Flexible companions for life
“Kin” storage family by Mathias Hahn for Zeitraum

“It is not a classic wardrobe – nor is it a furniture system,” declares designer Mathias Hahn when describing his new “Kin” furniture series for Zeitraum. He explicitly wants the furniture to be considered as storage formats and flexible companions for life. For the family of oak or solid walnut furniture can be combined in so many ways that it is highly versatile and as colorful as life itself. There is a high cupboard module “Tall” (height 232 cm), a set of drawers called “Big” (height 142 cm), the small side chest “Tiny” and the storage and drawer elements named “Long” (different sizes). Depending on the stage in your life, your mood or particular whim you can reconfigure you “Kin” combinations: In this way the chest of drawers in the children’s room morphs into a kitchen cupboard by adding a tubular steel frame – or, by placing it on a drawer unit turns into a proper cupboard. And so on and so forth...

Take me, move me
“K8” by Wolfgang Hartauer for Tecta

Asked what he would like to be in his next life, Wolfgang Hartauer answered: “a watchmaker”. But he’s pre-empted that slightly with his new “K8” table for Tecta, a hollow cylinder made of rings of MDF, the top of which swings to one side when you tap it lightly. The movement is driven by a stainless steel spindle that swivels smoothly and silently on a bearings race. Almost as perfectly as clockwork. Hard to believe that the focus could have been simply on constructing a “conventional side table” when the self-declared “crafts guy”, an architecture graduate, set about the task. The “K8” is available in two sizes: with a diameter of 44 cm and a height of 50 cm or in a version with a dimeter of 55 cm and a height of 40 cm.

A new lease of life
“Thonet All Seasons” by Mart Stam, Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

The objective was, or so Thonet’s Head of Design Miriam Püttner comments, “to create a collection that is impervious to the weather and functions all year round.” No sooner said than done: The “S33” and “S34” tubular steel classics by Mart Stam, the “B9” side table and the “S34” lounge armchair by Marcel Breuer as well as the “S533” cantilever chair by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe are now available in seven brand new colors. Thanks to special lacquers or finishes, the furniture is now also definitely weatherproof. In addition to the new colors, that take their cue from Johannes Itten’s color sphere, 12 different colored meshes are available for the “S33” and “S34” chairs by Mart Stam. Together with the existing outdoor furniture, namely Mart Stam’s “S40” and “S1040”, the newcomers this spring go to make up the “Thonet All Seasons” collection.

Faithfully united
“Desdemone” by Nada Nasrallah and Christian Horner for Ligne Roset

“Will you come to bed, my Lord?” is what Shakespeare’s Desdemona asks Othello, whereupon the latter responds: “Have you pray’d to-night, Desdemona?” As we all know, things didn’t end well, as intrigue was afoot. Although Desdemona was never unfaithful. Presumably this is why the bed that Nada Nasrallah and Christian Horner have designed for Ligne Roset goes by the name of “Desdemone”. After all Nada Nasrallah and Christian Horner are not only a team professionally, but also a couple – and their bed is as comfortable as it is inviting.

Box after box
Sofabank by Rolf Heide for Müller Möbelwerkstätten

What a reunion: Müller Möbelwerkstätten is re-issuing the modular Sofabank Rolf Heide designed back in 1972 – which had in the interim been distributed by De Padova. Originally it was very much an object cherished by students interested in design, and today the highly flexible Sofabank seems no less fresh and contemporary. Especially as it can be extended at will (box by box as it were), like other furniture items created by Rolf Heide, such as his stacking recliner or the “Modular” set of shelves. The cushions are simply placed on the perforated laminate, the backrests attached by angle fittings. In addition to the Sofabank there are side tables and rests – all of them either in white or in anthracite.

Let’s pop again
“Trio” by Team Form AG for COR

Revivals seem to be in again. Another real child of the Seventies: the “Trio” modular upholstered seating group by COR, designed back in 1972 by Team Form AG and which was so perfect for lounging around on, replacing the stiff seats preferred by the older generation. Today, “Trio” still seems truly Pop with its sections, each a square meter in size: the seating element, back and armrests. COR has now advanced the “Trio” concept. Seat heights and depths have been adjusted, and on the inside there is now a beech frame and a piped fold-over seam makes changing covers easier.

Amazingly restrained
“Zoom” by Isa Glink for Kinnasand

Curtains don’t exactly have an easy time of it in interiors with a minimalist design. There are those who claim that such hangings are too opulent or completely superfluous in such a setting. One clear exception: the Swedish brand Kinnasand, which season after season conjures up textile garments for your windows that are as subtle as they are restrained – and nevertheless very exciting. For the company’s latest collection, Creative Director Isa Glink has stayed on course, opting for very refined woven or weft textures that only catch the eye at second glance. By relying on skillful combinations of contrasting yarns, such as Kashmir, silk, linen, pure wool and artificial fibers the very fabric of the curtain is exciting. And in terms of colors, the collection with its 24 different textiles offers you a visual wander along a Swedish coastline.

