Well – that was a great Christmas break, but now it‘s down to some serious design reporting

I’m looking forward to visiting the new show Home, on at Earls Court in the coming week. It’s only open to “the trade” – ie the buyers for the shops (and journalists!) – but I’ll be there to report back on anything we at Homes & Property think you’ll especially like. Looking down the list of who’s showing, I’m finding a lot of very bright British design sparks.
 
Then it’s over to Paris by Eurostar for the incredible Maison & Objet, in huge halls to the north west of the city. This show actually takes place in September as well, but the ones in January are the more important, as they set the design trends for 2012.

Shop keepers come from all over the world to hunt out the latest merchandise. Halls are packed, with tempers frayed and temperatures unpleasantly variable – from boiling to freezing in the blink of an aisle. Signage is negligible (where are those loos?), sandwiches are on French leave, and there is very little natural light, except in one markedly modern new hall. A couple of years ago strong winds blew off a section of the roof in two places – yes, really. But would I miss it? You bet I wouldn’t – the adrenalin sets me up for the whole year, and it is Paris, after all.
 
The number of British exhibitors taking their wares to Maison has exploded recently, with many who started in a small way on the stand of the British European Design Group (BEDG; www.bedg.org), now confident enough to take space in their own right. I always love calling by the Brits at Maison, firstly because I am so proud of them, and secondly because I know that what they show will be available pretty quickly to readers back home.
 
After Maison comes Interiors UK – this show used to be called Interiors Birmingham, but has changed title to reflect (they hope) an increasing importance in the world of international design fairs. The organisers have worked really hard to up the design ante. I’m looking forward to exploring the space organised by Designersblock - there are some good “taster” videos on their website (www.verydesignersblock.com).

Piers Roberts and Rory Dodd – London design mavericks extraordinaire - are bringing together fringe elements of British design that I know I won’t have seen even in Paris.

In the picture, they are bathed in a red glow from the neon sign at their last installation at the London Design Festival in September – Rory is on the left and Piers on the right.
 
Next stop, Milan in April – I’ll have a chance to draw breath before then!

Meanwhile, over Christmas, I did a lot of walking to see some of the best display ideas in the capital from store windows to the huge trees at Trafalgar Square. Here are a couple of pictures, one from Selfridges (left) and one from Liberty (top right). In window design, British shops really do lead the world – there are so many creative ideas to absorb from them. 

* To see more pictures from my Christmas and new year walkabout visit
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler/sets/72157628281265145/

From Art Nouveau to modern minimalism

We’ve snatched two brief holidays this year. The first was in Budapest. Our hotel was an art nouveau original with its own tiled and gleaming spa – spas are a Budapest speciality. Our room had a view over the Danube (we were in Buda and the other side was Pest).

I especially loved “the house of art nouveau” (pictured) – built in 1903, for a couple who were obviously avid collectors. There are three floors of wonderfully romantic and curvy furniture, pictures, ceramics, lighting and superb stained glass, and out the back is a courtyard where you can admire the magnificent facade with its twisting sinuous window and door frames (magyarszecessziohaza.hu).

Our second mini-break was in Montpelier, and here the highlight was a trip to the new(ish) Millau Bridge – or le Viaduc de Millau, as I should say. This opened in December 2004. Designed by the British architect Norman Foster and French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux, it’s sensationally thin, long and high, with the “cable-stays” creating a very elegant silhouette.

Indeed it is the tallest bridge in the world, with one mast's summit at 343 metres (1,125 ft). As we drove across, and the countryside stretched out way down below, I was surprised to find I wasn’t scared but almost elated. 

* Read about my book Love London at www.lovelondon.uk.com

Mugs, blogs and octogenarians

I went to Sir Terence Conran’s 80th birthday party in The Conran Shop, where we all sat at round tables and between courses played a sort of baffling pub-quiz designed to test our knowledge of the man himself (right).

So I should now know how many blue shirts he has, but I’ve forgotten. However I can tell you that when Habitat opened in Chelsea in 1964, staff wore Mary Quant, with hair by Vidal Sassoon.

