OFFECCT Designer Profile #3: Beat Karrer

Beat Karrer was born in Zurich and this is where he has his studio and lab today. Beat is an active guest critic at ETH Zurich, lectures all over Europe, participates in juries and holds summer workshops for the Vitra Design Museum. Beat Karrer’s ideas have appeared in many publications and various books, such as the “International Design Yearbook”.

Beat Karrer

Beat Karrer

Beat describes himself as a problem solver who sees no reason to waste material, which is in line with OFFECCT’s sustainable design philosophy. We see Beat’s design as avant-garde, with clean cut lines and a clear statement, notably exemplified in our product SPINNAKER - reflecting Beat’s design motto “shaping ideas into smart solutions.”

OFFECCT's SPINNAKER by Beat Karrer

OFFECCT's SPINNAKER by Beat Karrer

SPINNAKER is a free standing room divider with unlimited connection possibilities, creating airy spaces instead of building walls. Inspired by a cruising sail ship, SPINNAKER is reduced to a balanced shape that has neither bottom nor top. It can easily be placed upside down for a different angle and to change the bottom line. SPINNAKER consists of a zincked pipe construction with chromed fittings and feet in black ABS, which can be covered with various textiles: black transparent polyester net or white sound absorbing 3D Mesh polyester fabric.

Beat himself believes progressive projects react to innovation, at the same time reflecting the requirements and respecting the environment.

“Where does a product designer get his ideas from? From new materials which encourage challenging new application possibilities. From new production techniques which make the previously unthinkable possible. And by observing everyday life manifesting unsatisfied needs.” Beat Karrer.

Also, check out:

Beat Karrer’s web site: beatkarrer.net

Beat Karrer’s Facebook page: facebook.com/StudioBeatKarrer

///

You can use these html tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>


Report from Kulturhaupstadt Europas – OFFECCT at the Red Dot Design Award Ceremony

OFFECCT’s Design Manager Anders Englund and designer Patrick Norguet travelled to Essen, Germany on 5 July 2010, in order to take part in the awards presentation of the “red dot award: product design,” one of the largest and major international design competitions.

Red Dot Design Award 2010

Red Dot Design Award 2010

Fly Chair by Patrick Norguet

Fly Chair by Patrick Norguet

Geo Soundwave by Ineke Hans

Geo Soundwave by Ineke Hans

As mentioned in an earlier blog post, Patrick Norguet’s Fly chair, and the acoustic panel Soundwave Geo designed by Ineke Hans was chosen to receive the Red Dot Design Award for 2010 earlier this year, and now the awards were presented at the Aalto-Theater in Essen. 

Since Essen and the Ruhr area is the 2010 European Capital of Culture, the award ceremony included cultural features such as Russian virtuoso pianist Nikolai Tokarev, and the Aalto Ballett Theater Essen performing pieces from the ballet “La Vie en Rose” by Ben Van Cauwenbergh.

The Red Dot jury about Norguet’s FLY:

“Fly presents itself in an organic design language. Because very little energy is necessary for making the fabric, the chair meets the demands for sustainable production.” 

///

You can use these html tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>


OFFECCT Designer Profile #2: Andrea Ruggiero

”We seek the beauty and intelligence in every project and tailor our approach to our clients’ needs, while never compromising on quality”, says Andrea Ruggiero about his design philosophy. 

Andrea Ruggiero

Andrea Ruggiero

Beauty, intelligence and superior quality also describes the result of OFFECCT’s collaboration with Andrea, namely the chair / writing plate / work surface TempoTempo is an informal, transitional seating for public spaces. The writing plate / work surface is manufactured in laminated plywood with lacquer finish. Frame in wood. Seat in cold foam upholstered in fabric or leather. Chromed or white lacquer frame. Tempo was awarded the Good Design Award 2008.

