Collection by Aaron Britt
London Design Festival: Day 3
My third day traipsing about London for the Design Festival had me venturing east again, starting my day in Clerkenwell (that's pronounced CLARK-en-well, I learned) and then, as ever, heading back over to Shoreditch for the press preview of the much-hyped Tramshed show. I'll tell you now, it was worth it. Here's what I saw.
From there, I wandered up the street to the Moroso/Flos showroom where the Italian coffee vendor Illy had installed quite the set-up. The event was to celebrate Illy's collaborations with various artists on limited edition espresso cups, but for me, the stand itself was the real star. The showroom, to its credit, was just as colorful.
Further on in my Clerkenwell walk I stopped into the Modus showroom. Though much of the inventory and all the new stuff had been carted off for display at designjunction, I did quite like the exploded diagram of how certain Modus chairs are made on the wall. This one shows Monica Forster's Dune chair.
As I headed along the Clerkenwell Road toward Old St, I stopped into the gallery/materials archive Scin. Though I was taken with the services they offer to architects—come here to check out all kinds of new materials for all sorts of interior and exterior uses—it was this puckered felt portrait of the queen that warmed my Yankee heart. The work is by Melissa Watts.
Upstairs at the Tramshed was a show of Studioilse's work for De La Espada. It's all lovely, spare, and wooden, but I really liked this Companions Writing Desk with its small cork baskets that hang underneath. The top opens up to reveal a bit of cork board or you can keep it closed to hide away office supplies.
Another Tramshed highlight was this set of enamelware from Falcon. The brand, which has been around since the 20s, is getting an update and a bit of a revival. I loved the homey, nostalgic quality of these bake sets and bought a quartet of cups for myself.
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