Briggs Hillier Visits ‘Open Factory’ Campus By Vitra

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Briggs Hillier designers visit Vitra’s magnificent design playground in the German town of Weil am Rhein

date

03 Sep 2024

Briggs Hillier designers, Amelia Berry and Laura McVey, had the incredible opportunity to visit the magnificent design playground by Vitra in the German town of Weil am Rhein situated in the tri-border region of Germany, France and Switzerland. As part of the world-renowned, Swiss family-owned furniture company’s Young Designers Academy course, Laura and Amelia attended talks based around the latest design trends, and a guided tour exploring Vitra’s ‘open factory’ Campus revealing world-famous buildings and behind-the-scenes insight.

Following a welcome from Visplay – sister company of Vitra – and a tour around their wonderful showroom exhibiting retail solutions, particularly around lighting and digital, Laura and Amelia attended a talk by Invidis, a digital consultancy used by renowned brands and retailers that help brands to augment their concepts through the application of long term digital solutions. Next up, an insightful talk from Zumtobel based around lighting trends, the psychology and impact of lighting, and the sustainable-side to their products, before enjoying a Spritz on the terrace!

Rounding-off day one, Laura and Amelia were invited to an alfresco dinner with members of the JD team, the Vitra team, Philip Watts Design and RDS, as well as guest speakers from the talks attended earlier on in the day.

Day two promised even more design inspiration, starting off with an architectural campus tour where Laura and Amelia explored world-famous structures, including the 30.7-metre-high Vitra Slide Tower by the German artist Carsten Höller. In fact, Amelia took home an iconic Eames Elephant sculpture for recording a winning time among the designers in the slide race!

Inside the Vitra museum, Laura and Amelia were invited to view a small selection of Vitra’s chair collection prior to touring the VitraHaus – Vitra’s flagship store and home to the Vitra Home Collection – where they learned more about Vitra’s story, and their plans to reduce their footprint through Vitra Circle stores.

Vitra Circle stores use a circular model that involves using recycled materials, sourcing components from local suppliers and dedicating an area to product service and repair, among other initiatives.