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47 Beak StreetLondon
W1F 9SE
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Icon Design Trail
London
W1F 9SE
Monday, 17 August 2009
Reclaiming Seduction
Continuing the Barbican’s Radical Nature summer exhibition ICON editor Justin McGuirk chairs discussions with Jan Jongert from Dutch design firm 2012Architecten. Famed for their use of recycled and re-used materials they adapt to create innovative and ecological design which avoid the gimmicks and cut right to the point. Most famous was the use of Audi 100 windscreens as shelving units for the Duchi shoe shop in Scheveningen, The Hague. Including a central sitting area produced from left-over wood from a Rotterdam window factory it forms a bench as well as a footrest. Shoes can even be tested on a conveyor belt constructed from reclaimed supermarket cash desks. The entire shop design is composed from an astonishing 90% waste, yet in the talented hand of 2012 it is transformed into a seductive and smooth retail boutique.
Jan Jonhert discusses this and the projects on 20 August 2009 in the Redgrave Suite, Barbican Centre London.
Elle Decoration
The September issue of Elle Decoration features the stunning Stockholm apartment recently completed by Swedish architects Tham & Videgård Hansson.
The initial riot of colour which greets guests on arrival, is found to be more controlled on closer inspection. Strong, bright colours are used throughout, but colours are blocked to define areas. Each room was carefully developed as a reaction to the adjacent spaces. The design is painstakingly detailed.
To counter balance the colour, the decision was made that all furniture and lighting should be pure white. Svenkst Tenn and Artek pieces sit alongside new classics from Moooi and Design House Stockholm.
The main living space is dominated by a large U Form chandelier, designed by Elisabeth Henriksson for Örsjö.
Could we live there? Hmmm. That's a difficult question to answer, but are we glad someone had the vision to design it and they, in turn, had a client brave enough to commission it? Absolutely!
Friday, 24 July 2009
Summer Pavilions
It’s the last few day to catch the Driftwood Pavilion by the Architecture Association, so if you haven’t had a chance to head down to Bedford Square do it before the end of this week! Designed by students from Unit 2 of the prestigious Architecture school, it was originally based on a concept by 3rd year student Danecia Sibingo. The pavilion is the fourth in the annual AA Summer series, to learn more about it and past projects visit - www.aaschool.ac.uk
Also launched this month was the Annual Summer Pavilion by the Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens. This commission by the gallery is awarded to architects who have never built in the UK before and started back in 2000 with Zaha Hadid. This years offering is designed by Tokyo based Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, otherwise known as SANAA.
The pavilion will act as an extension of the gallery space and will host a number of events every Friday night under the title ‘Park Nights’ including poetry, performances and film screenings all the way to the end of September.
To learn more about events at the Serpentine over the summer and past Pavilion projects visit - www.serpentinegallery.org
Also launched this month was the Annual Summer Pavilion by the Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens. This commission by the gallery is awarded to architects who have never built in the UK before and started back in 2000 with Zaha Hadid. This years offering is designed by Tokyo based Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, otherwise known as SANAA.
The pavilion will act as an extension of the gallery space and will host a number of events every Friday night under the title ‘Park Nights’ including poetry, performances and film screenings all the way to the end of September.
To learn more about events at the Serpentine over the summer and past Pavilion projects visit - www.serpentinegallery.org
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Thinking inside the Box
With 100% Design on the horizon our friends at NoChintz have launched ‘The Box Project’ – a competition for North West creative talent. The Manchester based design team have designed a pre-fabricated micro-building - a 2x2x2m cube developed for ease of build and transport. Now they need something to fill it. The Box Project is a competition challenging entrants to design the function and reason for this 2mx2mx2m box which will be housed at 100% Design. The 15 finalists will be judged by a panel of respected experts, and the winner will have their creation made and showcased in September at 100% Design, the international design show in London.
Seeking to profile local creative talent and emerging designers from the North West we look forward to NoChintz' northern invasion of Earls Court this September.
