A light touch – Clerkenwell Design Week Lighting Review

May 27, 2012 Leave a comment

Review by Samantha Dawe, Director, The Think Tank

Clerkenwell Design Week 2012 basked in some very welcome warm sunshine but that didn’t stop us being inside and having a good look around.   Particularly this year it seemed that lighting was at the forefront of some intriguing design options and what was being shown would certainly create an impact in any space.  

As part of an expanded programme for CDW, a new site was included for exhibition space – the buildings and grounds of the Order of St John. Upstairs the light streamed through the stained glass windows but that did not dim the impact of Vessel Gallery’s display of unique and limited edition lighting.      

Whilst Tsai and Yoshikawa’s sculpted piece ‘Blooming Spark I’ was centre stage, each piece displayed was a work of art in its own right.  

 Tsai and Yoshikawa
 

While big is not always best, Guinness Book of Records holder Beau McClellan’s (world’s largest chandelier) eponymous company had presented a stunning large-scale lighting installation which hung in the Farmiloe Building and appeared to change colour.

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Beau McClelland

Looking down from the upper tier of the Building on this installation and the Anglepoise stand was a moment to savour.          

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The heat was rising but we took the plunge and continued to climb where we spotted Lightyears’ elegant lamps, highlighting the best qualities of minimalistic Scandinavian design. Simplicity is beautiful.  

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Alongside this Swedese, exhibiting we were told for the first time at CDW, was showing pieces launched at this year’s Stockholm Furniture Fair but again it was the lighting that caught our eye.  Maybe it was that the pieces lent themselves so well to creating atmosphere and intrigue in this quirky building where they seemed right at home.

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Sony World Photography Awards 2012 winners announced

April 29, 2012 Leave a comment

Sony World Photography Awards 2012American photographer Mitch Dobrowner has been announced as this year’s winner of the L’Iris d’Or – the 2012 Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year.

Sony World Photography Awards 2012
Dobrowner was presented with the award during the Sony World Photography Awards Gala ceremony at the Hilton Hotel in London’s Park Lane for his extraordinary series of images, Storms. This beautiful series of black and white photographs are quite stunning.

He was chosen as the winner by a panel of nine judges and wins a $25,000 cash prize and Sony’s latest digital imaging camera equipment.

Other winners included Tobias Bräuning from Germany as overall Open winner, William Klein for Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award and Asef Ali Mohammad from Middlesex University, UK, for Student Focus Award.

See more of the award winning photography here or you can visit the awards exhibition at Somerset House, London until 20th May. Tickets on the door.

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Architecture in fabric; Installation by Do Ho Suh

April 15, 2012 Leave a comment

Hovering like ghostly aparitions of architecture these fabric installations by Korean artist Do Ho Suh create new environments within his exhibition using silk and metal structures.

The artist’s architectural sculptures have been brought together for an exhibition called ‘Home Within Home‘ at the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea.

Previously on display at New York’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery, they explore the idea of home and the sense of cultural displacement that comes with immigrating to a new place. 

See more of these beautiful structures here on Design Boom

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The Think Tank heads off to Nordbygg, Sweden

March 27, 2012 Leave a comment

Did you know that Nordbygg is the biggest building exhibition in Northern Europe? I did (as I have been working on it for a few months)…but last week I attended the fair and was reminded by anyone to whom I said ” Förlåt, jag prata inte Svenska” (I don’t speak Swedish) as they immediately wanted to be sure that this non-Swede knew how proud of the exhibition they are.  

Well, they should be…with three halls packed to the brim at Stockholmmassen, just 10 minutes outside of Central Stockholm, this event is full of tools, materials and everything you can think of to do with the building industry. Over three days I had the opportunity to speak to journalists from many Scandinavian publications and experience the building industry from a completely different cultural perspective.  

I had the privilege of going to Stockholm with our client Formica Group to help launch its VIVIX exterior facade panels. Offering opportunities to play with colour and shape, VIVIX panels can complement or add interest to office buildings, public, cultural and sports facilities, transportation centres, industrial buildings, educational facilities, residential developments and more.  

Eva Hoernisch, Formica Group Design Manager, Europe, was on hand and together we were able to take a few moments to explore the building materials section. With her eye on colour Eva spotted a stand with insulation sample pieces in the most beautiful colour palette. We were dumbfounded at first as to why insulation would be so colourful until we realised it correlated to different degrees of density. VERY clever!  

