During an ordinary week in London every year, the doors of Clerkenwell are flung open for the masses to celebrate the visionary triangle at Clerkenwell Design Week. Situated at the edge of the east end, Clerkenwell is a home of creative businesses and architects, the most per square metre than anywhere else in the world.
In the few days the area is filled with exhibitions playing host to big, small and upcoming product designers, showrooms that welcome designers in to talk about their creative process and products they’ve designed for the brand and a packed programme of conversations and workshops, all topped off with a glass of prosecco.
Whilst Matteo was away in Dubai for work, the team had the pleasure of visiting it again, in its seventh year. We walked around the many exhibitions and showrooms throughout the day and while it would be hard to pin point the exact highlight of the festival, we did very much enjoy going to the talk by Tom Dixon at the carpet designers Ege, which we accidentally stumbled upon, when wanting to speak to the showroom about a new project we’re sourcing for in Fulham Road. The talk was very informative about Dixon’s new collection for them, his process of designing the carpets and what inspired him. The collection is a twist of patterns and colours and something that we feel would look brilliant in many different locations, whether they be residential or commercial, you should check them out here.
Next on the list, we decided to experience one of the many conversations at the Goldsmiths’ Centre. A few of us at the studio are interested in natural materials and environmental issues and even though we don’t create ‘meanwhile’ projects, we felt the conversation ‘Waste not, want not – The role of reuse and reclaim in an era of meanwhile projects’, would be an interesting talk to learn more about the issue, to make us think more about the way in which we design our products and the materials we use. The panel of architects and designers spoke about the way they approach design and the issues they take into consideration when thinking about the environment. It was very informative talk and we hope to bring some of the information back into our design process in the studio.
We also really enjoyed seeing some of our favourite brands including, Poltrona Frau, Vitra and Domus and seeing new designs by the likes of Liam Treanor, TedWood and Modus’s newest addition to their family ‘Casper’, have a look at it here.
Something that we won’t be forgetting soon was Tom Dixon’s overhaul of the classic 17th century St. James’ Church on Clerkenwell Green. Dixon installed his newest collection, which has now been donated to Vicar Andrew Baughen’s church as permanent fixtures. The building was an overwhelming sight inside and a juxtaposition between the bare stone structure and old stained glass windows and the modern outlandish lighting design and furniture in man-made materials. Read about it here.
All in all it was a very memorable day and festival, with lots of inspirational and thought-provoking ideas that we are bringing back to the studio.
See you next year Clerkenwell Design Week!