Restaurants have been an ongoing passion, of course, as well as very good business, but I wasn’t very clever at their names, being not a foodie, really. But apparently ashtray-nicking is endemic - after 10 years, Quaglino’s had lost 25,000 of them, and declared an ashtray armistice in an attempt to get them back. 

The Design Museum, founded in 1989, was the first of its kind anywhere, and showing now is a Conran retrospective - “Terence Conran - the way we live now” is open until 4 March (designmuseum.org). 

“What now,” Sir Terence was asked. “Do more,” was the rather endearing reply from a man currently designing for his own brand Content by Conran, furniture for his company Benchmark, plus a new collection launched this autumn for M&S. 

The previous show at the Design Museum starring modernist Kenneth Grange was a huge hit. I was the other half of a “Grange in conversation” event, packed out with Grange fans, and a bit intimidating. I also sat on a panel with Kenneth at the V&A – we discussed “design and the aging population” – think I was the oldest journalist they could find. However, considering the ages of both Conran and Grange, 80 is obviously where it’s at. 

My granddaughter Lulu played her violin at the Schools Prom concert at the Albert Hall. Cheered on by a large and rather raucous family gang, her Wessex Youth Orchestra was a raging success, as indeed were all the acts, which were surprisingly varied. The WYO played the final numbers, with Land of Hope and Glory raising the roof. Lulu was very fetching in the Union Jack hard hat which all the orchestra donned right at the end. 

And I went into town to take pictures of the Lord Mayor’s Show, which was an incredible spectacle, with such a multitude of floats, and military march-pasts (thelordmayorsappeal.org). The 250-year-old Mayor’s state coach is indeed the stuff of fairy tales. There were over 200 vehicles in all, with more than 25 horse-drawn carriages. I was standing with a very enthusiastic Brownie pack whose cheers attracted lots of special attention from some of the 6,000 people taking part. I also popped by the tents outside St Paul’s which are in fact very civilised. 

At a pre-Christmas preview at Priscilla Carluccio’s enchanting shop Few & Far I met once again my favourite potter Bill Lloyd. I’ve now got several pieces by him, all in hand-thrown porcelain with a thick white/creamy glaze. Shapes are simple yet idiosyncratic, and often fit together, like my set of three stacking mugs.

Billy had made an edition of 50 mugs for the show, and I wanted one badly. But they were bought by a VIP of the design world to give as a Christmas present to another big design name (but obviously I have promised not to tell, as this could spoil the surprise!). However Billy presented me with two beautifully wrapped parcels before leaving, and each did indeed contain a mug. Wrapping is Priscilla’s forte – she has coloured carrier bags of handmade paper from India.  

I also went to a happy gathering of the Design Bloggers Collective – I’m a member and you can check us out on Facebook. We now number over 30 – all dedicated to putting very personal design news, thoughts and pictures on the internet. We were kindly hosted by the European Design Centre, a lovely furniture showroom just behind the Oxford Street Top Shop.

They have just set up the “Decorators’ Hub”, a space where designers can meet their clients in central London. It’s got WiFi, a furniture reference library, fabric samples, comfy chairs and a good table. Designers can book it for up to two hours (edclondon.com).

I’ve been working hard on my website (www.barbarachandler.co.uk) putting up all the photos that are now available as handmade cards.

Reporting from the London Design Festival 2011

The design world here in the capital is up to its hyperactive hilt in the London Design Festival. It’s been going on for a few days, but the big shows are now upon us – seven megabites of contemporary design.

Before I hit the hotspots of 100% Design at Earls Court, and Tent in East London (plus Tramshed in Rivington Street, and designjunction in Southampton Row), I wanted to share some special moments at the Festival so far. Incidentally you can find all details of the big shows in my September events diary (homesandproperty.co.uk/september2011events).
 
