Moving stories

Scotland’s design community is agog with plans for the Six Cities festival, which kicks off officially on 17 May (see News in Depth, page 7). But, the Edinburgh crowd are being treated to a taster in the form of Living in Motion, a travelling show from the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, which opened in the city last week. The premise behind the show, created by VDM senior curator Mathias Schwartz-Clauss, is that innovation in design and architecture is constantly driven by the desire to make living space more flexible. Ideas are fuelled across generations of designers by comparisons between cultures, some settled, some based on transitory living. So, in the show we see ‘buildings’ such as Eduard Böhtlingk’s flamboyant, extendable Markies camper van, designed in 1986, and Open Office’s 2001 prototype dwelling, manifested here as a highly desirable beach hut. Then there are the artefacts, shown here at the exhibition (above left), including Joe Columbo’s 1968 Box 1 room pack and Gae Aulenti’s stylish Tour four-wheeler table, created in 1993. Considering the UK obsession with property, it’s good to know that the human race is still nomadic at heart.

Living in Motion: Design and Architecture for Flexible Dwelling runs until 10 June at the City Art Centre, Edinburgh EH1 1DE