Leaving a legacy

In May of 2019 Sir John Sorrell CBE, Chairman of London Design Festival, invited leaders of London’s cultural institutions to collaborate with some of Europe’s most exciting designers to create a ‘legacy’ piece of design – an object of personal or professional relevance that they would like to pass on to a family member or the institution they lead.

The pieces – ten in total – are all crafted using American red oak. Nine of these beautiful and thought-provoking collaborations are on show in the Sculpture Gallery of the Victoria & Albert Museum, and one piece outside the Natural History Museum on Exhibition Road, for the duration of London Design Festival, 14-22 September 2019.

Legacy conveys the message of sustainability in multiple ways. In the face of global environmental challenges, any new objects we create should be designed with the intention to last and to be passed on through generations – whether to family or to an institution. The pieces also celebrate an abundant species of hardwood, American red oak, which is an expanding resource in North America, and regenerates naturally in vast amounts. In fact, redoak makes up nearly one fi fth of all hardwood volume in the American forest and even when harvesting is taken into account, the volume is increasing every year by over 21 million cubic metres – equivalent to fi ve Wembley stadiums.

Wood is renewable and easily recycled. It is low impact and a carbon store – each cubic metre of red oak keeps more than one tonne of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere for as long as the product is in use. Legacy aims to showcase what this timber is capable of and just how versatile and beautiful it can be.

The project is in collaboration with the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), whose European Director, David Venables, spearheaded the idea, and Benchmark Furniture whose Berkshire workshop made all of the pieces over the summer.

PFA presents a selection of these pieces.

“This piece has a personality: it’s almost like a person standing in the room handing Maria her dress to put on.” – Max Lamb

Designer Max Lamb was commissioned by Dr Maria Balshaw CBE, Director of Tate, to create a multifunctional dressing screen. Balshaw is regularly running between meetings and events, getting changed in the offi ce, but without anywhere to store her clothes and makeup.

Unable to articulate what she needed, Balshaw asked Lamb to create ‘a hanging-mirrorscreen-storagehelp-me-get change-unit’ and the idea of Valet was born. Lamb wanted the piece to be free-standing with a natural and soft form and to incorporate colour. He exploited the porosity of the red oak by pushing a teal blue dye into its surface. The components of the dressing screen slot together, like a piece of fl at-pack furniture, without the need for hinges or extra pieces.

Valet will be installed in Maria Balshaw’s offi ce at Tate Britain.

Alex Beard CBE, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House collaborated with designer Terence Woodgate to create two sofas, named Duo, which would feature in the room where Beard holds most of his meetings at the ROH. A CNC router was used to create the components of the sofa. The red oak was given a curved chamfer detail with hidden metal rods to ensure the sofa is robust despite its lightweight appearance.

Duo will grace Alex Beard’s meeting room at the Royal Opera House.

Designer Tomoko Azumi of TNA Design Studio was paired with commissioner Kwame KweiArmah OBE, Artistic Director of the Young Vic. Kwei-Armah wanted to create something for his garden that he could pass on to his grandson. Kwei-Armah also told Azumi that wood made him think of outdoor furniture in the Caribbean, of the slave ships that brought his ancestors from Africa to the Caribbean and the colonial ship that brought his parents to the UK. In response, Azumi created Au by using thin slats of American red oak, steam-bent into shape, to create a boat structure.

It will be placed in Kwei-Armah’s garden in London.

“This piece encapsulates somewhere for me to sit, somewhere for me to remember, something carries the huge framework of the last 500 years of my family. ” – Kwame Kwei-Armah

Designer Sebastian Cox was commissioned by Amanda Nevil CBE, CEO of the British Film Institute to create a pen holder, a desk and a chair. Nevill wanted a piece that represents her love of writing and storytelling, something that is important to her personally as well as to her work at the British Film Institute. The angled curve of Writer’s Collection matches up with the perspective lines on the BFI mezzanine where this piece will reside. The chair is on the same line of projection. The discreet leather panels on the desktop can be removed to reveal a special compartment for the pen case and a paper scroll for the desk user to sign.

Writer’s Collection will become a fi xture on the British Film Institute’s mezzanine overlooking the box offi ce.

