Guest Contribution by Pascal Panagiotidis

“Chairs got feet! And feet are for kicking” thought Jakob Maurer, Rupert Adlmaier and Thomas Egger. Taking theory in action the three designers from Italy and Germany made a special tabletop soccer from different furniture elements; an old dresser combined with a ordinary kitchen table whose feet are standing on roller skates whilst a drawer and a half cooking pot represent the goals fixed with a tension belt. But it’s mostly the figures for playing that makes the table soccer so special rather than the selection of furniture. The three designers used chairs, not just any ordinary chairs but the most famous ones. The two teams are la crème de la crème of the design world: panton against s-chair, zigzag chair against loulou ghost just to name few of them. The list includes most of the Design’s biggest stars in a game the world will never forget. This is a clash of generations, a fight between the old and the new designer generations.

In a rather humoristic and interesting approach the three designers tested famous design chairs in an unusual environment, a soccer field. Jakob Maurer, Rupert Adlmaier and Thomas Egger travelled with their guerilla design project through Milan during the design week. They exposed their project in Zona Tortona where they invited everyone to participate in this famous soccer game. Every person no matter their age responded to this invitation and had fun by kicking some chairs.

There are many basic principles and elements a designer must have in mind in order to achieve his goal. But apart from any rules we should never forget that design can be funny as well. Usually an ironic attitude may have amazing results, making a concept more interesting and perhaps bringing design closer to public. The ultimate clash of generations project brought together people no matter their age, color or nationality; an open invitation to everyone to take part in Milan’s Design fiesta. Because we should never forget that “DESIGN IS TO SHARE”.

About the designers
Jakob Maurer is a 23 year old German design student who lives in Bolzano/Italy. He studied design and arts at the Free University of Bolzano and he also did a one year formation at the "Werkbund Werkstatt Nürnberg" concerning basics of composition and handcraft.  Thomas Egger studies design and arts in Bolzano. He is 23 years old and before studying he absolved an internship in textile- and hardware-handling concerning winter sports at Salewa Bolzano and Haute Couture tailoring house "La Hong", Vienna.  Rupert Adlmaier is a 23 year old student from Rosenheim, who’s studying design at the Georg-Simon-Ohm University in Nuremberg. Before that he attended the "Werkbund Werkstatt Nürnberg" where he met Jakob Maurer.