design Sponge post about Pavel Sidorenko, I found out how much better this idea can become.

Pavel Sidorenko is an Estonian designer, born in 1980 in Tallinn. He studied industrial design at the Estonian Academy of Arts, graduating in 2006. His aim is to create functional and playful products that retain their simplicity, interacting with the space and the user, creating not only incorporate pragmatic necessity, but also transmitting an emotional quality within the everyday environment. he received the 1st prize in the Massimo Martini Design Awards, in Milan's Macef show while his latest exhibition participation was in this year's Ambiente show in Frankfurt, as part of the EDL stand.

The clocks are made by laser-cutting the old vinyl records in various shapes. It is a fun idea, reminding me a lot of paper-cutting stuff other people do - the choice of material here is key and fresh. I would not mind having one of these on my wall!

© Pavel Sidorenko

Dimitris Petrou - How to wear ice grey

Dimitris Petrou is a young and very talented Greek fashion designer. A few days ago he opened his showroom in Athens, at 23 Kanari St. in Kolonaki, where most Greek fashion houses are located and has a multitude of big-name designer boutiques from all over the world. He launched the showroom with a fashion show where he showed his winter 2010-2011 collection, called "Sur Mesure" (made to measure) for women and men. The photographs accompanying this post are from this collection.

His designs are all in ice grey, a totally monochromatic collection, toying with how the colour looks in different fabrics and textures. The results are spectacular. The way he plays with fabric is incredible, either in the way he cuts the clothes or the way he treats fabric, cutting it into small pieces which then he sews back together or cutting patterns with holes into the fabric to make a futuristic lace effect. And every woman outfit in the collection has it's male counterpart - although I would not suggest matching dressing up for a couple - avoid at all costs!

Every piece in this collection can be ordered sur mesure from his atelier - so it's like getting a couture piece for you in a fraction of the price. So go to the atelier and get yourself a piece of this collection. It's worth it.

Photos : Yiorgos Kaplanidis
Fashion Direction : Manos Jojos
Creative Supervisor :Antonis Kozakidis
Hair : Dimitris Sarantou
Make Up : MAC
Models : Rossana , Panayiotis  at VN Models



Video Art - Director: Tina Sardelas
Hair : George Marascas
Make-up : Tzeni Toumazatou
Models : Haley , Christos at VN Models
Creative Supervision : Antonis Kozakidis
Styling Advisor : Manos Jojos

Afu Custom Furniture

 The Afu shop in Kolonaki, Athens

Knot series

Dimitris Tsigos is a very talented Greek architect. His latest venture is Afu Custom Furniture and he send us a letter for it:

In our latest enterprise, our objective
was to introduce to the public the results of our ongoing research in
the fields of advanced geometries and modern CAD/CAM methodologies.


Therefore we have opened up a concept store in Athens, Greece where we exhibit furniture pieces and objects designed by us.


To get a better idea of the concept and see all the designs, we are glad to present you with the following options:


1) Visit the afu store!


8 Haritos St. Kolonaki
Athens, Greece, 10675


2) Visit the afu website:


www.afu.gr


3) Visit the afu facebook page, by clicking on the link.


For all comments – enquiries please don’t hesitate to contact us:


info@afu.gr
T +30 210 7210148


Best regards,


Dimitrios Tsigos
Chief designer

Another Afu shop view

 The finished products look incredible - Usus series

Tractus series in the shop

 Fluctus series

Green Design Festival 2010 in Athens

Green Design Festival, is back in Athens, two years after its first successful show. From the 23rd of September until the 10th of October, an original, open space and open to the public action will take place, under the auspice of the Municipality of Athens and the Ministry of Environment, sponsored by the Post Bank and has 150 designers from all aspects of design collaborating along with architects, curators and volunteers.

Its aim is to speak about a modern way of live, environmentally friendly, thorugh design and its applications and produce environmental behaviour through its themes and proposals.

