Though we didn’t make it to London for the design festival, we’ve rounded up some work that we’ve been enjoying from afar.
Installations –
With the launch of their first-ever book, cult-blog Patternity had quite the presence at the festival. They hosted a Patternity events room with hands-on pattern workshops, morning yoga and meditation and roundtable discussions, as well as a shop. They also collaborated with Paperless Post to create custom party invitations and an interactive installation that showcased new patterns and invited guests to ‘play with pattern’ – physically.
Janie Knitted Textiles showcased these great over-sized ombre pendants made from British merino wool. (Though we can’t fail to mention that these lights bear some resemblance to our NY local Ana Kras’ exceptional bonbon lamps…)
Brushed brass and marble are the materials in Bethan Gray’s classy tables below. There seems to be a bit of a two-tone trend happening where not only are there two tones, but often two separate materials spliced together. The contrast here is between their dainty form and their solid materiality.
Catarina Riccabonna is a textile designer and weaver based in London who launched her first line of lighting in collaboration with Claire Norwood of New Craftsmen. Her beautiful linen textiles are wrapped around a brass frame creating a simple and warm piece of beauty.
Pinch design’s Nim table is “a piece made from Jesmonite, a lightweight water-based resin whose chameleon-like qualities allow it to give the effect of metal, wood, plaster, stone and more. Nim is a limited-edition piece (just 50 will be produced) which is cast in a Gloucester workshop and hand-painted to create an effect that calls to mind a geological core sample.” – The Guardian. It reminds me of a beach stone found post-bonfire.
For some more moody ambiance – Marcin Rusak has developed a technique of preserving dried and fresh flowers in black resin. He has applied this unique surface finish to some statement pieces of furniture such as this beautiful room divider and cast aluminum table. The effect is stunning.