To mark its 75th anniversary Knoll joined forces with OMA, co-founded by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. At Salone del Mobile 2013 in Milan earlier this month they launched a new collection of kinetic furniture called Tools for Life. The collection features adjustable tables, swivel chairs, a stool, an executive desk, and other items. The minimalist material palette makes the furniture compatible with a range of residential and workplace interiors. I would like to highlight one of the collection pieces named 04 Counter. A horizontal stack of 3 timber blocks that can be transformed from a wall-like unit to cantilevered benches that swing around a central axis. A metamorphosis from a spatial partition to a communal gathering place. We wanted to create a range of furniture that performs in very precise but also in completely unpredictable ways, furniture that not only contributes to the interior but also to the animation – Rem Koolhaas

Fabian Bürgy is a Swiss born sculptor and independent digital creative, who’s diverse and artistic practice includes sculpture, installation and digital imaging. His work explores the aesthetic of things through random encounters of materials, misplaced situations and spatial relationships. It is a series of Bürgy’s incredible installations and digital creations that I would like to share with you here. He creates conceptual situations and small interventions, which are inspired by a wide range of mundane objects and appearances. All of which are characterised by a slightly violent and disturbing process of transformation, misplacement and dysfunction of things. Bürgy takes specific thoughts and develops conflicts with precise and absolutely minimalistic means – constantly exploring the point where known things become something else, where metamorphosis is reached. Personal favourite has to be the lonely and misplaced black cloud floating in space. Wonderful.

German multifaceted creative Jan von Borstel, based in Hamburg and London, is a designer, artist and consultant. Exhibiting graceful forms and simplicity with efficiency, von Borstel’s installations and products are wonderful examples of modernism in art and design. One such example is the evolution of 7 Chairs – a feature of his Snow White installation in London. Made from laser-cut sheet metal, which is then bent and dipped in glossy white PVC, the chairs together represent the smooth metamorphosis from a relaxed lounge chair to an upright kitchen chair, which includes changes in seating height and backrest angle. From the concept to the chair designs themselves, I really enjoy this.

We have written very little about minimalist music on this blog and I did not even know what the definition of minimalist music was really. So I was looking for some information about it and I think this is a fairly good definition: Music created with limited resources, the same notes and sound sequences repeated over and over again but end up creating a structure. On the other hand, I found that one of the most important figures of minimalist music is Philip Glass. He has not been the pionner of the style but is considered the most influential musican of it. He is a prolific composer who has also written operas, musical theatre works, solo works and film scores, for example. I would like to start by recommending the Piano Solo album, from which the song Metamorphosis Two was featured on, performed by Branka Parlic, because the feeling of the entire album has caught me from the first moment I listened to it. I hope you like it and I will appreciate your comments about it and suggestions for future posts about minimalist music.

Korean product designer Giha Woo is the creator of the Twisted Pencil. The design is a vase comprising of pencils, which form an outline of its shape, albeit appearing as one. The design also conveys aesthetic value with a nuance of amusement by representing the relationship between the pencil structure and utensils stored within it. Available in a range of colours including black, white and blue, Twisted Pencil offers a certain minimal feel in that it is merely a frame, but because of the thickness of the pencils used, that is all it needs to be. Woo explains: In comparison with general products, Twisted Pencil isn’t a vase that can contain a lot more pencils, but it includes new aesthetics and morphological consideration about things. A fun desk accessory, not to be taken too seriously.

Japanese product designer and art director Teruhiro Yanagihara of Isolation Unit has designed TYP – an elegant collection of leather goods for the Tokyo based leather manufacturer Morpho. The collection essentially comprises a variety of booklets or wallets, a brand concept derived from a paper and stationary theme. Available in ISO standard paper sizes (C4, A4, A5, B6, A6, A7), TYP has a very thin and simple design, which is emphasised by the closing mechanism that works only through folding. The booklets are also available in a variety of colours.