Our new year began with a very busy January, featuring a flood of great design news, whether the announcement of Rem Koolhaas as director of 2014 Venice Architectural Biennale or Renzo Piano as one recipient of the 2013 AIA Honors Award, along with eye-opening fairs from IMM Cologne and Maison & Objet Paris and stirring yet somber reminders of why good design never fails to seduce us as we looked back at the life and work of our dear friend, designer Andree Putman.
A flurry of happenings have also enveloped the design duo Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby over the past year. They not only designed the 2012 Olympic Torch but also received Wallpaper* Magazine’s 2013 ‘Best Dining Table’ Award for Toshi Ishi. Most recently, the £2 coin they designed for the Royal Mint in celebration of the London Underground’s 150 Anniversary went into circulation at the beginning of this month.
At Luminaire, we wish to congratulate these London-based designers who also made headlines this past January as Maison & Objet 2013 Designers of the Year. The exhibition paired some of Barber Osgerby’s previously-seen work with visually-arresting, thought-provoking new designs. We were particularly moved by the powerful symbolism of pieces manifested with stunning beauty. The Western Facade Bench, for instance, speaks to dark time in London with patterns that reference shrapnel damage from World War II bomb raids. The aforementioned Toshi Ishi table was inspired by stones found in Japanese gardens, yet utilized wood and cement to represent our current relationship with both handcraft and technology. Toshi Ishi appeared for the first time in red laquer at Maison & Objet, hailing the designers’ love for bold, lively tones. Along with the Tip Ton chair for Vitra, the Bell Lamp for Louis Vuitton, and the Ascent Collection for Haunch of Venison, the 2013 Designer of the Year exhibition illustrated the intelligence, playfulness and aesthetic hypnotism of the designers and the work which granted them this much-deserved honor.
Moved by the elegant whimsy of Barber Osgerby, we share our passion for their work in our showrooms and online with a carefully curated selection of designs from tables like Delta and Zero In to lighting designs Tab T and Tab F1. We encourage everyone to experience a colorful De La Warr Pavillion chair, created as a modernist tribute to the 1930’s structure after which it was named. In addition, more of their everyday objects are available at our online store, including the Authentics Collection of bath accessories. Here, shining white surfaces made of thick-walled ABS plastic are combined with colored, matted inlays, reminding us of the designers’ remarkable sensitivity to form, line and proportion.
Explore their work further by visiting to one of our showrooms at anytime. Our sales associates will welcome you warmly, eager to give you a tour of Barber Osgerby designs while sharing stories and answering any questions you my have.
February 2013
