Hasta La Ideas

Eight standouts from the annual graduate show

Each year the Royal College of Art degree show highlights some of the brightest emerging design talent across a variety of disciplines. London’s RCA prides itself on its international reputation, attracting creative minds from all over the world to learn from its renowned professors and industry experts. From textiles to vehicle design, we always look forward to the annual output of innovative and inspiring works.

Below are eight projects culled from this year’s RCA Degree Show on view at the college’s Kensington Building, selected for their aesthetic beauty, innovative use of materials and inherently tactile nature.

Kaori Takasu

Kaori Takasu graduated from the Textiles Platform without a piece of fabric or thread in sight, but instead an installation of printed blocks, both wall-mounted and set up on a table like a complex set of dominoes. These colourful installations were, according to Takasu, inspired by a trip to Detroit, “where abandoned buildings, homes, streets stood still ghostly against nature’s movement.” We love the boldness of Kaori’s designs, which she describes as blocks that build up “to form a bigger pattern together, like a cityscape.”

Alei Verspoor

At the more practical end of the textiles spectrum is Alei Verspoor‘s “Pack!”—a modular system for self-assembled travel bags that also function as storage or seating. Verspoor’s work focuses on the discipline of “Design for Disassembly,” with each of the Pack elements made out of a single material, which, as he explains, “makes it easy to replace and recycle components.” Alei describes Pack as a pattern in how it’s constructed. Through “the weaving and folding and assembling of differently colored and printed components, three-dimensional check patterns are created, that continue to evolve over time, as components are replaced or added,” he says.

Tamsin Van Essen

We wrote about Van Essen‘s work back in 2008 when she exhibited at Designers Block as part of the London Design Festival. Now this talented ceramic designer has graduated from the RCA with a project entitled “Vanitas Vanitatum—a garniture of beauty and decay.” This collection of ornate crumbling vases is inspired by the beauty and decay seen in Dutch “vanities” paintings and in Dickens’ descriptions of Miss Havisham’s Satis House. Tamsin says of the work, “I aim to capture the fragile moment when abundance turns to decay. Frozen in time just at the point of disintegration, the vases represent an ornamental memento mori.”

Zemer Peled

We were impressed by the scale and drama of Zemer Peled‘s ceramic installations, which appeared to grow out of the ground and the ceiling like earthen stalactites and stalagmites. The collection of sculptural forms entitled “I am walking in a forest of shards” is accompanied by the text, “I went to see the dead forest; it was the most beautiful, quiet and peaceful place I have ever been. Silence. No sound of animals, or wind blowing on the trees, no evidence left of the catastrophe that happened there only a few weeks earlier. I was walking alone a forest of black naked trees.” There is a wonderful sense of storytelling in these mysterious organic forms made out of thousands of ceramic shards assembled from smashed black and white fired clay. Zemer describes her work as “creating new life out of the chaos of broken fragments.”

Sissel Wathne

After the poetic drama of Van Essen and Peled the practical comfort of Sissel Wathne‘s ceramic designs offer a pleasant contrast. A collection of objects called “Hygge—Nordic tools for everyday living” 
offers a beautiful interaction with daily objects. The cups and bowls ask to be held through the curvature of their form, especially the handles, which “embrace the hand” as Sissel says. She describes her designs as an “invitation to use,” and in Danish “hygge” means comfortable, cosy, homely and friendly.

Jack Wates

Over on the Architecture Platform a freestanding bathtub caught our attention and with it Jack Wates‘ project “The Hackney Bathhouse.” Inspired by the British weather, Jack imagines a building constructed with water as a “complex living architectural material.” Through a process of distillation and condensation, taken from the Combined Cooling Heating & Power (CCHP) technology in the adjacent Olympic Energy Center, the water not only heats and cools this “palace of sensation,” but also cleans up its water source, the polluted River Lea.

