Visit Ricola Kräuterzentrum and Schauarchiv, 2 December 2023
How does a sweet manufacturer become a company that is now active worldwide? What roles do herbs play in this, and what roles does design play? The tour, organised exclusively for the NDG, first took us to Ricola's herb centre. The clay building by architects Herzog & de Meuron is the central location for processing and storing the herbs. Afterwards, we visited the newly established archive at the company's headquarters.
Dine & Tell with Studio David Glättli Zurich / Tokyo, 21 November 2023
David Glättli is an art director, consultant, design manager and curator for Japanese manufacturers, international companies and institutions, including Karimoku New Standard. How can a company use its tradition, idiosyncrasies and unique skills? What makes a mediation between designers and manufacturers successful? David Glättli discussed these and other questions for our NDG members during a dinner in the Japanese restaurant Hikari in Zurich.
Please, take a seat. 150 years of the Dietiker chair factory, 10 October 2023
Not many Swiss design companies can look back on such a long history as Dietiker. That is why the Kulturhaus Obere Stube in Stein am Rhein is dedicating an exhibition to the 150th anniversary of the "Sesseli". NDG board member und curator of the exhibition Ariana Pradal gave a guided tour of the presentation.
Book launch Rosmarie Baltensweiler. Life and work, 14 September 2023
Design is a way of perceiving and changing the world. It offers the chance to build a business and cultivate relationships. Rosmarie Baltensweiler (1927-2020) took advantage of all these opportunities. Together with her husband Rico Baltensweiler (1920-1987), she founded a company that is still internationally successful today and focused early on sustainable production and lighting. A large-scale monograph presents her life and work. NDG co-president Meret Ernst introduces Rosmarie Baltensweiler's role as a designer.
Show & Tell with Heike Schmitz-Esser, Enthusiatic Approval, 6 July 2023
New NDG member Heike Schmitz-Esser leads us through her showroom and talks about the Jakob Bengel manufactory and its Art Deco jewellery from the 1930s. Enthusiastic Approval presents not only Art Deco jewellery but also avant-garde designs by artists and architects from the early 20th century.
Swiss Design Awards, 13 June 2023
David Glättli, a member of the Federal Design Commission and a NDG board member, gave us an guided tour of the Swiss Design Awards exhibition, which presents the candidates who have been nominated in a two-stage process for the award.
4th General meeting, 12 May 2023
For this year's General Assembly we have put together a design-historically interesting programme. First, we took a guided tour of the Horgenglarus furniture factory in Glarus to learn how one of the oldest Swiss chair and table manufacturers produces. For the general assembly we were guests at the impressive Freulerpalast in Näfels, whose special exhibition also presented textiles from the Glarus printing company Mitlödi.
Meeting with design researcher and author Guy Julier, 22 April 2023
Guy Julier is a full professor at the Department of Design at Aalto University in Helsinki. He is the author of Economies of Design and The Culture of Design. A keen observer, scholar and practitioner, he has more than 30 years of experience researching global changes in design, business and society. On his journey through Europe, he stopped in Zurich and we met up with him.
Visit to Ruedi Rock's tubular steel furniture warehouse, 9 March 2023
The well-known furniture dealer Ruedi Rock has brought together his collection of historic tubular steel furniture in a storage room. He granted NDG members an exclusive insight into his universe. It was an experience for fans of historical furniture.
NDG+ Design History Foundation, Barcelona, 28 February 2023
Our first guest in the new NDG+ format was Barcelona's Design History Foundation FHD. lt's chair, lsabel Campi talked in our online event about the motivation for establishing this foundation, what activities the FHD organises, and what goals it is striving for. And she also put light on the situation of design historiography in Spain in conversation with NDG board member Monica Gaspar.