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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.

      Yinka Ilori builds colourful Lego launderette in east London for kids to play in

      “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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      Cooking Sections and Sakiya explore importance of non-human species in joint exhibition

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      Turner Prize-nominated art duo Cooking Sections and Palestinian research collective Sakiya have created an exhibition in Edinburgh called In the Eddy of the Stream, which reevaluates the significance of plants and other organisms in our ecosystems.

      The multimedia show is on display at the Inverleith House of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as part of the science centre’s three-year Climate House exhibition programme.
      In the Eddy of the Stream includes installations, performances and sculpturesSpread across six galleries, the exhibition presents a range of work from research-heavy installations to live performances, developed by Sakiya and UK-based Cooking Sections.
      The show aims to “draw attention to the breakdown of ecosystems through the removal of plants and the ensuing long-term harm to people, communities and other species,” according to Cooking Sections.
      In particular, In the Eddy of the Stream intends to highlight how certain plants and non-sentient animals like oysters have been threatened by the complex histories of land ownership in Scotland and Palestine.

      Recalling Recollection investigates the history of Palestinian plant species”The installations, performances and materials in this exhibition challenge how botany has been used as a mechanism of control and how it might identify new horizons,” Cooking Sections said.
      “We want visitors to look again at the impact of our relationship with nature and non-human species and imagine new ways, in which to develop that vital relationship to the benefit of all parties.”
      From the Shores that Found their Sea is a group of mosaics made from waste shellsOne installation, named Recalling Recollection, showcases 33 botanical specimens of edible and medicinal plants, which the British Empire classified as a threat to its wheat monocultures during the country’s occuption of Palestine in the wake of the first world war.
      Sakiya has presented the specimens alongside postcards from Palestine in both Arabic and English that share stories, anecdotes and relevant folklore attempting to reclassify the plants as vital organisms.
      “In the same gallery, an oak baseboard depicting the 33 plants lines the space in reflection and opposition to the room’s ornate cornicing,” Cooking Sections founders Daniel Fernández Pascual and Alon Schwabe told Dezeen.
      Intertidal Polyculture includes ropes and nets made from biomaterialsAnother piece, From the Shores that Found their Sea, features a collection of wall mosaics formed from terrazzo-style tiles that are made out of waste mussel and oyster shells rather than traditional carbon-intensive cement.
      The shells were sourced from restaurants on the Scottish islands of Skye and Raasay that have adopted Cooking Sections’ Climavore menu – a regenerative approach to food sourcing developed by the art duo, which is also used by eateries at the Tate and V&A museums in London.

      “Food is one of the main drivers that is shaping the ecology of the planet” says art duo Cooking Sections

      A room with electric blue walls houses Cooking Sections’ Intertidal Polyculture project, a group of nets and ropes crafted from heather, kelp and purple moor grass instead of sterile plastics.
      When placed underwater, these natural nets and ropes encourage intertidal species to attach to them and grow.
      “All of this builds up towards a new framework for collective usership of the coast, a working process to advocate for the establishment of the tidal commons in Scotland,” explained Fernández Pascual and Schwabe.
      Oyster Readings is an installation and performance pieceOyster Readings is both an experimental installation and a playful performance piece that must be booked in advance.
      Here, visitors are invited to sit on organically shaped stools arranged around a matching table, both formed from a material made from crushed oyster shells in place of concrete.
      The piece is a play on traditional palm readingsEnveloped by a green fringe curtain, this space hosts palmistry-style readings where experts reveal information about the state of Scotland’s seas by analysing the patterns of local oyster shells, in a practice similar to studying tree rings.
      “Oyster Readings foresee the future of the coast through the ridged surface of an oyster shell, allowing you to read into our common oyster futures,” said Fernández Pascual and Schwabe.
      In the Eddy of the Stream presents various multimedia installationsIn the Eddy of the Stream gets its name from the concept of an eddy, which describes “a sheltered area where water flows back upstream against the current” and, according to Fernández Pascual and Schwabe, embodies the work they created with Sakiya.
      Similar projects by Cooking Sections, which is known for its focus on climate change, include an installation in Sharjah highlighting desert plants as an alternative to water-hungry greenery in arid cities.
      In the Eddy of the Stream is on show at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival from 2 July to 18 September 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 Shannon Tofts. 