Polyfloss

The RCA’s IDE Platform stands for Innovation Design Engineering and directs students towards practical solutions for contemporary global issues. The “Polyfloss Factory” is a prime example of how IDE works, which is a collective project involving four students, Audrey Gaulard, Emile De Visscher, Christophe Machet and Nicholas Paget
, who have designed a new system for recycling plastic. Their micro-factory process allows any “skilled maker to create high-value objects from a free material.” The colorful “Polyfloss”—made from waste polypropolene—has a candy floss-type texture and can be used to make anything from headphones to vases. What’s more, the “Polyfloss Factory” is a closed loop system, meaning any product can be put back in the machine and made into something new again.

Eunhee Jo

Also in IDE, conforming to the ongoing theme of tactility around the RCA Show, was Eunhee Jo‘s “New Tangible Interfaces” project, which stood out for its minimal design and soft approach to technology. Eunhee has designed a new sound system, TTI (Tangible Textural Interface), that’s covered in a soft silky textile. The system is controlled by swiping finger movements across the surface in much the same way as we currently use smartphones. Eunhee describes her product as redefining the role of surfaces in future lifestyles, to create “physical sensorial experiences, both delightful and functional.”


Another pop-up project built of shipping containers: architects Softroom have built a temporary Mexican restaurant outside the Southbank Centre in London (+ slideshow).

The restaurant, for Mexican tapas chain Wahaca, comprises eight coloured containers that have been stacked up in pairs to provide a two-storey building with a glass atrium at its centre.

A tequila bar occupies the top floor containers, which overhang those below to make room for a terrace in the middle.

Each container is furnished differently, using a variety of new and reclaimed pieces.

Mexican artists have been commissioned to create a changing series murals for the restaurant, which will decorate the walls and structures that surround it.

The temporary restaurant will occupy the terrace outside the Queen Elizabeth Hall for 18 months before moving on to a new location.

Shipping containers have also been used recently to create a shopping mall, a hotel, a restaurant, a student commune and emergency housing for earthquake victims in Japan.

Other pop-up structures at the South Bank Centre include a boat-like apartment on the roof just overhead, and a rooftop restaurant.

See more stories about restaurants »

Here’s some more information from Softroom:

Wahaca Southbank Experiment
Level 2 Terrace, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre

The Wahaca Southbank Experiment is a new two-storey temporary restaurant installation, constructed from eight recycled shipping containers that have been ‘washed up’ on to the outdoor terrace of the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre this summer.

We developed the idea for using the shipping containers not only to remind visitors to the restaurant of the working history of this part of the river, but also for more practical reasons as their limited height allowed us to be able to fit two floors in to the volume of a single storey space.

Situated against the heavy concrete backdrop of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, each container is painted in one of four vibrant colours ranging from deep turquoise to straw yellow, providing a colourful contrast to the restaurant’s grey surroundings. The colour choices make reference to both the painted facades of typical street scenes in Mexico and the colour compositions often seen in container ships and ports.

One of the top floor containers has been cantilevered out over the restaurants ramped entrance to create a canopy above the ground floor. On the upper level, the effect of this cantilevering heightens views from the upstairs bar out over the river towards Westminster.

Inside the restaurant the front and back containers are connected via a glazed link, which not only houses the stairway connecting the two floors, but also helps to flood the space with natural light. Each of the containers has then been given its own character with a mix of bespoke, new and reclaimed furniture along with distinct lighting designs.

Outside, there is a wide variety of areas in which to sit, from the booth seats, built in to the raised timber deck around the building, to the first floor terrace bar, to the street bar overlooking Queen’s Walk.

Wahaca also commissioned Tristan Manco to curate an on-site series of street art murals around the timber deck seating area. The first piece that coincided with the restaurant opening was produced by renowned street artist Saner, who travelled from Mexico City to undertake the first of several murals that will be on display throughout the restaurant’s lifespan.

With space for 130 diners, the Wahaca Southbank Experiment opened its doors on the 4th of July and will remain open for at least 18 months, providing an exciting and unique dining experience to compliment the Southbank Centre’s Festival of the World which is taking place from June until September.



