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Chair of Virtue presents experimental seating at London Design Festival
CategoriesInterior Design

Chair of Virtue presents experimental seating at London Design Festival

By Zarkon Group,

Digitally shrink-wrapped skin, armrests salvaged from parks and “frozen” resin featured in Prototype/In Process, an exhibition of seating presented by virtual magazine Chair of Virtue during London Design Festival.

Displayed under a railway arch at Borough Yards, Prototype/In Process was made up of 1:1 scale prototypes of chairs, as well as chairs that are still works in progress, by 12 London-based designers who are either established or emerging in their field.

Aluminium chair by Sara Afonso Sternberg
Prototype/In Process features a chair by Sara Afonso Sternberg

Sara Afonso Sternberg presented sculptural aluminium seating made of armrests salvaged from the middle of public benches in Camberwell. The armrests were originally created to make it difficult for homeless people to sleep or rest on the benches.

“These objects are given a new form and use, inviting the public to critically engage with control mechanisms such as hostile architecture that permeate the urban landscape,” said Afonso Sternberg.

"Frozen" resin seating in Chair of Virtue exhibition
Jesse Butterfield created a “frozen” resin piece

Another piece on display was by Jesse Butterfield. The designer used vacuum infusion, draping and papier-mâché to create a chair covered in resin that was intended to appear “frozen”.

Various methods of production were showcasedthroughout the show. Daniel Widrig used 3D printing to digitally shrink-wrap a rectangular chair with polylactic acid, a starch-based bioplastic.

3D-printed chair by Daniel Widrig
Daniel Widrig used 3D printing for his piece

The result is a grey-hued chair with an undulating form, which mirrors the shared style of previous blobby stools created by the designer.

“Its contours mimic the gentle curves and natural irregularities of body tissue, forming intricate folds and wrinkles,” explained Widrig.

Thomas Wheller also used aluminium by folding a single piece of the material to create his chair, while Louis Gibson experimented with “regular” construction stock materials by creating casts from disused pipes.

“I was interested in imagining how these parts could be used unconventionally,” said the designer.

Folded aluminium chair by Thomas Wheller
Thomas Wheller also worked with aluminium

“With such large volumes, I was curious to create casts, and then evaluate the internal forms in a new light, and finally address the problem of reassembly,” added Gibson.

“I chose plaster for the purpose of quick setting, I also felt it was in keeping with the world of builders’ merchants stock supplies.”

Chair by Louis Gibson
Louis Gibson experimented with salvaged construction materials

While the exhibition concluded at the end of London Design Festival (LDF), Chair of Virtue is an ongoing project curated by Adam Maryniak.

Prototype/In Process was on display on Dirty Lane as part of the annual festival’s Bankside Design District.

Furniture created from the remains of a single car and a modular display system by Zaha Hadid Design were among the many other projects featured during LDF.

The photography is courtesy of Chair of Virtue. 

Prototype/In Process was on show as part of London Design Festival 2023 from 16 to 24 September 2023. See our London Design Festival 2023 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks that took place throughout the week.



Reference

Hydro celebrates sustainable partnerships at London Design Festival
CategoriesSustainable News

Hydro celebrates sustainable partnerships at London Design Festival

By Zarkon Group,

Promotion: aluminium and renewable energy company Hydro is exhibiting its collaboration with designer Lars Beller Fjetland at the London Design Festival, exploring how partnerships can help make the metals industry more sustainable.

Earlier this year Hydro and Fjetland partnered to launch Bello! bench, a piece of outdoor seating made from extruded aluminium with 90 per cent recycled content.

Hydro is now exhibiting the bench at Material Matters at Oxo Tower, in a display that aims to communicate how the project advances the company’s ambition to decarbonise society.

Photo of a green Bello! bench by Hydro and Lars Beller Fjetland camouflaged within a dense field of clover
The Bello! bench is the latest designer collaboration from Hydro

“Material and manufacturing literacy are key to creating truly sustainable products”, says Hydro’s marketing director, Asle Forsbak, noting an estimate that 80 per cent of a product’s environmental footprint is determined in the design phase.

The company aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and push the whole industry towards those goals as well.

This approach has guided the company into partnerships with designers and producers including Tom Dixon, Polestar, Porsche and Cake as it seeks to share knowledge about how to design with aluminium.