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      Formafantasma and Artek's Cambio exhibition explores Finnish design's link to forestry

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      Design duo Formafantasma has collaborated with furniture brand Artek to explore the relationship between the timber and design industries in Finland through an exhibition at Helsinki Design Museum.

      Called Cambio: On Finnish Forestry, the exhibition is part of Formafantasma’s wider Cambio project – an ongoing investigation into the global impact of the extraction, production and distribution of wood.
      The exhibition takes place at Helsinki Design MuseumThe duo teamed up with Finnish company Artek to create the show, which features a mixture of work shown in previous Cambio exhibitions in the UK, Italy and Switzerland, as well as new works specific to Finland.
      Featuring original films and installations as well as supporting archival material, On Finnish Forestry examines how the country’s timber industry has evolved over time, with a focus on design.
      Formafantasma created an installation of interlocked Stool 60s”This exhibition clearly links furniture design to a specific biome: forests,” Formafantasma founders Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin told Dezeen.

      “At the end of the day, it isn’t about products but about ideas.”
      An installation made up of stacked 1933 Stool 60 models by the late Artek co-founder Alvar Aalto intends to communicate the iconic product’s lasting legacy by mixing both vintage and recently produced pieces.
      One installation features aerial images capturing tree canopy density over OrivesiThe stools are crafted from silver birch, a tree species commonly found in Finland. Trimarchi and Farresin explained that Artek’s local production habits influenced their desire to collaborate with the furniture brand.
      “The majority of trees used in the production of Artek furniture are from Finnish forests, specifically from an area within a 200-kilometre radius from a sawmill close to Jyväskylä,” explained the designers.
      “We don’t see Artek just as a design company producing beautiful furniture, but as a case study on how to relate production to a specific ecosystem.”
      Under the Yoke includes a postcard of artwork by Eero JärnefeltAnother installation presents wooden boards featuring infrared aerial images of Finland’s Orivesi municipality, which document recent tree canopy cover in its peatlands area.
      Formafantasma overlaid the large-scale images with smaller, historical black-and-white snapshots comparing the habitat in previous years.
      A contemporary model of Aalto’s Screen 100 is also on showUnder the Yoke is an installation comprising a postcard of an 1893 artwork of the same name by Finnish painter Eero Järnefelt that depicts a traditional scene of slash-and-burn agriculture, which is framed by chunky pinewood sourced from contemporary clearcutting.
      Among the work presented in the exhibition, other pieces by Aalto include a 2022 version of his 1936 flexible room divider Screen 100 and deconstructed chair legs featured in an investigation into the designer’s renowned L-leg design for furniture.
      The specific qualities of birch wood was a significant influence on Aalto’s desire to create an alternative to the then-popular metal tubular legs, according to Helsinki Design Museum.

      “It’s not enough to ask designers to be sustainable” says Formafantasma

      Trimarchi and Farresin explained that the exhibition attempts to use different media to unite audiences over the same ideas about the impact of the timber industry.
      “It might sound banal, but what we want is to shift the focus from ‘things’ to ‘context’,” concluded the designers.
      “We would like people to see chairs like pieces of forests and design as the outcome of political decision-making and not exclusively as the fruit of the creativity of a designer.”
      The exhibition also explores Aalto’s renowned L-leg designKnown for an interest in climate change, Formafantasma has completed a number of other projects that explore the environmental impact of design.
      These include the first Cambio show in London, which was commissioned by the Serpentine Gallery. Last year, the duo also redesigned its website to try and reduce “pollution connected to the internet”.
      The photography is by Paavo Lehtonen Photography.

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      MK&G Hamburg presents optimistic visions for an uncertain future

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      Inflatable “teahouses” and futuristic foods feature in Ask Me if I Believe in the Future, a conceptual exhibition at Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg.

      Curated by Maria Cristina Didero, Ask Me if I Believe in the Future comprises a series of objects and installations based around topics that could shape the future of humanity.
      The exhibition features the work of New York-based Objects of Common Interest, Dutch designer Carolien Niebling, Italian duo Zaven and Israeli designer Erez Nevi Pana.
      Ask Me if I Believe in the Future features four design visions for the futureEach has used the thematic question as a starting point to explore their hopes and fears for a changing world, in the light of recent events that include climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war.
      “Ask Me if I Believe in the Future is a project about optimism,” said Didero.

