EOOS | imm cologne

The atelier chair of Walter Knoll designed by EOOS: reduced to its function

Der Atelier Chair von Walter Knoll und EOOS. (Foto: Walter Knoll)

The atelier chair of Walter Knoll designed by EOOS. (photo: Walter Knoll)

The legendary slogan “Form follows function” has left its mark on generations of designers. The principle is that the shape of an object should be primarily based upon its intended function. Or shorter: Reduced form, visible function. EOOS has taken the idea of functional clarity and given it its own interpretation: the sensuousness of the minimalist.

The Atelier Chair by Walter Knoll wants to be a gentle ascetic. Leather and steel are the skin and bones. Taut but also elastic the leather stretches over the steel framework – just as you would expect of genuine tubular steel furniture. The visible construction reveals the function of the chair.

17. September 2012
Categories: Exhibitors, News
Tags: atelier chair, chair, design, EOOS, Form follows function, leather, minimalistic, tubular steel furniture, Walter Knoll

Walter Knoll redefines nonchalance de luxe with Jaan Living

Jaan Living von Walter Knoll. Design by EOOS. (Foto: Walter Knoll)

Jaan Living by Walter Knoll. Design by EOOS. (photo: Walter Knoll)

Walter Knoll presents nonchalance de luxe with Jaan Living. Armchair, armchair récamière and upholstered bench naturally gather around the sofa. The extensions to the Jaan Living range create expansive living landscapes.

With spacious seat elements on a delicate framework – the hallmark of the award-winning range. The upholstered bench supplements the sofa – or works on its own in an entrée, lobby or gallery. Jaan Living is a lot of things – but not down-to-earth. It is far too elevated for that.

Get more information about Jaan Living by reading the latest Walter Knoll News.

03. May 2012
Categories: Exhibitors, News
Tags: armchair, armchair récamière, EOOS, Exhibitors, Jaan Living, sofa, upholstered bench, Walter Knoll

Furnishing Cologne – part 4: New product armchair Bao by Walter Knoll

Bao by Walter Knoll (Photo: Mirjam Fruscella / koelnmesse)

Form goes freestyle on a slippery surface: An opulent sculpture with a delightful derrière: rather like a leather ball, the slightly convex back of Walter Knoll’s Bao armchair consists of three cleverly cut strips of leather. The flowing lines thus created map out the lounge chair’s spirited and elegant design. The swivel armchair is equipped with a heavy but invisible metal plate and features a combination of different materials: leather on the back, fabric on the seat. Everything has its place. In the office, several Baos can be combined to create a seating scenario that permits collaboration and communication on an equal, non-hierarchical basis.

Design: EOOS
www.walter-knoll.de
Booth: Hall 11.2 Booth H011

11. January 2012
Categories: Exhibitors, News
Tags: armchair, Bao, elegant, EOOS, Hall 11.2, imm cologne 2012, leather, lounge chair, Walter Knoll

Pure Village – also in 2012 an innovative design platform

As its success at the international interior design show imm cologne 2011 showed, Pure Village is not just an innovative, forward-looking trade fair format, it is a sign of the times as well. Today interior design is a holistic assignment that incorporates furniture systems and individual pieces, colour concepts, lighting design and luminaires, continuous materials for floors and walls as well as technical equipment. And yet holism and homogeneous design concepts don’t automatically mean boredom. Modern man lives and grows with his interior: he seeks the special, the exciting, the personal, he combines neutral basic furnishings with unusual one-offs or heirlooms; besides technical equipment, he is again attaching importance to furniture and textiles that have been manufactured in old artisanal tradition and deliberately factors in a certain amount of latitude that allows scope for variations and reconfigurations. Thinking in norms was yesterday, today we’re looking for inspiration. With its unconventional combinations, a mix of interior product ranges with their excellent design quality as the only common denominator and a communication-fostering hall and booth architecture, Pure Village provides the ideal platform for promoting product concepts for this lifestyle.

The compact format of Pure Village, where the exclusive neighbourhood and cultural diversity are condensed into the kind of inspiring mix otherwise found in the heart of a city, holds equal appeal for exhibitors and visitors alike. And so the presentation format launched last year was able to score points in round two as well: once again, Hall 3.2 of Cologne Exhibition Centre was booked out with numerous exhibitors from all areas of interior design. A colourful mix of furniture for all kinds of living space, for the bedroom, outdoors and bathroom, in combination with accessories, home entertainment, lighting, colours, wallpapers and floor coverings, ensured plenty of variety and a heterogeneous neighbourhood.

Designer’s Voice: Harald Gründl about design trends, a fast pace and greenwashing

Harald Gründl (EOOS), member of the imm cologne Trendboard. (Foto: Koelnmesse)

Born in 1967 in Vienna, Austria, Harald Gründl studied industrial design at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and holds a PhD in philosophy. In 1995 he set up the design agency EOOS together with Martin Bergmann and Gernot Bohmann. EOOS has become a leading studio for furniture design, brand spaces and design research with clients including Alessi, Armani, Bulthaup, Dedon, Duravit, Matteo Grassi, Walter Knoll and Zumtobel.

Harald Gründl, member of the imm cologne Trendboard, has chaired the Institute of Design Research Vienna since 2008 and is a partner at EOOS design, where he heads the studio‘s research activities.

What was the most interesting thing about the imm cologne Trendboard Workshop for you?
I found it very interesting to see that there are a lot of similarities in the way the various members of the Trendboard perceive the design sector, and that we’d all noticed similar phenomena. Meeting new people is always the most interesting thing!