Kick-off was at the V&A in the Sackler wing a week ago, where I met up with H&P editor Janice Morley, and we did a wonderful tour de force, flying the flag for Homes & Property and meeting key players. We loved the chance to chat individually with Will Knight, Festival deputy director, and Murray Moss, the New York Gallery owner, who has mounted virtuoso displays of 3D printed sculpture all over the Museum.

We admired the Bouroullec Brothers Textile Field in the Raphael Gallery and sneakily joined a tour group to hear how the famous cartoons were working templates for the weavers in Brussels.
 
We also met Kristjana Williams (left), who had covered walls and furniture in the British Galleries with the gorgeous graphics that are her signature style at the Carnaby design boutique, Beyond the Valley. Visitors can now create their own patterns on iPads provided. And we called by Power of Making, the absorbing ongoing show of design and craft.
 
Amanda Levete’s Timber Wave was unveiled and it's magnificent (pictured, above right) – a rippling wooden sculpture encircling the main door of the V&A, and casting shadows when the sun comes out. Don’t miss this.
 
I also enjoyed a small installation called the Living Room in Shoreditch, where a young designer and a design journalist have put together a small but perfectly formed display of British domestic design – yes, do do this at home.
 
From there I walked to Lee Broom’s (left) in Rivington Street. This designer was a child/teen actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company before doing a fashion degree at Central St Martin’s and his new upholstery exudes the glamour of his earlier life.

Sofas sweep outwards without a single seam – that’s when you find them behind the 300m of black velvet which drapes the showroom. Oh, and I let myself in with the golden key that had been hand-delivered a couple of days earlier. Now there’s drama for you.
 
I’ve also seen the incredible salvaged computer screens with dancing animations by Okay Studio at the Natural History Museum (turn left from the big entrance hall), and I swung by the Royal College of Art.
 
Then of course for me the main event: the London Design Medal dinner at St Paul’s. Here, John Pawson’s exquisite assembly of lenses and mirror reflects the glory of a usually-hidden stairway, turning it into a seemingly endless downward spiral (left).

We guests had a private view before venturing into the nave for champagne – sacrilege surely – and then onto the crypt for dinner.

The fifth London Design Medal went to Ron Arad, who stole our front cover last year, during his Barbican retrospective. Accepting the award, Ron simply said, "Thank you London – I couldn't imagine doing whatever I'm doing anywhere else in the world". That says it all.
 
There was a special award for Vidal Sassoon, the 14-year old East End apprentice who went on to shape the nation’s hair. This had been instigated by Thomas Heatherwick, last year’s Medal winner. Some of us can remember the furore when Alice Rawsthorne, as director of the Design Musuem, devoted a show to flower-arranging. So it will be interesting to see what the design snobs make of this.

But why should not flowers and hair be installation art/design as much as any pile-up of bricks or upcycled rubbish? Mr Sassoon was a joy to meet – like all the true Brits from the 60s.

In between all this I’ve been spotting my new book of photographs, Love London, in various shops, including SCP Designs in Curtain Road, and SKK in Lexington Street, Soho. I’ve even ventured into product here with tea towels and bone china plates! See details on lovelondon.uk.com
 
I’ll be covering the big design shows in due course, plus the decor fests of Focus and Decorex.

Find more pictures, with lots more reportage on
flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler/
 
* All pictures by barbarachandler.co.uk.
 
* Check out details of all Festival events and designers at londondesignfestival.com

My summer mini-break: 850 miles, three new museums and the Peckham Peace Wall

Three museums (all newly opened) in four days was not bad going, we thought. It was our summer mini-break, and Ben, my husband drove 850 miles, and then some.

First stop Wakefield to see the new Hepworth gallery by David Chipperfield (hepworthwakefield.org). This sits beside a dramatic rushing weir, but disappointingly you won’t get that view if you stick to the received route from the car park over the new bridge into the museum (and past some wonderful old boatyards). You have to walk around the building and cross over the road bridge. The building is a bit shed-like, uncompromisingly modern, has a super-smooth “pigmented” concrete finish, and from the outside very few window openings.