      “While the title of this exhibition might sound simple, we have probably all thought about it at least once in our lives without finding a precise answer,” she continued.
      “This exhibition contains a seed of hope, just like the word future itself; it is as much about the future as it is about us.”
      Objects of Common Interest highlights the changing nature of human interactionsThe show is staged across a series of rooms within MK&G Hamburg, with exhibition design by Okolo.
      Objects of Common Interest, led by Greek designers Eleni Petaloti and Leonidas Trampoukis, has created three inflatable sculptures that invite visitors to clamber inside.
      Called Teahouses of Domesticity, these tunnel-like spaces reflect on the changing nature of human interactions in the age of digital media.
      The installation consists of three large inflatables with different properties”The walk-in works were conceived in analogy to Japanese teahouses, where the traditional tea ceremony provides a moment of deceleration and meditation,” said Didero.
      Each inflatable has its own properties: one is wrapped in silver foil to shield the occupant from the outside world, one uses memory foam to briefly map movements, and the third creates space for two people to come together.
      Carolien Niebling proposes algae and seaweed as a future source of foodSwitzerland-based Carolien Niebling, who is best known for her Future Sausage research project, offers a look at food consumption in the future.
      On the grounds that mass-produced food has been a significant contributor to climate change, Niebling proposes a future where algae and seaweed become important sources of nutrition.
      The installation invites visitors to imagine these crops on their dinner platesHer installation, Future-Proof Plating, celebrates these high-yield but largely under-utilised crops through large-scale close-up imagery.
      The designer also suggests how they might one day end up on our dinner plates.

      Erez Nevi Pana designs banana-plant “cocoons” for humans to shelter from climate change

      “This project magnifies the beauty of edible (water) plants such as seaweed and wild leaves and reintroduces them back onto our plates,” said Niebling.
      “Taking food out of its original context allows us to look at it with new eyes and an open mind.”
      Zaven looks at objects that can transcend time, including a coat and vessels for foodZaven founders Enrica Cavarzan and Marco Zavagno have taken a more survivalist approach with their contribution, titled Why Not? Their aim was to pinpoint the “bare necessities” that will transcend time.
      Imagining a time of limited resources, the Venice-based duo have worked with local makers to craft a series of essential objects using only natural and locally available materials.
      The objects, which also include a chair, were made from locally sourced, natural materialsThese objects include a lamp, vessels for holding drinks and food, a coat and a chair.
      “The objects they created, including ceramics, lamps, clothing and chairs, may indeed prove to be essential even in a distant future,” said Didero.
      “The message: when it comes to essentials, our environment gives us everything we need to produce the bare necessities ourselves.”
      Erez Nevi Pana explores a future of multi-planetary lifestylesIn the final room, Nevi Pana – a vegan and passionate animal rights activist – imagines a future where humans are able to travel between different planets.
      His Homecoming installation includes a water basin that represents Earth as seen from above and a flag representing world unity. Pana hopes that a multi-planetary lifestyle would encourage us to take better care of our home planet.
      Ask Me if I Believe in the Future is on show at MK&G Hamburg”A multi-planet species sounds exciting to me, but this doesn’t mean that we should ignore the problems we face here,” he said.
      “I imagine our future on other planets, not as refugees, but as species that chose to cross boundaries and still have the ability to return home.”
      The photography is by Henning Rogge.
      Ask Me if I Believe in the Future is on show at MK&G Hamburg from 1 July to 23 October. See Dezeen Events Guide for all the latest architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Ten Zaha Hadid Design products that go “beyond a simple translation from sketch to object”

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      Zaha Hadid Design co-directors Woody Yao and Maha Kutay have selected 10 highlights from an exhibition of the design studio’s objects at Roca London Gallery.

      Called Everything Flows, the exhibition presents a variety of objects created by Zaha Hadid Design (ZHD) over the last 15 years and was curated by Yao and Kutay.
      The pieces on show at the Zaha Hadid Architects-designed Roca London Gallery range from objects from ZHD’s own collection to those made in collaboration with brands including Lacoste, Bulgari and Japanese furniture manufacturer Karimoku.
      “Amongst the large array of pieces currently exhibited at the Roca London Gallery, we have chosen 10 items very different in scope, materials, and price yet sharing the same common denominator in terms of having a truly intertwined design and fabrication process,” Yao and Kutay told Dezeen.
      “All of these pieces are perhaps some of the best examples of the genuinely collaborative effort between ZHD, our clients and the manufacturers we work with: a process that goes way beyond a simple translation from sketch to object, it is a two-way system that allows for continuous and mutually benefitting exchange of ideas, methods and solutions,” the directors added.

