Hasta La Ideas

In this movie we filmed, Aberrant Architecture director David Chambers tells the story of a Covent Garden tradesman whose collection of pennies inspired their aerial installation for Seven Designers for Seven Dials curated by Dezeen.

“We particularly liked the story of a guy called James Catnatch who used to sell newspapers called Catchpennies that used to advertise news and stories from the area,” says Chambers. “He used to charge a penny for each of these newspapers, so he was stuck with all these pennies.”

Aberrant Architecture arranged 18 coins into a grid high above shoppers’ heads, each marked with a symbol representing quack doctors in the area’s history who didn’t always provide the services they advertised.

Dezeen commissioned seven young designers to create seven installations to hang above the streets of Covent Garden during last year’s London Design Festival, and Aberrant Architecture’s Catchpenny Quackery installation was located on Neal Street.

We’ve been publishing movies from the Seven Designers for Seven Dials series every day this week – see them all here.

The music featured in the movie is a song called Blue Sapphire by Remote Scenes. You can listen to the full track on Dezeen Music Project.

Photography is by Mark Cocksedge.

See all our stories about design by Aberrant Architecture »
See all more about Seven Designers for Seven Dials »
See all our coverage of London Design Festival 2012 »

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all these coins” – Aberrant Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.

London Design Festival: we’ve recorded each of the Seven Designers for Seven Dials explaining their aerial installations curated by Dezeen and compiled them on an interactive map of the area. Click on the icons in the image above to explore pictures and audio for each project.

Structures by young designers Faye Toogood, Vic Lee, Paul Cocksedge, Philippe Malouin, Aberrant Architecture, Gitta Gschwendtner and Dominic Wilcox are installed above the streets of the Seven Dials area of Covent Garden, London.

There are little exhibits on each one at our pop-up shop Dezeen Super Store at 38 Monmouth Street, where you can still get 10% off any Dezeen Super Store purchase (excluding sale stock and Jambox) and enter our competition to win a designer watch worth £150 by downloading this flyer and presenting it at the shop.

Dezeen has also put together a free map to chart all the events at this year’s London Design Festival. Explore the large map here.

The Seven Designers for Seven Dials installations will be in place until 5 October and Dezeen Super Store is open until 30 September.

See all our stories about the London Design Festival here.

Above: 7 x 7 by Faye Toogood – hanging high above the heads of passers-by on Monmouth Street, Faye Toogood’s installation is a series of 49 outsized workers’ overcoats, representing the different trades within Seven Dials that have shaped the area over the years.

Above: Aerial Escape by Gitta Gschwendtner – German-born designer Gitta Gschwendtner has also taken inspiration from the area’s slum history, when each of the seven apexes facing the Seven Dials monument housed pubs linked by underground escape tunnels. In Gschwendtner’s installation, seven interconnected ladders link two windows either side of Earlham Street to seemingly provide an escape route across the road and beyond.

Above: The Birds of Seven Dials by Dominic Wilcox – London designer Dominic Wilcox has created an arch across Neal Street made out of empty bird cages, symbolising Charles Dickens’s description of Seven Dials as a place full of bird shops. Each cage is left open to symbolise the memory of the bird shops and birds long departed from the street.

Above: Catchpenny Quackery by Aberrant Architecture – Aberrant Architecture’s installation consists of 18 large metallic coins hanging above the street. Each coin features a unique symbol that advertises one of the bogus products and services that used to be offered by quack doctors in the Seven Dials area in years gone by.

Above: Bunting by Philippe Malouin – Philippe Malouin has erected a giant installation of bunting made from transparent PVC to celebrate and highlight the Seven Dials area and its landmarks. Blown by the wind, the sixty bunting lines point the way to the Seven Dials monument.

Above: Illustrations by Vic Lee – London-based illustrator Vic Lee has created a series of flags that draw on the shady history of the Seven Dials area. The illustrations incorporate the old street names during the 17th and 18th centuries, a time when Seven Dials was a slum famous for its gin shops.

Above: Dial by Paul Cocksedge – Paul Cocksedge has suspended a mysterious interactive installation called Dial, consisting simply of a large floating telephone number suspended between two buildings. Only those curious members of the public tempted to call the number will discover its secret.

Photographs are by Mark Cocksedge.

Dezeen’s London Design Festival map

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The map above is taken from Dezeen’s guide to the London Design Festival, which lists all the events going on across the city this week. We’ll be updating it over the coming days with extra information on our highlights so keep checking back. Explore the larger version of this map here.

