The Grammar of Ornament

Back in 1856, architect Owen Jones outlined his Thirty Seven Propositions – a series of ideas that set out to stop what he saw to be the tendency at the time to ‘copy’ images, without any comprehension of what made them beautiful.

Dish by Charlotte Hodes

His writings went on to have a significant impact on British design in the latter half of the 19^th century, and now Charlotte Hodes is casting her eye over them, reinterpreting the ideas as a 21^st century woman.

Charlotte Hodes papercut

Hodes,  Professor in Fine Art at London College of Fashion, works in collage and papercut, as well as designs for ceramics, aiming to ‘dismantle’ the form of decorative arts.

Skirt dish by Charlotte Hodes

Her work is to be exhibited in a new show called The Grammar of Ornament – the title of another of Jones’s publications – opening this week at London’s Jaggedart gallery.

Dish by Charlotte Hodes

Her papercut works use the image of a female figure, looking to subvert the male viewpoint of Jones’s writings. Her feminist ideas are pushed further in the decision to use traditionally ‘feminine’ objects, such as ceramic dishes and tableware, as a canvas - bringing the idea of domesticity and the home to the fore.

Charlotte Hodes papercut

‘Her work, using tiny fragments of paper and decorative motifs, explores the diverse manner in which the women have been presented in art history; the decorative links to the domestic, and the way in which so much of female activity goes unnoticed’, says Dr Janet McKenzie, in her catalogue essay on the work in the exhibition.
Charlotte Hodes, The Grammar of Ornament, runs from 6 March – 5 April at Jaggedart, 28 Devonshire St, London W1G

 

(Thu, 6 Mar 2014 | By Emily Gosling)

King Richard III's story told in new £1.2m visitor attraction

Studio MB has designed a £1.2m visitor center on the site of the discovered remains of King Richard III, which tells the story of the life, death and discovery of ‘the lost king.’

An installation telling the story of how Richard III’s remains were discovered

Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field of 1485 and is the last King to have died in battle. It brought an end to the Wars of The Roses and the Plantagenet dynasty.
His naked body was carried to Leicester by supporters of Henry VII and buried, unceremoniously, in Greyfriar’s Church.
More than 500 years later in 2013 his remains were found in a council-owned car park, backing on to a grammar school in Leicester.
‘The space was even marked R as well,’ says Charlie Barr, director of Studio MB, who led the project.
Following a tender process, Studio MB was appointed by Leicester Council, which has worked in partnership with the University of Leicester to bring the exhibition to bear.
The consultancy was tasked with branding the Richard III Visitor Centre, creating an interpretive experience and exhibition design.

RIII identity, created by Studio MB

An RIII mark has ben created as a ‘shorthand’ according to Barr, who says it is memorable and international and ‘references our current monarch’s cypher EIIR’.
The crown has ben drawn from historical reference material including stained glass windows, statues and paintings.
An exhibition strap line has been devised to reflect its scope – Dynasty, Death and Discovery.
The grammar school has been relocated to make room for a two-floor exhibition and an extension is planned, which will cover the open burial site, ‘like a glass box,’ says Barr.
It is unclear at the moment whether the body will be reinterred in the adjacent Leicester Cathedral, or in York Minster, which is also making a claim for the remains.
Barr says the ground floor of the exhibition, ‘explores Richard’s life from a boy born into a family power struggle fighting for the throne of England and a country at war with itself. This upbringing, with death and violence all around, greatly influenced the man he was about to become.’
AV and interactive experiences tell this story and will include a recreation of the Battle of Bosworth Field.
This image shows how visitors can peer through arches to ‘look into the past’ where they will find representations of Richard’s wife and brother and other characters which are ‘brought to life,’ says Barr.

A recreation of Richard III’s life

Elsewhere interactive games will allow visitors to play juror as to who was responsible for the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower – Edward V of England, and Richard Shrewsbury, Duke of York. Richard was the Uncle and protector of Edward V, natural heir to the throne.
On the first floor, the story is picked up 528 years later. Richard’s body was discovered from an archeological dig instructed by the Richard III Society, which set in motion a series of verification processes including radiocarbon dating, discovering that his hunched posture was caused by the condition scoliosis, and matching DNA taken from the body with that of known relatives.
Barr says, ‘On the first floor we explore Richard’s portrayal and betrayal, examining how his image has been manipulated, before telling the story of the discovery through the research and search, the archaeological dig and the science of proving the found remains were that of the lost King.’
This will involve an interactive table, made up like a CT scanning machine.
Barr says, ‘3D printing of Richard’s skeletal remains lay on an illuminated plinth where the visitor can explore for themselves through Pepper’s Ghost hologram display, the clues the archaeologist discovered.’
Visitors can isolate details such as a puncture wound in Richard’s head where he was killed, and another made by an archeologist’s spade on discovery.
The attraction is expected to open late summer 2014.