With room for FIKA (traditional Swedish coffee and cake), a little of bit of Swedish entertainment and a lot of hard work, being part of Nordbygg was definitely an experience to remember.

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New environment message from Formica at Ecobuild 2012

March 17, 2012 Leave a comment

One of our clients, the Formica Group, is exhibiting at Ecobuild (20-23rd March), the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment and the UK’s largest construction event of any kind. We will be supporting them throughout the three-day event which takes place at the ExCeL exhibition and conference centre in London’s Docklands, and have set up press interviews, designed a special brochure for the event and look forward to making a special announcement at the show relating to a major sustainability initiative which underlines the company’s commitment to meet the challenges of tomorrow.  

Renee Hytry Derrington and Gavin Todd, Formica Group senior executives will be at the stand, offering a unique insight into the company’s product innovation and sustainability strategies.   After 99 years of defining the look and performance of modern interiors worldwide, the company goes all out (excuse the pun) with its innovative exterior facade panels VIVIX which will be showcased in the UK for the first time at Ecobuild. A perfect way to celebrating many decades of innovation!

See more about Formica and the Environment here.

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The Gopher Hole celebrates its first year in Primary style

March 11, 2012 Leave a comment

The Gopher Hole, an independent space for emerging architecture and design in London, has been in operation for just over a year.

To celebrate this and thank some of their participants, exhibitors and visitors they invited illustrator Shin-Hye Lee to commemorate 2011 with a new work.   

The illustration is the first of The Gopher Hole’s annual commissions to an emerging designer. Shin-Hye has made ‘Year One 2011′ in the style of a primary school tea-towel, using different drawing techniques – sometimes using her left hand – to illustrate some of the figures who have contributed to The Gopher Hole during the year.

A fun way to celebrate a successful first year. See more here.

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Anyone and No One Exhibition – Will Ryman

February 26, 2012 Leave a comment

Two new sculptures by American artist Will Ryman are now on exhibition in ‘Anyone and No One’ at the Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York.

They are both massive installations created from every-day objects. ‘Bird’ is constructed from nails of various lengths and towers 12 feet tall whilst ‘Everyman’ uses a diverse variety of household items, such as paint brushes, bottle caps and work boots, to create a 90 foot figure within the gallery space.

Due to the sheer size and impact of both sculptures, Ryman’s installation has been separated in two parts– ‘Everyman’ has taken up residence in the 293 Tenth Avenue location while the 27th Street space hosts the Bird, inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, ‘The Raven’.

Beautiful structures that really catch the eye.

See more and how they were constructed on Design Boom. 

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Faces of British Architecture Exhibition

January 9, 2012 Leave a comment

To celebrate British architects and engineers Icopal has commissioned a series of portraits by Timothy Soar, with commentary by Isabel Allen. The series represents UK’s leading experts, innovators and visionaries in architecture and engineering, responsible for many iconic buildings and landmark developments. The exhibition, curated by Lorna Soar, can be seen at The Building Centre in January and February 2012.

THE BUILDING CENTRE – LONDON 9th January – 29th February 2012

Image courtesy of Faces of British Architecture

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‘From Off to On’ Installation

November 11, 2011 Leave a comment

holdUp have shared their latest installation, ‘FROM OFF TO ON’, exhibited at the international KOBE ART BIENNALE in Japan during the ART IN A CONTAINER exhibition. Selected among 289 proposals, ‘FROM OFF TO ON’ received the honorable mention by the jury. In this interactive artwork, visitors are transformed in to explorers observing their environment, chasing marvels of unknown lands: nothing is taken for granted, everything is extraordinary.

Like a blank canvas, the container embodies a receptacle for artists and art amateurs’ creativity as they print their emotions on a surprising table settled inside. Trapped in the dark and with a UV pen for only equipment, the visitor is expected to feel his way along. He eventually notices the presence of a massive volume settled in the center of the space. When he approaches that mass, he notices that UV-lights are progressively switching on, reaching their maximum intensity when he touches it. Getting eyesight back, he is eventually able to tell the volume is a large drawing table.

The visitor is assimilated to a speleologist discovering a primitive cave with prehistoric drawings painted on the rock, except that drawings are not relics from past ages. Simply put, the whole space is dark until he draws on the table. Drawing is the only way to be involved and visualize the self-made exhibition: to see you must do!

To read more please visit ArchDaily. 

