VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2011

Contemporary design for children at the Vienna Design Week

Following the Design Week in Milan and the Design Month in Graz, kidsroomZOOM now opens its doors in Vienna. From 1 to 9 October more than 20 international designers will be presenting contemporary art and furniture in the historic centre of Vienna as part of the Vienna Design Week. Developed by unduetrestella founder Paola Noé and Austrian children’s furniture designer Thomas Maitz the project unites art, product presentations, events and workshops in a shared exhibition space. The artists, designers and labels will together furnish a large private apartment in Wipplinger Straße in the heart of Vienna’s historic centre. In contrast to conventional exhibitions, in which brands present themselves in isolation on individual stands, the kidsroomZOOM exhibitions represent fully furnished children’s living spaces, jointly created by the exhibition’s participants.

kidsroomZOOM provides a networking platform and encourages cooperation between competitors: “We all want to create functional, rugged, beautiful and environment-friendly furniture and objects for kids”, explains project organiser and interior designer Thomas Maitz. “When I became father, I was immediately faced with the question of the right children’s furniture”. A qualified carpenter, Thomas first design – the multifunctional solid wood children’s furniture combination MAXintheBOX – soon became a sought-after design object.

Furniture and other objects contribute to building the material world around a child and are therefore significant conveyors of meaning. Whether crafted by hand or industrially manufactured, items of furniture and objects for children reveal a lot about adults’ attitudes towards children’s physical and mental development.

Today’s items of children’s furniture are increasingly not so much miniature versions of adults’ furniture as bespoke objects tailored to the specific needs of children, such as intimacy, family structure, power, autonomy and personal territory, learning and, above all, the importance of play. In recent years this has given rise to an exciting kids’ design scene with unusual ideas.

KidsroomZOOM goes much further in its aims than to merely present design objects: The main objective is to provide visitors with an immediate and interactive experience of contemporary art for children.

At kidsroomZOOM visitors enter a world made specially for children; a world that is, in truth, also their own. Under the motto “how old r u?” grown-ups can come down to the level of children and question their values and their approach to furniture and everyday objects for kids, considering such issues as environment, value awareness, openness and responsibility for future generations.

Partecipant brands: az&mut (F), Bybo design (S), Bomb Design (D), breaded escalope (AT), Collect Furniture (DK), Caroline Gomez/mouta (F), Gommini (D), Liliane (NL), green lullaby, Hektik (NL), Johannes Hoffmann (AT), Kalon Studios (USA), Kidsonroof (DK), kubix (AT), Jäell & Tofta (D), jooloomooloo (AT), Junior Living (DK), Lou & dejlig (AT), move-it products (GB),   Nonjetable (F), Nonah (F), Pete Oyler (USA), perludi (AT), Punch’n’Cuddle (GB), Rijada (LV), The Collection (F), Thorsten van Elten (GB), Tukluk (AT).

unduetrestella presents for the first time the artwork “Dream Catcher” by the artist Kristine Alskne (Riga), the special project by Mao Fusina Made in clouds, Natural design, and the new fabric wall stickers for children by Peridea (I).
The illustrator Ilaria Faccioli (I) will show the ABC wallpaper for the unduetrestella project “Open Sesame” .

We would be pleased to welcome you at our grand opening on 1 October from 11:00 hours and at the kidsroomZOOM design exhibition in Wipplinger Straße 29/2.

kidsroomZOOM: 1–9 October 2011. 1/10 from 11:00 hours, thereafter from 10:00–19:00 hours.
Wipplinger Straße 29/2, 1st floor, 1010 Vienna. Grand opening: 1 October 2011 from 11:00 hours.