“mafi Carving Club I” awarded with important design prize – great success at the “red dot award: product design 2012”

[Salzburg, Austria] mafi natural wooden floorings convinced the international expert jury of the “red dot award: product design 2012”. After an evaluation process lasting several days, mafi received one of the coveted awards, assigned by a 30-member expert jury. Creative heads and manufacturers from all over the world had submitted 4515 designs altogether to the renowned product competition. With its high design quality, the “mafi Carving Club I” could inspire the experts. This unique wooden floor received the globally sought-after red dot for its fine design language in the product design category – best of the best.

On 2 July 2012, the presentation of the internationally renowned quality seal will take place in the course of the red dot gala. More than 1,000 international guests from the design world, industry, society and the media will gather that evening in the Aalto-Theater, the opera house in Essen, in order to celebrate the highlight of this year’s competition. Afterwards, the “mafi Carving Club I” will be on display at a four-week special exhibition in the red dot design museum.

Innovative handwork and elegant design – the mafi Carving Club I

The natural wooden floor “mafi Carving Club I” combines a natural and sustainable philosophy with modern workmanship and innovative Design. The surface is completely lacquer-free but natural oiled which makes the floor extremely stable but on the other hand still breathable and easy to clean with water and soap. In addition an individual heat treatment (without chemical additives) is drying the wood with lower heat. The beech wood gets a darker coloring and the natural swelling and shrinking tendencies are reduced. The heat treatment is also increasing the resistance against water.

Single color shades are creating the individual character of this floor. The timeless design inspired by the typical Burberry pattern is engraved into the top-layer. Sanded as well as brushed fields arise on the surface. Therefore the floor has a special haptics and becomes a wonderful experience especially barefooted. Additionally the floor has anti-slip abilities thanks to its structure. It is the combination between breathable surface und higher resistance against water that makes the “mafi Carving Club I” highly recommended in wellness and wet areas – defiantly new premises this natural wooden floor is reaching.

Statements from the CEOs of the Red Dot Design Award and mafi

Professor Dr. Peter Zec, initiator and CEO of the red dot design award, pointed to the high quality level of the competition: “The most distinguished products of the respective branch of industry faced up not only to the tough competition this year again, but also to the critical eye of the jury. The experts thoroughly examined, tested and evaluated each individual entry applying the highest standards. With their performances, the laureates did not only demonstrate an extraordinary design quality but they also showed that design is an integral part of innovative product solutions. At this high level, the winners are able to increase their potential for success on the market considerably by purposefully using our design prize.”

Friedrich Fillafer, CEO of mafi natural wooden floors, explains the development of the extraordinary mafi products: “We always treat wood with respect and in the most natural way possible. Characteristics like knots, cracks and structure are our base on which we create our products. Therefore I have to admit that the Nature is our best Designer.”

The award-winning products in the red dot design museum

With more than 1,500 products on an area of more than 4,000 square metres, the red dot design museum accommodates the world’s largest permanent exhibition of temporary design. From 3 to 29 July 2012, it again invites to look at the traditional special exhibition of the award-winning products. In “Design on stage – winners red dot award: product design 2012” design, enthusiasts can admire the latest trends at close range. Touching is explicitly requested: Thus, the visitors experience the prizewinning design of the“mafi Carving Club I” live in the breath-taking atmosphere of the one-time boiler house of the Zeche Zollverein, a former coalmine.

The red dot design award

The red dot design award, whose origins reach back to the 1950s, is carried out in three disciplines: the “red dot award: product design”, the “red dot award: communication design” and the “red dot award: design concept”. In 2011 alone, more than 14,000 entries from over 70 countries were registered. The award – the red dot – has established itself internationally as one of the most appreciated quality seals for outstanding designs.

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Facts:
Product: mafi Carving Club I, brushed and grey oiled

An everyday life story

a long day at work │the neck is hurting, the feet are feeling numb │hurrying up to find to the bathroom and to get off the clothes │ a brief glance in the mirror, it was really an exhausting day │ candles, a glass of vine, hot water and the bathtub, that will help │ nearly falling asleep meanwhile all muscles start to relax │ the water starts to cool down │ maybe refill a bit of warm water again │ finally feeling refreshed again │ stepping out of the bathtub │ the smooth feet are touching the ground │ something is different │feeling comfortable but unusual in this situation │ spontaneous connotations: native, familiar, warm, rescued…

… a look on the ground reveals the secret: it is wood, a floor out of natural wooden planks, no lacquer, no plastic layer in between, only wood treated with natural oil.

