‘Pal’ electric scooter, by Layer and Nio
As we started to plot our suitably heart-warming and celebratory tenth edition of Wallpaper* Handmade, we also knew we had to look forward to the exhibition’s second decade. Handmade had been groundbreaking in its honouring of craft and collaboration but it was time to propel ourselves onwards and upwards. Over the lifetime of Handmade, ideas about what design can and should do have been dramatically enlarged. So many pressing to outright urgent concerns – the use and misuse of resources, sustainability, environmental trauma, or even housing provision, food production, meaningful communication, lower-impact travel – can be seen as design problems. ‘Design thinking’ is being applied in all sorts of bold new ways. Technology and its latest paradigm-shifters – AI and machine learning, big data, virtual reality, the blockchain, the new bio-techs, constant connectivity – present incredible opportunity (if also some amount of dread).
Could we re-imagine Handmade as an experimental showcase for smart, beautiful design that addressed, head on or tangentially, these problems and incorporated new technology? We asked around, and there was excitement but also an understanding that it wasn’t going to be easy. We had to focus.
What we needed was a flagship project to include in Handmade X, something that pointed the way ahead and alerted the design world to our plans. We talked to Benjamin Hubert, whose Layer studio has been working at the advancing edge of product design since launching in 2015. Its output includes 3D-knitted upholstery, concept aircraft seating and ceramic charge trays, with a client list that spans from Moroso through Airbus to Nike. Hubert was ready to roll.
Denne historien er fra August 2019-utgaven av Wallpaper.
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Denne historien er fra August 2019-utgaven av Wallpaper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
POLE POSITION
A compact Melbourne house with a small footprint is big on efficiency and experimentation
URBAN OASIS
At an art-filled Mexico City residence, New York designer Giancarlo Valle has put his own spin on the country's traditional craft heritage
WARM FRONT
Designer Clive Lonstein elevates his carefully curated Manhattan home with rich textures and fabrics
BALCONY SCENE
A Brazilian island hotel offers a unique approach to the alfresco experience
ENSEMBLE CAST
How architect Anne Holtrop is leaving his mark on the Middle East
Survival mode
A new show looks at preparing for a post-apocalyptic landscape (and other catastrophes)
FLASK FORCE
A limited-edition perfume collaboration between two Spanish craft masters says it with flowers
BLOOM SERVICE
A flower-shaped brutalist beauty in Geneva gets a refresh
SECOND NATURE
A remodelled museum in Lisbon, by Kengo Kuma & Associates, meshes Japanese and Portuguese influences to create a space that sits in harmony with its surroundings
Guiding light
Designer Joe Armitage follows his grandfather's footsteps in India, reissuing his elegant midcentury lamp and creating a new chandelier for Nilufar Gallery