 

(Tue, 4 Mar 2014 | By Tom Banks)

Six projects for the Internet of Things

In a bid to showcase the opportunities of the Internet of Things, six teams of designers, academics and entrepreneurs are working up prototypes of connected objects. The projects were chosen from a shortlist of 18 and are being developed as part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s REACT programme (Research & Enterprise in Arts & Creative Technology) and each is receiving £50 000 in funding over the next three months. The projects will be completed over the summer and showcased to the public in the autumn.

Reflector

This is a project to look at how technology can be embedded in historical objects to tell their stories. University of Bristol archaeologists Alex Bentley and Mark Horton are working with consultancy Uniform to develop the project, and are looking at objects associated with the Transatlantic Slave Trade – the effects of which can still be seen in Bristol today. It is hoped that the project could open up an alternative to screen devices and make archaeological material more accessible.

InTouch

InTouch is a project which aims to create a ‘physical story portal’ which could be usd by relatives or friends who live long distances apart as an alternative to ‘what can be flat or broken up video calls’. The project is being developed by Kinneir Dufort, working with Victoria Bates from the University of Bristol’s history department, and Kirsten Cater from the university’s department of computer science. The team is aiming to create ‘a magical and playful object that will use multi-sensory technologies to link teller and listener through sound, light and touch’.

Breathing Stone

A team including a composer and an entertainment consultancy is creating a product that aims to help people suffering with stress and anxiety. The Breathing Stone can be held in the hand and senses heart-rate and breath – it then generates music that reflects and adjusts to the user’s physiological state. The project is being created by Paul Leonard and Chris Clarke from the University of Bath’s electronics department, composer Joseph Hynde and entertainment and healthcare consultancy Adaptive Media.

Curpanion

This project aims to enliven ‘dusty taxidermy, often consigned to the back of museum spaces, back to life’. When developed, Curpanion will help people curate their visits to taxidermy collections and unlock augmented taxidermy exhibits and will also allow people to create their own online menagerie of animals. The project is being developed by consultancy Play Nicely with Merle Patchett from the University of Bristol’s department of geographical sciences and Andrew Flack from the University’s history department.

Fans on Foot

A team of academics and technologists is creating specially designed jewellery that will alert users to nearby ‘hot-spots’ where TV and film action has taken place. The Fans on Foot project will guide users to – for example – the spot where Sherlock Holmes jumped from a building or where the Tardis touched down in Dr Who. It will ‘guide people to locations and create a secret talisman only other fans will know’. The project is being developed by Naomi Dunstan and Ross Garner from Cardiff University’s media department, working with Tarim from Media Playgrounds.

The God Article

The God Article is a project to help people learn how to play the Ney, a traditional wind instrument created in Turkey around 4500 years ago. The Ney is notoriously difficult to play and only a few people around the world can teach it. The God Article is being developed by ethnomusicologist John O’Connell, sonic art scholar Alexandros Kontogeorgakopoulos and user experience designer Anthony Mace. The team will develop Ney replicas augmented with breath sensors to enable connected distance learning.

(Tue, 4 Mar 2014 | By Angus Montgomery)

Who influenced you most to pursue and stick with a career in design?

Industrial designer Tom Karen says that he persuaded a young Jony Ive not to quit his design course. Who influenced you to stick with design?

‘No one is responsible for encouraging me, as without getting my violin out, I was very discouraged to study design. Coming from a typical Glaswegian working-class background, studying “arty-farty rubbish” was quite frowned upon and I was considered a weirdo. I do owe my career to a guy I worked in a sports shop with who was at art school studying graphics and I was in complete awe of. He made me realise that coming from the background we both did that it was possible for people like us to attempt this ridiculous pursuit and he gave me the help and the courage to go for it. Ed Sullivan - cheers.’
Jack Renwick, founder, Jack Renwick studio

‘No one influenced me, cajoled or frogmarched me into my career in design – it was what I wanted to do from the outset. But once in it, I was and continue to be inspired by the titans, in particular William Morris. Designer, maker, writer, poet, thinker, he was to my mind the embodiment of the complete creative activist. His death certificate gave as cause, “worked out” .On behalf of the purpose for design and designing, what better epitaph?!’
Professor Rodney Fitch, retail design consultant

‘I owe everything to one Mr Adam Spurgeon, the then manager of Russell & Bromley in Southampton where I was employed as a Saturday boy. His words still echo in my mind. “You’re completely shit at selling shoes to ladies, but you’re rather good at designing things, so I’d stick to that if I were you. And stop making comedy penises out of the pop-socks.” Thank you Mr Spurgeon. Thank you.’
James Hilton, chief creative officer, AKQA