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audio guide appeared first on Dezeen.

Milan 2012: in response to the growing number of freelancers looking for workspaces outside of their homes, London studio Aberrant Architecture have created pub tables that can be adapted into desks by day and games tables by night.

Created for furniture brand Benchmark, the desks were presented at the Wallpaper* Handmade exhibition in Milan last week.

In rest mode each table provides a simple dining surface, but in work mode this tabletop folds open to reveal a bureau-style desk concealed beneath.

To transform the desk for play, a removable drawer can be placed on the surface and filled with skittles to recreate nineteenth century pub game Devil Amongst the Tailors.

These skittle also open up to become pen-pots.

The tables have been crafted both in cherry with a maple surface and in walnut with an ash surface.

The Salone Internazionale del Mobile took place from 17 to 22 April. See all our stories about Milan 2012 here, or see more projects by Aberrant Architecture here.

Here’s some more information from the American Hardwood Export Council:

A Handmade Highlight – ‘Devil Amongst the Tailors’

The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) was invited to collaborate with Wallpaper*, aberrant architecture and Benchmark, bringing together the very best of materials, innovative design and craftsmanship. American ash and walnut and American maple and cherry are the principal materials of two pub tables named ‘Devil Amongst The Tailors’ designed by aberrant architecture and made by Benchmark.

AHEC has played an advisory role on timber suitability, aesthetics and sustainable design. There are over 20 commercial U.S. hardwoods species that offer a huge variety of colour, grain and character, and aberrant’s tables ‘Devil Amongst the Tailors’ showcase this palette of colours and textures. Black walnut and ash combines to suit a darker environment, such as a private members club or public houses, and a combination of cherry and maple allows the second table to happily work in brighter spaces such as hotel lobbies or boutique cafes. “We are really pleased to be taking part in Handmade again this year” says AHEC European Director David Venables. “The concept and design of ‘Devil Amongst the Tailors’ is excellent, the tables are beautifully made and demonstrate the versatility of U.S. hardwoods.”

aberrant has become known for insightful researched projects that challenge perception and introduce new and unexpected ways of experiencing the world. During their architecture residency at the Victoria and Albert museum they studied the original drawings of the now demolished ‘Elephant & Castle’ public house in Lambeth. The designs, by the architect Albert A. Webbe, reveal a mixed used building divided up into three main areas: a ‘public’ space for drinking; ‘private’ areas for the pub’s regular patrons, who used the watering hole as an extension of their home and office, and a large space that was used for group meetings and community events.

Combining historical precedent with research into how contemporary ‘work-styles’ are evolving, Wallpaper* magazine invited aberrant architecture to design a new pub table that in addition to supporting the typical pub activities of drinking and eating, is specially considered to provide the modern nomadic worker with enhanced productivity, a sense of belonging and opportunities to interact with their fellow workers.

The table represents the growing demand for temporary office space outside of the home. For many, office blocks are a thing of the past and an increasing number of nomadic workers roam London in search of welcoming workspaces. Named ‘Devil Amongst the Tailors’, after a traditional table-top skittles pub game, the table boasts a luxurious surface in ash or maple for entertaining, a brass foot rest for putting your feet up and combines a series of specific functions. Lifting up the lid reveals a private work surface, boasting skittle shaped office organisers for storing pens & paperclips and a task light that fixes to the table’s numberplate. Want to stop for lunch, have a meeting with a client or simply go for a cigarette? Simply close and lock the lid. Work and its associated mess are banished, safely stored, out of site and out of mind. If it’s time to relax, place the removable drawer onto the table surface, arrange the skittle shaped office organisers &hook the brass ball and chain onto the light. An impromptu game of ’Devil amongst the Tailors’ can now be enjoyed. For Kevin Haley of aberrant architecture “This unique commission allowed us to further our research into contemporary lifestyles and flexible working conditions at the challenging scale of a table. Working closely with Wallpaper*, Benchmark and AHEC during both the design development & production stages produced a creative collaboration, which we believe resulted in a far richer process and an unexpected & exciting end product.”