Bello! bench by Hydro and Lars Beller Fjetland
The collaboration explores how partnerships can help make the metals industry more sustainable

“As a designer the choices you make at the drawing board decide if the product can be taken apart and recycled again and again, which is why understanding material properties and manufacturing processes is key,” said Forsbak.

According to Forsbak, a deep understanding of engineering, material science and the realities of production all shaped the Bello! bench.

It is made from 90 per cent recycled aluminium, most of which is end-consumer scrap and can be recycled in its entirety.

Photo of a green extruded metal bench sitting within a forest of dence foliage
The bench is made from extruded aluminium with 90 per cent recycled content

Fjetland based his design on penne rigate pasta, luxuriating in the ridged surface texture that could be created through extrusion.

As part of the exhibition, Fjetland is releasing Bello! in a new colour, a “striking, naturalesque green”, and says the design is “a practical example of how we are stronger when we work together”.

“At face value, Hydro might seem like an unlikely exhibitor at the London Design Festival,” said Forsbak. “But with the Bello! bench, we want to demonstrate how the industry and designers can work together to produce a practical and pretty product that can be mass produced, and also meet the society’s growing sustainability demands.”

Close-up photo of the side profile of the Bello! aluminium outdoor bench by Hydro in a green colour, sat within a dense bright green forest
The collaboration advances Hydro’s sustainability goals, according to the company

“At one hand, industrial mass production comes with a slew of challenges regarding environmental sustainability,” said Forsbak. “On the other hand, there needs to be a market pull for companies to produce sustainably.”

Forsbak explains that for “real, impactful change” it is necessary to have an amalgamation of perspectives, expertise and industries when designing products.

“The sustainability challenge of mass production isn’t solved in a vacuum; We need to work closely with our partners to help decarbonise society,” he said. “That is why collaboration is key.”

The Bello! bench can be seen at Hydro’s display at the Material Matters exhibition. The company’s stand will be made from reused structural components from past exhibitions.

To learn more about aluminium and design, visit Hydro’s aluminium knowledge hub, Shapes.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Hydro as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

Reference

Last chance to be listed on Dezeen’s digital guide for London Design Festival 2023
CategoriesInterior Design

Last chance to be listed on Dezeen’s digital guide for London Design Festival 2023

By Zarkon Group,

This is the last opportunity to be featured in the Dezeen Events Guide for London Design Festival 2023, which highlights the key events taking place in the UK’s capital city in September.

The guide includes a range of exhibitions, installations, talks, workshops, open showrooms, product launches, pop-up shops and design fairs taking place across London.

This year’s edition of London Design Festival takes place from 16 to 24 September 2023, with the 21st edition spanning across 13 districts in the city.

Dezeen Events Guide’s live digital guide showcases events that explore a variety of design mediums, including architecture, biodesign, furniture, lighting, interior accessories, fashion and materials and textiles design.

Last chance to get listed in Dezeen’s digital guide to London Design Festival

Get in touch with the Dezeen Events Guide team at [email protected] to book in your listing or to discuss a wider partnership with Dezeen. There are three types of listings:

Standard listing: for only £100, we can include the event name, date and location details plus a website link. These listings will also feature up to 50 words of text about the event. Standard listings are included at the discretion of the Dezeen Events Guide team.

Enhanced listing: for £150, you will receive all of the above plus an image at the top of the listing’s page and an image in the listing preview on the London Design Festival festival guide page. These listings will also feature up to 100 words of text about the event.

Featured listing: for £300, your listing will feature everything as part of an enhanced listing plus inclusion in the featured events carousel and social media posts on our @dezeenguide channels. This includes one post per channel: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and up to 150 words of text about the event. This text can include commercial information such as ticket prices and offers, and can feature additional links to website pages such as ticket sales, newsletter signups etc.

About Dezeen Events Guide

Dezeen Events Guide is our guide to the best architecture and design events taking place across the world each year. The guide is updated weekly and includes virtual events, conferences, trade fairs, major exhibitions and design weeks.

Inclusion in the guide is free for basic listings, with events selected at Dezeen’s discretion. Organisers can get standard, enhanced or featured listings for their events, including images, additional text and links, by paying a modest fee.

In addition, events can ensure inclusion by partnering with Dezeen. For more details on inclusion in Dezeen Events Guide and media partnerships with Dezeen, email [email protected].

The illustration is by Justyna Green.

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