Designers descend on Saint-Etienne from all around the globe this month, for the bi-annual event, first held in November 1998, which brings together the best in world design. Their most imaginative efforts are put on display in 40,000 square metres of exhibition space specially created at the Palais des Spectacles, the Musée de la Mine, the Musée d'Art Moderne, and the Musée d'Art et d'Industrie.

Expect to see futuristic visions and flights of fancy alongside a host of prototypes of practical objects incorporating the very latest design techniques. The objects on display include furniture, household goods, lighting systems, tools and vehicles from aircraft to bicycles. 

       
Francouchet, France   Bolhin, Sweden          De Azua, Spain
    
The one thousand designers from more than 80 countries, and the anticipated 140,000 visitors, will also be encouraged to pay homage to one of the great international architects, Le Corbusier, whose famous architectural site is at Firminy, only 15km away. Le Corbusier was Swiss, born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret in 1887. When he was 29, he went to Paris, and adopted his maternal grandfather's name as his pseudonym. His visionary architecture reflected the new technocratic age and Le Corbusier’s books on architecture and interior decoration resemble construction manuals, as though he did not trust anyone to apply their fundamental concepts accurately. Firminy, conceived and begun by Le Corbusier himself in 1960,  has a ‘maison du culture’, an apartment block, a sports stadium and the Saint Pierre church, on the point of completion. A design centre is due to open in 2008, when UNESCO is expected to confirm Firminy as a World Heritage site.

 
Ghion, France                    Stefanein, Slovakia

www.fondationlecorbusier.asso.fr/fondationlc.htm

www.institutdesign.com/bien/pages/home.htm

At the show