To learn more about The Box Project and terms of entry go to www.theboxproject.co.uk
and to learn more about other NoChintz projects visit www.nochintz.co.uk
Monday, 6 July 2009
Bright Young Things
If you were not lucky enough to catch the Royal College of Art’s Design Show, we are afraid you missed another top year from the leading postgraduate art and design school, but not to worry - we at Relay have picked a few highlights for you here on Platform.
As ever, the Department of Communication Art and Design (www.cad2009.rca.ac.uk) produced a vast range of talent. Presented together with an intelligent and stylish exhibition design, which took the form of a colour coded directory. Designed by Jack Gilbey and Jaakko Tuomivaara, using a typeset by graduate Alistair Webb, it reflected the true diversity of the department.
We also particularly liked the designs by Povilas Utovka including fonts Marc and Monika (below).
More excellent print based projects came courtesy from Yoonna Choi including a new publication ‘Place Practice and Ten Dialogues’– an exploration of ten artists negotiating new and foreign environments measured through their work and creative output.
Felix de Pass produced ‘Desk’ – an extruded aluminium and solid wood frame desk with concealed tracks onto which various accessories can be attached – ‘folded sheet aluminium drawers, cable management solutions and privacy screens can all be fitted allowing the elementary desk to adapt and meet the varying needs of the user and situation’.
Meanwhile Min-Kyu Choi displayed the flat-pack plug, an ingenious design transforming the bulky standard UK plug into a practical compact form, taking the slim-line MacBook Air as the standard to be met.
There is also a multi-plug version, allowing three plugs the space and power of one standard UK plug – Check out You Tube for a short film.
Good environmentally and conceptually driven design came from Nitipak Samsen, who produced A.T.R.E.E.M. (Automated Tree-Rental for Emission Encaging Machine). A system allowing users to rent trees to offset their carbon footprint, making intangible CO2 manifest in terms of grams and minutes. Clever, politically minded design.
As ever, the Department of Communication Art and Design (www.cad2009.rca.ac.uk) produced a vast range of talent. Presented together with an intelligent and stylish exhibition design, which took the form of a colour coded directory. Designed by Jack Gilbey and Jaakko Tuomivaara, using a typeset by graduate Alistair Webb, it reflected the true diversity of the department.
We also particularly liked the designs by Povilas Utovka including fonts Marc and Monika (below).
More excellent print based projects came courtesy from Yoonna Choi including a new publication ‘Place Practice and Ten Dialogues’– an exploration of ten artists negotiating new and foreign environments measured through their work and creative output.
Felix de Pass produced ‘Desk’ – an extruded aluminium and solid wood frame desk with concealed tracks onto which various accessories can be attached – ‘folded sheet aluminium drawers, cable management solutions and privacy screens can all be fitted allowing the elementary desk to adapt and meet the varying needs of the user and situation’.
Meanwhile Min-Kyu Choi displayed the flat-pack plug, an ingenious design transforming the bulky standard UK plug into a practical compact form, taking the slim-line MacBook Air as the standard to be met.
There is also a multi-plug version, allowing three plugs the space and power of one standard UK plug – Check out You Tube for a short film.
Good environmentally and conceptually driven design came from Nitipak Samsen, who produced A.T.R.E.E.M. (Automated Tree-Rental for Emission Encaging Machine). A system allowing users to rent trees to offset their carbon footprint, making intangible CO2 manifest in terms of grams and minutes. Clever, politically minded design.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Willkommen auf Zeitraum
Thirty minutes from the centre of Munich, nestled in amongst the Bavarian hills is Zeitraum HQ. A German company, who for the last 19 years have been producing stunning furniture – natural, unpretentious yet stylish and contemporary. We at Relay are very proud to announce ourselves as Zeitraum agents in the UK and Ireland.