‘Both my grandfathers were engineers and they influenced me to take the “create” path. With their war-generation work ethic there was never a question of NOT finishing something you start, be that repairing the toaster or finishing breakfast.’
Simon Waterfall, vice president and creative director, OnCue

‘Once I’d started my degree I never really had a moment where I thought I didn’t want to pursue a career in design. But I definitely walked into Somerset College of Arts & Tech with no clue what graphic design was and what it could achieve (I thought it was pretty album covers). The person who showed me the light was a two-headed figure – an inseparable double act under the guise “Widge ‘n’ Malc”. Widge Hunt and Malcom Swatridge taught me about problem-solving, they taught me how to think and use words and pictures to communicate ideas that could engage an audience. And most of all they made graphic design fun and exciting, reminding us that design is a creative career path where you never stop learning new things.’
Jamie Ellul, creative director, Supple Studio, chairman of the West of England Design Forum

‘A number of people have spurred my career on over the years but there are two individuals who were fundamentally influential. It goes to back to a time before I even knew what design was: I was 15 years old and totally uninspired by school. After displaying a talent for drawing (you’d never know it now) I was sent on work experience to a small design agency in Cambridge. Here I met two designers who generously gave their time, introduced me to design and set me my own briefs. Thanks to Jim and Wayne and those two weeks, I have had 25 years of doing the stuff I love.’
Stuart Radford, creative director, The Partners

( Thu, 27 Feb 2014 Design Week)

Has anyone every copied one of your designs?

Has anyone every copied one of your designs – and if so what have you done about it?

‘Once, while working with Villeroy & Boch on a huge bathroom range in 2003, Alessi launched a similar looking range just months before our planned launch. Much paranoia ensued regarding who copied who, but in reality we were both reacting against the same generic-geometric trend. This is a surprisingly common occurrence. Some of the work we did for Mothercare was very “influential” to some competitors. However the “most blatant copy” award goes to company that apparently had intentionally ripped off the Anywayup toddler cup we designed for Mandy Haberman - she courageously pursued them at huge personal cost and eventually they relented and paid up on the court steps.’
Sebastian Conran, founder, Sebastian Conran Associates

‘A student once copied a design of mine verbatim. Every single word barring the name (which they naturally changed to theirs) was set exactly as it was in the original piece. Same typeface, colours, the lot. Best thing was they came to see me for feedback on it. Alas, there’s no point getting caught up in it, it’s how we all learn, isn’t it? It’s like I always say, good artists copy, great artists steal.’
Craig Oldham, creative director and founder, The Office of Craig Oldham

‘Last year we created an interactive table for the new Denim Studio at Selfridges. The table enabled customers to look through the full range of womenswear denim, browse images and movies, create and email a wish-list, and post to Facebook and Twitter. We also created six stop-frame animations with tips on how to find your perfect fit, which appeared on the table and on the Selfridges website. Around two months after launch, another major retailer launched a Denim Department also with stop-frame animated movies online that were identical in look and feel. We informed our client and they looked into legal proceedings. At first I was annoyed, but also strangely flattered as it was the first time we had been directly copied in such a way. We have often been asked by clients to copy other designer’s work, usually stuff they’ve seen in Minority Report or the latest Hollywood blockbuster, but we are proud of our ethical policy at Kin and do what we can to educate our clients that striving for originality is key. Don’t replicate… innovate (but if anyone out there has managed to replicate the R2D2 Princess Leia holographic projection - and I mean replicated it properly - then I’d love to see it :).’
Kevin Palmer, co-founder, Kin Design

Source: © Mark Cocksedge

‘We have been copied on numerous occassions. The first time I was indignant - we now have a good lawyer. Plagiarists have ranged from local designers to people on the other side of the world and even the occasional client, which is weird to say the least. Life is too short in most cases to feel more than mild irritation and in general the biggest loss is to the person doing the copying in terms of credibility. We might add a most-copied section to our website just for fun!’
Luke Pearson, co-founder, PearsonLloyd

(Thu, 6 Feb 2014, Design Week)

Topshop to open second largest store on Fifth Avenue

Wednesday, 05 February 2014 Fashion retail group Arcadia announced its ongoing expansion plans today, as the group is preparing to open the second largest Topshop/Topman flagship store in the world on Fifth Avenue in New York. The flagship store will only be second to the 90,000 square foot flagship store on the corner of Regent and Oxford street in London.

The group has signed a lease for a 40,000 square foot landmark building built by Henry Goelet in 1931, located on the corner of 49th Street and adjacent to the Rockefeller Center. The store's interior is set to become "an important milestone in retail architecture," according to a company statement. The upper levels will feature art deco details, while the lower levels will be styled in a more contemporary fashion.

