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      Tabitha Isobel gives London townhouse a “surprising and bold” makeover

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      Designer Tabitha Organ combined natural materials with metal details to transform this London townhouse into a home with a “slightly futuristic” feel for a client who loves entertaining.

      The five-storey property on St Pauls Road had recently been renovated by a developer using poor-quality finishes, so the client – a young tech entrepreneur and first-time homeowner – asked Organ’s studio Tabitha Isobel to create a more bespoke interior.
      The brief called for a scheme that retains the Victorian house’s original features, whilst layering vintage pieces and contemporary design to create spaces with a distinct character.
      Tabitha Isobel transformed the Victorian north London townhouse”The client wanted a home that would be surprising and bold but also timeless,” Organ told Dezeen. “Amongst his peers, he is a frequent host of parties so he wanted an interior that would be a backdrop to these and bring a certain entertaining ‘vibe’.”
      Some of the original details that survived the previous renovation included detailed mouldings and the wooden window shutters in the living areas.

      Organ sought to emphasise these elements by introducing a carefully chosen palette of complementary colours and materials. Other spaces received a more expressive treatment, including the golden-toned cinema and DJ room in the basement.
      The five-storey property’s renovation adopts a “slightly futuristic” feelThe main architectural interventions occurred on the first floor, where previously disjointed spaces were reorganised to create a large bedroom with an adjoining bathroom and dressing area.
      The bedroom, which has windows on two sides due to the property’s end-of-terrace location, is connected to the bathroom by a walk-through wardrobe containing bespoke cabinetry built from naturally patterned burr walnut.
      New bespoke features include an adjoining walk-through wardrobeThe house’s main living areas are unified by the consistent application of green hues and metal details, which featured in an image of a kitchen given to Organ by the client as inspiration at the beginning of the project.
      “As the living and dining area is open plan with the kitchen, we introduced a Verde Guaco Green fireplace surround that sits on the same elevation as the kitchen so the tones speak to each other,” Organ explained.
      “We also chose a green velvet sofa from Maison Dara that is positioned in line with the kitchen, helping the spaces to feel connected.”
      Green hues and metal details inform the house’s living areasThe designer added that the combination of natural materials and metal surfaces contributes to the scheme’s sense of timelessness while creating a juxtaposition of textures and finishes that adds visual interest to the design.
      “As part of the concept, we wanted the spaces to have a slightly futuristic feel to them,” she pointed out. “Metals are timeless materials and I find they lift palettes, bringing them to life and creating a richness through reflection and depth.”

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      Metal and wood combine in a bespoke solution designed to conceal the television above the fireplace. Eight hand-carved wooden panels are set within a brushed aluminium frame that incorporates bi-fold doors that open to reveal the TV.
      Throughout the home, textiles provide a further textural contrast to the hard metal surfaces. This approach is encapsulated by a vintage metal-framed armchair in the living room that was reupholstered in a boldly patterned fabric by UK brand Schumacher.
      A reupholstered metal-framed armchair provides textural contrastWhile the living area and bedroom are predominantly monochrome, there are moments of bright colour elsewhere in the home – particularly in the en-suite shower room.
      Organ chose terracotta tiles with different scales to bring a sense of richness and warmth to the space. The walk-in shower is lined with cobalt blue tiles intended to introduce a surprising element.
      Terracotta tiles in the en suite shower room provide a sense of richness and warmthA cinema room located on the basement level was designed to resemble a moodily lit members’ club, with a cotton moire wall covering matched to a high-gloss painted ceiling and mid-gloss cabinetry.
      The room is used for hosting parties and includes a concealed home bar with stainless steel shelves set in front of a bronze-tinted mirror.
      Marble and metal wall lights illuminate the textured walls as well as a velvet sofa with oversized cushions, a vintage coffee table and a bespoke walnut DJ console crafted by furniture maker Spinback.
      The cinema room conceals a stainless steel home bar in front of a bronze-tinted mirrorOrgan founded Tabitha Isobel in 2023 after working for a decade as an interior designer for London-based studios Conran + Partners and Sella Concept.
      The designer’s approach focuses on combining historical and contemporary elements to create timeless spaces driven by authenticity rather than trends.
      Other creative townhouse transformations include a Brussels home with a skylit atrium and a London home that was given a 1970s-style makeover.
      The photography is by Genevieve Lutkin.

