Clerkenwell Design Week is a three-day festival focused around four exhibitions housed in Clerkenwell’s most historic buildings. The area is abuzz with activity, from open studios and showrooms to exhibitions, seminars and workshops. This year the Farmiloe building looked much the same, with the trend for Scandinavian designs shouting loud and clear. There was also Additions in the Crypt on the Green at St James Church showcasing small design pieces and accessories and Platform, which exhibited talented up-and-coming designers in the subterranean Victorian prison at The House of Detention. It’s in its fifth iteration this year and below are some of the highlights I discovered.
1. Smith by Studio Weave
Studio Weave has created Smith, a pavilion that pays homage to the trades associated with Clerkenwell through the ages. The project showcases the making processes of a number of ‘smiths’ synonymous with the area, such as silversmiths, goldsmiths and watchsmiths. Studio Weave worked with UK company Equitone and used its fibre-cement façade materials for the pavilion.
2. Candy Collection by Auxilium Salvage
Auxilium’s catch line is ‘salvaged from Germany, reconditioned with love in London’. The focus of this eco-minded company is to bring the mundane, disused or the unloved back to life again from its workshop in London. The Candy Collection is Auxilium’s first product, a set of Fifties-inspired lamps, which were salvaged from a disused cable factory in Cologne, Germany and then redesigned. I like that it looks like a brand new product, but has a much longer history.
3. Tunisia Made by Hend Krichen
Hend Krichen is a London-based designer who creates objects inspired by the rich artisanal skills and craftsmanship in Tunisia. The terracotta and copper objects on show at CDW were produced using a mould and then etching applied with a hammer and nail. She says: ‘The materials are kept in a raw and natural form, physically revealing the country’s identity and showcasing Tunisia’s available natural resources through products that can be used within the home in everyday life.’ I liked how the craftsmanship of these objects stood out against all the other pieces at CDW, which tended to look much the same.
British fashion designer Paul Smith has reinterpreted Sir Kenneth Grange’s Anglepoise Type 75 table lamp in his signature bright colours.
5. Benchmark Furniture
Benchmark Furniture showed a new collection by Sebastian Cox in the Farmiloe Building. The Lath and Shake range harnesses sustainable crops of coppiced chestnut, well-managed ash and the ancient skill of cleaving- the controlled splitting of wood along its grain. A lot of designers at CDW this year emphasised the use of sustainable techniques of the craftsmen which made them.
6. Whippets by Virginia White Collection
I’m a sucker for anything with dogs on. Rose de Borman has created a very charming print of whippets for Virginia White Collection. It comes in various colourways and can be used for wallpaper, upholstery or cushions. I can’t wait to get my hands on one of the cushions, they’re so cute.
(see her beautiful home, along with her whippet, here)
7. Tile Mile by Turkish Ceramics
Turkish ceramics has partnered with London-based design practice russ + hensaw to create a ceramic installation located at St John’s Gate. The gate has been clad on two sides with mirrors to create an infinity effect of colourful Turkish tiles.
8. OKAY Studio supported by the American Hardwood Export Council
Design collective OKAY Studio has produced an eclectic mix of designs in collaboration with the American Hardwood Export Council, which are on show at The Scin Gallery on Old Street during CDW. OKAY Studio started in 2006 and did at the time consist of 6 colleagues who had all graduated from the Royal College of Art together in 2006. The idea was to share a space, workshop facilities and to continue the general ethos they took with them from College. The project at CDW demonstrates the versatility of five American hardwood species, for example Hunting & Narud designed glass vessel tables encasing and supporting hardwood cones, while Peter Marigold and Andrew Haythornthwaite created a screen of triangles made from curved and cupped tulipwood (on display in the window of the gallery).
Images of the gallery: Petr Krejci
