Ala Champ
 
00:00/

WHERE TO EAT IN PARIS

Seven Best Places & Spaces To Wine & Dine

Architecture Deeply Interconnected With Nature

SANAA's Ryue Nishizawa Weaves Architectural Flow At This Retreat in Karuizawa

Fine Dining at an Altitude of 2000m

Sustainably Championing Ingredients from the Alpine Region

BÀBÁ, FATHER

Photographer Olufemi Adegboye Presents His Intimate Photo Series of Black Fathers

The Delicate Art of Mixology

An Exclusive Hiroshi Sugimoto-Designed Six-Seater Bar Led By Mixologist Tsuyoshi Kimura

Maebashi’s Creative Revitalisation

Akihisa Hirata Structures A Space for Art, Living & New Encounters

A Cinematic Setting for this Modern Sushi Restaurant

A Stand-Out Japanese Dining Destination in Brisbane

THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN LONDON RIGHT NOW

Our Pick Of London's Top 5 Culinary Destinations

Harnessing the Power of Seaweed

On the Coast of Margate, A Risk-taking Skincare Brand Harvesting the Wild Material

Culinary Craftsmanship

The Avant Garde Blue Mountain School's New Michelin-Starred Restaurant

SERPENTINE PAVILION 2023

Architect Lina Ghotmeh Creates A Brilliant New Space For Gathering & Togetherness

Sky High

An Eastern Touch with Western Comforts at this 5 Star Hotel in Tokyo, 52 Floors Up

Kyoto’s Leading Art & Design Hotel

A Stellar Amalgamation of East Meets West

STUDIO GANG’S ORGANIC VERNACULAR

An Architectural Marvel: The Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation

Craftsmanship and Omotenashi at Its Finest

Unequivocally Tokyo's Most Extraordinary Luxury Urban Ryokan Experience

Samuel Ross

The British Artist-Designer's First Solo Exhibition at White Cube

A SECOND LIFE

Matter of Stuff Open the Conversation Toward Sustainable Design during LDF19

September, 2019
PiM.studio | A Second Life exhibition at sketch during London Design Festival 2019

A Second Life is a much needed attempt to highlight the need for sustainability through elevated forms, presented by contemporary design and research gallery Matter of Stuff through a site-specific exhibition at sketch for the London Design Festival 2019. Commissioning one architect and three design studios to create new works from a single raw material, each repurposing 5000 cylindrical pine dowels. 

Our first introduction to the exhibition is through PiM.studio graphic patterned temporary walls lining the hallway of the entrance to the 18th century building sketch has restored – previously housing notable occupants such as RIBA, and the London Atelier of Christian Dior. Both work together to create a juxtaposed visual narrative that in some way shares common ground when defining sustainable timeless design. A party is happening in the adjacent rooms serving Japanese whisky cocktails for the exhibition’s partner, The House of Suntory.

Aesthetically speaking the works from Studio Furthermore is a clear highlight. Whilst it lacks the front and centre of the PiM.studio dowel graphic walls, it’s focus on re-use to the nth degree. Sawdust found in-studio from previous projects reapplied to the dowel with coloured paints, and the subtle use of discreet and energy efficient LED’s, not only provided sublime gradients but provided the most instructive narrative for visitors’ own approach to sustainability.
Latitude Bench by Brodie Neill | A Second Life exhibition at sketch during London Design Festival 2019

London-based Australian designer Brodie Neill used the dowel to construct an elegant lattice-like sculptural bench leaning into a traditional Japanese bamboo construction technique which demanded closer inspection to fully appreciate its intricacy. Neill’s ‘Latitude bench’ will also be auctioned together with the other pieces in the show at the end of October, with all profits going to reforestation charities. Further in the exhibition, Matteo Fogale has collaborated with costume designer Emma Archer, taking inspiration from traditional tailoring techniques to create screens from left over fabrics donated from Kvadrat to dress the dowels fanning elegantly across one another. 

In presenting this body of work I hope it furthers the conversations needed regarding sustainability, and finds its way into the public realm reaching a much larger audience. Championing and discussing work of this nature, connecting with it, and acting upon it is important but the reality is unfortunately we are much too late.

Let’s hope fashionably so, in that we may still enter into the debate and make a lasting impact. Showings like this must act as a call to arms in the battle against ignorance on climate change. For the conversation to travel no further than the beautifully preserved walls of sketch would be a luxury disservice that we can no longer afford.

PiM.studio | A Second Life exhibition at sketch during London Design Festival 2019
Latitude Bench by Brodie Neill | A Second Life exhibition at sketch during London Design Festival 2019
Installation by designers Matteo Fogale and Emma Archer | A Second Life exhibition at sketch during London Design Festival 2019
Installation by designers Matteo Fogale and Emma Archer | A Second Life exhibition at sketch during London Design Festival 2019

sketch9 Conduit Street, Mayfair, London W1S 2XG

A Second Life  ends on November 13, 2019

Words Mark Ringrose | Images as credited

#champ_london

September, 2019