Hasta La Ideas

Italian designer Martino Gamper has furnished an entire west London house with his eclectic designs for his exhibition Before, After and Beyond.

The exhibition, which concluded on 26 October, took place at 11 Mansfield Street – a Georgian residential property in London’s Marylebone neighbourhood, owned by Swiss art collector Maja Hoffmann.

Before, After and Beyond featured a myriad of pieces made throughout Merano-born Gamper‘s career, which began in the 2000s. Each design was arranged across two storeys in a series of five staged domestic spaces, from a kitchen to a dedicated games room.

The designer wanted to avoid the “white cube” interior of a traditional gallery when presenting the project, which is his first London retrospective and a reflection of some 20 years of practice.

“I wanted to bring the pieces into a space where you could imagine someone living,” Gamper told Dezeen. “All of the rooms have a very particular character.”

Known for his rich and textured creations, Gamper showed a range of early works and recent pieces – from one-off experiments and museum projects to private commissions, industrial products and new site-specific designs.

On show in the bedroom was a low-slung bed with a geometric headboard from which angular lilac bedside tables protruded.

Created in collaboration with Italian brand Bolzan, the bed was paired with a diamond-shaped mirror-cum-mantelpiece displaying a selection of amorphous ceramics.

Gamper also designed a boxy travertine fireplace for the room, which will remain at the property permanently.

“When Maja bought the house, she found that someone had stolen the original fireplace – it was just a hole in the wall,” explained the designer. “I wanted to leave a trace of the exhibition.”

Elsewhere, the games room floor was covered with a vast ombre black-and-white rug – designed with Italian manufacturer CC-Tapis – and fitted with multicoloured pieces including a vibrant recently designed backgammon set and spindly blue-legged chairs.

Among the exhibition’s numerous seating designs were three chairs from Gamper’s 2007 project 100 Chairs in 100 Days, when the designer made a chair a day from various found materials for 100 days.

It was important for the designer to reflect on the years of work when displayed alongside each other and form unexpected connections between the projects.

“Seeing all the pieces together felt like they were all from the same family – but maybe each with a different mother or father,” he said.

“The show was also a conversation with the wider public,” added Gamper. “I really felt like I wanted to give something back to the city,” said the designer, who is based in London and graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2000.

A range of materials were used to create the tens of pieces on display at 11 Mansfield Street, from bent plywood backrests to handblown and cut glass lamps.

“There are many different types of solid wood, reclaimed wood, linoleum, laminate,” considered Gamper. “There are repurposed waste materials and recycled plastic,” he added.

Three artists were also invited to collaborate on the project: painter Peter MacDonald, artist Alvaro Barrington and Gamper’s wife, artist Francis Upritchard.

“I wanted to have some artworks that support my work. I work with artists and I support them – so in this case, their work was complementing my project,” explained Gamper.

Before, After and Beyond kicked off during Frieze Art Fair, an annual art festival held in London’s Regent’s Park.

Previously, Gamper created a “psychological, psychedelic” plywood mask for a group exhibition during London Design Festival 2019. The designer also made a patchwork facade for a tiny temporary diso that took place in the city’s King’s Cross area.

The photography is by Angus Mill.

Before, After and Beyond took place from 7 to 26 October 2024 at 11 Mansfield Street, London W1G 9NZ, UK. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.

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