The cafe is very gloomy, and in the ladies loo people puzzle over how to turn on the taps. Notices are pinned up to tell us that the taps are sensor-controlled. Every tap in public places seems to work differently these days – what happened to simple cross-heads?

Inside, the galleries themselves are very beautiful white spaces with lots of light, and the views to the outside (over the weir and boatyards, with more sculpture) are almost as thrilling as the art inside.

A cast Barbara Hepworth made of her own hand (pictured, left) was compelling – “the left hand is the thinking hand,” she said. “It must be relaxed and sensitive to rhythms of thought.”

Outside a towering insect-like pavilion in black scorched wood was a haven for children and picnickers. It turned out to be a sculpture, too, called Black Cloud, by Heather and Ivan Morison

Then, a night at the recently-restored Midland Hotel at Morecombe, an art deco treasure, with sculpture and painting by Eric Gill (pictured, right).

And on up to Liverpool, for a couple of nights in the Holiday Inn at Albert Docks, with a super view across the Mersey from our converted-warehouse room (bit noisy on Saturday with hen and stag parties, though).

The Museum of Liverpool opened on 19 July 2011, and got 13,234 visitors on its first day (liverpoolmuseums.org.uk). On our visit a couple of weeks later, it was similarly packed. We could well see why. Outside is visitor friendly with lots of places to sit, and inside an engrossing assembly of imaginative and interactive displays, illuminating all aspects of this great city.

Climb a wide spiral staircase to the top, to find a huge window (8 by 25 metres) looking out over those famous buildings of the iconic Liverpool skyline – the Three Graces. These are firstly the Royal Liver Building (1908-11) topped by huge birds (the guarding female gazes outwards, the male inwards to see when the pubs are open – or so we were told). Then there is the Cunard Building (1914-16) with its palatial Italianate facade; and finally the old offices of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board (1903-07), with its vast centre dome. There’s a similar window at the other end.

Critics have mixed views on the museum architecture but I thought the building had a splendid shape. And a massive steel frame apparently has enabled the big column-free spaces which make walking round so easy. I’m not so sure about the faceted stone cladding. But I loved the big blue sign outside the museum proudly proclaiming its name (though probably not architect-designed). Oh, and whilst in Liverpool we took in the Magritte show – well worth seeing and on until 16 October.

By contrast the discreet tasteful signs of the new Chipperfield galleries at Wakefield and Margate are very tasteful – but very low vis.

We went to Margate on a separate day trip, to the new Turner Cotemporary (turnercontemporary.org). Actually, there was only one Turner painting on display, though a pretty big one. The Gallery will house a series of modern art shows – “Revealed” is the one we saw, open until 4 September – “exploring the borders between what we see and know and the truly fantastic.” I loved Daniel Burne’s huge circle with mirrors, framing the real sea, and Ellen Harvey’s Arcadia booth, with fairground letters outside and scenes of Margate hand-engraved on mirrors inside – magical.

Back home, I wanted to see the so-called Peckham Peace Wall for myself, and caught a train to Peckham Rye. There I found the boarded-up front of a Poundland – much more extensive than I had imagined – covered with post-it notes expressing love for the area, condemnations of violence and hope for the future.

New notes were being added all the while, and there was a steady stream of people stopping to read – of all races and ages. Nearby, a rap concert outside the library was launching a campaign for a new community centre. Well worth the trip.

* All pictures by www.barbarachandler.co.uk - see more on http://www.flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler/

Selfridges, Habitat, Homebase and more

I fetched up earlyish at the Selfridges VIP shopping suite to meet the legendary Diane von Furstenberg (pictured) – she of the wrap-dress fame. She was over from New York to launch her second collection of bed linen, this time with some lovely china as well, on asymmetric mix-and-match shapes. She launched her first homewares at New York Fashion week, decking out the VIP lounge and virtually taking furnishings down the catwalk – an industry first (well, two industries – fashion and textiles)
 
Diane showed me her latest collection of duvet covers, which will be sold draped over a rail, like the expensive dresses that inspired them. So you will be able to feel the fabric, which is soft and luxurious, and appreciate the richness of the pattern and colour. Such an obvious idea when you see it done – but then all the best ideas are like that, aren’t they? “I really don’t see any division between home and what I wear,” Diane confided. “it’s one single exercise as far as I’m concerned.”
 