“I wanted the desk to capture the view overlooking that box offi ce because it’s almost like being in the wings of a stage. The idea is that over time this desk and chair will absorb the creative energy of the people who have used it and become a place where emerging British creatives can come and absorb some of that energy.” – Sebastian Cox

“We wanted to offer the experience of something like a cocoon but at the same time allow dappled light to come through so that you get a sense that you are within the trees. It’s a space of contemplation and a space of refl ection.” – Juliet Quintero

Tamara Rojo CBE, Artistic Director of the English National Ballet, was paired with Martino Gamper. Rojo wanted a piece that refl ected her life-long love of music and, practically, would work as a space to house her extensive vinyl collection. Gamper used a combination of fumed red oak to create the horizontal shelves and a lighter veneer on the upright components to create an angled grain direction, a subtle detail which refl ects the oblique design of the piece.

Musical Shelf will hold Tamara Rojo’s record collection in her living room in London.

Sir John Sorrell CBE, Chairman of London Design Festival, commissioned Juliet Quintero of Dallas-Pierce-Quintero, to create a lookout seat for the garden of his country home. The seat is shaped like a bird’s nest and will be placed next to one of the ponds facing the sunset, creating a space for contemplation and refl ection. The planks of red oak were thermally modifi ed to make the piece more durable for outdoor use and the piece was structurally engineered by Arup.

The Nest will overlook the ponds in Sir John Sorrell’s country home, surrounded by trees.

All images are credited to AHEC.

To the delight and relief of numerous companies that have been kept out of exhibiting at Asia’s largest and most comprehensive furniture production, woodworking machinery and interiors trade fair every year due to space crunch, show organisers have announced recently the expansion of exhibition space for the upcoming edition.

Based in China’s manufacturing powerhouse of Guangzhou, the move highlights the booming industry’s insatiable demand and stakeholders’ market confi dence in the region.

Scheduled to be held from March 28 to 31, 2020, CIFM / interzum guangzhou serves as a cornerstone for suppliers globally to access the fast-growing Asian and China furniture manufacturing markets.

Come 2020, the event will see a boost of 10 per cent in capacity to accommodate more exhibitors, as the accelerated growth of the furniture production market in the region has seen an increasing number of overseas raw material companies shifting their focus to the area.

On the eff ects of the new development, a representative from organiser Koelnmesse (China) said: "Since 2015, the exhibition area at interzum guangzhou has reached saturation point, and many high-quality International brands have not been able to participate because of space limitation. After announcing news of the expansion, we have received positive responses from German, Turkish, Italian and many more overseas brands. In addition, existing exhibitors have also applied to expand their booth space. I believe that the growth will elevate the internationalization and professionalization of the exhibition to a new level."

The product categories to receive a boost from the additional space include: upholstered furniture accessories, textiles, pneumatic components and machinery for mattress production, cutting, sewing, woodworking, as well as cutting tools. Among them, upholstered furniture accessories and machinery are the key categories for expansion. A newly occupied hall - Hall 13.2 - will be dedicated to Upholstered Furniture Production.

As one of the world's seven major textile export manufacturers, the Turkish pavilion is one of the fi rst to snap a spot in the new Upholstered Furniture Production Hall. Among the exhibitors featured in the pavilion, several will be showcasing their products for the fi rst time in mainland China.

By 2035, China's urbanisation rate will increase from the current 60 per cent to 75 per cent to enter maturity stage. This signifi es that between 100 million and 200 million people will be moving from rural to urban areas in the years to come, which will guarantee stable growth, drive investment effi ciency, and provide important support for economic development.

Being a downstream sector of the real estate industry, a large influx of urban residents and an increase in housing demand will inevitably drive the growth of the entire furniture market. This is coupled with the habits of Chinese consumers who prefer new furniture when they move into a new home. At present, Asia Pacifi c is the world’s main upholstered furniture production region, accounting for more than half of the total global production. China has become the world's largest consumer of upholstered furniture. The penetration rate and price of upholstered furniture are expected to continue to climb, and reach a market value of nearly US$31 billion in 2020.

An impressive lineup of national and association pavilions comprising foreign high-end brands are also seizing the opportunity to tap into the market, including those from Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey, the United States / Canada, the American Hardwood Export Council, Canada Wood, the Malaysian Timber Council and French Timber. ℗