What a bazaar!
“Bazar” by Steffen Kehrle for Richard Lampert

The “Bazar” is destined to prompt spontaneous enthusiasm. Not only can use it to comfortably hang up your coats and jackets, but its interior also provides space for your hats, caps and umbrellas. Designer Steffen Kehrle has exploited the hollow space on the inside of the barrel shaped lattice to create a storage unit. The hall stand is made of powder-coated steel and comes in black, gray, blood orange, white or narcissus yellow, and is available not only as a standing model, but in three different wall-mounted versions. Whether the name “Bazar” indicates that, once enough caps, scarves and gloves have accumulated in the cage, you simply grab the one or other when leaving – remains for you to decide.

When nature rejoices
New fabric collection by Nya Nordiska

Were the new Nya Nordiska collection to have a fragrance, then we would swiftly be intoxicated – as millefleurs, leaves if not entire summer meadows carouse on the curtains and upholstery fabrics. The “Pure Perfection” line, for example, tenderly intimates the underlying botanical idea in a refined manner, with filigree designs resembling hand-drawn images, but actually realized using wet printing. To make sure the overall impression is not simply one of rustic Romanticism, dynamism is created by elaborate weaving and weft techniques and interesting yarn admixtures of linen with metallic shimmering Lurex or wild silk with pure wool.

The Emperor’s new chair
“Throne” by New Tendency

Their initiative “My Bauhaus is better than yours” already caused a stir while the protagonists were still college students. And for a good three years now Manuel Goller and Sebastian Schönheit have been a design studio and brand called New Tendency. They take a conceptual approach, and their furniture designs have a precise formal idiom. The two neo-Berlinites (supported by various young designers) like to work with metal – and have their collection made by smaller companies in Germany and neighboring countries. And now they have created an addition to their “Discussion” table, namely their “Throne” chair. Given the hard metal profiles, let’s not talk about seating comfort and instead about its spatial impact and enjoy its sentimental allusions to Josef Hoffmann’s Vienna café furnishings.

Another Brick in the Wall?
“Brick” by Olaf Schroeder for Pure Position

Based on its “Brick” modular shelving program, Frankfurt designer Olaf Schröder has now created a “Mini-me”: „Brick for kids“ for Pure Position. The trick remains the same: The individual modules (80 cm wide, 20 or 40 high) can be connected to one another with no screws, as the frames function as tracks. There are three elements: modules with frames, modules without frames and boxes that are drawers. The birch Multiplex boards have an HPL coating and are available in white, yellow, green, blue and red. Moreover, the collection scores socially, too: “Brick for Kids” are made in the IWL workshops by people with disabilities.

Sideboard or rather a seat-board?
Werner Aisslinger has expanded “Cube Gap” for Interlübke

It’s now basically a young classic, “Cube” that is, the cupboard-cum-chest-of-drawers-cum-sideboard family that Werner Aisslinger dreamed up in 2002 for Interlübke. And that’s just to mention a few of the options. New individual modules measuring 50 by 50 cm enable you to create “Highboards”. An especially flat drawer unit and cushioned upholstery transform the “Cube Gap” sideboard into a bench – at the flick of a wrist. And if you want to make it a real eye-catcher, then take the new glass “Display Case”. Inside the glass cube you can place all those beloved items – to be had in smoky gray, warm bronze, blue or mauve.

As permeable as a sieve
“Colander” by Patrick Norguet for Kristalia

Patrick Norguet presumably loves his pasta. Otherwise, why would the French designer have come up with the idea of creating a chair inspired by a noodle sieve? Thus, “Colander” for Kristalia has a perforated seat and backrest, just like any good colander. The frame is made of aluminum, the seat and backrest from molded polypropylene. The sieve-like structure is especially advantageous in summer, when you take the chair outdoors to enjoy life and things get really hot. The perforation ensures air circulation, so the chair breathes, and rain flows off. And just like others of its namesakes today, “Colander” is available in a wide variety of colors, specifically in white, black, beige, coral red and basalt gray.

At long last infinite
“Serie K” conference table by System 180

Even if the System 180 lines with its emblematic tubular steel structures already include several conference tables, the new one is simply capable of doing more. “Serie K” can be variably extended on the basis of a 216 cm by 120 cm standard by adding extra tops, each 72 cm in length, meaning the table can become infinitely long. A conference table that extends right round the globe is therefore now conceivable. “K” also boasts a shelf beneath the top that can house electronic appliances and the leads run through flush inset channels in the tops. The tops are available in 11 monochrome decors and in two real wood veneers.

Head for the moon
“LH12” and “LO12” by Jan Armgardt for Müller Möbelfabrikation

Never before was there evidently such a desire to conquer the universe, at least to go by the current hype relating to the new episode of “Star Wars”. A little less ambitious: the plan to have people permanently live on a lunar station. And should a side-table be required up there, then we would recommend the one Jan Armgardt has made from a bent metal strip in a one-legged version “LH12” (height: 65 cm) and a four-leg version “LO12” (height: 44 cm). “Made in Germany” by Augsburg’s Müller Möbelfabrikation and available in a default white or in any RAL color on request.