Sheets aside, do get over to the South Bank, if you can. There are ongoing celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain, including a cute little strip of sand masquerading as a beach. We had our photo taken in a booth for free, and then it was emailed to use as a postcard. There is lots of live entertainment on the sidewalks, plus a more formal programme at the Festival Hall (southbankcentre.co.uk) culminating in Wayne Hemmingway’s Vintage Festival at the end of the month.

  I’ve also been to the Park Plaza hotel just the other side of Westminster Bridge for the My View of London photo awards. The hotel, only opened last year, has a ritzy affordable glamour – well, affordable by the standards of London hotels. And it has its own sensational view from the lobby – look straight over the bridge, and then tell the time by Big Ben! I was a judge of the photo comp, and there were over 1000 entries – not that I had to go through them all. We judges viewed 90, and then put our top 30 in order of merit – still bit of a task, really, but very interesting. The competition is to raise awareness of the excellent eye research charity Fight For Sight. If you are reading this, then, like me, give thanks for eyes, such a precious gift. You can see the shortlist and the winning entries on myviewoflondon.org.uk.

I loved meeting the entrants – a very diverse bunch, from “strictly analogue” Suzi Livingstone (shortlisted) who makes her own cameras, using film OF COURSE, to Lindsey Chadwick who had spent several days hovering around the Inns of Court to get a striking image of red phone boxes and a Union Jack umbrella, called “London Pride” which came second (pictured). The winning image was an ultra-moody shot of a just-visible Tower Bridge (“Dickens View” by Nick Gommon ) and I loved meeting the jovial John Kortland whose street shot of a ”Smash and Grab Wedding” made us all smile – and came third. A young Hungarian, Gabor Mate, submitted a romantic black and white shot of Piccadilly Circus (short-listed), which I remembered later, when I called by the Hungarian Photography exhibition now on at the Royal Academy.

A posh lunch at the lovely Lutyens restaurant in Fleet Street (in the old Reuters building) was hosted by Marc Bolland, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, who told us 21 million people visit his stores every week. It’s the sort of statistic you remember while standing in the queue. This event, oozing editors, was to preview the Conran range of furnishings which will come into the stores this autumn. We saw furniture and furnishings in that well-mannered but interesting style which is currently very British. Elegant and understated, colours included grey, indigo, mustard and kingfisher.

Sir Terence made an endearing speech referring to the designs as “Habitat for the 21st century.” A couple of days later we had the sad news that Habitat as we knew it has ceased trading. It was bought by Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and Homebase. Sir Terence was reported then as saying "Of course I'm sad that my love child, Habitat, appears to be dying, but I am more interested in the future of my own business and design projects - that is my focus."

Habitat’s three London stores in Tottenham Court Road, King’s Road, and Finchley Road carry on, but 30 others look set to cease trading. Homebase, will sell merchandise under the Habitat label, and, later still, I met Andrew Carnie, their trading director for home. Homebase were launching an amazing 1,500 new products in a showhouse they have in the West End. Andrew assured me that his company was seeking to fill Homebase with premium brands, and was not going “to trash Habitat but resurrect it.” He added that he “greatly valued” the Habitat design team, and would be working with them.

The exit to the Lutyens restaurant is bang next door to St Brides Church, with its famous wedding cake steeple, and I went to have a look around. Do go down into the crypt. When Wren built his church after the great fire of 1666, it was over no less than six previous crypts, which were re-discovered during the post-war restoration. On show are fragments of buildings, records, pages of old type and newspaper – it’s like a mini-museum, and there’s nobody there.