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      Lanterns dangle through hole between floors in “UK’s most expensive steak” restaurant

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      Interiors studio Rosendale Design used paper pendants to illuminate hand-painted red-and-gold walls in the first overseas outpost of Japanese steakhouse Aragawa in London.

      Set across two floors in a Mayfair townhouse, the restaurant is widely credited as serving the “UK’s most expensive steak” – a £900 cut of wagyu beef from Shiga prefecture.
      Rosendale Design created the interiors for a Japanese steakhouse in MayfairCharacterised by a rich palette of deep reds, golds and dark woods, the interior of the steakhouse was “heavily influenced by traditional Japanese architecture and design”, Rosendale Design founder Dale Atkinson told Dezeen.
      “We gave it a contemporary twist in a subtle way so it didn’t become kitsch,” he said.
      Pendant lights dangle through a void between the ground floor and basementUpon entering Aragawa, visitors pass through an archway that frames a wood-panelled reception area painted in pale green.

      From here, a corridor leads past a wine display cabinet that wraps around the back wall with skylights providing natural illumination.
      A private dining room with seats for 12 guests is accessed through glass and wood doors, with a slatted wooden screen partially obstructing the view into the space.
      A Japanese kiln is surrounded by blue tiles in the kitchenPendant lamps that take cues from traditional Japanese paper lanterns hang through a mirror-lined void between the ground floor and the basement, providing views of the main restaurant below.
      “The lanterns are one of the key features that are first experienced at ground level but drop down through the opening in the floor and are then a prevalent feature in the main dining room,” said Atkinson.
      “We looked at traditional Japanese lanterns and gave it a bit of a contemporary twist.”
      More lanterns hang from the latticed ceiling in the dining roomStairs lead down to the restaurant past an open kitchen, divided from the seating area via an uplit rough-textured counter.
      Cornflower-blue tiles clad the walls in the kitchen, where Rosendale Design installed a Japanese kiln.

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      Used to prepare Aragawa’s speciality, Japanese Kobe beef, the kiln was modelled on the model found in the original Aragawa restaurant in Tokyo, which opened in 1967 and became known as one of the priciest steak houses in the world.
      “The feature kiln is the main connection between the restaurants in Tokyo and London,” said Atkinson.
      “We worked with a local manufacturer to copy as best we could the kiln in Tokyo but dress it in a way that matches the London design ethos.”
      Hand-painted red-and-gold panels line the walls of the dining spaceMore lanterns are suspended from the dark wood lattice ceiling in the primary dining space.
      “The feature ceiling is referencing traditional Japanese castles,” explained Atkinson.
      Soft lighting illuminates the red-and-gold panels that line the walls of the dining area, hand-painted with patterns derived from Nishijin silk kimonos.
      Rosendale Design opted for crimson-red velvet-lined seatingThe red colour palette is continued in the red velvet-lined seating, contrasting against white tablecloths.
      “We made sure to play with the saturation of colours to make it more dramatic and romantic,” said Atkinson.
      Other Japanese restaurants recently featured on Dezeen include a noodle restaurant in a century-old townhouse in Kyoto and a restaurant in Alberta that combines Japanese psychedelia and cabins.
      The photography is by Justin De Souza.

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      Gubi opens first UK showroom in London townhouse takeover

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      A Georgian townhouse filled with period details is now Gubi House London, the first dedicated showroom that the furniture brand has opened outside Denmark.

      Gubi partnered with Danish surface design studio File Under Pop to reimagine the listed building as a showspace for its collection, which includes furniture by designers such as GamFratesi and Space Copenhagen.
      Gubi House London occupies a listed Georgian townhouseA curated colour palette combines with material finishes including Spanish clay tiles and Italian lava stone to create four floors of rooms with a contemporary feel.
      “To be in a townhouse is a unique opportunity,” explained Marie Kristine Schmidt, chief brand officer for Gubi.
      Furniture is on display across four different floors”We could create something very domestic in feel. We have smaller rooms where we can create different experiences and we can tell different stories on each floor,” she told Dezeen.

