For some of us, family inheritances I tend to be burdensome, taking up space, emotionally and physically, in both our minds and attics. For the London-based designer and architect Joe Armitage, however, a family heirloom has taken him somewhere lighter and brighter, across generations and continents, and into the path of Le Corbusier. This is the story of a lamp designed by Edward Armitage in India 72 years ago, which has today been expanded into a collection of lights by his grandson Joe.
'My great-grandfather, Joseph Armitage, was a stone carver from Yorkshire, who worked in London from 1910 onwards,' explains Armitage. He made decorative stonework for buildings like the Bank of England and Windsor Castle, and also for Lutyens' parliament buildings in New Delhi. This was the start of the Armitage family bond with India, which would strengthen significantly in the next generation.
Following India's partition in 1947, the Indian government decided to build a new city, Chandigarh, as the Punjabi capital. Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret were commissioned to design a city for the future, and they asked British architects Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew to help them with some of the housing and administrative buildings. 'One day, Fry broke his wrist and was transferred to the nearest hospital, in Ludhiana, where he was asked if he could also design a new hospital for them,' says Armitage. 'Fry replied that he didn't have the capabilities, but he knew someone who could. He called my grandfather, Edward, who was in his twenties at the time. His 21-year-old wife, Marthe, had just given birth to my father, but they moved to India and took on the project. My grandmother is still alive and talks fondly about those two incredible years in India.'
Denne historien er fra October 2024-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
Denne historien er fra October 2024-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
COOL RUNNINGS
Palace founder Lev Tanju is bringing his own unexpected brand of weirdness and love of eclectic mash-ups to Fila's new contemporary line
LIVING COLOUR
Mexico's San Miguel de Allende is home to a bold young crowd of talent that's thriving off the city's brightly-hued heritage
STARS ASCENDING
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. We profile ten creatives forging their own paths to success
SUITE DREAMS
Cathay Pacific’s new aircraft interiors turn the inflight experience into an art form, upgrading the business-class cabin for the next generation of flyers
Brutal harmony
The Escheresque Italian villa designed by Fausto Bontempi for sculptor Claudio Caffetto
LOCAL HERO
London studio Holloway Li’s recent makeover of Polish hotel Puro Poznan is right up our street
STAR TURNS
An exhibition at Louvre Abu Dhabi unveils the stellar shortlist for this year's Richard Mille Art Prize
SCREEN GEM
A multifaceted residence in Beverly Hills puts the beauty of potentiality in the frame
SOFT SPOT
We've taken a shine to Bottega Veneta's collaboration with Flos on a special edition of a Gino Sarfatti lamp
Between the lines
Frequently drawing comparisons with Francis Bacon, painter George Rouy is gaining peer points for his use of classic techniques to distort the human form