Premsela Talks and Exhibitions @ Salone Milan 2012

Premsela again brought a full program of events to Milan’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2012 by staging Spring, their inaugural exhibition in Milan, and by reprising 2011’s popular Milan Breakfasts, as well as organising a mini-symposium with Vitra at the Triennale Design Museum.

Spring: Excellence, Talent and Inspiration in Design

Curator Miriam van der Lubbe selected 15 established designers who represent the breadth of the field – all of whom got their start at the Design Academy Eindhoven .

They each selected a rising design talent they admire to share the spotlight with, whilst also identifying an influential member of a previous generation who inspired him or her at an early career stage

Photography by David Bellucca

The three breakfasts resulted in interesting discussions between critic designers, developers, researchers and professionals. The audience could participate in these discussions by raising their hand or using Twitter.

Design Academy Eindhoven presents 50 Graduate Projects

Studio Zeta also hosted the exhibition 50, showcasing outstanding projects by recent bachelor’s and master’s graduates of the Design Academy Eindhoven and curated by Ilse Crawford.

“We believe in design that has a firm connection with life and a desire to make sense of it”… Ilse Crawford

The selection criterion is the project conformance with the existence of people and with the issues of real life. This exhibition presented a clear philosophy “Design is at its best when it addresses real needs.” In this manner she indicates that the current design projects reflect the needs of society.

The designers of the future make a connection with economic, social and cultural aspects in our society and shape real matters.

The exhibition is composed of six sections: time, water, weather, care, magic, food, accurately interpreted by works that starting from real needs are apt to perform a new reality open to life and what life brings in, also giving the opportunity to visualize how could our life be better in a very near future.

We are practical intellectuals,” says designer and educator Ilse Crawford, who was also the show’s curator.

“Complex social, economical and cultural problems call for the creativity of people who dare to think outside the traditional frameworks,” the show proposed. “Our designers reflect on small-scale designs and they reflect on larger-scale themes, such as sustainability, well-being, healthcare, quality of life, public spaces and the contexts within.”

About the Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE)

Design Academy Eindhoven is a school for industrial design in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

The Design Academy Eindhoven’s (DAE) emphasis on experimentation and practical industrial design has gaining an international reputation. The work of its faculty and alumni have brought it wide recognition, it has been called the “best design academy in the world”

In 1999, Li Edelkoort, was elected chairwoman of the Academy.

In 2009 she left the Design Academy to pursue personal projects and was replaced by Anne Mieke Eggenkamp as chair.

Nano Supermarket

At the mobile Nano Supermarket, resident at Studio Zeta during design week, visitors tested futuristic products – medicinal candy, interactive wall paint, a Twitter implant – that could hit shop shelves within a decade.

The Milan Breakfasts

In a series of morning discussions, the Design Academy Eindhoven‘s Danielle Arets and Saskia van Stein and Premsela‘s Tim Vermeulen talked about new developments and directions in design with designers, experts, students and the audience over coffee and croissants.

The Real Deal,
Thursday 19 April
Moderator: Saskia van Stein
Speakers: Maya Ben David, Jan Boelen, Koert van Mensvoort en Ravi Naidoo

With the urgent need for design output to have sustainable, responsible and integral production at its core, it is crucial to re-anchor ethical and meaningful parameters within this new context with the ultimate aim of creating values beyond the economic.

Which skills, tools and technologies can be fruitful in designing for contemporary needs in a meaningful manner?

During this Milan Breakfast, Premsela looked at the potential, the paradoxes and the desires implicit in these notions, reassessing terms such as authenticity as well as functionality and involvement, keeping the realistic possibilities and potential of the practice in perspective.

Jan Boelen started the Milan Breakfast by introducing an exhibition about The Machine, where designers designed a new industrial revolution.

Every designer built their own machine, which could be an alternative for mass production. Systems for distribution use, developed like an alternative for mass productions.

In addition, Maya Ben David told one of her secrets and explained her love and dependence of digital technology. She basically had to deal with everything on an emotional level online, because her family lives in Israel, while she studied in Eindhoven.

Strategic Creativity,
Friday 20 April
Moderator: Danielle Arets
Speakers: Sissel Tolaas, Bas Raijmakers, Mike Thompson, Johan Kramer, Elena Pacenti

Designers operate more and more in social, cultural and economical domains where they have to cooperate with different disciplines and stakeholders.

If all disciplines are effectively deployed in multidisciplinary teams, different visions, qualities and talents will result in innovative ideas. What is the added value of designers in these teams, and how can they fulfil their role successfully?

What are the natural alliances, and where does friction arise? During this talk, we zoomed in on the subject of strategic creativity.

After a short introduction by Johan Kramer, Danielle Arets started with the question if someone could give a fresh example of a really successful collaborative project, where designers teamed up with the industry or with scientific institutes.

The guests gave some examples they recently worked on by themselves. The discussion was ended with the final question about future perspectives.

Moderator Danielle asked each speaker: “If we take the Salone del Mobile in 2020, what will we see and what can we expect?”

Activate the Future !
Saturday 21 April
Moderator: Tim Vermeulen
Speakers: Tamar Shafir, Zuzanna Skalska, Pete Collard

Our world is in crisis. In the face of pressing questions about the distribution of wealth and how our excesses are affecting the world around us, we should seize the current crisis as an opportunity to do things differently in the future.

This idea seems to be catching on in the design world. But is it just hollow rhetoric, or are things really going to change?

At this Milan Breakfast, Premsela talked about the contemporary face of design engagement and how we should activate design’s new future.

What can designers do with their idealism in these days of crises?

The economic troubles that began in 2008 are still making their effects felt.

Tamar Shafir started with an introduction about the future in which she is interested in and engaged in.

Later during this Breakfast, Zuzanna Skalska emphasized that there is no end user. Also she highlighted the point of view that people have to unlearn things.

Whereupon moderator Tim Vermeulen said: “The future of design is actually unlearning design.”

Finally, this last Milan Breakfast ended up with the last question by Tim: “If we have to activate the future of design and you have to give one ingredient, what would it be ?”

Never Mind the Mainstream

Premsela and the Vitra Design Museum’s mini-symposium Never Mind the Mainstream: Experiment and Industry took place on Wednesday 18 April in the Triennale Design Museum.

Designers Konstantin Grcic, Hella Jongerius and Rogier van der Heide and the critic Aaron Betsky discussed the roles of experiment and industry in design.

Hella Jongerius