      The showroom is located on Charterhouse Square, a garden square framed by cobbled streets, and will be open by appointment.
      Danish surface design studio File Under Pop oversaw the colour and material paletteGubi was founded in 1967 by furniture designers Lisbeth and Gubi Olsen, who later handed it down to their sons, Jacob and Sebastian Gubi Olsen. Jacob is still a shareholder and a member of the board.
      The London expansion was first mooted in 2020, not long after the once family-owned company was acquired by Nordic private equity group Axcel and the Augustinus Foundation.
      Furniture on show includes the Croissant Sofa designed by Ilum Wikkelsø in 1962Schmidt said the UK is a key market for the brand as it looks to expand its intentional profile.
      “London is a melting pot right now, particularly in the hotel and restaurant scene, so for us, it is a really important city to be in,” she said during a tour of the building.
      “I think there is a lot of untapped potential for us here.”
      A ground-floor dining room features hand-painted forest-green wallpaperEach floor of Gubi House London has its own character, drawing on different influences reflected in the materials and fabrics that feature in across the product collection.
      The ground floor, described as “boutique chic”, features a trio of spaces designed to emulate the sense of comfort and luxury of a boutique hotel.
      Also on the ground floor, a blue fireplace sits behind the Moon dining tableKey details include a fireplace colour-blocked in a deep inky shade of blue, which serves as a backdrop to the brand’s Moon dining table and Bat dining chairs.
      Also on display here are several reissued 20th-century lamps, including designs by Finnish designer Paavo Tynell, Danish architect Louis Weisdorf and Swedish designer Greta M Grossman.
      The first-floor rooms take cues from the 1970sTowards the rear, a room with hand-painted forest-green wallpaper serves as a dining space.
      The first floor takes cues from the 1970s, with an earthy colour palette.

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      Key pieces here include the Pacha lounge chair, a 1975 design by the late French designer Pierre Paulin, upholstered in a striped fabric and a cascading arrangement of the Semi Pendant lamps, designed in 1968 by Danish design duo Claus Bonderup and Torsten Thorup.
      This floor also includes a bar, which serves as a centrepiece in the smaller of the two rooms.
      The second floor was envisioned as a co-working environmentThe second floor was envisioned as a co-working environment, with furniture that emulates a contemporary bistro, while the uppermost level offers a more bohemian feel.
      “We wanted to create a space that is inspiring,” said Schmidt. “It wouldn’t be right for our brand to go into a commercial space.”
      Gubi House London is located at 12 Charterhouse SquareThe experience is different from the warehouse feel of Gubi’s Copenhagen headquarters, which occupies a former tobacco factory in the waterside Nordhavn area.
      “This is how we see Gubi in the context of the UK,” added Schmidt.
      “It was fun to play with a building that is so pleasant and give it a very fresh, modern, contemporary look.”
      In Copenhagen, Danish brand &Tradition took over a townhouse during design festival 3 Days of Design, while fellow Danish brand Hay unveiled its renovated Copenhagen townhouse in 2021.
      The photography is by Michael Sinclair.

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      Olivier Delannoy creates mirrored “English garden” for Daroco Soho restaurant

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      Paris-based restaurant group Daroco has opened a London outpost with mirrored, curving interiors designed by French architect Olivier Delannoy.

      Delannoy, who has worked on Daroco’s previous projects, reproduced the mirrored ceiling from its two Paris restaurants for the Daroco’s latest location in Soho.
      “Though the layout maintains an orderly appearance, the reflection of the mirror creates an anarchic, enchanted dimension to the space,” he told Dezeen.
      The restaurant ceiling is covered with a large mirrorA wide range of designer lighting was placed throughout the restaurant, with arm wall-mounted lights by Penta, flower-shaped wall-mounted lights by Leucos and suspended glowing discs by DCW Édition. Together they were placed to create a softly lit interior that complements the mirrored ceiling.
      “We approached this project with the aim of mirroring an English garden,” Delannoy explained. “In evoking the garden, the lighting fixtures were inspired by plant motifs such as flowers, water plant stems and tree branches.”