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Liquid Space at Lumiere UK 2011

October 27, 2011 Leave a comment

‘Lumiere‘ is an exhibition which will illuminate Durham’s historical buildings, streets and bridges for four nights in November; including a special exhibition of the interactive light artwork ‘Liquid Space‘.

LIQUID SPACE 6.0 is an interactive space that becomes physically bigger, smaller, and brighter in relation to human behavior. As an organic fusion of mechanisms, embedded electronics, sound, and LEDs, the artwork creates a playful dialogue with its visitors.

The first version of LIQUID SPACE 6.0 premiered in Japan as a commission for the Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media. The project’s behavior evolves in relation to its visitors, creating a sensual coexistence. It can now be enjoyed across the city of Durham over four spectacular days.  

Lumiere 2011 Artichoke, 17-20 November, Durham UK. To find out more about the exhibition, including a progamme of events as well as places to stay please visit www.lumieredurham.co.uk or plusMOOD. 

Image courtesy of Daan Roosegaarde

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Michelle@Work: TTT goes to Paris

October 21, 2011 Leave a comment

Submitted by Michelle Plett, Account Executive, PR at The Think Tank  

On October 6-7th I had the privilege of attending Architect@Work, Paris, one in a series of eponymous architecture fairs throughout Europe.  

The Architect@Work (A@W) concept travels through Germany, France, The Netherlands and Belgium. Unlike typical trade fairs A@W focuses on creating opportunity for building business relationships in a less commercial environment, without bright lights, big stands and music filling the halls.  

When I first walked in it was apparent that this fair was purpose built, darker than normal, the atmosphere screamed serious design. Located in one large hall visitors immediately came across the curated exhibition “Made in Light.” Hosted by Innovatheque, the exhibition explored the use of innovative materials and how they are lit.  

Below the exhibit delegates could attend a series of lectures on everything from materials to lighting. I chose one entitled “lumieres and luminaires; architectural lighting”. It was fascinating, even though it was all in French, and the seats were comfortable too!  

To the right and left were two hallways flanked by high black curtains. Nestled in groups of four company stands faced each other, triangular in shape, sharing a desk in the middle with only room enough to have a look at the product and then ideally, be taken off stand for a chat.  

Note: I became incredibly adept at saying “Sorry, I am in PR and I’m here to view new products. I’m not looking for anything” in French…   

The model behind A@W is to spark interest through your stand and then take the potential client out to the halls where food and drink are provided throughout the day. Here a chat and refreshments allowed companies to dig deeper into client needs without distracting new visitors on stand.  

The atmosphere was great; professional and focused. The delegates were right on target and my clients came out with great results. I would recommend this fair to anyone interested in reaching the European market.  

Thanks Architect@Work for bringing it back to business.

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Michelle@Work: TTT goes to Paris

October 21, 2011 Leave a comment

Submitted by Michelle Plett, Account Executive, PR at The Think Tank  

On October 6-7th I had the privilege of attending Architect@Work, Paris, one in a series of eponymous architecture fairs throughout Europe.  

The Architect@Work (A@W) concept travels through Germany, France, The Netherlands and Belgium. Unlike typical trade fairs A@W focuses on creating opportunity for building business relationships in a less commercial environment, without bright lights, big stands and music filling the halls.  

When I first walked in it was apparent that this fair was purpose built, darker than normal, the atmosphere screamed serious design. Located in one large hall visitors immediately came across the curated exhibition “Made in Light.” Hosted by Innovatheque, the exhibition explored the use of innovative materials and how they are lit.  

Below the exhibit delegates could attend a series of lectures on everything from materials to lighting. I chose one entitled “lumieres and luminaires; architectural lighting”. It was fascinating, even though it was all in French, and the seats were comfortable too!  

To the right and left were two hallways flanked by high black curtains. Nestled in groups of four company stands faced each other, triangular in shape, sharing a desk in the middle with only room enough to have a look at the product and then ideally, be taken off stand for a chat.  

Note: I became incredibly adept at saying “Sorry, I am in PR and I’m here to view new products. I’m not looking for anything” in French…   

The model behind A@W is to spark interest through your stand and then take the potential client out to the halls where food and drink are provided throughout the day. Here a chat and refreshments allowed companies to dig deeper into client needs without distracting new visitors on stand.  

The atmosphere was great; professional and focused. The delegates were right on target and my clients came out with great results. I would recommend this fair to anyone interested in reaching the European market.  

Thanks Architect@Work for bringing it back to business.

