designersblock stands apart from other design shows, combining shiny new design with access to crumbly old buildings that are normally closed to the public. For this year’s London Design Festival, designersblock opened the doors to the incredible Old Sessions House on London’s Clerkenwell Green.
The first thing I spotted was LEIZ – interior products which are knitted using 600 needles on a manual, industrial machine. Founder Ilze Godlevskis says she is “refining the beauty and art of lazing around … using traditional, artisanal techniques with luxe yarns to make indulgent home life more contemporary and comforting.”
Desktop fireworks is a mood-lifting set of desktop accessories – at the touch of a (big red emergency style) button a tape cutter and a mug release a kaleidoscope of light, small desktop drawers play music and release bubbles, and bookends and pin boards release confetti. The idea was inspired by the suicide of designer Tomomi Sayuda‘s father aged just 35, due to work-related stress.
Marlene Huissoud has created this ‘wooden leather’ from bio-resin produced by the common honey bee. This new material can be used for everything from furniture design to fashion and surface design.
Bolle is a collection of lights that look like bubbles suspended in mid-air, by Giopato & Coombes a design and architecture firm that works with artisanal glass blowers on the Venetian island of Murano.
The Chuckle Borthers is a coat stand by Milton Priest. The cage is made from powder-coated steel, the crow is cast resin with cast bronze feet and the perch / coat hook is made from locally sourced wood.
Also by Priest, A Cow in a Landscape with a Farmstead Beyond is made from oak, porcelain, leather, stainless steel, Carrara marble and finished with shellac. I love the udders and cow bell!
Street Label is a lighting collection by Salsabeel Amin, who says, “The streets are one of the main sources of frugal innovation where a lack of resources leads to genuine and spontaneous creations. The collection celebrates the ‘quick fix’ approach commonly conducted in such innovations. In the spirit of street behaviour, the floor lamp is assembled in a way that compels the user to interact and have an understanding of the objects they own.”
Finally, Colour Provenance by Laura Daza is a visual investigation into the ancient art of colour pigment. “Different colours, shades and tints have the power to evoke mood and emotion, but it seems that the origins and journeys of these pigments are often forgotten. Today, colour is a commodity industrially produced for mass consumption. Through developing an understanding and knowledge of how colour was sourced, crafted and utilised in the past, I hope to both celebrate the ancient rituals and alchemic techniques and encourage us to once again appreciate colour provenance,” said Laura.
Further reading for the especially geeky:
- out and about :: 100{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} norway, LDF14
- out and about :: home london, LDF14
- out and about :: tent london, LDF14
- out and about :: guide to the london design festival 2014