      Zaha Hadid Design and Odlo launch activewear collection for women

      The late British architect Zaha Hadid founded her eponymous design studio in 2006, following the success of her architectural studio.
      Zaha Hadid Architects created Roca London Gallery’s showroom, which features undulating walls that take cues from the shapes of water, in 2011.
      To mark 10 years of the sculptural space at Roca, the site itself has now become an exhibition space for objects from the ZHD portfolio, featuring furniture and other home accessories as well as fashion, jewellery, carpets and lighting.
      Read on for 10 of Yao and Kutay’s highlights:

      Duna Chandelier for Lasvit
      “Launched in 2017, this chandelier is inspired by dune formations defying traditional Cartesian geometries: a three-dimensional, asymmetrical, pair of intersecting glass forms.
      “The striated surface of the crystal glass produces ever-changing effects of reflection and refraction.”

      Zephyr Sofa by ZHD
      “Made by Cassina Contract, this piece was launched in 2013. Its design is informed by natural erosion processes occurring in rock formations.
      “The formal language gives the sofa increased ergonomic properties without compromising the design’s fluidity or proportion; translating into a concept that allows for multiple seating layouts.
      “Zephyr’s quality highlights Cassina Contract’s unrivalled technical experience and longstanding tradition of artisan excellence.”

      B.Zero1 for Bulgari
      “Continuing a collaboration between Bulgari and ZHD that started in 2012, the B.Zero1 was launched in 2017 and has been a commercial success ever since.
      “Over the years, the design has evolved into a full jewellery collection including earrings, pendants and various iterations of the ring itself.”

      Eve Chandelier for Lasvit
      “Fifteen glass pieces arranged in one intriguing ensemble, Eve is a chandelier with sculptural qualities: suspended at varying heights, the glass bodies gracefully float in space and create an impressive play of light and shadow. The product was launched in 2017.”

      Node Vessels by ZHD
      “This is a limited-edition range launched in 2018, designed to be versatile and be used either in a composition or as stand-alone pieces.
      “From above, the three pieces appear to fit together organically, yet in profile, the differences in height and scale emerge and they stand apart as a composition.
      “Again, another example of how acrylic can achieve a great degree of subtlety in texture and tone.”

      Royal Thai Rugs Collection 
      “This is a collection spanning 22 designs, inspired by four themes that feature prominently in ZHD’s aesthetics: striated lines, fluidity, pixelated landscapes and organic references.
      “Patterns within each ‘family’ capture ZHD’s masterful use of interweaving, layering and play with light and shadow.”

      Lalique Collection
      “Our collaboration with Lalique dates back to 2014 with the launch of the Visio and Manifesto vases – marking the birth of the Crystal Architecture collection – followed by the Fontana bowl, inspired by the rhythm of rippling water.
      “Recently, Lalique has presented the latest iteration of the collection, which is now available in crystal, black, pink and now also midnight blue.”

      Aria & Avia Chandeliers for Slamp
      “Aria and Avia are lamps combining dramatic architectural features with the intrinsic weightlessness of the material.
      “Composed of 50 individual layers of Cristalflex, a techno-polymer patented by Slamp, Aria and Avia convey an idea of lightness combined with playful luxury. Both lamps are available in a range of different colours and sizes.”

      Seyun Collection for Karimoku 
      “Seyun is a small yet comprehensive furniture collection of wooden furniture pieces, our latest collaboration.
      “We love working with Karimoku: their uncompromising quality standards, achieved through the implementation of the most advanced technologies and handcrafting processes, highlight and enhance the purity of the design.”

      ZHD Serenity Bowl
      “A limited-edition piece taken from ZHD’s own collection, the subtle design freezes the moment when a gentle disturbance interrupts a state of tranquillity.
      “We are amazed by the versatility of this material; unfairly considered a ‘cheap’ option for way too long, acrylic actually proves to be one of the best polymers available, because of its ductility during the fabrication process as well as in terms of overall quality of the final result.”
      Everything Flows is on show at Roca London Gallery from 24 May to 22 December 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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