The Trend Book shows what’s happening in design right now and what motivates the people who make use of this design offering. In your opinion, where are the strongest influences on product and interior design coming from?
As far as I’m concerned, the sustainability debate is the most important influence on design right now. How can we react to this development intelligently, and how does that affect the trends of the future? We discussed this aspect in relation to all four Interior Trends and were able to identify the different ways it’s manifesting itself.

Interior Trends 2011: imm cologne presents the most important trends in furniture and interior design

At the beginning of June, the designers Patricia Urquiola (Milan) and Defne Koz (Chicago/Milan/Ankara) met up with the designer Harald Gründl (EOOS, Vienna), the textile designer Martin Leuthold (Jakob Schlaepfer, St. Gallen) and the editor Marco Velardi (apartamento, Milan/Barcelona) for a two-day imm cologne Trend Board workshop in Cologne. Here they filtered out four of the most important trends in furniture and interior design – trends that represent the different levels of style and lifestyle. Once again this year, these four interior trends are summed up in a trend book called Interior Trends 2011, complete with informative names, exemplary products and lavishly photographed settings.

The four interior trends will take on shape for the public at imm cologne in January 2011 in the form of installations. These will be presented by the members of the Trend Board in four exhibition cubes that will be part of the still relatively new trade fair format Pure Village.

Patricia Urquiola and Harald Gründl talking about the Interior Trends 2011

Patricia Urquiola, member of the imm cologne 2011 trend board. (photo: E15)

“Our task was to take a look at the various forms in which the trends are expressed,” says the Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola concerning the work of the imm cologne 2011 Trend Board. She considers this a pioneering development. “We have to realize that today there are completely different perspectives on what people consider innovative,” she says. “Sometimes a new interpretation of something old or a particularly simple and intelligent production method is much more innovative than a new material or an innovative technology. The concept of innovation is changing. In my opinion, it’s closely connected with people’s needs and with the way we use objects.”

Patricia Urquiola, Defne Koz, Harald Gründl, Martin Leuthold, Marco Velardi: Trend Board of imm cologne is full of new faces

What’s really new about the interior trends for 2011? What are the hidden similarities between the increasing number of diverging trends and new products? And what are the differences? What motivates designers? What do consumers find appealing about the designs?

The Trend Board of imm cologne, which this year is full of new faces, has the job of analysing current trends in the world of interior design and projecting them into the future. This year its discussion topics included phenomena such as individualization, sustainability, developments in style, materials, colours and shapes.

Walter Knoll’s secret of success: Looking with designers for something that has never been done before

MYchair; Design: Ben van Berkel; Foto: Walter Knoll Walter Knoll (exhibitor at imm cologne 2010, 19.-24.01.2010), one of Germany’s oldest manufacturers of upholstered furniture, cultivates a close partnership with designers and architects – an approach that is key to the company’s success. “New products evolve out of thorough communication, immersing yourself in processes and clarifying ideas. We seek out gaps together, looking for the right opening for something that has never been done before,” says CEO Markus Benz.

Benz, head of the Herrenberg-based company since 1993, sets great store by communication. It is a recurring theme that is also reflected in the company’s products. Take the Ameo lounge chairs by Austrian design team EOOS, for instance: they are ideal for relaxing with friends and putting the world to rights. The island-like swivel chairs can be turned to face one another for a conversation or away from the crowd for a moment of reflection, open to new perspectives. Or Living Landscape – another EOOS design. The sides and back turn with the seat and change their position.

Interview with Harald Gründl (EOOS): “We’re on the threshold of a paradigm shift.”

EOOS: Gernot Bohmann, Harald Gründl (Mitte) und Martin Bergman. Foto: Udo Titz

EOOS: Gernot Bohmann, Harald Gründl (Mitte) and Martin Bergman. Photo: Udo Titz

EOOS consists of Martin Bergmann (*1963 in Lienz/East Tyrol), Gernot Bohmann (*1968, Krieglach/Steiermark) and Harald Gründl (*1967, Vienna). After graduating from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, they founded their joint firm EOOS in 1995. Besides furniture and product design, EOOS also does shop design for clients like Giorgio Armani, Adidas, Alessi, Bulthaup, Bene, Duravit, Walter Knoll, Keilhauer, Matteograssi and Zumtobel.

For EOOS, design is a poetic discipline and a cultural service to society. EOOS Basic Research investigates rituals, myths and intuitive images as part of its “poetic analysis”. The company’s first books, “The Death of Fashion” and ”The Cooked Kitchen”, are available from publishers SpringerWienNewYork. EOOS has won more than 40 international awards to date, including the 2004 Italian design prize Compasso d’Oro for Kube, produced by Matteograssi. In 2007, Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF and daily newspaper Die Presse voted EOOS ”Austrians of the Year“ in the Creative Industries category.

imm cologne

Create. Furnish. Live.

The atelier chair of Walter Knoll designed by EOOS: reduced to its function

Walter Knoll redefines nonchalance de luxe with Jaan Living

Furnishing Cologne – part 4: New product armchair Bao by Walter Knoll

Pure Village – also in 2012 an innovative design platform

Designer’s Voice: Harald Gründl about design trends, a fast pace and greenwashing

Interior Trends 2011: imm cologne presents the most important trends in furniture and interior design

Patricia Urquiola and Harald Gründl talking about the Interior Trends 2011

Patricia Urquiola, Defne Koz, Harald Gründl, Martin Leuthold, Marco Velardi: Trend Board of imm cologne is full of new faces

Walter Knoll’s secret of success: Looking with designers for something that has never been done before

Interview with Harald Gründl (EOOS): “We’re on the threshold of a paradigm shift.”

RSS Newsfeed

Categories

Social Media

Blogroll

Tags