BRAUN & VITSOE DESIGN AT DAS PROGRAMM / December 18, 2021 by michael heyward

A visit to Das Programm to meet Peter Kapos, who is one of the Director’s of Systems Studio in E1 of which Das Programm is a research arm of Dieter Rams design for Braun & Vitsoe. Its a working space and not a showroom. It casually displays part of Peters vast personal collection of vintage Braun & Vitsoe products & furniture collected over 20 years and what a collection theres more Braun items than you can shake a stick at! much of which displayed on vintage Vitsoe shelves and cabinets. The reason for my visit was to purchase an SK55 (snow whites coffin) radio-Phono and pleased to say its now resides in my home, sitting on Vitsoe of course and currently enabling me to be having a nostalgia trip playing my old vinyl from the late 70’s & 80’s…Many thanks to Peter for allowing me to take photos and spending time chatting design….

HFGHGHGHG — The sofa and white tables are still manufactured by Vitsoe. The stool in the foreground is a stacking design from 1974.In the background on the wall the beautiful and quite rare wall mounted sound system by Braun 1962

the Braun wall mounted sound system 1962. fixed to Vitsoe tracks and with Vitsoe shelves.The further you get way from the Tape recorder the more to me it looks like one of Keith Haring’s bug eyed grinning face illustrations! but here with two eyes & not three!

close up of the tape recorder with it’s row of white plastic teeth (one missing) and bug eyes..

Lots of goodies on Vitsoe shelves. The yellow (RAL 1024) and brown (RAL 8008) ones surprisingly used to be in production. Would be great if Vitsoe did limited editions in colours again….Braun items feature: World-Band Receiver /Braun Exporter 2 (bottom left shelf) which is attributed to H F G Ulm and the RT20 Tabletop Radio by Rams 1961 (bottom right shelf)

The middle shelf has both versions of the Exporter radio. Rams did a makeover for what is basically still the same radio technically, the 1956 Exporter 2 on the right is the result..But what a difference!!

lots more Braun goodies on Vitsoe shelving….

collection of Braun radios displayed in a sadly long discontinued Vitsoe sliding glass door cabinet, I would definitely buy this glass door cabinet if it were to be available again, its really something missing from the current offer by Vitsoe. Oh there’s also the rather rare P1 (1959) portable record player in the middle with its clip on T4 Pocket Radio.

SOUTH NORWOOD LIBRARY / September 7, 2021 by michael heyward

Recently visited the threatened South Norwood Library, London SE25, for open House Weekend. Had been meaning to go for a while but open House seemed like the ideal time to go and visit and meet the people running the campaign to get the building listed and stop Croydon Council from selling it off to a developer and its inevitable demolition for what is very likely to be yet more so called “luxury” flats..

The building is by Hugh Lea, Borough Architect for Croydon. Dates from 1968. Its a real little gem, Mesian modernist inspired with a bit of brutalism thrown in. Black painted concrete and steel frame with large expanses of original aluminium framed glazing. The levitating cantilevered cuboid volume of what was the Reading Room (now the children’s library) is expressed in randomly vertically ridged concrete with an exposed aggregate finish. Lighting to this space is via set back clerestory windows. The volume sits nicely on expressed beams projecting from the columns. Original, what I assume is, a black painted steel sign of unknown font.. Inside its far more interesting spatially than one might think from outside. Interlinked and split level volumes are all open plan to an open central staircase allowing fluid movement and visibility throughout. Its a very interesting layout for a small building.

The building has clearly been starved of funds and TLC for a long time. None of the original shelving and furniture appears to remain and whats there now is itself well past its sell by date. Needs a complete renovation and very likely new aluminium windows to match existing. The building certainly deserves to be listed and then renovated and in this case repurposed. I think it could make a great local Co-working Space or Artists spaces and gallery, but the building could I think be flexible enough for other options with minor internal planning modifications.

The Library is programmed to move to the ground floor of a new block of flats nearby within the next year or so, however the new unit is little more than a retail unit of little character and needs modifying at extra cost to make its suitable as a Library which is no great surprise!

Check out the Insta feed @brutalistlibrary which is dedicated to preventing the demolition of what is currently a Locally Listed building. The Library is open for one more day as part of Open House this coming Saturday the 11th of September so get yourself down there and make your own mind up, lend support & sign the petition. You don’t need to book just turn up!

Original signage on the grooved and exposed aggregate concrete.”Does exactly what it says on the tin” its a Library!

Interior view from gallery. Tried to get as close to the same position as the original perspective below…

Original Sections drawings, showing the complexity of interrelated spaces.

MEMPHIS: PLASTIC FIELD-AT MK GALLERY / August 27, 2021 by michael heyward

My first visit to the MK Gallery in Milton Keynes. Memphis: Plastic Field is what attracted me. I personally saw a display of Memphis furniture & objects at Liberty London in the furniture department in what I think was 1982. Was a fan then and still am now, Over the decades many items have become iconic classics. I never thought that furnishing a whole home in this style would work but one ore two items mixed into an eclectic interior scheme can look great. Somewhat unfashionable for some time but has now seen a renaissance and is highly collectable. The Memphis Collective was set up by Ettore Sottsass in 1981. The objective was to overturn traditional principles of modernist design, functionality, good taste and I think inject a certain sense of humour..The result at the time was radical and became very influential throughout the 80’s and beyond. Not just in furnitures and product design but also Fashion, Graphics and the media.

The show has a whopping 150 items well laid out in what is a good piece of exhibition design. Walls are painted black up to a datum line throughout, this lets the colourful objects stand out like jewels. The items are placed on sections of black Astroturf like matting, the pattern of which is an upscaled version of three Laminate patterns designed by Sottsass for Memphis. Black plastic plants are scattered around giving an air of domesticity. The items all look in excellent condition as many were made for the exhibition and some items are actually still in manufacture, others on loan. Theres a very detailed information pdf document on the MK Gallery website that you can download. The show is produced with Memphis srl Milano and designed by IB Studio Milan. Its a reinterpretation of two previous shows in Bordeaux and Venice.

The MK Gallery is a relatively recently completed building (2019) by 6a Architect’s.Its an interesting building and certainly refreshing to see something new in Milton Keynes thats actually Worth looking at! The main part of the building is clad in corrugated polished steel, internally it has a semi industrial feel somewhat like an old warehouse building thats been repurposed. the gallery faces onto the massive Campbell Park so a walk there after visiting the Gallery is a great option. The show finishes on the 12th of September so get down there soon, definitely worth the visit. Oh and the staff are very friendly making the experience all the better 😀

BRAUN & VITSOE TOTAL DESIGN / July 31, 2018 by michael heyward

As part of the London Festival of Architecture late June: Braun & Vitsoe, Total Design Exhibition. Located in a duplex flat on the Highgate New Town (Whittington Estate) by Peter Tabori. The flat belongs to Peter Kapos who collects Braun & Vitsoe products designed by the fantastic product designer Dieter Rams. Jonathan Ive of Apple is a fan and quotes him as influential in his work. Peters flat is crammed with Braun and Vitsoe collectables. He also deals Braun products via Dasprogramm.co.uk Not only got to see all these wonderful design objects but also see inside one of the Whittington Estate flats for the first time .The flat is very well laid out with generous space (especially by todays standards) and with great external roof terraces. The flats were built for Camden Council under the Direction of Sidney Cook and were constructed from 1968-1981. If you want to know more about the architecture get the excellent book: Cooks Camden, The making of modern housing, by Mark Swenarton. Many thanks to Peter for such an interesting and welcoming visit to his home.

05_The Whittington Estate, Stoneleigh Terrace