HBL Exhibitions: Live from Tendence

ASA Selection at Tendence 2011

WGSN-homebuildlife reports live from gift and accessories fair Tendence in Frankfurt, Germany. Here are the top three trends to emerge from the annual event so far:

Wood and biological materials: the focus on sustainable materials, bio-plastics and wood is becoming stronger and stronger. Non-biological plastics are mixed with bamboo or corn, but some products are made using 100% biodegradable materials.

Bicolour: ceramics, porcelain, melamine and glass products are presented in various two-tone styles.

Back to nature: inspirations from nature play an important role in both form and material.

Subscribers, click here to read the full live report.

HBL Book of the Week: Less and More

ABR 21 Signal Radio by Dieter Rams & Dietrich Lubs, 1978

Dieter Rams is one of the most important designers of the 20th century. Alongside Dietrich Lubs, he was instrumental in shaping the future of electronic design during his tenure as chief of design at Braun from 1961-1995, transforming the anonymous grey box into an object of desire - and providing one of the main influences for Jonathan Ives' work to date at Apple.

LDF 2011: Marimekko at Heal's

Heal's and Marimekko will launch this limited-edition of the Mistral sofa, upholstered in Marimekko fabric, at the London Design Festival 2011

Finnish design brand Marimekko are to hold a pop-up shop in Heal's flagship Tottenham Court Road branch for next month's London Design Festival.

HBL News: Melbourne is world's most liveable city

The results of 2011's Global Liveability Survey see Melbourne take first place, beating Vancouver - which had held the top position in the survey since 2002.

The BBC reports that Australian and Canadian cities in fact scooped seven of the top ten places, with cities assessed according to five key criteria: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. London, sadly, ranks 43rd out of 140 cities in total. Melbourne's mayor, Robert Doyle, is reportedly "absolutely delighted" with the results.

South Tyrolean architecture

Photography by Luke Tebbutt

During a recent trip to South Tyrol, WGSN-homebuildlife was fascinated to see how contemporary architecture was being integrated into a traditional setting.

Design Indaba Shanghai

Robert Wong speaking at Design Indaba 2011

South Africa's renowned design fair and conference, Design Indaba, has announced a partnership with the city of Shanghai. As well as the launch of Design Indaba Shanghai, which sees the conference travel to the Far East for the first time, the event's organisers will also be creating an international design school in the city, and founding a Design Indaba Gallery to exhibit outstanding design from around the world.

Museum of Arts and Design celebrates fashion in film

New York City's Museum of Arts and Design is hosting a three-day event celebrating fashion, design and style in film on September 9-11 during New York Fashion Week. MAD has partnered with Vanity Fair and the Film Society of Lincoln Center to bring the public screenings, panel discussions and receptions co-curated by Barney's Creative Director Simon Doonan.

Screenings include iconic gems like William Klein's Qui Êtes-Vous, Polly Magoo? and new releases like the world premiere of Jan Sharp's new Rick Owens Documentary Rick, Michele, and Scarlett. The weekend will be a delight for fashion, design and film enthusiasts alike. Purchase tickets for the film series here.

HBL Blog of the Week: Turntable Kitchen

Turntable Kitchen

Turntable Kitchen is a blog devoted to pairing music with food. San Francisco-based founders Kasey and Matthew regularly post recipes, album reviews and hand-picked 'Musical Pairings' which combine the two. The aim is to "introduce food lovers to music and vice versa".

HBL loves: the blog's recently launched Turntable Kitchen Pairings Box - a selection of fresh ingredients, recipe cards and music pairings delivered directly to the customer each month. Described as "a curated food and music discovery experience", it's the perfect example of a blog logically extending its brand offline.

Designer dogwalk at Bergdorf-Goodman

Best In Show: Designer's Dogs Take the Catwalk; image via www.terra.com

Bergdorf-Goodman has announced that it will again stage a designer dog catwalk show during New York Fashion Week. The US department store's last event of this nature, called Best In Show: Designer's Dogs Take the Catwalk, was held during Fashion's Night Out last NY Fashion Week and was a huge hit with bloggers (more photos here).

WGSN-homebuildlife subscribers can see how dogs have stolen the limelight on the catwalk this season in our Pets lifestyle trends report.

HBL Retail: Lane Crawford A/W 11/12

Environment Captain, Lane Crawford A/W 11/12. Image copyright: Nick Maggio

Hong Kong department store Lane Crawford has categorised its forthcoming autumn/winter 2011/12 collection into three themes: Scandinavian Modernist, Eco Chic and Intersection. Here, WGSN-homebuildlife previews Eco Chic - a product direction which sees old become new again as home decor embraces upcycling.

Restoration Hardware Launches New Publication

A new print magazine from American brand Restoration Hardware showcases the most complete expression of the brand to date and represents another example of the emerging trend of custom publishing as a marketing tool. The magazine features original editorial profiles by independent journalists and photographers that share the stories of designers and craftsmen who have designed the company’s latest products.

This Is Design & Designers In Residence

Candlestick Telephone, 1920; image courtesy of the Design Museum Collection

London's Design Museum has just opened its doors to two new exhibitions, both running until January 2012. The first, This Is Design, opens today, and is an informative display of the museum's permanent collection. Organised into four themes, each object is used to consider the impact of design on both everyday lives and society at large. A highlight for us was a display of three telephones designs, ranging from a 1920 Candlestick Telephone to a 1960s 'clamshell' style.

Simon Hasan's boiled leather stools at Designers In Residence

The second exhibition, Designers In Residence, continues the museum's tradition of commissioning new and emerging designers to develop work. This year's theme is imperfection: specifically "to consider the idea of imperfection either in an object, environment or experience". Each of the four designers showed a very different response, with the show tracking their work from prototypes and developments to 'final' pieces.