A small exhibition at Habitat’s Platform gallery on London’s King’s Road explores the relationship between architecture and making, from wearable jewellery and flat-pack furniture to 3D printed porcelain and whimsical architectural models. Titled Space Craft, the touring exhibition by the Crafts Council brings together these two disciplines, often considered as separate, and presents work by 10 makers inspired by materiality and physical space.
© Sophie Mutevelian and Crafts Council
For instance, artist and designer Adam Nathaniel Furman showed a collection of 3D-printed and slip-cast pieces- reminiscent of Ettore Sottsass’ colourful work- created during his residency at London’s Design Museum last year. Ceramicist and writer Edmund de Waal enclosed 18 porcelain vessels within a steel case to represent the sense of confinement he found in a painting by Poussin at Chatsworth House.
© Sophie Mutevelian and Crafts Council
Meanwhile, jeweller Ute Decker exhibited wearable sculptures that can be reconfigured into a multitude of different configurations by the user, and architecture practice Studio Weave’s Paleys upon Pilers model displayed an intricate timber construction that marks the spot of Aldgate, London and commemorates its most distinguished resident, Geoffrey Chaucer. Studio Weave worked with a range of craftspeople with differing expertise, from traditional carpentry to cutting-edge 3D production skills to realise the structure for the London Festival of Architecture 2012.
© Sophie Mutevelian and Crafts Council
The work of these 10 makers isn’t concerned with the depiction of buildings or real-life cityscapes- their work is architectural in an abstract sense, using materials and techniques to build form and create a sense of space. And one of the best examples of this is FleaFollyArchitects’ Grimm City, a vast and astonishingly intricate model, based on the imaginations of the Brothers Grimm and set in the famously enchanted Black Forest in Germany (depicted as upturned cardboard cones on a mirrored base). The miniature universe translates the Grimm characters into an elaborate cityscape constructed from timber, test tube bottles, straws and even bowler hats. It takes up almost a third of the exhibition space and invites you to carefully wonder at the sheer craftsmanship of it. That alone is worth a visit.
© Sophie Mutevelian and Crafts Council
Space Craft: Architecture meets Making
1 May- 1 June, 2014
208 Kings Road, London SW3 5XP