      “The curved resin light tubes were designed to resemble the stem of a phosphorescent water plant,” he continued.
      Suspended glowing discs by DCW Édition illuminate the dining space

      The English garden concept was extended to other design elements such as a large pizza oven covered in blue butterflies and the flooring.
      “We designed the floor to be inspired by the undulation of the first raindrops on a landscaped pond,” said Delannoy.

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      Within the restaurant’s dining areas Delannoy used a diverse range of materials with marble and wooden table tops paired with crushed-velvet seats.
      The colour composition of the fabric used on the seating is intended to “evoke the flowers, earth and vegetation of the water’s edge”.
      A large pizza oven is decorated with blue ceramic butterflies
      Delannoy also drew inspiration from the Italian Renaissance for the restaurant, which serves Italian food.
      The mirrored ceiling bounces light around the interior and creates the illusion of a larger space, “such as that of a renaissance hall,” he said.
      Visitors are met with brass arches informed by the structure of Florence’s basilicas and a large counter that directly references the Baldachin – a large bronze canopy in St Peter’s, Vatican City.
      Looping acrylic light tubes and brass arches conjure evokeDelannoy co-founded Reinh Agency in 2016 and its completed projects include a Parisian cocktail bar and a restaurant in a former Belgian brewery warehouse.
      Other restaurant interiors recently featured on Dezeen include a pizzeria in a Finnish ski-resort,  a |cathedral of fried chicken” and an art-deco informed restaurant in New York.
      The photography is by Julie Spicy.

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      EBBA references modernist architecture at WatchHouse coffee shop

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      Architecture studio EBBA has completed a store for coffee brand WatchHouse that draws on modernist design to provide a calming environment in the heart of the City of London.

      Situated in the 30 Fenchurch Street building of the Square Mile financial district, the store was designed by EBBA for coffee company WatchHouse, which has several cafes around London and also sells its own roasts.
      The store interior references modernist architectureHaving previously completed several other stores for the brand, EBBA was tasked with transforming an empty unit in the landmark office development into an inviting space aimed at attracting visitors from the adjacent lobby.
      “This store offered the opportunity to think carefully about how to make a high quality and calming retail environment that also caters to the flexible operation of the visitors and the building in which it sits,” EBBA founder Benni Allan told Dezeen.
      The space aims to offer a calming environmentThe project brief called for a space focused on retail that also integrates a bar for serving customers. The interior has a more open and relaxed feel than the brand’s other locations, which operate more like typical coffee shops.

      With ample comfortable seating available in the adjacent atrium, EBBA chose to incorporate different settings where customers can rest while waiting for their coffee.
      Furniture including lounge chairs arranged around a coffee table and bar stools at the counter allow the space to be used in a variety of ways.
      Wooden seating is provided in an adjacent atriumElements of the shop’s design are informed by European modernist architecture. In particular, Allan drew on the large lobbies of banks and civic buildings such as libraries, which he said seem to “carry a particular feeling of calmness”.
      Referencing the work of architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, EBBA used grid patterns and clean lines to bring order to the interior, while sculptural objects help to partition the space.
      “The overall concept was to create the sense of a box within a box,” Allan added. “The reference to Miesian buildings can be understood in wanting to establish a clear logic to the space through its grid and making objects that help to demarcate space.”

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      EBBA designed and built all of the furniture for the store, including the eight-metre-long stainless steel counter that forms the centrepiece of the space. This monolithic element is used for coffeemaking as well as providing a communal workspace.
      The large coffee table made from blocks of solid oak is intended to resemble stacked timber. Its construction echoes the grid of slatted timber panels cladding the ceiling.
      EBBA chose a material palette that reflects WatchHouse’s goal to create places people want to spend time in. Warm and natural tones and textures offer a respite from the busy urban setting.
      An eight-metre stainless steel counter centres the space”We opted for warm oak panelling, which gracefully cocoons the space, and a unique Ceppo stone floor, which enhances the store’s gridded pattern whilst complementing the feeling of civic grandeur,” said the architects.
      The rear wall is lined with full-height cabinets that conceal the necessary utility spaces, adding to the store’s sense of cohesion and simplicity.
      Minimalist shelving used to display WatchHouse’s simply packaged produce blend in with the relaxed setting.
      All of the furniture was designed and built by EBBAEBBA has worked with WatchHouse on several of its venues, including another site within the 30 Fenchurch Street building that also looks to balance contemporary aesthetics with nods to the City of London’s heritage.
      The studio, founded in 2017 by Spanish architect Benni Allan, has completed a number of projects in London including a temporary education centre built using only reusable components and a residential extension that combines brutalist-style materials with details inspired by a Roman villa.
      The photography is courtesy of EBBA. 

