Tag: Justin McGuirk

Bacteria and pedal power could be the
future of kitchens – The Guardian


Dezeen Wire:
design critic Justin McGuirk says that a kitchen concept by Dutch electrical company Philips that uses decomposition to generate methane gas for cooking is an example of how we may “have to get more comfortable with bacteria and with putrefaction’s role in our ecosystem” – The Guardian

McGuirk claims the Microbial kitchen concept‘s “steampunk” aesthetic offers “an alternative vision to the clinical kitchen,” and also mentions the trend for low-tech kitchen appliances, such as designer Christoph Thetard’s pedal-powered devices, which he says represent a reaction to the impending energy crisis.

Last year Dezeen published a report on Food and Design, including examples of low-tech gadgets for preserving and preparing ingredients and concepts for growing food in the kitchen.

Justin McGuirk urges governments to
get designers on board


Dezeen Wire:
in his latest article in The Guardian, design critic Justin McGuirk explains how the Finnish government’s use of design thinking offers an exemplar for other states and big businesses who need to generate creative solutions to large social problems.

Justin McGuirk reviews this year’s
London Design Festival


Dezeen Wire:
design critic Justin McGuirk claims that the most creative work on show during the recent London Design Festival was to be found in basement flats and disused offices - The Guardian

See more stories by Justin McGuirk here and all of our coverage on the London Design Festival here.

“Has postmodernist design eaten itself?”
- The Guardian


Dezeen Wire:
Justin McGuirk of The Guardian is the latest critic to write about the kitsch revival of postmodernism, which he says remains popular with consumers - The Guardian

A retrospective about the postmodern movement opens at the Victoria & Albert museum on 24 September. See recent articles on postmodernism by Alice Rawsthorn for The New York Times and Rowan Moore in The Observer.

Read all our Dezeen Wire stories about Justin McGuirk

“Is all of this design?” Gwangju Design Biennale
review – The Guardian


Dezeen Wire:
design critic Justin McGuirk reports from Korea on the Gwangju Design Biennale - The Guardian

Curated by Ai Weiwei and Seung H-Sang, the biennale runs until 23 October. Exhibits include designs for bombs, plastic surgery for fighters and blueprints for public executions, plus a series of temporary follies built around the city by renowned architects including Atelier Bow-Wow, Peter Eisenman and Dominique Perrault.

See all our Dezeen Wire stories about Justin McGuirk.

“Designs for life won’t make you a living”
- Guardian


Dezeenwire:
design critic Justin McGuirk lifts the lid on the furniture industry’s royalty system and asks “are designers being exploited by having to make work for free?” in his article for The Guardian, describing #milanuncut as the big story of Milan 2011. Read the full article »

More about #milanuncut here »
Follow the debate on Twitter »

“What price success? London Design Festival
misses a trick, again” – Guardian


Dezeenwire:
Justin McGuirk attacks “success culture” and applauds grassroots design in his review of the London Design Festival - Guardian

“Boris Johnson’s London Cycle Hire scheme
flogs our birthright to Barclays”


Dezeenwire:
Justin McGuirk on London’s new Barclays Cycle Superhighways – Guardian

“Have we outgrown designer Ron Arad?”
- The Guardian

Dezeenwire: Justin McGuirk, editor of icon magazine, launches his new blog for The Guardian with an attack on designer Ron Arad, whose Ron Arad: Restless exhibition opened at the Barbican recently – The Guardian

Related stories: see our special Ron Arad issue of Dezeenwire.