Design Team
Client: Wahaca Group
Architecture and design: Softroom
Structural Engineer: Price and Myers
M&E Engineer: TR Mechanical Services Ltd
Principal Contractor: du Boulay
Lighting design: Kate Wilkins
Project Manager: Bright Spark Ltd, for and on behalf of Wahaca Group

Project Information
Project Name: The Wahaca Southbank Experiment
Location: Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre
Completion: July 2012

The post The Wahaca Southbank Experiment
by Softroom appeared first on Dezeen.

Anthony Burrill and students tackle language barriers in graphic design at São Paulo’s Mesa & Cadeira

Earlier this year, Sao Paulo-based workshop group Mesa & Cadeira invited renowned British graphic designer Anthony Burrill—known for his print works featuring simple but bold sayings—to the megapolis to lead a weeklong session with 12 (mostly Brazilian) students. The results of this north-meets-south salon are now set to run in a three-week exhibit called “Anthony Burrill & Mesa & Cadeira: How to Say the Most With the Least” starting today at London’s Kemistry Gallery. The pieces are especially interesting because they provide a look into how words can be played with in a foreign language—in this case, Portuguese—but yet still get across the same clever meaning in a more common one.

“The language barrier was quite tricky,” Burrill comments. “My work is about playful twists of language, something that depends on context and cultural cues to give meaning. I think we managed to make work that communicated in both languages.” During the workshop, rather than take on the traditional role of teacher, with lesson plans and a strict schedule, Burrill instead let the session evolve organically. “I liked to explore alongside the students, so we both made discoveries. Everybody is an individual with unique life experiences and approaches,” says Burrill.

The dozen posters in the show, in A2 size and mounted on wood panels created from reclaimed wood similar to the kind that Burrill noticed on various construction sites around Sao Paulo, were unexpectedly created in black and white. “Most people associate bright colors with Brazil. I wanted to challenge this. São Paulo is actually quite a gray place, the concrete of the buildings is sun bleached, in a beautiful way. Also, the main focus of the exhibition is the words, that’s why I’ve used one typeface throughout,” he notes.

Brazilian-born journalist Barbara Soalheiro, who founded Mesa & Cadeira with Francesca Wade from London, pointed out that the workshop with Burrill exemplifies its unique approach. “You don’t just sit and listen to someone you admire speaking about hypothetical situations. You actually work with that person: see how he or she makes decisions, watch where he or she invests more or less energy, witness how he or she solves unexpected problems when they appear.” she explains.

In addition to the show, on 12 July 2012 Burrill, Soalheiro and Wade will lead a discussion that gives a behind-the-scenes look into the workshop. The next installation of Mesa & Cadeira, whose date is still not set, will be led by Casey Caplowe, creative director and founder of Good, along with one of the organization’s creative technologists.

Hand-drawn artwork inspired by traditional tattoos and macabre iconography

Creating work dominated by occult imagery, nomadic themes and heavy linework, London-based illustrator Tom Gilmour says he finds inspiration in “black tattoo art and early 80’s skateboard graphics” to achieve a powerful aesthetic akin to something of a morbid blend of Gus Wagner and Jim Phillips. Gilmour draws each piece by hand in ink with splashes of watercolor and digital renderings to achieve certain shading effects.

While the deep gradients and heavy iconography of traditional tattoos are still very much present, Gilmour’s intricate designs tend to lean towards the experimentation of mixed symbolism for a unique depth not often seen in the flash-style tattoos from which he draws inspiration. By designing for paper rather than skin, Gilmour is free to draw without regard to certain contours or the stylistic limits of a tattoo gun, resulting in intricate detail and an unconventional use of space. The full-bleed design style, enhanced by the use of freehand script, helps much of Gilmour’s work make the leap from tattoo sketch to fine art.

Working as an illustrator by profession, Gilmour often lends his artistic abilities to various like-minded enterprises outside of his own sketchbook. Included in the impressive list of music-centric commissions is album cover art for metal band Lay Siege, T-shirt design for Cold Night For Alligators and promotional posters for international music festivals Sonisphere and Download. Gilmour takes such commercial assignments as opportunities to showcase his talents without sacrificing any style or artistic vision.

