Better late than never…

Brit Insurance Designs of the Year awards - photo by Luke Haye

About 3 weeks ago I finally got my act together and got down to the Design Museum in London to see the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year (running until Oct 31st 2010) exhibition. The exhibition is jam-packed full of brilliant designs so it’s been quite tricky to pick through and select which ones I wanted to highlight for you all, without just showing everything. But I have narrowed my favourites down to a shortlist, which you really must go and see in real life…Having already been (enthusiastically) informed about some of the installations, by a colleague, I had in my mind which I wanted to rush and see first. Unfortunately the brilliant Dilight, from Tokyo, had their highly engaging L-E-D-LED-L-E-D piece just inside the entrance and it was a full 15mins later that I was able to tear myself away from playing with it in order to pay any attention to everything else. The L-E-D-LED-L-E-D is a large frame with a series of horizontal wires running from one side to the other. Along these wires are small, clear, beads. Each bead contains a small LED and the beads can slide freely back and forth along each wire. Rather like a massive, beautifully lit abacus that’s invented for fun rather than counting, I found you can spend an inordinate amount of time in front of this installation, creating your own designs.

L-E-D-LED-L-E-D – Dilight ©Luke Hayes

The next installation that grabbed my attention was Grassworks by, Amsterdam based, Jair Straschnow. A man inspired getting the most out of his materials as well as simple, durable design, Jair has designed and produced a range of bamboo furniture that can be assembled without the need for any nails/glue/Allen keys etc. Jair has reworked the traditional joinery method of dovetail joints which as well as making the furniture nice and sturdy also makes it easier for self-assembly as there’s only one possible way to assemble it. Ideal for modern living environments (aka ‘small cosy nests’) the furniture range can also be collapsed and stored as flat sheets minimising the amount of space they consume. Really smart, and really beautiful, I would love to furnish my home with these pieces.

Grassworks – Jair Straschnow ©Luke Hayes

After gazing, longingly, at Jair’s furniture I then turned to be faced by seemingly hundreds of haunting panda faces. As I attempted to slope, nervously, from their gaze they all, in unison, started to pivot on their spots following me around the room. Half in awe, and half in fear, I started to run around the installation, all the time being followed by the pandas’ black and red eyes darting from side to side responding to my every move.

This piece is, of course, the amazing WWF-Panda Eyes by Jason Bruges Studio. Originally designed as part of the charity WWF’s Pandamonium campaign the installation was displayed in the window of Selfridges before being auctioned off at Christie’s, with proceeds going to WWF. Unaware of how this could be done without the use of black magic or other forms of witchcraft I’ve had to refer to the Design Museum’s website to find out how it all works. The haunting pandas are “…controlled by servo motors, which rotate at precise increments. Linked to an ARM microprocessor, their position changes according to a live image feed from a thermal camera mounted overhead.” So there you go…not witchcraft at all…<phew>

Panda Eyes – Jason Bruges Studio ©Luke Hayes

Once the Panda Eyes had fixed their gaze onto another unassuming visitor strolling past, I made my escape and wandered over to read about the Repair project by Linda Brothwell . At first glance I wondered how old park benches fit in with all of the amazing, sparkly new, designs filling the exhibition space. Once I started to read the accompanying synopsis however my heart almost imploded right there in the museum. As part of the British Council’s contribution to Experimenta Design in Lisbon, Brothwell had taken the time to learn traditional wood inlay techniques in order to create ornamented new slats with which to Repair broken benches and chairs in and around the streets of Lisbon. A guerilla repair job as such. Just lovely.

Repair – Linda Brothwell ©Becca de India

Repair – Linda Brothwell ©Becca de India

Continuing on around the room I discovered the ingenious Beehaus, designed by UK team Omlet . Having designed the Stanley Honey Pots in the past, The Partners are big fans of the humble bee. I, for one, am often saddened by the fact that the bee populations in the UK are reportedly dwindling and find myself day-dreaming about having a beehive of my own (in my non-existent garden unfortunately). Based on the fact that beehives haven’t been re-engineered since the 1920s and, as a result, aren’t suitable for our modern living environments (ie: lack of gardens within urban spaces), Omlet have redesigned, and engineered, a new style of beehive that allows keen urban beekeepers to manage their very own beehive. Genius.

Beehaus – Omlet

Beehaus – Omlet

Sustainable honey pots designed for Stanley Honey by The Partners

These are just a few of the highlights from the exhibition. There are plenty more of course including the famous winning Folding Plug design by the incredibly talented Min Kyu Choi. But if I sat here and wrote about them all for you now then that would deny you any reason to visit for yourself, which you must all do…right now!

Folding Plug – Min Kyu Choi ©Luke Hayes

Min Kyu Choi ©Luke Hayes