All installation views of "My London" at Established & Sons courtesy of Established & Sons.
The first presentation of Established & Sons’ new initiative “My London” was held last week from September 19-25 during the London Design Festival. On a cold and gray Wednesday morning, we entered the North London showroom and studio and instantly felt warmth and color. Remarkable pieces were displayed such as Quilt, The Thing, a honeycomb sofa chair by the Bouroullec Brothers which was inspired by the Marvel Comics superhero The Thing. Also displayed on the theme of superheroes was Surface Table, a sleek composite table made of carbon fiber, extremely light in weight, yet with near superhuman strength, made by designer Terence Woodgate and racecar designer for Formula 1 John Barnard. If you thought racecars and furniture design shared no common ground, think again. “People don’t realize that racing cars are made out of fabric. They use rolls of carbon fiber, they cut them out and roll them into shape,” said Woodgate. He continued, “[The table] can take quite a bit of weight. We actually had a Formula 1 racing car sitting on it at an exhibition in Belgium. We managed to convince McLaren to lend us the car.”
Established & Sons not only invited creatives who live and work within London but also international artists to interpret their vision of the city for “My London”. These collaborations, objects, and installations will be shown globally throughout 2012 as interpretations of what London means to each artist.
Japanese architect and design studio Nendo lead the way as the as first interpreter of “My London” with a large floor-to-ceiling wall installation of small, white, London city maps. Juxtaposed with the Bouroullec’s Quilt, The Thing, Nendo’s installation brings to mind the “city of fog.” “It’s an image of small memories, that’s the reason I chose the maps. 25,000 small sheets of paper create this soft and flexible fog. It is sort of like a collection of memories, which is always changing, always moving. That is exactly the way I feel about London,” said Nendo’s Oki Sato.
Whitewall chatted over a cup of tea with designers Woodgate, Sato, and up-and-coming designer Felix de Pass to learn more about their views of London, their design process, and their influences. Check back in the following weeks as we share these three designers’ stories through one-on-one interviews.