While in Germany we were lucky enough to taste some fantastic Bavarian hospitality and get a tour of their showrooms. All their products are beautifully crafted, using solid woods, finished with natural oils…no harsh chemicals here. Dedicated to sustainable manufacturing, ecology was a founding part to Zeitraum’s philosophy nearly 20 years ago and with such experience putting them ahead of the trend they have produced a truly great collection for 2009.
Always taking wood as their starting point – “it lives, smells good, feels nice, never looks the same and is therefore unique” - they mix in other materials like stainless steel and upholstery to create contemporary furniture ideal for domestic and commercial use.
With a large collection (all available in various finishes) we have had to be strict with ourselves and highlight just five products in this blog entry, but do visit their website at www.zeitraum-moebel.de to see more or email us at zeitraum@relaydesignagency.co.uk.
Code 1
Part of the larger Code family of shelving systems Code 1 is fitted with invisible magnets, recessed below the surface of the wood meaning the units can join together to create a stable wall.
Morph
Designed by Formstelle, Morph illustrates Zeitraum's long experience using wood. Bending ply to create this organic, lightweight form it expresses ‘a combination of stability and dynamism’. Available with or without upholstery.
Soda/Form
Using solid wood in combination with delicate stainless steel frames, both the Soda table (also available as a coffee and cafe table plus a side table) and the Form chair create a stylish aesthetic, which we at Relay think is unique to Zeitraum.
Sit
A classic design, which like all Zeitraum products is available in a number of woods including; European Oak, Wild Oak, American Walnut, European Walnut, Maple, Beech and American Black Cherry. It’s stackable too!
WebWeb
A simple name for a vast variable shelving system…WebWeb.35 and WebWeb.60 offer a myriad of possible shelving designs bespoke to the customer.
Also check out their new lighting family ‘Noon’ and their variable sitting system ‘Side Comfort’. Don’t worry if you miss something - Relay will be keeping you up-to-date with all the Zeitraum news.
www.zeitraum-moebel.de
While in Germany we were lucky enough to taste some fantastic Bavarian hospitality and get a tour of their showrooms. All their products are beautifully crafted, using solid woods, finished with natural oils…no harsh chemicals here. Dedicated to sustainable manufacturing, ecology was a founding part to Zeitraum’s philosophy nearly 20 years ago and with such experience putting them ahead of the trend they have produced a truly great collection for 2009.
Always taking wood as their starting point – “it lives, smells good, feels nice, never looks the same and is therefore unique” - they mix in other materials like stainless steel and upholstery to create contemporary furniture ideal for domestic and commercial use.
With a large collection (all available in various finishes) we have had to be strict with ourselves and highlight just five products in this blog entry, but do visit their website at www.zeitraum-moebel.de to see more or email us at zeitraum@relaydesignagency.co.uk.
Code 1
Part of the larger Code family of shelving systems Code 1 is fitted with invisible magnets, recessed below the surface of the wood meaning the units can join together to create a stable wall.
Morph
Designed by Formstelle, Morph illustrates Zeitraum's long experience using wood. Bending ply to create this organic, lightweight form it expresses ‘a combination of stability and dynamism’. Available with or without upholstery.
Soda/Form
Using solid wood in combination with delicate stainless steel frames, both the Soda table (also available as a coffee and cafe table plus a side table) and the Form chair create a stylish aesthetic, which we at Relay think is unique to Zeitraum.
Sit
A classic design, which like all Zeitraum products is available in a number of woods including; European Oak, Wild Oak, American Walnut, European Walnut, Maple, Beech and American Black Cherry. It’s stackable too!
WebWeb
A simple name for a vast variable shelving system…WebWeb.35 and WebWeb.60 offer a myriad of possible shelving designs bespoke to the customer.
Also check out their new lighting family ‘Noon’ and their variable sitting system ‘Side Comfort’. Don’t worry if you miss something - Relay will be keeping you up-to-date with all the Zeitraum news.
www.zeitraum-moebel.de
Monday, 15 June 2009
Hej Örsjö!