Right at the back is a tiny medieval chapel with just eight seats opposite a simple altar. This I found was a memorial to the Harmsworth family, and all the staff of Associated Newspapers and the Evening Standard who lost their lives in two world wars. Indeed in the Crypt Chapel next door is a Book of Remembrance with the names of the 36 Evening Standard journalists killed in the Great War and the 22 killed in the Second World War…and now we remember them again with gratitude in this our 21st century Homes & Property internet blog.
 
* All pictures by www.barbarachandler.co.uk - see more on http://www.flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler

Glass, interactive lights and an eco-van

I love glass, old and new, so Reflect, the London Glass Fair in Kensington Town Hall, was a sheer delight. My old friend and glass artist, Adam Aeronson, had a stand with beautiful new work, including sculptural bottles with heavy twisting shapes and vivid colours. He regularly holds glass-making workshops (adamaaronson.com). The next Fair is in Cambridge on 25 September – could be worth making a special outing (details are on specialistglassfairs.com).
 
I popped into Pulse – the trade show for gifts and accessories – and had a warm reunion with my mate Jason Allcorn who was manning his new creation, Chalkyvan (right). Eco-action group [Re]design, founded and run by Jason and his partner Sarah, have given an old VW Campervan a complete eco-makeover. Now it runs on reprocessed cooking oil, uses solar power, has low-energy lighting and is kitted out with eco-friendly materials.

It is also a mobile workshop and event/exhibition space, inviting comment/posting slogans on its blackboard exterior (redesigndesign.org). Chalkyvan will move to Bishopsgate, EC3, 8-9 July, as part of the Big Draw and City of London Festival (colf.org; and thebigdraw.org). Then Chalky motors over the Channel to run through some pretty nifty eco tricks for the French.
 
I’ve also seen a wonderful one-day installation of Philips’ OLEDs in Shoreditch (it stands for organic light emitting diodes – but don’t worry about it too much). These are wafer-thin lights, in small rectangles or squares. A huge wall of them was doing fancy tricks, controlled by a computer. On one programme, the lights reacted to the movement of the viewer, showing a hand, face and so on (see picture).

And I popped into Designers Guild on the King’s Road to see a special show of ceramics by first-year students at the RCA, chosen by Tricia Guild, who recently re-vamped her entrancing store, improving the layout and freshening up the paint. I loved huge urn-like vases made from plaster moulds by Zemer Peled – she was inspired by Sevres 18th century porcelain in the Wallace Collection. And I just had to snap Tricia Guild’s shoe/sock combo – an artwork in itself.
 
All pictures by barbarachandler.co.uk
See more pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler.

Good British design is alive and well

I’ve been doing a fair bit of judging lately for various awards – which is a great honour, but also a responsibility and pretty time-consuming. But I always learn a lot in the process, which makes it very worthwhile.
 
The weightiest task was helping to decide who gets the 2011 Design Guild Mark, awarded by The Furniture Makers Company to the best British designers with work in what they call “volume production” (e.g. not bespoke or one-off pieces).

As judges (and my eminent colleagues include Sebastian Conran, Sheridan Coakley of SCP, and Sally Bendelow of Marks and Spencer) we get to inspect all the furniture submitted for the awards in a warehouse at White City. This year, however, I was away in Milan on the day of the judging, and had to submit opinions by email based on photographs.
 
We’re pretty harsh as judges, awarding only 11 Design Guild Marks for 2011, out of over 30 submissions. But I was pleased that a pedestal desk by Rachel Galbraith for M&S got through, as did a lighter-looking laptop desk by Leonhard Pfeifer for John Lewis. So good design is alive and well, and in the mass market. You can see pictures of the awards on furnituremkrs.co.uk.
 
Then there were the Women in Furnishing Awards, organised by the Furniture Industry Trust, which is a charitable offshoot of the Furniture Makers (fi-trust.co.uk). I was asked to present these – an honour.  I sat in on the judging, and heard impressive stories of contenders for “business woman”, “inspirational woman”, and “most promising newcomer.”

