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This year, Clerkenwell Design Week introduced Platform at House of Detention to showcase up-and-coming design talent. The subterranean Victorian prison proved an intimate and dramatic backdrop for the curated collection of contemporary designs. Here are some of onoffice’s favourites.
Felix Proctor on his Concrete Pendant Lights
“The lamps are made from a lightweight concrete. They weigh about half the weight of conventional concrete and are fabricated from a mix of concrete and plastic fibre. The surface is very tactile, it’s a mixture of very smooth and very rough.”
Ioic Bard on Lamp You
“The lamp is inspired by the head of a virus because I used to work as a biologist and the shape stuck in my mind. The idea is that you can hang them or you can just have them on a table, resting on different facets. You group together well and there’s different colours. I love maple wood, because it’s very clear, like the colour of the skin – it’s very Canadian!”
Johanna Tammsalu on Solid Spin Lamps
“The concept is everyday objects spinning in space to see the shapes they creates. I did a lot of tests with different shapes and these were my favourites with a ladies shoes, keys and sunglasses and the lights are made with moulded ceramic.”
Hanieh Heidarabadi on Make Lamp
“The idea is that the brass tube’s shape and size are constant, but the shape of the bulb covering is 3D printed nylon so they can all be different. I was inspired by hanging microphones from the 50s and 60s, and that was the aesthetic form I was going for.
“They’re not reading lamps, they’re for setting the atmosphere so I can imagine them in hotels, bars or places like that.”
Jonathan Field on his bespoke table designs
“This one’s made from burr maple and it’s from Scotland. I had the pieces of wood and I knew I wanted to do something special with it, so I made the legs to fit the two halves of the table top, so I could preserve what I call the ‘Grand Canyon’ running down the middle.
“It’s the natural edge of the tree and I didn’t want to cut it straight and lose all the lovely detail. There was the option of filling the gap with resin – clear or coloured – which would have been nice, especially if you had light coming up from the floor and reflecting in the resin.”
