cafebabel.com

UNPOLISHED: understanding Poland through interior design

('Annie Rutherford',) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:12:12 -0000

The exhibition of Polish design has been touring Europe since 2009. The project aims to define the identity of Polish design between glazed tiles and paper sofas. We notice an abundance of designer couples, a trend of making works from minimal materials and a link to Poland’s past in Paris

Canvas, Otpor, Pora: Serbia's brand is non-violent revolution

('shadow',) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:35:39 -0000

Israa Abdel Fattah, Mohamed Adel and Asmaa Mahfouz will be remembered as the ones who largely contributed to dismantling Hosni Mubarak's 30 year rule over Egypt, and one of them revealed this year that he trained with similar youth organisations in Belgrade

EU-Turkey: Atatürk and Charlemagne on your euro notes

('Hatice Sitki',) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 18:19:04 -0000

It is simply accepted that any new member will fit into and accept EU symbols as their own. Turkey will have to accept this, just like others member states have done in the past and will do in the future...but here are some ideas for a future European Union and Turkey via branding national myths and symbols

The importance of being eco-ideological in Budapest

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:15:42 -0000

Green is in fashion in the Hungarian capital, but the word is often just an empty trunk, a sales argument in a consumer world which forgot its ecological foundations long ago

When does design (not) become art?

('Hanna Sankowska',) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:04:28 -0000

There was no clear answer at the 14th pavilion of arts and design in Paris between 24 - 28 March. We talked limited edition pieces, the concept of twenty-first century art and the nature of spending at the internationally renowned trade show, which was held in the Tuilerie gardens

WAMP: inside the monthly Hungarian design fair

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:15:00 -0000

Since 2006, the monthly design market has attracted hundreds of young local designers like 'Musu' who display their creations in front of an ever-growing crowd of visitors. But WAMP is not only a collective promotion of Hungarian design, it’s also a formidable economic catalyst, with its international design week too

Dominika Nowak: 'I want to stay unusual, even if I've had to become more commercial'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:27:38 -0000

The designer untames convention with her 'Nunc' shoes, insisting that her furry fabric fantasies are made to be adapted to daily life. We discuss Paris-Krakow, fashion uglies and what it's like to go it alone as a one-woman brand at 27

Verena Gerlach: 'font design is a very white male heterosexual field'

('Soili Semkina',) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:01:13 -0000

Berlin is the inspiration behind the German font designer’s creations, so we meet the 38-year-old there. We talk type, women, men and originality

Eboy: Berlin's ‘godfathers of pixel’

('Kate Hollinshead',) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

London, Cologne, Venice, Tokyo: the German design pixel group pixelate city visions and hail themselves as a jazz band. They are guilty of simply improvising the definitive concept of ‘urbanity’

Turin, world design capital 2008: the keyword is sustainability

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

This year, the northern Italian city becomes a laboratory of large-scale projects such as industrial conversion, development and eco-compatibility

November pick of Europe's best culture events

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0000

From Helsinki avant-garde cinema to factory fairs in Switzerland, your guide on where to be a culture vulture this month