The Design Writer

By Penny Craswell

A bookcase and sofa with moving parts for Vitra. A tile series with London themed names for Mutina – fog, lead and ink. A contemporary vase made of Venetian glass for Venini. The London Olympic torch. The new Ace Hotel in Shoreditch. A new £2 coin with an image of the London Underground. An exhibition called “In the Making” at the Design Museum in London.

The breadth of the work of London design duo Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby is impressive. Sitting down with Jay Osgerby at the Vitra stand at the Milan Furniture Fair in 2014, I ask if this breadth is a result of the thrill of the chase. “It is,” he confirms. “It really is. There’s something about the thrill of the chase which is really creative. If you have a design education you can apply it to anything, really.” Read more →

By Penny Craswell

As the Milan Furniture Fair ramps up, one of the common themes across the products from around the world is that of materiality – using materials in new ways, developing new material innovations and unexpected combinations of materials.

At the Triennale, a number of Asian design exhibitions were on display, including “Constancy and Change in Korean Traditional Craft” which displayed the work of contemporary Korean artisans working with traditional processes and concepts.

The ceremonial bowls of Master Lee Bong-ju are made in brass and each one, when struck, resonates at a different pitch. Lee Bong-ju is one of the last of a generation of artisans working in this way and has been named a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Treasure. There is a stillness to the vibration of the bowls which, combined with the beauty of the beaten copper, provides a sense of serenity and majesty. Read more →

By Penny Craswell

Last year, Korean designer Jinil Park exhibited his Drawing Series chair and armchair – two chairs that look like drawings. They are so realistic it is difficult to believe the photograph of the chair is not a drawing. The designer created these one-off pieces as an experiment, wanting to see whether he could turn his rough drawings into actual three-dimensional objects that work as a seat: “I created the objects by hand without even a single CAD plan,” says Park. “Choosing the materials, refining and welding them together to make an object was very difficult. But simultaneously it is a difficult and a fun process.”

Also last year, the Canvas series, this time by Japanese design studio YOY, also plays with the idea of turning a drawing into a three dimensional piece of furniture. Hanging Canvas Sofa, which was shown at Salone Satellite during Milan Design Week 2013, is on first glance a print of a drawing of a chair (or sofa) on a stretched canvas. However, these pieces, whose frame is constructed out of wood and aluminium, feature an elastic fabric which allows the user to sit on the canvas – rendering the two-dimensional image of the chair, an actual chair that it is possible to sit in (and is apparently surprisingly comfortable). Read more →