Topshop to open US flagship store in Manhattan

The flagship store will offer the full range of collections for both brands as well as exclusive, collaborative and trend-led lines. The new store is scheduled to open fall 2014 and several hundred new jobs will be developed alongside its opening, both within retail and new head office US operations which will be based in New York. In a press statement, Sir Philip Green commented: "I am very excited about Fifth Avenue, having looked for a location there for many years, and I believe this corner is both hugely prominent and perfectly located for our brands. I am also delighted to be entering new markets for the first time in the other great cities."
While the new flagship store is under construction in the meantime, Topshop and Topman will also continue expanding further into the US with four additional store openings across the country. New stores will be opened in Fashion Valley, San Diego and Springfield Town Center in Washington in 2014 and in Galleria Mall Houston and Lennox Square Mall in Atlanta in Spring 2015. While the stores in San Diego (17,500 square feet), Houston (16,500 square feet) and Atlanta (15,500 square feet) are set to become joint stores, the store in Washington (5,000 square feet) will only feature Topshop.
The group has also been working hard to expand Topshop's current presence in US department store chain Nordstrom. Topshop is currently present in 42 Nordstrom stores and Topman in 49 stores as well as online in the Nordstorm website, with plans to extend Topshop to 52 stores and Topman to 55 stores this spring. Sir Philip Green is reportedly set to spend between 40 and 50 million dollars refurbishing the new New York flagship store, as well as preparing other store openings, according to Reuters.
Sir Philip Green added that: "Following the investment of Leonard Green & Partners in December 2012, it was always our plan to significantly expand Topshop and Topman in the USA, and their input and expertise within this market has been very welcome. In addition to our flagship stores expansion, we are continually developing our topshop.com and topman.com US sites, and our on-going partnership with Nordstrom continues to develop."
The group will also continue with the international franchise expansion of Topshop and Topman and is set to open 15 stores in 8 countries such as Russia, Turkey and Vietnam over the next 6 months.
Photos: Arcadia's artistic rendering of the Fifth Avenue store

Imperial War Museum relaunches to mark WWI centenary

Casson Mann has designed the ‘ground-breaking’ new First World War Galleries at Imperial War Museum London, which is preparing to commemorate the centenary of WW1 with a reopening in July.

VIsualisation of the Deadlock area of the First World War Galleries

The museum is undergoing a major reconfiguration led by Foster + Partners and will feature a new atrium to showcase large objects as part of a masterplan which sets out a new circulation and orientation with exhibitions organised chronologically by floor.
Supported by ‘architectural fins’ these floors overlook the atrium from new terraced windows.
Casson Mann has designed the First World War Galleries, as well as Second World War and post-war galleries. 
In the First World War Galleries on the basement and ground levels, there will be around 70 audio-visual displays directly linked to objects, as well as touch-screen interactives, and narrative accounts from the time.

VIsualisation of the Total War area of the First World War Galleries

Casson Mann associate John Pickford says, ‘It’s a contemporaneous time-based experience so there are no quotes from outside the period, no memoirs; all correspondence you read will be letters from the time.’
Pickford says the galleries will look to answer ‘Why the war happened? Why it continued? Why it wasn’t stopped and how it ended?’
It will also examine the war from the home front as well as the front line. ‘Not many people are as familiar with the home front in the First World War as the might be with the Second World War.’
There will be 14 sections to the First World War Galleries including Feeding the Front, which explores stories of the home front, while Supply Line, a 4m interactive table, shows the scale of production needed to feed troops.

Sketch of the Trench Experience 

Elsewhere Life at The Front features a real Sopwith Camel plane and Mark V tank looming over a recreated trench, which can be explored by visitors who will enter an immersive soundscape.
The museum says ‘atmospheric reflection areas’ will draw on the resource of the IWM Sound Archive and encourage visitors to pause and explore the most difficult questions and consequences of war including the act of killing and being killed.
Wherever possible the galleries will offer ‘tactile experiences’ allowing visitors to touch real objects, says Pickford.
The redesigned atrium space will contain objects including a Harrier, Spitfire, and V2 rocket suspended from the ceiling, as well as a T34 tank and a Reuters Landrover damaged by a rocket attack in Gaza, at ground level.
The first floor will tackle the Second World War, looking at strategic bombing, the Russian and African fronts and D-Day landings where objects, film and artworks will be displayed.
The upper floors have been devoted to conflicts from 1945 to the present day, looking at topics including the rebuilding of Europe and the way conflicts have been fought and communities divided in countries including Ireland, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

(Mon, 3 Feb 2014 | By Tom Banks)