Nestled among Margate’s back streets a few short paces up the hill from the ever-mysterious Shell Grotto, Scott’s Furniture Mart has sold antiques and hardware since 1978 and is woven tightly into the fabric of the town.
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Having established surfaces brand Solomon&Wu, Jake Solomon is now co-director of wood terrazzo manufacturer Foresso.
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There is a growing awareness that we must make the leap to planet-positive means of manufacturing, ideally incorporating new practices that are regenerative and operate with a closed-loop system.
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Rombout Frieling’s complex projects operate with the mantra of “making matter move man,” and they do so in an array of guises. Users are invited to engage their bodies and inspire physical action, whether that’s through walking, sitting, or waiting for the bus, with the latter project The Station of Being having been nominated for Design of the Year by the Design Museum.
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While some design trade shows have come and gone over the past 20 years of its existence, the Surface Design Show continues to fulfill its role in the industry calendar, which is perhaps partly due to its unique positioning in early February.
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Makers have long sought out spaces to work in that many might overlook. Often more affordable, and sometimes full of characterful charm, it doesn’t take long before such environments are brimming with creativity. A closer look at two such spaces in Margate reveals that tradition is still very much alive.
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As we move into an evermore digital world, there is an argument that we are creating less artifacts and evidence of the ways in which live for future archaeologists to discover, while quite literally losing touch with our immediate, and more remote, tactile surroundings in the here and now.
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When it comes to contract textiles, few trade fairs match Heimtextil for its scale, scope and innovation. UK-based design futures consultancy Franklin Till once again shared their insights at the German fair.
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Sometimes the name of a brand can be misleading but in the case of Eindhoven-based Raw Color it’s entirely on point. The studio was set up by then-recent Design Academy Eindhoven graduates Daniera ter Haar and Christoph Brach some 15 years ago with a clear aim to make objects, textiles, installations and graphics led by strong and unwavering colour selections.
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For myriad reasons, 2023 has proven to be another tough year. So what better way to round it off and see in a new one than with some much needed positive insight of changes in how materials are being utilised in the manufacturing of products and furniture?
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In a year of damning indictments about the UK’s water suppliers, it feels like water, as a resource is more important than ever. What seems like ever-increasing reports of companies being rumbled for allowing wastewater to enter fresh sources in and around the British Isles have become an unsettling norm.
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Studio RENS beautiful studio-cum-gallery, with its factory windows, tall ceiling and mezzanine levels, is always worth a visit during Dutch Design Week and I was lucky enough to interview them shortly after the event.
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This year organisers from La Biennale di Venezia have chosen to frame the event under the banner The Laboratory for the Future, and with it, claim change is afoot.
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For anyone with even a mild interest in material innovation the second edition of the Material Matters Fair, which took place in the Bargehouse at Oxo Tower Wharf during last months London Design Festival, was the place to go.
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Having initially opened in March some 20 years ago, the London Design Festival returned to its now well-established September slot and oozed with creativity and vitality in a manner befitting of the abundant season.
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By the time he set up his first studio from the roof space of a jaycloth factory in Luton during his MA, Daniel Heath had already attracted attention from the design world for his hand-drawn and hand-printed wallpapers.
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Recognising that positive action tends to come with empowerment rather than shame, Olivia Aspinall has initiated an entirely new studio, Do Not Go Gentle, which aims to assist material specifiers of all kinds in making informed decisions regarding the at-times murky world of sustainability.
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For those looking for the hottest new talents and must-see trends in the world of UK design, New Designers is a go-to event in the annual calendar of trade shows and fairs.
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The desire for more ecologically sound practices within the design industry has been firmly on the rise for the past decade or so now. But in all honesty, there has always been a concern that even with the strongest will in the world and the most inventive processes on the table, it might all be moving a little too slowly.
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The spiked inflatable titled Gateway spotted at Clerkenwell Design Week was by County Durham based artist Steve Messam, whose hefty portfolio boasts an array of sculptural interventions within the natural and built environment, which is all the more impressive considering they are all of a scale that’s “bigger than a house.”
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