From Place To Space: Zurich Design Guide

Today I am taking you on a design tour through the Swiss city of Zurich. Two weeks ago I spent a weekend in this charming city in Switzerland thanks to the kind invitation of Zurich Tourism. During my visit I had the opportunity to visit the design fair Blickfang in Zurich and the next day I took part in a guided design tour with one of Zurich's best design connoisseurs, René Grüninger.

I want to show you a few of my personal highlights from the Blickfang design fair in Zurich and the design tour through Zurich's design districts, Kreis 4 and Kreis 5. Let's roll!

Blickfang Design Fair

The Swiss designer Véronique Baer is based in the Netherlands and presented her super fun 'Bounce Chairs' - puffy chairs in soft pastel hues that look like giant candy. You approach those chairs with a certain curiosity and caution - but once you take place you sink into a soft seating that perfectly adapts to your body and makes for a perfect seating.

Swiss furniture maker Kadur Rohner caught my eye with his sleek, almost Scandinavian inspired furniture collection. In a short chat I've learned that his design is actually pretty Swiss - apparently the Swiss prefer simple, sleek design made of natural materials with a good quality. Very cool pieces for purists!

The young German design label 'Freudwerk' exhibited some almost spacey furniture and lighting pieces. The clean cut lines, the irregular angles and a creative usage of size make the pieces of 'Freudwerk' stand out. I particularly liked their floor lamps.

Zurich based 'Raum B' presented a cool geometrical bowl in white and in a colourful version and was a little colour highlight for my ceramics loving eye.

Zurich Design Tour

If you happen to travel to Zurich any time soon (hint: join my Pinterest giveaway by repinning THIS IMAGE and winning one night for two persons including breakfast in the cool 25hours Hotel where I was staying), I have a few design addresses to recommend:

Bogen 33: This is a fantastic store for vintage lovers. Furniture, decor items, accessories - everything is presented in a cool arched store and the charming owner will invite you for an espresso at his bar if you fancy.

The Chair: A cool and well curated store with contemporary design pieces and yes - quite a few design chairs. Also located in the famous 'Bögen' (arches) of Zurich's design district.

Waldraud: A funky concept store uniting fashion, design and art in a small boutique.

Einzigart: A very beautiful design store in Zurich. They feature a wide range of home accessories, design and cook books, design furniture and home textiles. I could not leave this store empty handed.

Nico Heilmann Lighting Design: The design studio of the Swiss lighting designer Nico Heilmann is small but equipped with pretty amazing lighting design pieces.

Bliss Modern Antiques: Mid-century lovers will drool when entering this store. Fantastic mid-century furniture pieces and home accessories will make you want to spend all your money. Moreover, a shop-in-shop called 'Green Stuff' is in the store too selling classic looking light bulbs with modern LED technology, combining old and new!

I hope you enjoyed this little design tour through Zurich, Switzerland. I was pretty surprised by the thriving and creative scene in this picturesque city. And yes, Zurich is more than banks and chocolates - it's a cool design city! For more Zurich design tips check out my blog post over on Roombeez (in German).

Happy new week!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

This blog post has been brought to you in collaboration with Zurich Tourism

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