For a closer look at Gilmour’s illustrations see his personal site and design collective. To see more recent works and for the chance to purchase one-off prints see Gilmour’s often-updated blog and check out Wood & Cloud Publishing Co.

These London townhouses by architects Piercy & Company have chunky banisters formed from thickly layered birch plywood.

The stairs zigzag up from the basement floor to the second floor roof terraces of each of the three residences, which are located behind a listed wall within the conservation area of Bloomsbury.

The two-storey-high facades of each house are constructed from a sandy-coloured brick that is lighter in colour than the brown and red brickwork of the surrounding historic buildings.

The heights of the buildings intentionally line up with their neighbours, while window sills and lintels have been designed with matching proportions.

Perforated steel louvers shade the windows and skylights bring daylight into each house from above.

Other projects with interesting staircases include an empty tower and an Olympic Museum. See more staircases on Dezeen »

Photography is by Jack Hobhouse.

Here’s some more information from Piercy & Company:

Three contemporary townhouses in London’s Historic Bloomsbury

London, UK: Three contemporary townhouses have been completed in Bloomsbury, Central London. Designed by Piercy&Company for Great Marlborough Estates and located within the Bloomsbury Conservation Area, the townhouses marry contextual sensitivity with contemporary urban living.

The townhouses are adjacent to a number of Grade II listed buildings, a Grade II* listed Historic Gardens and bounded on one side by a Grade II listed wall. The buildings’ design echoes the materials, proportions and forms of the surrounding conservation area.

Heavily textured masonry and finely detailed stone cills, lintels and stringer courses create a contextually sensitive skin whilst the window proportions and generous floor to ceiling heights reflect those of the surrounding Georgian buildings. These fine grain details and proportional references interpret the existing language of the Bloomsbury Conservation Area into a contemporary idiom.

Inside, the layout of the internal spaces is highly flexible. The houses can be configured as 2, 3 or 4 bedrooms. In addition to upper floor bedrooms, the ground floor can be a lounge + study, or bedroom + study, or two bedrooms to make it a 4 bed house. This spatial fluidity responds to contemporary conditions of urban living where household compositions are varied and family living arrangements change over time.

The penetration of light down into the lower levels of the houses informs many aspects of the design; from the skylight playfully positioned above the top floor bath to the large corner windows and sliding glass doors which feature throughout. An open-plan kitchen and dining area at lower ground floor level leads onto a light-filled sunken courtyard which also provides private outdoor living and dining space beneath the historic listed wall.

A key architectural statement in each townhouse is a bespoke staircase, handmade in birch and ash. The staircase is fully revealed with open landings and internal glass partitions, naturally lit from above, allowing light to penetrate from roof to basement. This open staircase is only made possible through sophisticated fire engineering, including the use of domestic sprinklers.

Views over St Georges Gardens provide a green backdrop for many of the living/bedroom spaces. Careful alignment of laser cut shutters and louvres provides privacy to residents whilst preventing visitors to St George’s Gardens feeling overlooked.

As Piercy&Company’s Stuart Piercy describes:
“The site presented many issues with a beautiful grade II * garden and listed buildings to all sides – so it was very sensitive with an extremely vocal residents group. The key was to introduce a finer grain to the facade interpreting motifs from the conservation area in a contemporary language, while on the inside the opposite is true – we wanted large volumes of flexible light filled engaging spaces. For me the project’s success is that the spaces feel light and generous while the houses sit very gently in the context of the 300 year old gardens.”

Project Address 8, 9 and 10 Wakefield Street, London WC1N

Project Team Members
Client: Great Marlborough Estates
Architect: Piercy&Company
Project Manager: Paragon LLP
Structural Engineer: Pringuer-James Consulting Engineers
Mechanical and Electrical Engineers: Martin Design Associates
Main Contractor: Forcia Limited

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by Piercy & Company appeared first on Dezeen.