Three days of non-stop events, lectures, and installations can be a sensory-overload for most, but not for the those creative professionals who attended Clerkenwell Design Week. It was impossible to get to everything with over 250 exhibiting brands, so if you missed it here is what the team at Creativepool got to experience.
The Farmiloe building, also known as the Design Factory Exhibition, was the central point for CDW. It was home to the annual Jaguar showcase, in collaboration with Foscarini, as well as four floors of leading contemporary designs from around the world.
With Russell Pinch(1.2) and wife Oona Bannond on the 2nd Floor, we learned the simplicity of form and the purity of good shape. They create pieces that will withstand time because of this uncompromising regard for materials. The Lana Dressing Table is a perfect example of this; which can be crafted in either black american walnut or the white oiled oak.
The 3rd floor displayed a “bright” future for lighting designers like Holloways of Ludlow and Anglepoise (1.1). The coordination of potted plants and ceiling lamps in an exhibition by SCP was a great example of the modern rustic aesthetic (3.1, 3.3). But it was VIBIA who stood out with their award winning collection by Arik Levy, Wireflow (2.1).
“Anything we do to the web of life we do to ourselves” says Ray Anderson, the founder of Interface. Catching the Biophilic Design talk with this showroom inspired our ideas for creating sustainable interiors that prove to impact health and wellbeing. They have found that children learn 25% quicker when they are outdoors, and this is not the only benefit. Therefore bringing the outside-inside sparks a future exploration for both architects and interior designers.
We got to hang out with some new neighbours! The pop-up showroom for Strange Beast TV (6.3) was a wonderland for quirky home materials. We were very intrigued by the #collaborativecooking project with Pjadad, the first meal made entirely by the internet.
The Tile Mile, an interesting concept design by Russ+Henshaw (in collaboration with Turkish Ceramics), made its mark on Clerkenwell and Instagram. While EDRA's underground "crypt" was also going viral, which displayed a retrospective of their best conceptual seating designs.
There were more underground themes this year...The highlight of our week was visiting the Platform exhibition, in the former subterranean prison, provided a very atmospheric backdrop for discovering amazing work from a selection of upcoming designers. Hanieh Heidarabadi made a beautiful collection of brass lamps with 3D printed shades, with an intention for customisation (5.2). Kit Miles and Artexery: both showed stunning textile designs for multiple media. (Yes House of Hackney you have some competition on the way) But keep your eyes out for Robert Scott and Aleksandrina Rizova who are creating new forms for furniture through limited edition sculptural pieces.
We want to say a big thank you to the whole CDW 14 team and we cannot wait for all the new ideas next year... already counting the days!
