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Tent London
Posted by: David Keech on 10th Oct 2008 in Opinion

The second Tent London design show was an inspiring event - in an inspiring place too. You get off at Liverpool St. tube, stroll past Gilbert and George's house on Fournier Street and by the time you've reached the Truman Brewery via the permanently buzzing Brick Lane, you can't fail to be in a good mood. Here is my pick of the contents of Tent London...

Baek-Ki Kim
Seatub, Lounge Chair





Seatub explores the psychology of hybridizing familiar or accepted products. A traditional enamel bath is reborn as a contemporary lounge seat - a clear enough message to be read by all, but it is the striking sculptural beauty, rather than the 3-dimensional wordplay that hits you first.
This piece is made to order in carbon fibre with a high gloss lacquer finish and chrome plated claw feet.


Rhoads Clarke Design
Kit Radio




When my old friend and mentor Eduardo Paolozzi dumped the innards of a defunkt casette player onto my desk and said "maybe you could make something with that" it sparked a life-long fascination with electronic components. Eduardo would have liked this radio as here are several things dear to his heart; brass etchings of the kind often seen in scale engineering or architectural modelling, capacitors and resistors like coloured jewellery, and the images of everyday life; buses, birds and buildings. In the words of the designer:

Components' functions are mimicked by their brass character.
The user is able to relate to the narrative of the diorama whilst being educated in digital circuitry. The process of building allows the user to evoke pride within their radio. The diorama acts as a reminder of this experience and lives with the user long after building the radio.


Lighting Package
SDESIGNUNIT





This light-in-a-bag product from Korean design outfit SDESIGNUNIT does exactly what it says on the packet. I was drawn to it because it reminded me of Daniel Weil's bag radio (1983). It's interesting to compare the two products, but what's clever about the light by Bong kyu Song is that there is no evidence of 'design' at all - and that is intentional. The components simply are the product.
A polythene bag is the body of the light, carrying graphics about the contents, and is its packaging at the same time. The components; mini circular flourescent tubes, wiring etc. are all inside the bag. Philosophy of 'non-design' aside, these lights are also very attractive, especially in their group format at Tent.


The Shell Series
Scene





Scene is a young design practice established by Chris Ager and Gemma Fabbri. The shells are refined organic forms of pure lines with a flawless, highly reflective surface. The mirrored top of the shell table has the appearance of still water contained in delicate eggshell. The product is sponsored by Corian, which I guess gives us a clue as to what it's made from. Approximate sizes: W1200mm x D750mm (max.) x H450mm.


Motorlight
Jake Dyson Products





At the end of my tour of Tent London, I thought it best to grab a cold beer before design white-out set in. It was at this point I met Hadley White of Jake Dyson. Motorlight is a brilliant product that you really need to see to fully appreciate. Motorized movement and mood lighting in one neat package, and you can see from the rigorous nature of it that this concept came from a strong engineering perspective. Here's how its creators describe it:

A wall mounted light, it can be used singularly or as a series. It uniquely allows the owner the flexibility to choose a beam angle of between 10 and 120 degrees, providing a narrow or wide shaft of light to suit different illumination purposes. The light change is achieved through motorised shutters which smoothly cycle between maximum and minimum angles every 45 seconds.
The Motorlight Wall is operated via a remote control, which can interface with up to 30 lights simultaneously. The remote allows you to control the shaft of light and brightness of each luminaire, individually or as a group. Both Motorlight Wall and its remote have a clean, modern aesthetic and have been designed with stylish homes and commercial buildings in mind.




And for more information on this Year's Tent London, just click here.