As we like it. Jewellery and Tableware 1988-2008

The paths to training in design are legion in Germany, indeed, the range of possibilities open to aspiring designers is unprecedented in Europe. Affiliated with the Goldsmithing School in Pforzheim is a Professional College for Design, Jewellery and Tableware. Since it was established in 1988, the Professional College has developed by leaps and bounds into a decidedly progressive and forward-looking place for training in jewellery and tableware. Apart from ensuring that pupils master traditional techniques, lack of inhibition in handling prevailing styles, exploring new possibilities for design and close, unstratified collaboration between teachers and pupils are the distinguishing features of the three-year Pforzheim course. We will be hearing from many of these young graduates in the near future!

The Berufskolleg has been in existence for 20 years – a welcome opportunity for the Pforzheim Goldsmithing School and ARNOLDSCHE Art Publishers to take stock on a lavish scale. Numerous photographs of work produced at the Berufskolleg between 1988 and some 300 pages of text immerse readers in the teeming creative potential and manifold approaches to design emerging from the Pforzheim “crucible”. The present work is divided thematically into sections headed “Identity”, “Nature”, “Spaces” and “Contrasts”, each covered in essays by distinguished authors from the jewellery scene.