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Vitra
Aristocratic brand Vitra makes the top 50 of our Hot List not so much for its furniture but for a warehouse it built to house its furniture.
More specifically, this year saw the opening of Schaudepot, a building that will be home to the brand's collection of over 7,000 items from its archive, including the estates of Verner Panton and Charles and Ray Eames.
Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the building is the latest architectural addition at the Vitra Campus: a chocolate-box assortment of buildings by great architects located at at Weil am Rhein in Germany.
On the furniture front, popular Vitra product launches at this year's Salone del Mobile in Milan included "super-normal" furniture collection by British designer Jasper Morrison and the world's first "Internet of Things" sofa by Carlo Ratti Associati.
Vitra has long championed original design; in 2015 its UK managing director made a stand against cheap replicas, arguing in a comment piece on Dezeen that "copyists are eating away at the creativity of our industry".
A response to this piece, arguing that replica producers are making good design affordable to the masses, triggered a huge response and was still popular this year: it was our third most popular post concerning Vitra over the past 12 months.
Top Posts:
1. Herzog & de Meuron adds new gallery building to Vitra Design Museum
2. Herzog & de Meuron reveals more photos of new Vitra Design Museum gallery
3. "To tar all replica furniture companies with the same brush is neither fair nor accurate"
4. Jasper Morrison presents "super-normal" furniture collection for Vitra
5. Carlo Ratti Associati launches "world's first Internet of Things sofa"