Posts tagged ‘repurposing’
Made in Peckham
Re-blogged from Cool Hunting.
Written by Richard Prime.
Originally posted October 5, 2010.
Hendzel+Hunt reclaim South London scraps for a well-crafted furniture collection.
“Secluded in its own room during Designersblock this year was Made in Peckham, a project devised by London-based design studio Hendzel+Hunt.
Specifically conceived with sustainability in mind, the team made the entire range from locally-sourced materials, such as discarded palettes and leftover scraps from the streets, yards and workshops in the Peckham area of South London. Designers Jan Hendzel and Oscar Hunt, who specialize in bespoke cabinets and furniture, then upcycled the rough materials.
While it’s easy to read the project as yet another marketing move under the sustainable banner, the undertaking bests the appalling design and construction of other green-washed projects, putting it more in league with the efforts and intentions of genuine sustainable leaders in design like Piet Hein Eek and his Scarpwood work or Wharfside.
Made in Peckham feels honest in its execution. Hendzel cites his “zeal for materials, design and manufacturing techniques,” as inspiration for his refined approach. They even invite clients to visit their workshop to see the level of craftsmanship and passion that goes into creating each piece of furniture.
>> Hendzel+Hunt’s Hinckley table has a top made from discarded shipping pallets.
The pair have kept the materials nice and raw for the Made In Peckam collection. The wood is certainly not untouched, with great detailing and an intelligent use of the natural pattern from the grain. Further distancing the pieces from others of a similar approach, Hendzel+Hunt have held true to the traditions of cabinet-making throughout the construction, with each piece held together without any metal fixings.
While the company itself has only been in existence for a short time, the duo have already scored some major press thanks to a table they created for The Shop at Bluebird, a conceptual fashion and housewares store on Kings Road. They also stood out from the London Design Festival crowd with their subtle showcase of the things which make design one of the keys in protecting our environment, while not taking advantage of the consumer.”
>> October 5’s daily design idea is be honest in your execution.
“Aristocratic Upcycling.”
via GOOD (September 2, 2010):
“Apparently Prince Charles is a big fan of upcycling and reusing old stuff, which is great, but the way he talks about it is priceless. From an upcoming Vogue piece by the Prince:
“Someone has been imaginative enough to make cuff links out of the previous engine from my 40-year-old Aston Martin and to sell them in aid of my trust for young people. I even have shoes made from leather salvaged from an 18th century wreck. They are totally indestructible and will see me out,” the Prince wrote.
The shoes were made in 1987 from leather recovered from a Danish brigantine, which sank off Plymouth in 1786. Its cargo of hides was discovered by divers in 1973. Charles, who as Duke of Cornwall was the owner of the wreck and its contents, allowed the divers to sell the hides to finance the salvage operation.
I’m not sure these are scalable solutions, but they are creative, and I’d love to get myself a pair of those shipwreck shoes.”
September 5’s daily design idea is with a little creativity, anyone can upcycle.
Keeping it in the (furniture) family.
Thinking of using an eco-friendly approach to furnishing your home? Here’s some inspiration: all of the following projects use elements from old furniture.
Isabel Quiroga brings Louise Nevelson-inspired aesthetics to home storage with Storyteller.
Matt Carr’s “Biblioteca Bookshelf,” available for $725 from Umbra; Thomas Wold’s custom “Fractured Fairy Tales” display unit.
HealthWorks’ adorably named “Chenches“; two pieces from the “Madame Rubens” collection by Frank Willems, who uses discarded matresses in his chair designs.
Retro Clock Table available (in the UK) from IC Innovations; Ubico’s Lennard cabinet, made with only recycled materials.
June 30′s daily design idea is one way to give your home a new look is to give your old furniture new life.
Inside Pickett Furniture.
Recently, Jeremy Pickett gave Daily Design Idea a personal tour of the Pickett Furniture showroom, his own workspace, and the Red Hook neighborhood. We were fortunate enough to get a close look at several of Jeremy’s one-off pieces like the Ond Bench, the Forbannelse Chair (nicknamed the “Thanksgiving Chair” for how surprisingly easy it is to sink into), and the previously featured Trylle Side Table.
Our favorite piece was the Djevel Dresser, which is grounded in symmetry but maintains its own quirky character.
One of the many impressive characteristics of Jeremy’s work is his use of classic joining methods; The Art of Japanese Joinery is his “bible.” This approach to woodwork results in incredibly strong and generally metal-free pieces. In fact, the only showroom piece that requires metal for internal support is the stunning Helvete Table, which Jeremy studied in miniature before constructing (pictured below beside the Djevel Dresser model).
Jeremy also collects and repurposes textiles, ranging from Finish Mod cottons to Japanese 18th Century silks. His history of “getting as far off the map” as possible, beginning with a 1997 visit to Hungary, has led to unique shopping opportunities in regions of Scandinavia, Thailand, Japan, Russia, and more. Along the way, he even managed to find some original cloth that was used to carry textiles along the ancient Silk Road.
All this hard work happens in a wood shop in Red Hook, which has some of the best breezes and most gorgeous views that New York has to offer.
June 27’s daily design idea is get to know the designers that you admire. Jeremy Pickett is full of inspiration and surprises (including the way he names his pieces).
Pickett Furniture is located at 204 Van Dyke Street, Pier 41. The showroom is open by appointment Monday- Friday 9:00am – 6:00pm. (347)404-3066.
All photos by Gisela Garrett, with permission from Jeremy Pickett.
Where rubber meets the road… and the paint.
via Abitare (May 4, 2010):
“Last week a group of cyclists dumped 13 gallons of paint on the road at Berlin’s busy Rosenthaler Platz, creating a series of colourful lines as cars drove through… The whole action took only a few seconds: bikers had poured paint from big boxes in front of cars that waited for green lights. So the cars and their wheels, if the driver wanted it or not, became the brush tool for this guerilla public art piece. The creators of the project posted signs on post nearby explaining that the paint wasn’t harmful and would simply wash off with water.”
Fantastic idea. And beautiful! See the original article for more images and a video of this “art attack.” As a side note, I couldn’t help but instantly think of Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage’s (in)famous “Automobile Tire Print.”
May 15’s daily design idea is in the heated debate about the role of cars in contemporary cities, I suggest repurposing them as art tools (in addition to walking more if you have the opportunity).
The art of waste.
Lots of art is currently being made in the spirit of eco-friendliness. Lots of that art points out the wasteful qualities of contemporary culture, sometimes in a very condescending way. Fortunately, some artists are creating work that points out the waste without metaphorically sending us straight to our rooms. Two great projects that I recently came across are Chris Jordan’s series “Running the Numbers” and Katrin Borup’s “Heavy Metal,” from the Danish Crafts exhibit at Milan Design Week.
Chris Jordan’s “Oil Barrels” in the series “Running the Numbers”
According to Jordan, “This project visually examines [the] vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. Employing themes such as the near versus the far, and the one versus the many, I hope to raise some questions about the roles and responsibilities we each play as individuals in a collective that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.”
Katrin Borup’s “Heavy Metal”
According to Lisa Smith at Core77, Borup’s gold ring with an enormous rock in the place of a traditional gem “alludes to an important backstory—in order to produce an ounce of gold, a big chunk of mountain is removed and crushed.”
March 27th’s daily design idea is what excess is created by your everyday life? And how could you repurpose it as art?
Daily Design Idea 