Relay Design Agency is proud to announce our appointment as sole UK Agents for the Swedish lighting company Örsjö Belysning. With 60 years experience providing unique lighting solutions for a host of different environments, Örsjö presents the UK market with an exciting and broad range of innovative products.
The Örsjö collection is created by some of Scandinavia’s leading designers including; Norway Says and Jonas Bohlin, as well as Matti Klenell who designed Mushroom (below). With its white lacquered steel and optional orange highlights Mushroom is a perfect illustration of Orsjo’s desire to produce classic designs with a contemporary edge.
Örsjö design and manufacture standard products alongside unique commissions. Over their history they have had a great deal of experience developing customized lighting solutions resulting in several close collaborations with architects and end use clients. All of which have been catching the eye of design journalists and juries across Europe, including Wallpaper, who awarded the Ginko pendant (by Norway Says) the Best Light 2009.
And these designs aren’t just stunning but environmentally sound too. In 2008 ‘Disc’ (below by Doos Arkitekter) was awarded the environmental label - The Swan. All the more notable as the notoriously difficult Nordic Swan Eco-label has never been awarded to a lighting product before!
With its continuing success and several exciting design collaborations and commissions on the horizon, we at Relay will endeavour to keep you up to date on all Örsjö news and product launches as they happen.
In the meantime keep an eye on our website.
www.orsjo.com
The Örsjö collection is created by some of Scandinavia’s leading designers including; Norway Says and Jonas Bohlin, as well as Matti Klenell who designed Mushroom (below). With its white lacquered steel and optional orange highlights Mushroom is a perfect illustration of Orsjo’s desire to produce classic designs with a contemporary edge.
Örsjö design and manufacture standard products alongside unique commissions. Over their history they have had a great deal of experience developing customized lighting solutions resulting in several close collaborations with architects and end use clients. All of which have been catching the eye of design journalists and juries across Europe, including Wallpaper, who awarded the Ginko pendant (by Norway Says) the Best Light 2009.
And these designs aren’t just stunning but environmentally sound too. In 2008 ‘Disc’ (below by Doos Arkitekter) was awarded the environmental label - The Swan. All the more notable as the notoriously difficult Nordic Swan Eco-label has never been awarded to a lighting product before!
With its continuing success and several exciting design collaborations and commissions on the horizon, we at Relay will endeavour to keep you up to date on all Örsjö news and product launches as they happen.In the meantime keep an eye on our website.
www.orsjo.com
Monday, 8 June 2009
KiosKiosk
Relay visited the Super Contemporary Show at the Design Museum this weekend. We enjoyed the playfulness of Paul Smith's Bunny Bin with light up ears (below) and Thomas Heatherwick's bouquet of street lights, however this is not an exhibition you can see in half an hour. With a potted history of the last 40 years of London design (including the birth of Pentagram right up to Industrial Facility's Two Timer clock for Established & Sons) set yourself a few hours and take it all in, especially the Super Contemporary commissions in the centre of the space.
One idea that stood out against the crowd came courtesy of Mr. Wayne Hemingway. He is proposing a series of (new and existing) kiosks around London be offered to young creatives and start-up entrepreneurs for free as a platform to sell their wares directly to the public. So many kiosks are laden down with the same tourist tat while so many young designers struggle to get exposure, surely now is the time to promote creativity as a way out of recession and give the kids a chance!
The first free kiosk will be at More London this summer, with hopefully more to follow. Designers/Creatives/Artists/Start-up entrepreneurs can apply for a slot at www.kioskiosk.co.uk.
If, however, you cannot wait to catch these pop-up stalls for a hit of new talent – New Designers is on its way and we are particularly excited as the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (ICA) have announced its partnership with this year's New Designers exhibition in Islington this July.
For 24 years, New Designers has been bringing together the very best in UK graduate design, showcasing the work, energy and talent of some 3,500 young designers every July in the Business Design Centre, London. It's the freshest and most vibrant show of its kind, and runs for two weeks from Part 1: 9-12 July and Part 2:16-19 July.
www.ica.org.uk
www.newdesigners.com
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