Using the very best of English craftsmanship and beautiful sustainable American hardwoods, the tables have been handmade by Benchmark using traditional cabinet making skills including dovetailing and mortice and tenon joints. Time and attention has been given to the sourcing of all materials which have been chosen for their origin and authenticity. The very best pieces of cherry, maple, walnut and ash were selected for their perfect grain and finish. The bespoke metalwork, made from silver patinated brass, including foot rails, handles, locks and brass drawer linings hand engraved to house the skittles has been sourced from Birmingham, home of traditional artisan metalworking skills. Sean Sutcliffe, Director of Benchmark says “The pub tables we made for the Handmade show curated by Wallpaper were a delight to make. We were able to select some really outstanding examples of all four species of hardwood we used. The walnut gave the piece an intense richness which worked very beautifully with the brass foot rail. The maple was beautifully consistent and almost paper white. The cherry wood was a joy to use again. We used to make so much of our furniture in cherry wood and over recent years it seems to have been less fashionable so I hope that we will now see the start of a return to this fabulous mid-coloured fruit wood. The tables were made by Sam Foster-Smith who is an outstanding craftsman of 35 years experience. He has handcut all the mortice tenon joints and dovetails and the end result are outstanding examples of craftsmanship.”

Perhaps the most innovative and exciting aspect of this project is that with Benchmark’s help, AHEC has documented all elements of the manufacturing process and will be putting this together with life cycle data recently collected from the American hardwood industry to produce a full ‘cradle-to-grave’ life cycle impact report for the tables. Says David Venables, “This will be a first for our industry and we believe that this kind of transparent and scientifically based information is essential to enable manufacturers and designers to make an informed decision when it comes to the question of sustainable design.”

Tony Chambers, Editor-in-Chief of Wallpaper*, says: “Handmade is a testimony to great design, talent and ideas, and the determination to achieve the extraordinary. We are once again celebrating beautiful new friendships and beautiful new things.”

‘Devil Amongst the Tailors’ is not only a cleverly researched and playful table, it is a demonstration of the very best teamwork, craftsmanship and sustainable design, and is a highlight of this year’s exhibition.

Visitors to a recent Liverpool exhibition rolled eggs down seven timber follies designed by London studio Aberrant Architecture.

Called The Social Playground, the exhibition at Liverpool’s Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) was based around the British tradition of racing eggs down hills at Easter.

Each structure incorporated informational displays about various FACT programmes for the community.

The exhibition ran from April to June 2011.

The following information is from Aberrant Architecture:

The Social Playground

‘Knowledge Lives Everywhere’ Exhibition FACT, Liverpool.

As part of Knowledge Lives Everywhere, an exhibition at FACT, aberrant architecture have designed The Social Playground, a giant interactive landscape built in collaboration with local community groups.

The Social Playground is based around the British game of egg rolling, an Easter tradition that sees families decorating hard boiled eggs and rolling them down local hills and slopes.

aberrant’s version invites visitors to race wooden eggs down and around seven unique structures that represent and display work by the various groups FACT works with.

Each structure is a landscape for visitors to explore and reveals a different part of FACT’s Collaboration Programme and its relationship to the city.

Kevin Haley, Co-Director of aberrant architecture said: “The structures where designed in collaboration with the various groups that FACT works with. This collaboration involved a series of workshops which asked the groups to identify the main issues and interests that they were exploring collectively and challenged them to design a structure that related and responded to these issues.”

Mike Stubbs, Director/CEO of FACT said: “Galleries and museums are not just about objects; they are about the people who use them: students, children, researchers, schools, older people, families. This exhibition is about giving a platform our schools, young people and community programmes and demonstrating the role of the 21st century arts centre in community cohesion, civic engagement, well-being and lifelong learning. Visitors to the galleries should expect to experience a social playground – where the emphasis is on open invitation, not private view!”

Specific details about each of the seven structures and the specific community groups that aberrant worked with are as follows.

The Healthy Spaces Hub

Located in the FACT atrium, The Healthy Spaces Hub represents FACT’s partnership programme with Liverpool City Council. The Healthy Spaces Hub demonstrates the ethos of the programme which aims to transport people to an alternative space through digital art.

The programme is based in the Garston area of Liverpool and the structure references the coal drops that used to populate Garston Docks at the beginning of the 20th century. Entering the structure takes the visitor to a natural environment and immerses them in the sounds of Wild Song at Dawn by Chris Watson (an audio artwork permanently installed within Alder Hey Children’s Hospital since 2008). The façade of the structure features planted bird boxes to house the Twitter plants of artist Ross Dalziel, and elements of Alison Kershaw’s long term collaborative commission with Mersey Care. Windows in the coal drop are created from slogans from the “Five Ways to Wellbeing” manifesto, which have been lasercut into the façade.