At a delightful lunch at Furniture Makers Hall in the City, I was asked (in advance!) to make a speech to a mainly female audience – that was a little daunting. A special “lifetime achievement” award went to the ultra-elegant Margaret Miller, of Knightsbridge Furniture, who, in 2008,  was the first Lady Master of the Furniture Makers guild.
 
But what made the biggest impression on me emotionally was an all-morning judging session for the Students Rug Competition held by GoodWeave, a wonderfully active charity fighting to end child labour in the carpet industry.

Also on the judging panel was that legendary lady of fashion and textiles, Celia Birtwell (right). Then there was Lucy Upward, features editor of Cover (a specialist magazine about flooring), and sponsors Richard and Lucy Meager from Jacaranda Carpets who are making the winning rug in time to show visitors to Decorex, the prestigious September trade show. Also a sponsor is Paul Vowles, of WovenGround, that entrancing rug shop that I recently visitied on the King’s Road.
 
First, we heard some heart-rending stories of children (some as young as seven) in areas like Pakistan and Nepal, working in dismal conditions – indeed the handmade rug industry exploits nearly 300,000 children in South Asia. However since 1995, GoodWeave has freed more than 3,000 children from looms – look out for their label that shows a rug is child-labour-free.

As for the students’ work, it was marvelous –very extensive, well-presented, and spread out all around a large room. The theme was “natural origins” and designs expressed this is a myriad of ways, from rock faces to feathers, leaves and insects.

The winner was Tracy Bidwell, a final year student from Cleveland College of Art and Design studying Textiles and Surface Design. We, the judges, loved the "Klimt-like" quality of her design...as in Gustav! We also loved a bee-based design by Eve Finlayson from Leeds College of Art, and I was so pleased to hear that this is going to be made up into a rug as well.

All pictures by barbarachandler.co.uk

See more pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler

Looking forward to the future: London Design Festival and more

My next big excitement was a preview at the V&A of the forthcoming September London Design Festival. For the third year, the museum will be the festival’s “hub”. 

The festival – which will run from 17 to 25 September - will be "the largest and most significant yet," say the organisers, chairman and founder Sir John Sorrell, and director Ben Evans, who were there to start the ball rolling. There will be more than 250 events presented by around 180 partners.
 
We’ll see a huge doorway of whirling wood pieces in front of the museum, designed by architect Amanda Levete. And the Bouroullec Borthers – those clever young(ish) French designers who have a certain celebrity status in the design world – will fill the huge Raphael room with a 30 metre carpet-cum-lounger, angled and  padded with foam so we can all stretch out and admire the original artwork (the “cartoons”) for the stunning tapestries of the Sistine Chapel. “

It’s going to be a key place to hang-out," says festival director Ben Evans (who is married to Amanda Levete) – adding "I for one can't wait to lie down."

I hope the Gallery is easier to find by then – I tried and nearly gave up, as all ways of approach are currently sealed, apart from a rather tortuous access from the second floor of the British Galleries.

Londoners will get another fresh perspective at St Paul’s, where architect John Pawson will install a “meniscus” at the bottom of the usually shut-off Geometric Staircase in the South West Tower. This is a curved mirror, he told me, which will give you a wide view of the dome above.  Sadly the staircase itself will still be out of bounds.
 
RCA tutor Daniel Charny has made quite a name for himself as an exhibition curator, working with the Design Museum and the Aram Gallery. Now comes the big one. Power of Making, which opens ahead of the festival at the V&A on 6 September, celebrates “the ongoing importance of making and skills in our lives.”

The word eclectic could have been invented for this rich show, which is a collaboration with the Crafts Council. It will be "a true cabinet of beautifully-crafted curiosities," promises Charny. They will range from a length of dry stone-walling at the entrance to a Makerbot 3D printer at the exit. Also expect to meet a huge gorilla of coat hangers and a life-size crochet bear. Daniel said: “I’m celebrating time-honoured ways of making things, of course, but also highlighting the extraordinary innovation taking place all around the world."
 
I first met Emamoke Ukeleghe (left) at 100% Futures a couple of years ago. This talented RCA-trained textile designer – so charming and enthusiastic - is now project coordinator of the African and African-Caribbean Design Diaspora (AACDD), which will celebrate black creativity throughout September and October all across London.