Tempo by OFFECCT and Andrea Ruggiero

Tempo by OFFECCT and Andrea Ruggiero

Andrea was raised in Italy, China, and Austria, and has studied at the prominent Domus Academy in Milan. Later Andrea received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Product Design from Parsons School of Design in New York, where he also met fellow OFFECCT designers Eero Koivisto and Mårten Claesson. Today Andrea is a member of the faculty of Parsons School of Design, with furniture and product design as research interests. Andrea is actively in involved in the development and design of furniture, packaging, environments and visual identity systems. His work if featured frequently in renowned lifestyle and design publications and has been selected for several awards, such as the aforementioned Good Design Award, ID Magazine’s Annual Design Review, the Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA), and the Award for Design Excellence (ADEX) 

According to inside sources Andrea is also an avid bass player, and a proud owner of the exclusive and hard-to-get Kubicki Ex Factor. Kubicki’s basses have a unique tuning module located in the body of the guitar rather than the headstock, as seen on most bass guitars. Needless to say, the Ex Factor looks just fine…

The Kubicki Ex Factor

The Kubicki Ex Factor

Andrea Ruggieros web site: andrearuggiero.com

//

You can use these html tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>


Horse Power – OFFECCT and Mercedes-Benz on Display at Falsterbo Horse Show

OFFECCT has entered into a partnership with one of the main sponsors of Falsterbo Horse Show, Mercedes-Benz.

Falsterbo Horse Show

Falsterbo Horse Show

Falsterbo Horse Show goes on from July 3 to July 11 2020, and is always as much Horse as Show. With almost a thousand horses and riders, fifty different disciplines and over six hundred people working in the Falsterbo Horse Show crew, you soon realize Falsterbo Horse Show is not just an ordinary event. It is a lifestyle, a venue and above all, the week of the summer everyone is waiting for.

Mercedes-Benz has got a number of lounges – or temporary showrooms, if you like – where this prestigious car maker displays a number of their latest car models. OFFECCT’s partnership with Mercedes-Benz means that these lounges are decorated with some of our trendy, qualitative and sustainable products such as FLY, GROW and FLO. Together we have created an attractive meeting point for the visitors of Falsterbo Horse Show. Welcome!

OFFECCT's Grow by Teruhiro Yanagihara

OFFECCT's Grow by Teruhiro Yanagihara

You can use these html tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>


OFFECCT Designer Profile #1: Alfredo Häberli

We will publish a number of profiles of the designers that OFFECCT collaborates with in the coming months. First out is Alfredo Häberli.

Alfredo Häberli was born in 1964, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He moved to Switzerland in 1977, where in 1991, he graduated in Industrial design at the Höhere Schule für Gestaltung in Zurich. He received the Diploma Prize, SfGZ in 1991. From 1988 onwards, he worked in Zurich for the Museum für Gestaltung, where he was responsible for numerous exhibitions. In 1993 he set up his own studio, and besides OFFECCT Häberli has worked for firms such as Iittala, Joop!, Moroso and Volvo.

Alfredo Häberli has designed Pick Up as well as the easy chairs Solichair and Solitaire for OFFECCT.

Alfredo Häberli

Alfredo Häberli

Pick Up by OFFECCT and Alfredo Häberli

Pick Up by OFFECCT and Alfredo Häberli

Solichair by OFFECCT and Alfredo Häberli

Solichair by OFFECCT and Alfredo Häberli

Solitaire by OFFECCT and Alfredo Häberli

Solitaire by OFFECCT and Alfredo Häberli

“For me it is extremely important that furniture encourages activity and movement. Nowadays people work in a different way than they used to, which puts new demands on our environment – people are expected to take more initiative in discussions and to be more active in meetings. I always try to develop and create new solutions. Good ideas should be able to be expressed in one or two sentences. I keep history in the background, and always endeavour to invent new design aspects.” says Alfredo Häberli

Alfredo Häberli’s web site: www.alfredo-haeberli.com

Alfredo Häberli’s Facebook page

You can use these html tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>