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      Hemingway Design and James Shaw create furniture from recycled clothes for Traid

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      Local studio Hemingway Design collaborated with designer James Shaw to transform a London store interior for charity retailer Traid, which features colourful furniture created from leftover second-hand clothes.

      Hemingway Design renovated Traid’s Shepherd’s Bush branch as part of a wider rebrand for the retailer to mark its 25th anniversary, including its visual identity.
      Hemingway Design has redesigned the Traid store in Shepherd’s Bush, LondonTraid sells donated clothing and accessories in 12 stores across London to fund global projects that tackle the issues caused by producing, consuming and wasting textiles.
      As part of the Shepherd’s Bush store refurbishment, Hemingway Design worked with Shaw to create furniture out of poor-quality clothes salvaged from the Traid sorting warehouse that the retailer deemed unsellable.
      James Shaw created furniture and lighting made from recycled clothesShaw, whose practice centres on repurposing waste materials, created curved pendant lighting from the leftover clothes, which were shredded back to fibres and combined with a plant-based binder.

      The designer applied this method to make the rest of the furniture. One piece is a low-slung bench for trying on shoes, upholstered with a yellow, green and blue patchwork of old denim jeans and corduroy trousers.
      Shaw designed the bench’s lumpy legs in his trademark extruded HDPE plastic, finished in the same colours as the patchwork seat.
      This included changing room door handlesElsewhere in the store, boxy pinewood changing room doors feature multicoloured handles created from the leftover clothes, defined by a speckled appearance thanks to the combination of shredded fibres.
      Silver scaffolding previously used for a different purpose in the original shop layout was used to create a “staff picks” clothes rail positioned at the front of the store.
      The designer combined shredded fibres with a plant-based binder. Photo by James Shaw”To align with Traid’s manifesto of reducing waste and prolonging the lifespan of items, a fundamental objective of the refurb was to reuse and repurpose existing fixtures and fittings within the store where possible,” explained Hemingway Design.
      British designer Charlie Boyden created chunky pastel-hued plinths from other offcuts and materials salvaged from the strip-out. They display merchandise in the shop window illuminated by more of Shaw’s clothing-based pendant lighting.
      Existing silver scaffolding was used to form a “staff picks” clothes railSwirly linseed-based oil-stained pine also characterises the geometric cash desk, fitted with an accessible counter and positioned in front of an existing timber stud wall painted in bold pink.
      Next to the counter, bespoke bright green Unistrut shelving creates additional space for hanging clothes and displaying shoes.

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      According to Hemingway Design, Traid has put 228 million garments back into use to date, saving 622,059 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 105.3 million cubic metres of water.
      “The charity retailer maximises the potential of the clothes you no longer wear, demanding change from a throwaway, fast fashion culture that continues to destroy this planet,” said the studio.
      Charlie Boyden designed display plinths using off-cutsShaw recently applied his extruded plastic designs to another store renovation in central London for shoe brand Camper, which includes a jumbo foot sculpture.
      Hemingway Design previously created a minimalist but colourful logo to celebrate 100 years of the Dreamland amusement park in Margate, Kent.
      The photography is by French & Tye unless stated otherwise. 

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      Gary Card redesigns London’s LN-CC store with orange tunnel and LED-lit club

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      Designer Gary Card has given London’s LN-CC boutique a redesign that includes a sci-fi-looking wooden tunnel and a room “shaped like the inside of a foot”.

      Card, who designed the original interior of the east London store in 2011, said the challenge for him was using the knowledge he has accumulated since then to create something new.
      The LN-CC store in east London has a red facade”The question for myself this time was – can I use everything I’ve learned over the last decade to reimagine one of my most recognized projects,” he told Dezeen.
      “Each room has a very different concept,” he added. “It’s become part of the tradition now to change the temperature and colour palette with each room and encourage a journey of identity and discovery.”
      An octagonal wooden tunnel welcomes visitorsThe store is the only physical shop for LN-CC, which is mainly an online business, and is spread across the ground and lower-ground floor of a former tie factory.

      Visitors enter via an orange wooden tunnel with an octagonal shape reminiscent of the architecture in director Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
      Each room in the store has different colours and materialsIt is the third tunnel that Card has designed for the store, following its original orange tunnel and a later white version.
      “The tunnel is LN-CC’s icon,” Card explained. “It’s been with us for over a decade now, so it had to be a significant feature.”
      “We decided early on to bring it to street level and make the entrance something that had never been seen before as part of the store space,” he added.
      “It’s a brand-new design and construction. We’ve brought back the orange from the first tunnel; the white is a nod to the second version from 2014.”
      A cobalt-blue room sits on the lower-ground floorEach of the six rooms in the store has a different feel and different colours, which Card chose together with LN-CC’s buying and creative director Reece Crisp.
      “The colours we settled on really amplify what we’re showcasing, the brand’s unique edit,” the designer said.
      The store is LN-CC’s only physical spaceAmong them is the Callisto room, which has a cave-like feel and a design that was influenced by the building’s existing structures.
      “In the Callisto room, there was a circular part of a helter-skelter that used to be in the building – this used to be a tie factory and it was in the corner,” Crisp told Dezeen. “When we stripped the space back, we saw this sort of circle and that fed into how we wanted that space to be.”
      In the Atrium, Card used tile adhesive to create the structures and patterns on the room’s wide lime-green pillars, which provide shelving for the store’s accessories.
      The Atrium room has green pillars decorated with tile adhesiveFor LN-CC’s shoe room, known as the Midtarsal, Card drew on the anatomy of the human body to create an undulating, flesh-coloured interior.
      “The shoe space, the Midtarsal room, that’s engineering to an incredible degree,” Crisp said. “We love the shape – like the inside of the foot – and how that warps the room.”

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      Throughout LN-CC, Card used a variety of different materials to bring the rooms to life.
      “The space is a juxtaposition of lots of different materials,” he said. “So MDF, perspex, wood and concrete – I sought to take small cues from the original while innovating with a refreshed lens exploring the interplay between texture, colour and materials within the newly imagined rooms.”
      The Midtarsal room has undulating shapes in a beige colourThe last room of the store is a club space, which features LED walls that can be used to turn the room into different colours or display messages.
      “The club has always been a huge part of LN-CC’s identity, ” Card said. “It was never about selling clothes – the brand was an online business after all – it was about delivering experiences. So we wanted to do something really special with the new club.”
      The LN-CC club space is lit by an LED wall”It was a bit dark and gritty before, which was cool, but we knew we needed to raise the stakes for the latest store design without it losing its edge,” Card added.
      “My right-hand man, Richard Wilkins, was the tech wizard for the space who created the lighting and amazing LED wall. The lighting totally transforms the space.”
      Other recent London store interiors include a boutique sprayed with recycled newspaper pulp and a colourful Marylebone store with handpainted murals.

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      Barbican’s Unravel exhibition explores the subversive power of textiles

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      Curator Lotte Johnson discusses the transformative power of textiles in this video produced by Dezeen for the Barbican’s latest exhibition.

      Titled Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art, the exhibition examines how textiles have been employed to explore themes spanning power, oppression, gender and belonging.
      It features over 100 works that make use of textile, fibre and thread from over 50 artists from across the globe, spanning from the 1960s to the present day.
      The exhibition explores how artists have used textiles to express their lived experienceThe exhibition is designed to challenge the perception of textiles being solely domestic or craft practices and instead features textile works that relate a story of resistance and rebellion as well as pieces that present narratives of emancipation and joy.
      Johnson explained that textiles offer a meaningful medium to express personal and political issues due to their tactile nature and intimate connection to daily life.