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Visiting the Venice Biennale

October 19, 2011 Leave a comment

A few weeks ago it was the contemporary art world’s ultimate exhibition, La Biennale, which takes place in Venice every two years (hence the name). Foscarini, the Italian lighting company, and a sponsor of the festival, hosted the 30 permanent national pavilions in the city’s Giardini (public gardens) as well as a the “ILLUMInations” exhibit in the Venetian Arsenal. The exhibition featured 83 artists from around the world. Read more at Design Milk. 

Photograph of installation by Monica Bonvicini (Born in Italy; works in Germany)

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Installation for California Design, 1930-1965: “Living in a Modern Way” Exhibition

October 18, 2011 Leave a comment

On view until March 25th at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the installation for California Design, 1930–1965: “Living in a Modern Way” Exhibition has been created by the Hodgetts + Fung Design and Architecture Studio. These are the names behind a number of Los Angeles landmarks, including the renovated Hollywood Bowl and Egyptian Theater. The design for the exhibition is inspired by California’s unique style, with lithe, sensuous lines carried throughout the installation, including the display cases and a helical construction that soars through the center of the exhibition.

This is the first major study of modern California design which really examines the state’s key role in shaping the material culture of the country at mid-century. California Design features more than 350 objects in wide ranging media, including furniture, textiles, fashion, graphic and industrial design, ceramics, jewelry, metalwork, architectural drawings, and film, as well as two period re-creations—most notably the living room from the home of renowned designers Charles and Ray Eames.  

Photography courtesy of Hodgetts + Fung Design and Architecture.

To find out more about the designers and the exhibition visit Arch Daily. 

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British Council opens fashion exhibition in Kazakhstan

May 13, 2011 Leave a comment

The first venue for the British Council’s touring exhibition, Reconstruction: Cultural Heritage and the Making of Contemporary Fashion is the Central State Museum in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The exhibition features seven of the UK’s leading fashion designers and offers a snapshot of some of the traditions and cultures that inspire these designers.

The British Council says, ’The launch kicked off with a packed press conference attended by Kazakhstan’s leading TV Channels and newspaper titles followed by the official opening by the British Ambassador and the Director of Central State Museum. 600 people attended the opening to see the work of seven of the UK’s leading fashion designers: Paul Smith, Vivienne Westwood, Hussein Chalayan, Marios Schwab, Peter Jensen, Sophia Kokosalaki and Osman Yousefzada.’

Read more here

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Evolution Means Exhibition opens in New York

December 17, 2010 Leave a comment

Evolution Means exhibition is located in Brooklyn and features work by Chandler Ahrens and John Carpenter. It opened during the ACADIA 2010 LIFE conference that was hosted by The Cooper Union. It is billed as examining concepts, tools and technologies that implement responsive and generative aspects of information in the design process.

Read more on ArchDaily

© Chandler Ahrens, John Carpenter

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Adaptable Structures opens in Clerkenwell

September 26, 2010 Leave a comment

Adaptable Structures is an exhibition that presents models, drawings and a multiple-level brick installation by Toh Shimazaki Architecture. It opened this week in the Toto Gallery, 140-142 St John Street, London
 EC1V 4UA and is on until 8 October. Worth a look.

See more on Blueprint

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John Pawson at the Design Museum

September 26, 2010 Leave a comment

The London Design Museum is showing a major exhibition of John Pawson’s work. Known for his rigorous process of design and minimalism he creates architecture and product designs that offer visual clarity, simplicity and grace. Marco Zanta’s images of the exhibition can be seen on Arch Daily and the exhibition is on until 30th January 2011.

Click here to view more

Images © Marco Zanta

The Think Tank

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Murakami comes to Versailles

September 14, 2010 Leave a comment

Takashi Murakami’s whirlwind exhibition of manga-inspired works comes to the Palais de Versailles, Paris, in a display of 22 bright coloured sculptures – does it work with the historic background of the palace? What do you think?

See more on Cool Hunting

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Industry Gallery, Washington DC, opens Nature/Data exhibition

September 12, 2010 Leave a comment

The Industry Gallery, Washinton DC, is holding a new exhibition called Nature/Data by New York-based Italian designer and architect Antonio Pio Saracino. The exhibition features eleven chairs that are constructed in a range of materials including plywood, metal, carbon fiber and synthetics and in various forms such as molecules, leaves, blossoms, and crystals. Great furniture designs that inspire.

See the collection here

 

The Think Tank

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