Thanks to the natural oiled finish mafi natural wooden floors can be installed in wet areas without hesitation. Oiled wooden flooring can breathe and therefore absorb water and give it back to the air inside the room. The oil soaks in the floor and hardens out from the inside. That is why the oiled surface of the floor has the feature to collect moisture and give it back to the air during the drying process. The floor is purifying the air and has positive effects on the atmospheric environment. The water that is draining of the body by leaving the shower or bathtub does no harm to a mafi floor as long as the floor can get dry again.

Facts:

Product: mafi Tiger Oak White, brushed, natural oiled
Area: private bathroom

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Celebrate today´s international forest day!

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) founded the international forest day in the late 1970s to beam the focus towards the global destruction of forest.

The international forest day provides an unprecedented opportunity to bring attention to the interconnectivity between people and forests.  National, regional and local organizations around the world are encouraged to this special day in line with their own interests and, in particular, to reach out to those in fields not traditionally considered directly related to forests. In fact, forests are important to nearly all kinds of human activity: providing shelter to people and habitat to biodiversity; as a source of food, medicine and clean water; and play a vital role in maintaining a stable global climate and environment.

mafi also does its bit by ordering from sustainable cultivated forests only. Every tree that is felt another is planted.  The mafi Vulcano flooring offers a real and most importantly, sustainable alternative to tropical wood floors. This allows mafi to abstain from the use of tropical timber and rely on domestic wood species. Most of the woods are coming from central Europe. Furthermore mafi is increasing the awareness around the natural use of wood because cracks and knots are not negated but celebrated with colourful filler or hand planed surfaces. Therefore mafi was awarded with the Energy Globe Award  2011 in the category earth for its sustainable philosophy.

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Congratulations: Award for the Lindner Park-Hotel Hagenbeck based on mafi flooring.

Again, the hotel next to Hamburg’s zoo, which is renowned for its unique design concept, is among the top 99 worldwide and was voted the most favorite German hotel for city trips by HolidayCheck. Design is not just collecting individual pieces but building a synergy out of different influences instead. The Lindner Park-Hotel Hagenbeck follows an idea of combining timeless and comfortable interior with occasional design highlights.

The same idea repeats itself by having a look on the ground. Around 650 m2 of mafi Tiger Oak Black are installed on the floor. The distinctive optic of this natural wooden floor captivates by the warm brown color shades of a mafi Vulcano treatment and the lively and innovative design of black color filled cracks. Combing back to the combination between comfortable furniture and occasional design highlights this mafi floor combines both elements. Thanks to the oiled and brushed surface the floor spreads a pleasant feeling. The black color filler harmonizes with the different color tones of the wood – definitely a place to stay at!

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Product: mafi Tiger Oak Black, brushed, natural oiled
Area: commercial
Location: Lindner Park-Hotel Hagenbeck, Hamburg, Germany

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World premiere – mafi creates Tiger Oak runway

The international fashion world is known for new and creative ideas and so is mafi. During the Innset Fashion Week in Innsbruck, Austria mafi created the first runway out of natural wood in an extraordinary Tiger Design.

Long history with Designers and Celebrities

It is not a coincidence that mafi gets in touch with the Design and Fashion world. Celebrities like Claudia Schiffer or Giorgio Armani were attracted by the innovative and natural Design of mafi floors for their private homes. Not only private houses but also commercial areas like casinos in Australia and America or a cathedral Mexico. Creative Designs on a natural wooden base is the passion mafi is living for.

An outstanding runway invented for an outstanding event

The runway has an impressive length of 30m and covers an area of 170m2. The catwalk consists of 357 planks of mafi Tiger Oak and has a remarkable value of EUR 30.000. “It is definitely the most natural runway of the world”, says Friedrich Fillafer, CEO of mafi natural wooden floors in Schneegattern, Austria. “We refer our wood from sustainable cultivated forests from Middle Europe and finish our floors with natural oil, which means there is no lacquer, no chemicals only wood in its natural form”, confirms Friedrich Fillafer.

The cooperation with the Innset Fashion Week was a mutual idea from mafi and Günther Egger, the organizer of the Fashion week. The Hasselblad master finalist is working together with mafi over years by shooting impressive pictures of mafi natural wooden floors. Also Detlef D Soost, known as Dance and Model instructor in German and Austrian TV shows was impressed: “That is just about the limit! Besides the crazy design the floor is perfect to dance on. It is not slippy, you have a good grip on the soles and in general an intense feeling on the feet.” Besides the dancing performance the models ran over the floor with high heels for four days, minimum four times per day. “That is the ultimate proof for our quality and stability”, emphasizes Friedrich Fillafer the high standards of mafi products.