Green Design Festival is organised by Brainlab, an independant non-profit and non-govermental organization. The ceter of activities is again Syntagma Square in Athens at the Eco Museum, an environmentally friendly recyclable construction which will house exhibitions, actions, events and educational programs. At the same time, architectural exhibitis will be at seven more central points in Athens, inviting the people to see their city in a different way.

During the Green Design Festival, the city is transformed into a live interactive space of ideas and suggestions, through new technologies, of image and design. Through the various aspects of design and with a strong emphasis on the templates of sustainability (in environmental as well as in a social level), the festival speaks about the consequences of climate change, uses renewable and alternative energy sources, explores the relationship between ecological conscience and economy and focuses on an environmentallyf riendly "re-design"of our everyday life.

Flos Wall Piercing Light

Flos always makes lighting fixtures that engage you with their fine design and attention to detail. It could not be any different with their latest effort, Soft Architecture Wall Piercing Light. It has a great number of possible set ups on any wall and can make one a discussion piece or an art installation - the limit is in your imagination!

via DesignMilk

24th World Congress of the International Union of Architects, Tokyo 2011

The next world congress of the International Union of Architects will be held inTokyo, Japan, from 25 to 29 September 2011. The academic programme covers research papers and design works, realised or planned, on the overall congress theme: DESIGN 2050. This theme is the opportunity for designers to express and present their visions of architecture and ideal cities and to imagine the tendancies of urban architecture prefiguring the world in 2050.

UIA TOKYO 2011 invites architects, engineers, researchers and students all over the world to express their opinions on the main theme DESIGN 2050 according to the three sub-themes: Environment, Cultural Exchange, Life. The authors of contributions that have been accepted by the selection committee will have the opportunity of presenting them during the congress between the 26 and 28 September 2011. They will also be published on the congress web site and on a DVD.

The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 31October 2010. Full details concerning contributions may be downloaded on the congress web site:

http://www.uia2011tokyo.com/en/callfor/

Contributions will be submitted exclusively on-line via the congress web site and will be in English .

Read more about the congress
www.uia2011tokyo.com/en
24th UIA CONGRESS

Summer mobile for the veranda

Since Summer is well under way, with hot weather and holidays around the corner, here is an idea for decorating a big space - especially for the veranda of your summer home or your balcony. Take a nice piece of driftwood, hang from it small bottles of ouzo (or tsipouro) or whatever coloured pieces of rounded glass you can find and you have a lovely mobile. And yes, if you drink them all, you got yourself a nasty hangover coming up!

Photo taken by me in Alonissos in 2008

6th Biennale for Young Greek Architects - September 2010

The committee for choosing the works of young Greek Architects to participate in the 6th Biennale for Young Greek Architects, organised by the Hellenic Institute of Architecture and held this September at Benaki Museum in Athens has picked unanimously 75 works out of 368 submissions, the most works ever picked for the show. The criteria were their high design and construction quality but also their originality. The selections also cover a wide variety of categories.

Half of the projects chosen are already constructed, while the rest are still only at the design phase. The fact that many of the submitted projects have already received other architectural awards, some of them international, is very encouraging for the future of Greek Architecture.

The selection of the proposals on display was carried out by architects Nikos Kalogirou, Lois Papadopoulos, Dimitris Papalexopoulos and Elias Konstantopoulos.

The exhibition of the 75 projects will be held at the Benaki Museum at Pireus St., from the 16th of September to the 17th of October.

Dressed with success

These days the fashion calendar is showing Milan. The menswear collections for 2010 are under full sway and the usual protagonists jostle for their place in the sun. The image that caught my eye among hundreds of photos covering the event in various websites and blogs is the one above, from the master of the fashion photo, Mr. Sartorialist himself, Scott Schuman. The restrained elegance and minimalism of Prada is paired with small details that make this look fresh and coveted. This is the way to go, no gimmicks, no frills. And you can duplicate it at home without paying an arm and a leg.

Photo courtesy of The Sartorialist. All rights reserved.