nendo: my london for established and sons

‘my london’ installation by nendo for established & sons

british furniture brand established & sons celebrates the creative influence of its home city with the launch of a new initiative ‘my london’, a series of global activities which look to the heart of the city and creative minds who live, meet and work there. a selection of london-based talents and international names from the worlds of design, art and architecture have been invited to work on collaborations, installations and objects that define their idea of the city.

london design week 2011 marks the first presentation of ‘my london’, developed with japanese architects and design studio nendo for which they have interpreted the vision of creative london through an installation on view at the established & sons wenlock road headquarters and showroom. incorporating designs from the company’s current collection as well as new products of 2011, nendo has pasted hundreds of 16 randomly selected small maps of london neighbourhoods printed onto tracing paper, hung on the walls of the exhibition space, creating a spatial feeling that recollects the particular atmospheric phenomenon of the london fog. the installation is an accumulation of intimate individual feelings towards the city, becoming a physical, spatial expression of the dynamic, always ambiguous face of the city.

25, 000 maps of london neighbourhoods are pasted onto the walls of the space images courtesy of nendo

‘it is a great honour to collaborate with established & sons. we have admired the brand’s creative style for many years now and respect their attitude towards encouraging and challenging designers to push for the technically new and exciting. a strong cultural diversity exists in london and we love the great balance of the architectural old and new in the city. we hope to recreate this feeling in our design for the ‘my london’ exhibition.’ – oki sato, nendo

the installation is meant to give an atmospheric feeling that is similar to that of the london fog image courtesy of nendo

image courtesy of nendo

view from the entrance

concept sketch

phaidon library

the visual arts and design publisher phaidon also has a reading space at established & sons for the duration of the festival, marking the beginning of an ongoing collaboration between the two companies.

phaidon library bookshelf made of panels of ‘wrong wood’

the installation coincides with the launch of the new established & sons no.7 catalogue, which depicts lighting, furniture and accessories photographed within london-based locations, reflecting the brand’s enduring commitment to developing design that is delightful, liveable and beyond the ordinary. below are some images taken from the new publication:

‘quilt, the thing’ by ronan + erwan bouroullec