Communications Tower

Inspired and produced by Freehand (FACT’s Young People’s Programme), The Communications Tower demonstrates how the Freehand programme reaches out across the Northwest, bringing art and film into the bedrooms, youth clubs and computers of young people.

Based on a telecommunications tower, a beacon for long distance communication, it demonstrates the important role that social networks such as Facebook play in keeping young people in touch with each other and with organizations like FACT. Satellite dishes on the tower show films and exhibit the projects that FACT and Freehand are engaged with.

The Freehander Fabrication

The second structure, produced by the Freehanders – the steering group that helps drive the Freehand programme – is all about a future Liverpool taken over by creativity. It shows how Freehand and young people are part of Liverpool’s artistic infrastructure and includes a striking new film commission produced by the Freehanders.

The structure makes reference to their unique work by presenting a collage of familiar city centre sites -The Bombed Out Church, The Everyman Theatre and The Futurist cinema – as a future Liverpool landscape; one in which the real and the imaginary are interwoven. Within this landscape the Freehanders will create graffiti-billboards on which they will depict their visions of both possible and impossible futures for their city.

At the centre of the structure, an outdoor cinema offers a place to sit amongst the rooftops and view a show-reel of the Freehanders’ work.

The tenantspin Digital Citizen’s Hub

The rise of digital technology has meant that in one way or another we are all producers. Whether it be a text message to a friend, or a Facebook profile, we are increasingly using technology to find a voice. Over the last 12 years, FACT and Arena Housing’s tenantspin programme has empowered individuals and communities to tell stories and share knowledge through a wide range of training programmes and workshops.

The Digital Citizen’s Hub is a guide to how you can develop your voice through digital media. The structure is based on Coronation Court – the tower block and the flats where tenantspin first began broadcasting a series of webcasts over a decade ago. This structure represents new forms of digital debate which provides an individual with an audience of listeners. Within the Hub, visitors are able to learn about what it means to be a Digital Citizen. They also have the opportunity to view webcasts from tenantspin’s twelve year archive, showing the wide range of local and global issues that have been covered.

The Communi-Tree

The Communi- Tree represents The Network Enterprise Team (NET), a collaboration between FACT and The Academy of St Francis of Assisi. The partnership began in 2009 during FACT’s Climate for Change exhibition and through the programme young people work with businesses to create ethical and environmental products. The students then sell these products to raise funds in order to take part in an ongoing cultural exchange with FACT’s New York partners.

Inspiration for the tree structure grew organically out of a workshop, during which the young people were split into smaller groups and challenged to design a structure. Several groups had a similar idea of the using a tree that becomes a mini market place for their products. The final structure features branches that provide hanging locations for the merchandise on sale and the trunk encases various screens displaying films that the group have made. The egg rolling course wraps around the trunk like a vine.

North Liverpool Pavilion

tenantspin is FACT and Arena Housing’s 12-year-old groundbreaking community arts and media project. Designed with a representative group of partners, the North Liverpool pavilion, references the physical appearance of Anfield/Breckfield and acts as community hub for people to share, understand and interact with community based practice.

The structure is directly influenced by the pubs of Liverpool; specifically the now closed Salisbury, a community pub, midway up Granton Road, which like many pubs in the city was once a place for local people to meet and share space and time together. A new lounge is carved out of an interior that once belonged to a familiar pub from the local area. Within this lounge lies a place to sit and view some of tenantspin’s community projects in Anfield and Breckfield. The lounge also provides a positive place for communities to meet.

The Flying FACT Academy

Representing FACT’s Schools and Learning Programme, this structure has been developed in collaboration with Creative and Media Diploma students at Knowsley Community College.

The Flying FACT Academy is an airship that flies around the city working with students and artists to embed creativity and media at the heart of learning. In the belly of the mobile academy lives a series of screens and speakers that allows the structure to project the work students have made working with FACT artists, onto the ground. The structure is shown attached to a docking station – one of many that would be stationed around the city, representing the idea of FACT dropping off projects or briefs to engage its students.

The mobile academy offers the opportunity to expand FACT and turn the entire city into a school.

Click above for larger image

See also:

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Mini Golf Club by La Bolleur	The Long Drop by Studio Glithero	Wood Work by Karen Ryan