Taking part will be AACDD members who live and work in the UK, along with artists and artisans from Africa and the Caribbean. The big news is RCA Black, to run at the college from 31 August to 6 September, and then at the Bargehouse Gallery from 9 to 25 September. It will do what it says on the label – celebrate past and present RCA artists and designers of African and African-Caribbean descent.
 
I’ve also been out to ExCel for KBB – basically a kitchen and bathroom show for the trade but with bedrooms as the third “B”. I was part of a panel – with Ercol, The Conran Shop, Savoir Beds and designer Shaun Clarkson) discussing “dream bedrooms”, chaired with great charm by TV presenter Naomi Cleaver, whose book The Joy of Home (Conran Octopus), is not only the most useful of the ten or so tomes I’ve been sent recently, but also full of warmth, inspiration and conviction. 

At the show was a fascinating “innovations” feature, sporting hobs and ovens that work out your cooking at the touch of a panel (“ditch the switch” as one slogan said”). I also bumped into designer friend Rock Galpin, whose ideas on an imaginative “concept” stand were truly dreamy: all-white visions for a bathroom of the future. I desperately want the shower that delivers water jets and steam as you revolve on a turntable, and dries you off with hot air. But it’s not actually working yet. That’s the future for you.
 
* View more of my pictures at flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler

Cities of Tomorrow: architects take over shop window displays on Regent Street

The RIBA has currently infiltrated Regent Street, with ten shop windows designed by architects – they’ll be on until the end of the month. The theme is Cities of Tomorrow, but it’s interpreted fairly widely – well, loosely you could say. There lots of metallic surface, from a revolving sculpture with angled shapes (no two are the same) to a single sheet of aluminium as an avant-garde display unit.

I went to meet the perpetrators at an evening launch and walked along from Oxford Circus, enjoying the twin thrill of grand buildings and top brands. Passing the Levi’s store, I saw a huge blue circular denim tower, tapering off at the top, `which was actually made of jeans. This turned out to be the most spectacular of the installations, created by architect Ian McChesney, who is known for his outdoor sculptures.  His project highlights Levi’s introduction of the “WaterLess jean” which cuts the amount of water used to process the world’s most popular item of clothing by at least 28 per cent, and up to 98 per cent for some new lines.
 
I met Ian a little later. He said he’d been inspired by the vortex created by a whirlpool, and mimicked its shape with a fabric “former” over which were stretched around 100 pairs of jeans, forming a sequence of elegant V shapes. They were riveted together, and then the underlying structure taken away. Magically the intriguing cut-away shape remains, taut and upright, to hover just above floor level, “Using jeans as a building material presented some technical challenges, but we had a lot of fun with it.”
 
It was a privilege to meet Julia Barfield of Marks Barfield, the architects who created the Millennium Wheel, as this popular London landmark features in so many of the photographs that will be my book, Love London, to be published later this summer. Julia and her team have planted the windows of Gant with birch trees and mirrors, in a lyrical plea for a greening of the city.
 
Also good value are architects John Pegg and Paula Craft (who are married). They colonised the window of the National Geographic store with elegant stacks of old magazines, lots of cardboard tubes and a small-scale vertical “green wall”, made from “Woolly Pockets”. This is a brill idea from the States which I first saw at Chelsea last year.  It makes it easy to have a vertical small-scale green wall at home, inside or out, and it’s made from recycled plastic bottles (gardenbeet.com).

“All cities are, of course, manmade habitats,” say Paula and John.  “And their survival will depend on us cutting back our insatiable demands on resources, and balancing our consumption with recycling.” It’s well worth popping inside the store to see their installation from the inside, where it reveals all kinds of details, from a simple bid to turn off the lights, to a fragment of a Wordsworth poem (the beautiful one from Westminster Bridge), a tiny suspended globe and a toy ladybird. Enchanting.

* View more of my pictures at flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler