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      Five key exhibitions at Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2022

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      Lisbon Architecture Triennale has returned for its sixth edition, with exhibitions, installations and contributions by the likes of Dutch studio MVRDV and Japanese studio Tomoaki Uno Architects.

      Titled Terra, the Latin word for earth, this year’s Lisbon Architecture Triennale is a call to action centring on sustainability and forging a balance between communities, resources and processes.
      The 14-week-long event was curated by Portuguese architects and educators Cristina Veríssimo and Diogo Burnay. It takes place until 5 December 2022 and includes a number of exhibitions, book launches, conferences and fringe events across the city of Lisbon.
      Each of the exhibitions and events highlights climate change, human reliance on resources as well as social, economic and environmental injustices and how these issues are connected.
      Read on for five key exhibitions at the 2022 edition of Lisbon Architecture Triennale:

      Multiplicity
      Curated by Cityscapes Magazine co-founder Tau Tavengwa and anthropologist and writer Vyjayanthi Rao, Multiplicity is an exhibition that looks at ways architecture and design can respond better to global challenges such as inequality, climate change and conflict.
      The exhibition is organised across several of the National Museum of Contemporary Art’s minimally decorated rooms, with books, posters and other exhibits arranged on folio cabinets and plywood tables to encourage visitors to engage with them.
      It also includes case studies of architecture projects, such as Wiki House by Architecture 00, BookWorm pavilion by Nudes and Plugin House by People’s Architecture Office, which highlight architectural and design-led initiatives and solutions to social and global issues.

      Retroactive
      Retroactive is an exhibition at Lisbon’s Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT), curated by design studio Taller Capital founders Loreta Castro Reguera and José Pablo Ambrosi.
      It identifies ways to help communities living in “vulnerable places due to overcrowding, lack of resources and basic service infrastructure” through the use of architectural initiatives.
      “Retroactive explores the suturing tools of communities in urgent need of architectural solutions that may reconcile their sense of belonging and spatial dignity,” explained Lisbon Architecture Triennale organisers.

      Cycles
      At the Garagem Sul museum, Cycles highlights the circular economy of materials, presenting ways in which designers, architects and creatives can reuse waste. The exhibition was designed by local office Rar.Studio and curated by architect Pedro Ignacia Alonso with art curator Pamela Prado.
      “Cycles addresses the role of architecture within the endless processes of transformation and redistribution of matter, and showcases the possible encounter between architecture and sustainability, economy, heritage and memory,” said organisers of Lisbon Architecture Triennale.
      A focal point of the exhibition is Falca, a mound of cork piled in the rear corner of the gallery by artist Lara Almarcegui.

      Visionaries 
      Visionaries is described by its curator Anastassia Smirnova as an “invitation for action”. It is arranged within the Culturgest centre across a collection of rooms, which each shed light on radical ideas spanning different categories or themes.
      Among the visionary projects is Dutch architecture studio MVRDV’s proposal to raise Eindhoven’s cathedral by 55 metres to insert social and public functions below it, alongside an exploration into French architect Roger Anger’s utopian city Auroville in India. Other contributors include Japanese studio Tomoaki Uno Architects, Spanish architect Andrés Jaque and Spanish office Ensamble Studio.
      “Their projects, more than mere physical and spatial structures, are ambitious and controversial prescriptions for planetary strategies,” said Lisbon Architecture Triennale.
      “In many different forms, from the bedroom scale to city models, these radical prototypes are open to being productively interpreted, not just replicated, by future generations.”

      Independent Projects
      Alongside the main exhibitions, a total of 16 projects have been developed in response to the triennale’s theme of Terra. Twelve of these are exhibited at the event’s headquarters at Palacio Sinel de Cordes, while the other four are dotted across the city of Lisbon.
      Among them is After Plastics, a project by KALA.studio that imagines a landscape where microplastics play a vital role in a new plant growth. Meanwhile, designers Zhicheng Xu, Mengqi Moon He, Stratton Coffman, Calvin Zhong and Wuyahuang Li, are presenting Lodgers, a proposal for temporary housing for different life forms in Nevada, built from local materials.
      Lisbon Architecture Triennale takes place from 1 October to 5 December 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      The photography is by Sara Constança.

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      Copenhagen Architecture Festival exhibition responds to “ridiculous” big-budget building projects

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      An exhibition in Copenhagen showcases work by students who were instructed to develop projects for extreme environments in order to come up with original design solutions not influenced by “castle in the sky” builds and architecture blogs.

      Named New Methods for Big Challenges: Architecture and Extreme Environments, the exhibition was commissioned for this year’s ongoing Copenhagen Architecture Festival (CAFx).
      It was curated by David Garcia, founder of local studio MAP Architects and an associate professor at the Royal Danish Academy’s architecture and technology institute, where he teaches a masters course titled Architecture and Extreme Environments.
      The exhibition is being held at Halmtorvet 27 in Copenhagen’s Meatpacking DistrictThe exhibition showcases the result of students’ work on the programme, which sees them live and work for weeks in harsh locations such as Alaska and the Gobi Desert.
      There they must seek to build and test design prototypes that benefit the communities living in these challenging environments by harnessing the resources available and collaborating with local people.

      Garcia said the aim of the course, as well as responding to climate change, is to give the students no choice but to produce original architecture – without the temptation to copy what they see online.
      “I wanted to make my students start in a very difficult place where there is no precedent, pushing them to an extreme context so they have to think anew,” he told Dezeen.
      “It’s partly based on the idea that it’s hard for students to separate themselves from the images they see on the architecture blogs. These websites have an enormous impact on students, who crave inspiration, but it can be overwhelming as there is so much readily available.”
      Garcia said the idea for the masters course was based on his time making “ridiculous” projects at a large British architecture firmHe added that his own experience working on big-budget projects for rich clients while at major British architecture firm Foster + Partners was behind the conception of the course.
      “I spent many years designing castles in the sky and that was pivotal in coming up with this programme,” he said.
      “I realised that from a resource perspective, and from the point of view of solving the world’s problems it was ridiculous. I’m extremely critical of those types of projects despite having worked on them myself in the past.”

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      The exhibition starts with blown-up versions of pamphlets produced by MAP Architects exploring concepts for architecture in places like Antarctica, Chernobyl, or the Earth’s orbit.
      For instance, one pamphlet suggests that Antarctica’s constant extreme cold be used to cool seeds in a World Seed Bank, as an alternative to the centre in the Arctic’s Svalbard where air conditioning is sometimes required due to temperature fluctuation.
      Among the projects featured in the main exhibition is a desalination device produced by a student placed with an Inuit community in the Bering Strait, where only saltwater is readily accessible.
      Projects were developed in locations like Alaska, the Gobi Desert and the Atacama DesertThe student’s research uncovered that thawing saltwater ice initially produces drinkable water, as this melts faster than saline.
      Via a series of tubes and chambers, the device takes a block of saltwater ice and transforms it into a glass of fresh water overnight that can be drunk in the morning.
      Meanwhile, the orange Inxect suit by Pavel Liepins aims to tackle issues of plastic pollution and food security in the Faroe Islands.
      It channels body heat and humidity generated by movement into an attached habitat for plastic-eating mealworms, which are non-toxic to humans and rich in protein.
      Students were encouraged to think originally about ways they could respond to the challenges of harsh environmentsSome exhibits play with materials, such as an insulation product made out of pine needles by a student placed in Alaska and a method for creating bricks from sand by a student sent to China’s Gobi Desert by Gabriele Jerosine.
      Not all the projects worked successfully, including a device intended to wrap around the stilts of houses in flood-prone Manaus, Brazil, to produce tidal energy, which proved to be overcomplicated and too fragile to function.
      “Personally I don’t care whether their experiments work or not, and I don’t have a specific aesthetic that I look for; that’s not as relevant to me, I’d like the students to explore their own aesthetics,” explained Garcia.

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      “What I care about is that the students are working with the goal of improving the environment in mind, and doing so in a way that is unique to them,” he added.
      Garcia’s own work also features, in the form of a passive heating tent developed for the Atacama Desert in Chile where temperatures get very high during the day but drop dramatically at night.
      The tent uses a self-activating piston to expose a stick of soapstone, an efficient thermal accumulation material, to the sun to be heated during the day before being withdrawn into the tent at night where it gradually radiates heat to provide warmth.
      The exhibition runs until 20 NovemberSome projects produced by students on the course – which has an intake of between 20 and 25 each year – have worked so well that they have been left for use by the community.
      One such example is a project that used urine’s electrolyte properties to power a toilet light in rural Zanzibar, to enable women to feel safe using it at night.
      New Methods for Big Challenges: Architecture and Extreme Environments is being held in CAFx’s space at Halmtorvet 27 in Copenhagen’s Meatpacking District and runs until 20 November.
      Copenhagen Architecture Festival is running a series of events across Copenhagen and Aarhus, mainly between 6 and 16 October 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      The photography is by Francesco Martello.

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      Mixed Seats aims to show “what a chair could be”

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      Designer Ali Shah Gallefoss invited 15 creatives to design their own interpretation of a chair that is suitable for a public space, all of which were presented as a recent exhibition in Oslo, Norway.

      Called Mixed Seats, the exhibition was curated by Shah Gallefoss and exhibition platform Pyton.
      Mixed Seats featured a series of concrete chairs including one by Henrik ØdegaardIt featured an installation of concrete chairs from Norwegian creatives including designers Henrik Ødegaard and Maja Pauline Bang Haugsgjerd, which were arranged in a cluster outside at a square next to Oslobukta shopping centre.
      The project stemmed from Pyton inviting the participants to a dinner party for which they were asked to design and bring their own chairs.
      Tron Meyer designed a blue chair while Jonas Løland made a stoolArchitect, designer and artist Tron Meyer created a textured blue seat with a chunky backrest while architect Jonas Løland offered a sandy-hued stool with three-pronged legs.

      “The chairs are individual suggestions for what a chair could be,” Shah Gallefoss told Dezeen.
      “They’re fun, bold, weird, serious, and playful, just like the group of individuals that made them.”
      Maja Pauline Bang Haugsgjerd created a swirling stoolWhile the creatives were free to add additional materials to their chairs, they were instructed to use concrete as their base material. The furniture was made at a collective workshop held in Drammen.
      Some of the offerings feature colour while others were kept simple, such as an ambiguous, rough concrete stool in the shape of a star or flower by designer Christoph Boulmer.
      Spindly wooden legs make up Kevin Kurang’s abstract stool”The variation in shapes and sizes made an appealing composition,” reflected Shah Gallefoss.
      “When they arrived at the square at Oslobukta they looked like small ants, with the huge Munch museum in the background.”
      Christoph Boulmer designed a flower-shaped chairShah Gallefoss himself contributed a chair design to the exhibition with a squat concrete seat attached to a sculptural metal backrest.
      After the exhibition was dismantled, the curator explained that each of the chairs has travelled to a new location to be repurposed in various ways.
      Shah Gallefoss contributed his own design to the exhibitionIndustrial designer Falke Svatun created seating made from two abstract cylindrical concrete components that has now been placed in Oslo’s Sentralen restaurant while product designer Bjørn van de Berg’s stool featured at Stockholm Design Week.
      “It is [often said] that Norwegians don’t like to sit next to another person on the bus,” joked Shah Gallefoss.
      “But the majority of outdoor furniture [created] is benches that invite people to sit down and disturb your peace and quiet. That made me think about personal space in a public setting.”

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      As well as exploring suitable seating for public spaces, another key objective of Mixed Seats was to showcase and encourage multidisciplinary creativity across Norway, according to Shah Gallefoss.
      “I hope that by introducing fifteen creatives [to each other], the exhibition will plant a seed that will grow and strengthen collaborative efforts between the different disciplines, and in the end, build a stronger design industry,” he concluded.
      Two cylindrical components make up Falke Svatun’s chairOther recent chair designs include a chubby furniture collection by Holloway Li and Uma Objects that was presented at London Design Festival and a chair made of plastic rubbish by design studio Space Available and DJ Peggy Gou.
      Mixed Seats was on display as part of Oslo Runway in Norway, which took place from 23 to 28 August in Oslo, Norway. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      London Fire Brigade “celebrates bravery” with exhibition marking launch of updated typeface

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      The London Fire Brigade has unveiled its updated typeface designed by Studio Sutherl& and The Foundry Types at the Running Towards exhibition of graphic artworks informed by the organisation’s design heritage.

      The Running Towards exhibition took place at the Shoreditch Fire Station during the London Design Festival, with visitors entering through the building’s big red shutters into a display of artworks created by UK designers.
      The exhibition took place at Shoreditch Fire StationThe new Fire Brigade Sans typeface, created by Studio Sutherl& and The Foundry Types, was displayed on the exterior of Shoreditch Fire Station.
      Its design was informed by the lettering of old fire engines and on the facade, the typeface was printed in the red, yellow and gold colours synonymous with fire engines.
      Studio Sutherl& designed London Fire Brigade’s new typefaceTo celebrate the typeface, London Fire Brigade collaborated with communications agency KesselsKramer, writer Thomas Sharp, Studio Sutherl& and carpet manufacturer Britons on the exhibition, which saw designers create their own interpretations of the organisation’s design heritage.

      Among the pieces on show were graphic interpretations of the Danger Risk of Fire safety sign, a bespoke carpet with a pattern informed by the universal fire exit sign and firefighting objects and items from Shoreditch Fire Station’s own collection.
      London Fire Brigade’s typeface Fire Brigade Sans was featured on postersKesselsKramer described the showcase as “a celebration of London Fire Brigade’s bravery, aiming to inspire that very same spirit within ourselves.”
      The studio invited 25 London-based designers to recreate the fire safety symbol for their display, titled ​​Warning: Risk of Fire.
      “It felt appropriate that for London Fire Brigade’s inaugural Design Festival exhibition, a piece of graphic design synonymous with the fire service became the focus,” said KesselsKramer.
      Franz Lang’s design tells the story of her grandma’s catPresented on triangular signs, each artwork was designed to tell a story of firefighting bravery. Graphic artist Jimmy Turrell’s interpretation was dedicated to his father who was a firefighter.
      Illustrator Franz Lang’s entry represented the story of her grandma’s cat, who was rescued from a tree by the fire brigade.

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      “This is such an iconic location for an art show,” said Lauren Coutts, art director at KesselsKramer. “To get a rare glimpse into a fire station is very exciting in itself so to then be able to celebrate bravery here, in so many forms, feels very special.”
      Britons created a bespoke wool carpet for The Running Towards exhibition, which features a pattern informed by the universal fire exit symbol.
      Britons designed a carpet to display at The Running Towards exhibitionBurgundy and navy chevrons repeat along the length of the carpet with arrows and stick figures that reference the fire exit sign. According to Britons, the carpet is made from wool to exemplify the material’s naturally fire-retardant properties.
      “As a material, wool contains a higher water and nitrogen content than other man-made fibres making it a naturally fire-retardant material,” said Britons.
      “Another benefit is that it does not emit smoke or fumes, often one of the main causes of serious health issues following a fire.”
      The exhibition showcased graphic posters in a colour palette that references fire enginesOther exhibitions that took place during London Design Festival include a collection of wooden objects made from a dying ash tree and a sculptural stone installation that references Stonehenge.
      The photography is courtesy of the London Fire Brigade.
      The Running Towards took place between 20 and 24 September as part of London Design Festival. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Exhibition dedicated to the work of Yinka Ilori opens at London's Design Museum

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      Brightly coloured chairs and personal memorabilia feature in the Parables for Happiness exhibition showcasing the works of London-based designer Yinka Ilori at the Design Museum.

      Opened during London Design Festival, the exhibition is the first major display of Ilori’s vast number of vibrant designs, including graphic murals, furniture and public installations.
      Parables of Happiness showcases a wide selection of Ilori’s designsIlori’s designs are exhibited alongside pieces that influenced his work and objects representing his Nigerian heritage, including Nigerian textiles adorned with colourful geometric patterns and a traditional Dùndún drum that visitors can play.
      The show also includes models of some of the 80 sculptural chairs that Ilori has designed.
      Ilori started his career designing chairsOne of Ilori’s chair designs is presented in a line-up of iconic and recognisable chairs with the aim of giving context to his work. Included in the display is the RCP2 chair by Jane Atfield, who was Ilori’s tutor at university.

      “One of the reasons I started designing was because of a brief given by Jane Atfield called Our Chair,” Ilori told Dezeen. “Purely because of her brief is why I started designing chairs when I finished uni.”
      A chair designed by David Adjaye is exhibited alongside Ilori’s workAnother chair on display is the Washington Skeleton Side Chair designed by British-Ghanian architect David Adjaye, who Ilori credits with having “opened doors for designers like me”.
      “Over the years, my work has gained recognition for the strong use of colour, pattern and narrative that comes from my Nigerian heritage,” said Ilori. “However, it has often deviated from design trends and has been misunderstood”
      “This display charts my inspirations and creative journey as I transitioned from furniture design to community-driven public installations,” he continued.
      His work is influenced by Nigerian textilesVisitors to the exhibition can discover Ilori’s architectural projects through photographs, drawings and models including his Colour Palace pavilion, which was erected in Dulwich in 2019.
      Details of Ilori’s Launderette of Dreams – an installation that involved reimagining a launderette in London as a children’s play zone for Lego – are displayed. A lego chair that formed part of the Launderette of Dreams installation is also on display at the show.

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      “A fast-rising star of contemporary design, Yinka Ilori’s unique aesthetic – drawing on Nigerian textiles with a nod to postmodernism – employs a mix of visual references that come together to inspire joy,” said the exhibition’s curator Priya Khanchandani.
      “This display is a testament to how cultural fusions, frissons and juxtapositions can be rich fuel for creativity and for generating more inclusive architectures in the city.”
      Chairs and details of the designer’s public installations are included in the exhibitionAs well as showcasing Ilori’s bright, playful designs and examples of his design influences, the exhibition features some of the designer’s personal items.
      Visitors can see his name badge from working at Marks and Spencer and a pair of paint-splattered trousers that Ilori wore while painting a number of his graphic murals.
      Ilori is known for his use of colour and graphic representation”I’m a huge believer in memory making and storytelling – how do we relive or revisit memories?” said Ilori.
      In Parables of Happiness, Ilori hopes to “open up new conversations about design in the UK and internationally, to see how other people view design around the world”.
      “I am truly humbled and honoured to have my work exhibited at such an early stage in my career and hope the display provides inspiration for the next generation who might feel they don’t fit into the status quo,” the designer continued.
      Known for his colourful designs, Ilori has recently completed a pavilion in Berlin with a canopy made up of brightly coloured translucent disks and transformed his London studio and office with bold hues indicative of his signature art style.
      The photography is by Felix Speller.
      Parables for Happiness takes place from 15 September 2022 to 25 June 2023 at the Design Museum in London. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      At the Rose House is a design showcase at the home of famed landscape architect

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      An exhibition of hand-crafted art and design pieces, including a seminal sculpture by Charles and Ray Eames, is on display at the former New Jersey home of 20th-century landscape architect James Rose.

      At the Rose House is on show at the Ridgewood home that the late American modernist landscape architect designed and hand-built for himself and his family in 1953 and lived in for almost 40 years.
      Pieces in the exhibition are displayed throughout the home as if they belong thereOrganised by curatorial platform Object & Thing and furniture and interior design studio Green River Project LLC, the exhibition stemmed from Rose’s appreciation for craft and materials.
      The show “emphasises the hand-made, beauty in nature and a sense of timelessness” according to the curators.
      Rose self-designed and hand-built the house, which features several Japanese design elementsGreen River Project LLC founders Aaron Aujla and Benjamin Bloomstein, who have admired the landscape architect for some time, have produced a series of new designs based on his work.

      Created in collaboration with a group of designers, these pieces include a side chair by both Bloomstein Industrial and Luck Carpentry, rice paper lamps from Preziosi Lighting and carved grooming items on shelves in the bathroom by Teague’s Path.
      Artworks and designs were selected to reflect Rose’s appreciation for craft and materials”The ease in which Rose expanded the home using ready-made materials was an early point of reference for our practice,” said Aujla.
      “In particular, there is a kitchen with mahogany shelves and pegboard that we must have spent over 100 hours dissecting and referring back to over the last five years.”
      Green River Project’s products are presented alongside the work of mid-century and contemporary designers, including Alvaro Barrington, Bode, Charles and Ray Eames, Louis Eisner, Hugh Hayden, Nancy Holt, Kiva Motnyk, Michele Oka Doner, Johnny Ortiz-Concha and Anne Truitt among others.
      Clothing based on Rose’s personal style is hung in closetsThe works are installed as if they belong in the rooms and garden, which – like many of Rose’s later projects – feature elements of Japanese design, including the exposed timber structure and shoji screens.
      “[Rose] spent considerable amounts of time in Japan and became a Zen Buddhist,” said the curators. “This influence is evident in the Ridgewood house, especially on the upper floor, which contains a room for his daily mediation practice that The James Rose Center is currently restoring.”
      An edition of the 1943 Plywood Sculpture by Charles and Ray Eames is being presented in the US for the first time. Photo by Michael BiondoPieces on display include the Eames’ seminal 1943 Plywood Sculpture – the first time that this edition, which was made and released by Eames Office, is being presented in the US.
      Among the designs created for the showcase are leather Adirondack chairs by Hugh Hayden, wood-fired micaceous pots by Johnny Ortiz-Concha and naturally-dyed framed textile works by Kiva Motnyk.

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      A selection of clothing by New York brand Bode, based on Rose’s “eccentric” personal style, is hung in the closets throughout the house.
      Landscape paintings, rice paper drawings, flower vases, terracotta sculptures, and a screening of Nancy Holt’s 1975 film Pine Barrens that “portrays the New Jersey wilderness” also feature.
      The house in Ridgewood, New Jersey, is preserved by The James Rose Center. Photo by Michael BiondoGreen River Project LLC is also producing new editions of one of Rose’s lanterns to coincide with this exhibition.
      These will be sold to benefit The James Rose Center – a non-profit landscape research and study foundation, which is based at the house and has preserved Rose’s legacy since his death in 1991.
      The exhibition, curated by Object & Thing and Green River Project LLC, runs until 2 October 2022. Photo by Michael Biondo”Rose was an impossible maverick, called by one author, ‘The James Dean of Landscape Architecture,’ but I think he would be very happy with the vision Green River Project LLC and Object & Thing have brought to his house,” said foundation director Dean Cardasis.
      At the Rose House runs until 2 October 2022. This is the latest in a series of exhibitions organised by Object & Thing within the homes of notable 20th-century artists and architects, following presentations at the houses of Gerald Luss, Robert Dash and Eliot Noyes.
      Other exhibitions that showcase the work of modernist designers include an exhibition of Le Corbusier’s tapestries in Manhattan.
       See our Dezeen Events Guide for information about other exhibitions, installations and talks.

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      Ten designers create products from a single dying ash tree for SCP

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      Furniture company SCP has tasked a group of British designers including Faye Toogood and Sebastian Cox to craft objects from the wood of a tree infected with ash dieback disease for this year’s London Design Festival.

      The resulting pieces, ranging from furniture and lighting to decorative objects, are currently on display as part of the One Tree exhibition the brand is hosting in its Shoreditch showroom.
      One Tree includes works by Moe Redish (above) and Wilkinson & Rivera (top)The project saw ten designers make use of a tree on SCP founder Sheridan Coakley’s property, which had to be felled after being infected with a highly destructive fungal disease called ash dieback. Eventually, this is expected to kill around 80 per cent of ash trees in the UK.
      “Most fallen ash trees are getting just cut down and used for firewood,” Coakley told Dezeen. “But rather than burning the tree or letting it rot, we wanted to capture the carbon that’s in the wood by making something out of it.”
      Faye Toogood made an organic love seat from a tree forkA group of ten designers and makers, including Cox and Toogood alongside industrial designer Matthew Hilton, carpenter Poppy Booth and design duo Wilkinson & Rivera, was invited to observe the tree being felled in April 2022 and to select the pieces of timber they wanted to use.

      Toogood created a stool from the fork of the tree, which forms a natural love seat. This effect was highlighted by stripping off the bark of the wood but leaving its shape largely unadulterated.
      Flat facets allow the wood grain to become decoration in Sarah Kay’s piecesAlso making use of the thick, solid parts of the tree was designer and maker Sarah Kay, who chose to bisect a log to create a series of geometric side tables.
      The logs were given flat facets to highlight the gnarled grain of the wood. This swirling, almost psychedelic graining is also apparent in Wilkinson & Rivera’s three-seater bench.
      Poppy Booth’s cupboard is based on an abstract paintingHusband-and-wife duo Grant Wilkinson and Teresa River used rudimentary forms to construct the bench, allowing the grain of the wood to serve as decoration.
      Another furniture piece in the exhibition is a corner cupboard designed by Poppy Booth based on Black Square – an abstract painting by Russian-Ukrainian artist Kazimir Malevich from 1915.
      Mirroring the painting, the cupboard front features a square of blackened ash surrounded by a non-burnt frame. The piece is intended sit high up in the corner of a room to act as a kind of memorial for all the ash trees killed by the dieback.
      Max Bainbridge created a bench, vessels and wall pieceEast London designer Moe Redish created a series of glass vases and vessels, which were mouth-blown into natural voids in the wood made by birds, insects, weather damage and the fungus that causes ash dieback.
      Taking a similar approach, artist and craftsman Max Bainbridge chose to work with pieces of the tree that had apparent fissures, splits and raw edges, and turned them into a series of organically shaped vessels, a bench and a wall piece called Portrait of Ash.

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      A number of designers took a more sculptural approach, with Oscar Coakley creating a giant wall fixture in the shape of an acid-house smiley while Hilton designed a helical Jenga-like sculpture made from repeating elements of carved wood.
      Cox, who took charge of cutting up the ash tree using his portable sawmill and dried all of the wood for the exhibition in his South London studio, created two lights using the branches that were left behind after all the other designers had made their selections.
      Long sections from the tree’s branches were used for Sebastian Cox’s lightsThe branches were cut into thin, raw-edge slivers and fashioned into triangular prisms to act as shades for a pendant and standing lamp.
      The pieces are being presented as part of SCP’s Almost Instinct showcase at LDF and are all for sale, with the aim of putting a selection of the items into production in the future.
      Oscar Coakley created a wall fixture in the shape of a smiley”I think this is a project that might continue,” Sheridan Coakley said. “There are other trees that have got to come down, why not make something with them?”
      This year’s LDF saw a slew of brands open their showrooms and run events, many returning for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
      All the pieces in SCP’s show were made using wood from this ash treeOther projects on show as part of the festival include an installation by architecture studio Stanton Williams that was informed by Stonehenge and Shakespearian theatres, and an exhibition of furniture by James Shaw that pokes fun at the tensions that arise between cohabiting couples.
      Photography is by Robbie Wallace.
      One Tree is on show between 17 and 25 September as part of London Design Festival. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      R for Repair London exhibition features “sympathetic” repairs to sentimental objects

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      A rattan cast created to protect the damaged wing of a toy puffin and a fractured plate held together with steel staples feature in R for Repair, an exhibition of repaired objects presented at the V&A museum as part of London Design Festival.

      Curated by Jane Withers and Hans Tan, the exhibition is the second edition of R for Repair, and follows the first iteration of the show that was held in Singapore last year.
      R for Repair is on display at the V&A in LondonThe show presented at London’s V&A museum includes 10 damaged objects repaired by 10 different designers from Singapore or the UK. They are displayed alongside three repaired objects from the original exhibition.
      Responding to an open call, members of the public were invited to contribute sentimental but broken objects to the project. Designers chosen by Withers and Tan then repaired the objects in various creative ways.
      Ng Si Ying repaired a toy puffin by creating a rattan cast for its wingDesigner Ng Si Ying created a cast and belt out of rattan and thread for Graham Secrets, a toy puffin owned by UK-based Oli Stratford, which was a gift from the owner’s parents on his 30th birthday.

      Originally made by Danish silversmith and designer Kay Bojesen in 1954, the object was damaged by Stratford’s cat. Ying created a cast for the puffin’s wing in Singapore using an intricate weaving technique.
      Rio Kobayashi used Japanese joinery to adapt an antique sewing chest”We wanted to pair designers who would be sympathetic to the owner’s emotional attachment and what are often quite moving stories behind the objects and why the owners treasure them, but might also have an unexpected take on the object and add new layers of meaning, enriching this evolving narrative of ownership,” Withers told Dezeen.
      “We also looked for designers who might bring interesting techniques and unexpected experimentation to the repairs.”
      The chest now has space to display drawings and paintingsAnother object repaired for the 2022 edition of the exhibition is an 18th-century antique sewing chest owned by Eleanor Suggett Stephens in the UK, which she inherited from her grandmother.
      Suggett Stephens discovered that the chest contained previously unseen sketches and watercolour paintings by her grandmother, who wanted to be an artist but never achieved her dream.
      Other objects include a repaired doll’s house by StudiomamaLondon-based designer Rio Kobayashi used traditional Japanese joinery techniques to raise the furniture’s feet, and also created a large tabletop designed to display and celebrate the secret artwork.
      Kobayashi used walnut, ash, cherry, sapele, paint and glass to repair the chest, which Suggett Stephens said “represents that creative dream which never happened for [my grandma] and reminds me how fortunate I am to have a career in the arts.”
      Studio Dam put a broken plate back together with staplesOther objects in the exhibition include a porcelain dinner plate that broke down the middle and was repaired with steel staples and epoxy glue by Studio Dam in Singapore.
      British owners Karen Birkin and screenwriter Andrew Birkin, brother of actor Jane Birkin, submitted the plate for repair with an entirely open brief. Andrew Birkin quipped that Studio Dam could make a spaceship out of it.

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      In response, the multidisciplinary studio took visual cues from Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which Andrew Birkin worked on early in his career.
      Studio Dam was informed by juci, a traditional Chinese porcelain repair technique that involves the use of metal staples.
      At the V&A, the objects are presented on bright yellow boxes”On one hand, the primary motivation was to bring creativity to repair through design,” explained Tan, discussing the exhibition.
      “At the same time, we thought having designers and objects from two countries would add a dimension to the project as a design and cultural exchange.”
      Tzen Chia playfully repaired a glass bottle for an anonymous ownerWithers also added that the exhibition intends to celebrate the process of repair and encourage the idea of giving possessions a second life.
      “I think it is important to broaden the discussion around repair and explore the psychological as well as functional dimension,” concluded Withers.
      “To understand why we keep things and how that can inform the design of products. How can things be designed with repair in mind so they improve with age?”
      As London Design Festival kicks off in the capital, see other installations that are part of the event, such as a collection of rotating stone chairs by Sabine Marcelis.
      The photography is by Zuketa Film Production. 
      R for Repair is on display at the V&A in London from 17 September to 2 November. 
      London Design Festival 2022 takes place from 17-25 September 2022. See our London Design Festival 2022 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.

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