Yay! I got my www.MAGAZIN.com – perfect for snuggling up on the sofa when the weather’s bad and scrolling through all these beautiful Things. It’s a fab collection of well-designed, well-made products. You sense that the selection’s been carefully thought through, and that you can trust its quality and ethical credentials. I could buy everything, and if anything’s missing I’m sure I’ll find it at www.manufactum.de! Manufactum and MAGAZIN both have the tradition to tell the stories behind their products – I think more and more that’s what makes the difference in our consumer world – to know where and from whom it comes from…
www.MAGAZIN.com
www.manufactum.de
The Thing I like: Their recommendation to subscribe for www.damnmagazine.net!
By chance Christian took me to the opening of the new NOMOS Glashütte store in Zurich. What a wonderful surprise for a Friday night – dropping in and discovering such a fantastic product. NOMOS is a manufacturer of beautifully designed and very fine watches.
As I learnt…
A mechanical watch is powered by its movement, also known as the ‘calibre’. This is what determines the skill of the watchmaker. Generic movements can be sourced from specialist manufacturers or designed and made in-house, which is what the brands with the highest reputations do – including NOMOS Glashütte. NOMOS is responsible for generating between 75 and 95 per cent of the value of the calibre in its own workshops in Glashütte, birthplace of the German watchmaking industry.
NOMOS now has a good-looking store at Spiegelgasse 13 in the old part of Zurich. I’ll definitely have to go back for a closer look at all their timepieces – I must admit that I was rather distracted by the yummy wine they were serving… I recommend the Schieferterassen Riesling from www.heymann-loewenstein.com!
The Zurich/CreativeMornings November speaker was Michel Bachmann, co-founder of www.hubzurich.org. Michel talked about collaborative innovation: taking the ‘social’ in social entrepreneurship seriously.
HUB is present in over 20 cities and is what they call a global ecosystem of people, places and ideas dedicated to sustainable change.
HUB Zurich provides its members with a wonderful space at www.im-viadukt.ch for working and networking with other entrepreneurs and social innovators. A host makes sure that the right members meet and connect between the different projects. If you have a great idea for tackling our biggest environmental challenges, such as climate change and sustainability, then submit your project and you could join the fellowship programme and win a membership!
Creative Mornings are an initiative of www.swiss-miss.com, which started these monthly gatherings of creatives in 2008 in NY. Each event includes a 20-minute lecture, followed by a 20-minute group discussion. The gathering begins at 8:30 a.m. with coffee + croissants and everyone goes off to work at 10. There are currently three chapters: Zurich, Los Angeles and New York. I like these brief insights into different topics and the opportunities for meeting interesting people. It’s a good way to start your day.
http://creativemornings.com
This morning’s coffee was sponsored by www.cafe-noir.ch
Check out when the next Creative Mornings take place and sign up early because they fill up quickly!
www.facebook.com/Zurich.CreativeMornings
www.twitter.com/zurich_CM
There are so many nice places in paris – here are just some I came across…I stayed at www.mamashelter.com. In the hotel shop I bought my first espadrilles in at least 10 years, they are made in france and I like the bleu-blanc-rouge style… Next time I’ll give www.hidden-hotel.com a go. Paris is a wonderful place for strolling around and popping into nice restaurants, like the Petit Pontoise, or relaxing over a coffee, such as at www.merceandthemuse.com (many thanks to Nina who found this lovely place). I also stumbled across this great shop: http://shop.kitsune.fr. I hope next time the www.musee-picasso.fr has reopened…
I visited Paris this June for the OFFF event www.offf.ws/2011. OFFF is “born as a post-digital culture festival; a meeting place to host contemporary creation through an in-depth programme of conferences, workshops and performances by the most relevant artists of our time”. Under the theme “Nostalgia for a past future” we spent 3 days packed with interesting speeches in the wonderful location of la Grande halle de la Villette. I would recommend OFFF for any kind of visual inspiration, and I’m looking forward to next year’s edition in Barcelona.
Here are some of the designers and artists I liked most:
www.wordsarepictures.co.uk
www.christopherhewitt.com
www.joachimsauter.com
www.dixonbaxi.com
www.woostercollective.com
They extended the Deadline for early Price Tickets…so see you in Barcelona!
www.offf.ws/2011
I met Jörg, Stephan, Manuel and Martin in Leipzig at the Designer’s Open 2010… it was so inspiring to see these four friends with their in-depth know-how, sense of innovation and passion for cycling. I love their designs, their attention to detail, their feel for materials and the way the bikes are perfectly finished. What can be better than to fulfil your dreams with your friends? I hope everything they aspire to comes true… and I’m looking forward to test-riding Siegfried soon!
Amazing location. Perfect organisation. Fascinating talks. A few drinks. Wonderful people. Designers’ Open 2011.
I like Andreas Saxer’s aesthetic sensibilities, the clarity of his lines and the playfulness of his expression. His designs make complete sense in the way the materiality and form are addressed. I like the way he looks at things – and our chats in the studio we share.