International success

With 20 employees in organisation and about 80 employees in production, mafi celebrates international success. Apart from Europe, people live and work on mafi natural wooden floors in the USA, Japan, UAE, Australia and Mexico. Altogether, mafi exports to approx. 40 countries on this Earth.

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reduce the mix – bath on wood

mafi floors give every home a comfortable and natural base. The natural wood spreads a warm feeling and creates a personal and cozy atmosphere. Especially private homes are places where the individual expressions determine the interior concept. In these concepts the idea of reducing the material-mix gets more and more important. In this private house in Vienna every room is covered with mafi natural wooden flooring. Thanks to the oiled surface the wood hardens out from the inside and is not covered or just sealed on the top. The wood stays breathable and that is why it can absorb water in a normal extent. Water marks will disappear in a few minutes and as a side effect the wood is purifying the air with it and regulates moisture. Therefore mafi natural wooden floors are perfectly suitable for bathrooms and wellness areas.

This mafi Oak Clear prepares a balanced and homogeneous atmospheric environment. The brushed surface guarantees a natural structure and warm feeling on the feet. The white oiled finish allows a lot of different colors around it and makes it easy to combine. Even white furniture makes a strong impression on this mafi flooring.

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First impressions from CasaClima fair in Bozen, Italy

mafi is proud to present the first pictures from the CasaClima fair in Bozen, Italy. Our team from mafi Italy will be at your disposal from today till the 29th of January 2012.

Visit us (Hall: B09; Booth: Nr. 16) and feel the spirit of natural wooden floorings in combination with creative designs.

Contact:
mafi Italia S.R.L.
39100 Bolzano (BZ), Via Marie Curie, 15
Italy
+39(0)471 052890
www.mafi.at

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mafi natural wooden floors selected by Materia

As an independent platform, Materia is constantly on the lookout for innovative materials for the creative professional. Every month their jury selects 20 new materials from the huge amount on offer in the international world. mafi natural wooden floors were selected for January. In addition Materia will present selected mafi products during the MaterialXperience fair in Shanghai, China. The fair will be held in the Eco part of the Build and Construction Expo on 27th , 28th  and 29th of March, 2012. About 60.000 creative professionals visited this fair last year, and 9,1% of them were architects.

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mafi employees donated for child cancer center in Austria.

Sonneninsel is the name of an ambitious project that is trying to build an aftercare center for children with cancer. This place is supposed to be a refuge for children that have to handle this experience and work up the after effects of this illness. The employees of mafi decided to support this project and collected overall Euros 752,07. The mafi CEO Friedrich Fillafer doubled the sum and donated it to the Sonneninsel project. Maybe this idea is also worthy your support. Further information can be found here.

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Christmas time in Austria

There are a lot of traditions combined with Christmas in Austria. An important part of the festival is the right choice of the Christmas tree and its decoration. The tree is normally located in the living room and decorated with candles and “Christbaumkugeln”. The most frequent choice for a Christmas tree is the fir tree. The bigger gifts are put under the tree, the little ones sometimes even between the branches. The traditional meal is both simple and tasty. Nearly every family dishes up a typical Austrian “Würschtlsuppe”. But above all stands the wish for peace. We use this time to think about our relatives and also people who are not doing so well. Therefore, Christmas is also the time where conflicts should be forgotten – fortunately most of them are.

The tranquil mood during Christmas time is sometimes interrupted by stressed husbands that are trying to get the perfect present for their wife by skitting from shop to shop. The typical sweets at this time are specific Christmas cookies and especially “Vanillekipferl”. Of course, no matter who you ask, the cookies of their own grandmother or mother are the best in the world. Before the “Bescherung” the family members gather in front of the tree and sing some Christmas songs together – not always hitting the right notes but at least with enthusiasm and passion.

And that’s maybe the real spirit – not only for Christmas in Austria but for the Austrians themselves. We are not necessarily trying to change things , but accept the people and nature as they are and make the best out of their natural abilities. We, as mafi think this is the proper message and philosophy we want to deliver for this year’s Christmas here from Austria.
Merry Christmas!

“Adventskalender”: a sweet countdown to Christmas Eve usually with chocolate and our this year´s present for you

“Christbaumkugeln”: glitter balls in sparkling colors hanging on the Christmas tree for decoration

“Würschtlsuppe”: a traditional soup with sausages in it – not healthy but tasty

“Vanillekipferl”: little cookies in half moon form and vanilla flavour – definitely not healthy but absolutely delightful

„Bescherung“: Christmas Eve when everybody  exchanges their gifts

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

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