Pavilions and installations add colour to the three-day London event

Having grown rapidly over seven years, Clerkenwell Design Week now dominates the east-central London district during its three-day run. This year, dozens of showrooms and temporary pavilions host displays of new products and discussions covering new directions in design. In addition, commissioned installations occupy every available scrap of public space, from pocket parks to the churchyard of St James Clerkenwell.

Specialist fabricator Aldworth James & Bond was commissioned by Corian to consider the structural potential of the solid surface material more commonly associated with cladding or work surfaces. As the work is installed below the Arch of St John, a monastic remnant, the designers developed a motif based on the cross of the Order of St John. This is cut into large tile-like pieces that interlock to form a structure that is lit to glow from within. As the material can be cut to fine tolerances, digital fabrication was used. “We see this project as a starting point for further exploration”, says creative director Tim Hill.

The Bolt by Giles Miller for Shinola

Giles Miller’s structure for Detroit-based product manufacturer Shinola comprises 8000 identical spayed plywood components set at angles to form a rippling, bristling skin. “My studio’s interest is in surfaces”, says Miller. “We’ve produced a louvred facade based on Shinola’s lightning bolt graphic and the undulation of the leather hides they use in their work”.

Next Generation by Scale Rule

For the ‘Next Generation’ pavilion in the churchyard of St James Clerkenwell, designers Scale Rule worked with GCSE-age children from access schools around London, giving them experience of the design and construction process. The brief to the children was to “encourage social interactiom”, and the design recalls the Parisian bridges on which lovers leave padlocks and other mementos. Pavilion users can write messages on ribbons which are pinned to the bridge-like timber structure.

Pavilion for Hakwood by Sally Hogarth

Tile manufacturer Hakwood commissioned artist Sally Hogarth to create a structure nestled in a quiet alley next to the former Clerkenwell House of Detention. It is designed to demonstrate possible uses of the textured product on vertical surfaces.

The Beacon by Sally Hogarth

Hogarth also designed ‘The Beacon’, a viewing platform overlooking Spa Fields Park. The eight-metre-high scaffolding tower is clad in coloured, translucent sheets of Perspex. The square panels are like oversized versions of the sample tiles of the material that are “very familiar to all designers and delightful things in their own right”, says Hogarth. Each is inscribed with the name of its colour, translated into all of the languages spoken in the borough, as recorded by the census.

Inside the park itself is Buzzijungle, designed by Jonas Van Put – a playful “vertical conversation tower”, which visitors can ascend for a moment’s respite from the hurly-burly of the event.

Clerkenwell Design Week
23-25 May 2017