The design fair Design Miami has selected the German designer Konstantin Grcic as this year’s recipient of the Designer of the Year Award. The fair has commissioned him to produce a new piece for the fair, and presented an exhibition of highlights from Konstantin Grcic’s career, curated by Grcic himself.

In this conversation with VernissageTV’s Sabine Trieloff, Konstantin Grcic talks about “Netscape”, the installation he has created for the fair, and his career. The above video is an excerpt, focusing on “Netscape”. The full-length version is available after the jump.

Konstantin Grcic is one of the world’s most influential designers. In 1991 he founded Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design (KGID). The design studio has worked in fields ranging from furniture and product design to exhibition design and architecture-related commissions. Konstantin Grcic’s products have received numerous awards including the Compasso d’Oro for his Mayday lamp in 2001. His designs are part of the permanent collections of museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Neue Sammlung in Munich.

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“Along with his studio Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design (KGID) that was set up in 1991 he has made a name for himself through experiments with materials and a constructive individuality. KGID products are characterised by their everyday usefulness and formal restraint as well as by humour and perspicacity. These are the kind of products that at times can even amaze and irritate. In addition to analysing for what and whom the designs are intended, challenging the industrial process is always a major concern. This leads to the creation of objects such as Chair_One or the portable light Mayday.” (PR Museum of Design, Zurich). Interview with Konstantin Grcic, part 3/3. January 22, 2007.
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Related Articles:

• This Side Up - Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design / Museum of Design Zurich / Interview, part 2/3
• This Side Up - Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design / Museum of Design Zurich / Interview, part 1/3

Konstantin Grcic was born in Munich, Germany in 1965. After training as a cabinet maker at Parnham College in England he studied Design at the Royal College of Art in London from 1988-1990. Since setting up his own design practice Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design in Munich in 1991 he has developed furniture, products and lighting for some of Europe ́s leading design companies such as Agape, Authentics, ClassiCon, Driade, Flos, Iittala, Krups, Lamy, Magis, Moormann, Moroso, Muji, Whirlpool. Many of his products have received prestigious design awards. In October 2000 Konstantin Grcic is nominated “Guest of Honour” at the Interieur Biennial in Kortrijk/Belgium presenting an extensive show of his work. The Mayday-lamp produced by Flos was selected into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and won the Compasso D’Oro in 2001. Recently Konstantin Grcic has been named A&W Designer of the Year 2007 by the german magazine Architektur und Wohnen. Interview with Konstantin Grcic, part 2/3. January 22, 2007.
> Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) this link to download video file.
Read the rest of this entry »

Related Articles:

• This Side Up - Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design / Museum of Design Zurich / Interview, part 3/3
• This Side Up - Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design / Museum of Design Zurich / Interview, part 1/3

The show This Side Up at the Museum of Design Zurich, conceived by Konstantin Grcic and his team, shows works from the past decade. It emphasises processes and is presented as an arrangement of over-sized boxes that look as if they have been casually opened for the visitors. Fifty products are on display and visitors can follow the way they developed by means of drawings, models, prototypes and video films. Interview with Konstantin Grcic, part 1/3. Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, January 22, 2007.
> Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) this link to download video file.
Read the rest of this entry »

Related Articles:

• This Side Up - Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design / Museum of Design Zurich / Interview, part 3/3
• This Side Up - Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design / Museum of Design Zurich / Interview, part 2/3