September is always an exciting and vibrant time, not only for design but for the capital overall, with a whole host of events taking place across London for the London Design Festival . Here are a few of our highlights (beyond Decorex , that is!)
In the absence of a roof at Earls Court, as it is rapidly taken apart ready for the building of luxury flats, this year's show took place at the stunning Olympia. It made for a dramatic backdrop to a show that is always rich in contract finishes, furniture and design solutions.
We particularly enjoyed revisiting The Invisible Store of Happiness by collaborative duo Sebastian Cox and Laura Ellen Bacon . It's a beautifully crafted sculptural piece that addresses the full and generally overlooked potential of two American hardwood species; Maple and Cherry.
There were some intriguing material discoveries to be made too; Okka providing the most textural, with acoustic panels made entirely of pine needles and that I can verify worked with tremendous muffling effectiveness.
There was also some splashes of vibrant colour mixed with bold and blocky pattern, most notably from East London based Quirk & Rescue .
Our friends Formica Laminate and Karndean Designflooring also neighboured each other with large stands that showcased their newest and most impressive wares.
Getting in on the act, Somerset House used the beautiful West Wing galleries to host 10 leading contemporary designers including Patternity and Alex Rasmussen, both of whom transformed their space with large scale installation. Patternity's bold and linear lines created the perfect pattern storm whilst Rasmussen's blue anodized aluminium modular triangles were connected on site, causing a cresting wave in his room.
Upstairs the ever-interesting Max Lamb showed his latest yet long running project My Grandfather's Tree which poetically sought to preserve and extend the life of a tree from his grandfather's garden, creating simple and funtional furniture pieces from it.
It was surface design galore at Tent this year. Friends of the studio, Dome Studio showcased a range of products as well as the biggest spread yet of the Edit tile. We also loved Ann Mercer's brilliantly bonkers ceramic wall coverings/vessels and the woven wall panels by Evan James Design.
Tracey Tubb offered intricate origami inspired wallcovering that subtely played with light whilst Mark McClure (a collaborator with one of the primary show sponsors, Dulux ) brought dynamic, angular flashes of colour and woodgrain with his abstracted geometic surface panel constructions.
Whilst there was less graduate work on show this year, the Bucks New University stand offered a rich and varied array of constructed surface design and print – plenty to look out for in the future!
