HighLights of Clerkenwell Design Week

NUD Collection Annons

Here is a selection of some beautiful lamps, lampshades and chandeliers on display at Clerkenwell Design Week today. Among my favourites are lamps from the NUD Collection, Fred & Juul Raffaele, MacMaster Design, Holloways of Ludlow, Deadgood and Luminosity.

Fred & Juul Raffaele pendant lamp

MacMaster Bloom Pendant Light Natural Birch

MacMaster Bloom Pendant Light Natural Birch

Holloways of Ludlow Jielde

Holloways of Ludlow Coco Flip CDW13

Holloways of Ludlow Augustin

Deadgood EXTL Lights

Luminosity Banksia

Luminosity Aperture

Fred & Juul Petrona chandelier

London Design Festival 2012 Best Picks

Since the London Design Festival started last Friday exhibitions are popping up all over the capitol. From over 300 hundred different events to choose from it can be difficult to know where to start. Here are the best picks for recycled related design events and exhibitions.

The V&A, the hub of the LDF has several sustainable design exhibitions, including E-side and the Evolutionary Wall. From 14-23 September at the V&A.

Tent London is regarded as the most cutting-edge and progressive trade exhibition during the London Design Festival. Housed in the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane, it has a huge range of independent and fascinating designers exhibiting their work. Tent runs from 20-23 September.

100% Design is the largest and most prestigious single-site design event in the UK, it hosts a huge range of brilliant design talent from all around the world. From the 19-22 September at Earls Court Exhibition Centre 2, Warwick Road, London, SW5 9TA.

Decorex is a huge design show held at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, this is for those with expensive taste, showing high end international interior design exhibits. From 23-26 September at Royal Hospital Road, London, Greater London SW3 4SR.

At the DesignJunction the sustainable exhibition 2nd Cycle  will feature Artek, a Finnish furniture company, which seek to highlight the issue of conscious consuming and authentic design through an upcycling project. Their philosophy promotes traditional craftsmanship with modern interventions. “Nothing old is ever reborn but neither does it totally disappear. And that which has once been born, will always reappear in a new form.” –Alvar Aalto, one of the founders of Artek. A sale of second-hand vintage furniture run by Fernandez & Wells, will be available to buy at twentytwentyone. From 19 – 23 September at The Old Sorting Office New Oxford Street.

Mirror by Joe Gibbs courtesy of Designers Block

Designersblock at the Southbank Centre has a selection of sustainable furniture and lighting, featuring UTREM LUX, Polliander, Joe Gibbs and numerous other great designers. From the 20-23 September at the Southbank Centre.

Reclaimed Furniture from LA: MFEO

MFEO is a love story between its founders, Van and Claribelle, and their shared love for great design, vintage objects and the growing desire to lead more sustainable lifestyles.

Industrial Grater pendant lights

Slatted Cyclone side table

The pair from Los Angeles seek to reduce the environmental impact of production by primarily using repurposed materials for their designs.

Slat & Dowel reclaimed coffee table

Stump & Pins coffee table

They have a great selection of coffee tables and side tales as well as repurposed lamps.

Skate Sconce wall lamp series

Factory Task lamp & sconce

September – Month of Design and Inspiration

September is a great month for design and architecture, with the start of the London Design Festival tomorrow, as well as Part 2 of the International Architectural Showcase and London Open House allowing people to look around London’s most significant buildings.

The London Design Festival will be hosted at numerous venues all around London, including the Southbank Centre, the V & A. It will feature over 300 events and exhibitions demonstrating the best of design from all around the globe. The designers range from fashion, ceramics to landscape design and architecture.

Keiichi Matsuda’s Prism at the London Design Festival

The wide variety of events allow you to look at vastly different areas of design and see how these may relate to or complement each other. One of the main pieces to look out for is the immersive rubberised space in the centre of  Trafalgar Square. The space is created by BE OPEN together with the London Design Festival. It plays with the idea of “design you can’t see” (mock up shown below).

“design you can’t see” in Trafalgar Square

The main hub of the festival will be the V&A, watch the video below to see what events and exhibitions the museum will be hosting.

UTREM LUX: Recycled Lighting

UTREM LUX is a series of lamps designed by DeGross Design & Innovation, a design studio based in London. DeGross Design & Innovation focuses on products that are both sustainable and cost-effective.

They created these lamps from reused glass bottles that had been discarded behind their studio alone with wood offcuts donated by their next-door neighbours ‘W. Hanson wood merchants’.

Each lamp is unique and has been made by hand. UTREM LUX will be launched at this year’s Designersblock in the Southbank centre as a part of the London Design Festival this September 2012.

Here is a quasi-instructional video showing how the lamps were made.

Filmed and edited by Alexander Duffner
In collaboration with Avi Aloni and Mor Bakal

Industria: Iron Furniture from the Philippines

At this year’s ASEAN Singapore furniture fair, Philippino designers Jude Tiotuico and Eric Paras launched their wing chairs made of iron for Industria Home.

Featherston lounge chair

Industria Home is a small iron manufacturing company based in the Philippines.

Featherstone Ottoman

Their furniture design, which incorporates wrought iron into their pieces, brings fantasy to forms and function.

Chateau triangular chair

The furniture ranges from chairs to tables to lighting to coat racks. Each piece is crafted with romanticised steel, woven together to create a romanticised look.

 

The elegant and beautifully woven together makes the chairs look light and delicate.

Strato Barrel Side Table

The eclectic mix of styles allows the pieces to be incorporated into a range of interiors.

Hudson Threaded Tea Table

Combined with smooth finishings, wood and upholstery the furniture can be adapted to classic styles.

Rather than having an industrial feel or a traditional structure these designs reinterpret contemporary and classic designs giving them a new texture.