      “Textiles are one of the most under-examined mediums in art history and in fact history itself,” Johnson said. “They are an intrinsic part of our everyday lives. When we’re born, we’re shrouded in a piece of fabric. Everyday we wrap ourselves in textiles,” she continued.
      “They’re really this very intimate, tactile part of our lives and therefore perhaps the most intrinsic, meaningful way to express ourselves.”
      Feminist artist Judy Chicago’s Birth Project depicts birth as a mystical and confrontational processThe exhibition is structured into six thematic sections. The first, called Subversive Stitch, presents works that challenge binary conceptions of gender and sexuality.
      The section includes feminist artist Judy Chicago’s Birth Project, which vividly depicts the glory, pain and mysticism of giving birth, as well as a piece from South African artist Nicholas Hlobo, which, despite initially appearing as a painting, is made using ribbon and leather stitched into a canvas.
      Another section of the exhibition is titled Bearing Witness, which brings together artists who employ textiles to confront and protest political injustices and systems of violent oppression.
      Artist Teresa Margolles creates collective tapestries that trigger conversations on police brutalityIncluded in this section are tapestries by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles that commemorate the lives of individuals including Eric Garner and Jadeth Rosano López.
      Garner was an African-American man killed in 2014 by NYPD police officer Daniel Pantaleo, who put Garner into a chokehold during arrest. López was a seventeen-year old-girl assassinated in Panama City.
      Margolles used fabric that had been placed in contact with the victims’ deceased bodies and collaborated with embroiderers from their respective local communities to create the tapestries.
      The Wound and Repair sections includes work from American artist and activist Harmony Hammond’s Bandaged Grid series, in which layered fabric is used to evoke imagery reminiscent of an injured body.
      Tau Lewis’ fabric assemblages offer new narratives of black historiesWhile violence and brutality are key themes examined in the exhibition, it also showcases how textiles can be used to create narratives of hope. The final, most expansive section of the exhibition is titled Ancestral Threads, which encompasses works created to inspire a sense of optimism and reconnect with ancestral practices.
      “This section not only explores artists processing exploitative and violent colonial and imperialist histories, but also celebrates the artists who are re-summoning and relearning ancient knowledge systems to imagine a different kind of future,” Johnson explained.
      Canadian multimedia artist Tau Lewis’s work titled The Coral Reef Preservation Society is a patchwork assemblage of recycled fabrics and seashells including fragments of textured denim.
      The work pays homage to the enslaved women and children thrown overboard in the Middle Passage, the historical transportation route used during the Atlantic slave trade. These women and children have been reimagined as underwater sea creatures to transform the narrative into one of regeneration.
      Vicuña revives the art of the quipu in her installation Quipu AustralA large installation by Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuña titled Quipu Austral is situated towards the end of the exhibition. The installation takes the form of billowing ribbons hanging from the ceiling.
      Vicuña references quipu, a form of recording used by a number cultures in Andean South America. Quipu was a ancient writing system which used knotted textile cords to communicate information.

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      Other sections in the exhibition include Fabric of Everyday, which explores the daily uses of textiles, as well as Borderlands, which examines how textiles have been used to challenge ideas around belonging.
      These sections feature works such as Shelia Hicks’ colourful woven bundles and Margarita Cabrera’s soft sculpture cacti crafted from reclaimed US border patrol uniforms.
      Mexican-American artist Margarita Cabrera uses reclaimed border patrol uniforms in her work”We hope that people might come out of this exhibition feeling invigorated and moved by the stories of resilience and rebellion embedded in the work but also hope and emancipation,” Johnson said.
      “I hope that the show might inspire people to pick up a needle and thread themselves and use it to express their own lived experience.”
      The show is a partnership between the Barbican and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and was co-curated by Barbican curators Johnson, Wells Fray-Smith and Diego Chocano, in collaboration with Amanda Pinatih from the Stedelijk.
      Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art is at the Barbican Centre until 26 May 2024. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      Partnership content
      This video was produced by Dezeen for the Barbican Centre as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen’s partnership content here.

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