Yinka Shonibare and India Mahdavi bring "a warm feel of Africa" to London restaurant Sketch
British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare and architect India Mahdavi have redesigned the Gallery dining room at London venue Sketch, adding site-specific artworks, warm golden colours and textured materials to its interior.
The project, which is the latest in a string of artist collaborations from Sketch, features a series of 15 artworks by Shonibare dubbed Modern Magic. These were designed specifically for the space.
The Gallery at Sketch is now covered in warm yellow hues
Mahdavi incorporated sunshine-yellow and golden colours to the interior alongside textured materials informed by Shonibare's installation, including a copper skin on one of the walls.
"Yinka's artwork was a real inspiration and enticed me to work differently," Mahdavi told Dezeen. "Textures have transcended colours by using a strong palette of materials."
"I used elements that have allowed me to extend Yinka's artistic exploration of culture and identity, and bring a warm feel of Africa to the space and furnishings."
Artworks by Yinka Shonibare decorate the walls
Mahdavi was also responsible for choosing the colour that previously dominated the interior of Sketch's Gallery – a pale pink hue that became an Instagram favourite and remained in the room for eight years.
"The Gallery at Sketch has been linked to the colour pink for such a long time that it was very challenging for me to overcome this success," she said.
This time, Mahdavi aimed to change the focus away from just the colour.
"I didn't want everybody to ask me what the new colour at the gallery is and therefore, I really worked on textures and materials that are evocative of the richness of Africa," she explained. "Warmth is the new colour at Sketch."
Designer India Mahdavi worked with different textures for the interior
Shonibare's Modern Magic installation includes five hand-carved wooden masks as well as 10 framed quilts, which replicate African masks collected by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso.
"Picasso was interested in appropriating from another culture and I also appropriate from European ethnic art," Shonibare explained.
"Cultural appropriation can be a two-way street," he added. "This collaboration with Sketch has given me an opportunity to expand my creative process – creating a different environment to encounter and experience my art in a fun and relaxing setting."
Pieces were designed especially for the space
The artworks are complemented by tactile furniture pieces and accessories designed for the Gallery.
"I chose yellow fabrics and leather to cover the banquettes," Mahdavi said. "It is the colour of sun and happiness."
"The subtle shades of yellow vary from one piece to another carrying different patterns of weaved raffia, which were chosen within Aissa Dione's collection of fabrics and specially woven for the project in Senegal."
[
Read:
Lore Group creates seafood restaurant with "playful sense of nostalgia" within One Hundred Shoreditch hotel
](https://www.dezeen.com/2022/03/10/goddard-gibbs-restaurant-interiors/)
"The walls are covered in metallic copper paper by De Gournay to radiate the room and the wall lights are made in Ghanaian wicker by artist Inès Bressand," she continued.
"It was my way of helping Yinka take over the room without interfering with his work."
A copper wall reflects the light
Mahdavi believes the new Sketch interior is more suitable for a post-Covid world.
"The pink Gallery at Sketch lasted eight years instead of the two years initially planned," she said.
"I really believe that the pink room belonged to the pre-Covid era," Mahdavi added. "It was fun, feminine and there was a certain lightness to it. The new Gallery at Sketch has more depth, the textures imply the feeling of togetherness."
"Textures have transcended colours," Mahdavi said of the design
Sketch's most recent artist collaboration was with UK artist David Shrigley, whose black-and-white drawings stood out against the pale pink colour of the Gallery and were also emblazoned on a collection of ceramics.
Mahdavi, who is one of this year's Dezeen Awards judges and will sit on the interiors design jury, was recently among a group of designers who reinterpreted Dior's Medallion Chair at Salone del Mobile.
Among Shonibare's recent work is a set of bespoke stamps designed for the Royal Academy's 250th anniversary.
The photography is byEdmund Dabney.
The post Yinka Shonibare and India Mahdavi bring "a warm feel of Africa" to London restaurant Sketch appeared first on Dezeen.
#restaurantsandbars #all #interiors #london #uk #england #restaurants #sketch #indiamahdavi #colour
Atang Tshikare, India Mahdavi and Nendo reinterpret Dior's Medallion chair
Seventeen designers have presented their own versions of fashion house Dior's Medallion chair, including chairs in glass and polyurethane as well as a seat designed to also be appreciated by people with visual impairments.
On show for Maison Dior as part of Milan design week, the chairs were showcased wrapped in the mist from a smoke machine in a basement room, as well as in the garden of the 18th-century Palazzo Citterio in Milan's Brera district.
Above: the 17 chairs were shown at the Palazzo Citterio. Top image: Nendo reinterpreted the chair in curved glass
The 17 designers who took part in the Dior Medallion exhibition created furniture pieces that span from true-to-form interpretations of the Medallion chair to wilder designs with intertwined legs and backrests that looked as if they had been blown back by a stiff wind.
Among the designers showcasing their chairs was Atang Tshikare, who created Dinaledi, a chair decorated with beadwork that was handmade by a group of women from the Xhosa people in Cape Town, South Africa.
Atang Tshikare's chair is made from debossed leather and beads
It also features a seat and backrest made from thick vegan tanned leather with debossed celestial designs, which were chosen as stars were symbolic for both Dior founder Christian Dior and Tshikare himself.
"Basically, there are two different patterns," Tshikare told Dezeen. "On the backrest is the northern hemisphere, and the other is the southern hemisphere. They're both celestial patterns that are seen at the beginning of spring."
Tshikare's chair, right, was shown next to a chair by Linde Freya Tangelder
The designer hoped that the stars on the chair, which took over six months to make, would also allow the chair to be viewed by visually impaired people.
"I wanted to emphasise that as artists and designers, we don't always include everyone when it comes to experiencing our work," he said.
"I realised that some people don't see the stars physically, because they're visually impaired in some way. This debossing would help bridge the visual gap and, in a way, help people actually feel the stars."
The Medallion chairs were displayed in a dark room lit by spotlights
French architect India Mahdavi also looked to local craft techniques for her five Medallion chairs.
Each was made using Indian craft techniques from Kashmir and together "form a united tribe despite their individuality."
India Mahdavi's chairs were made using Indian craft techniques
While Mahdavi and Tshikare's designs keep the recognisable oval shape of the Medallion chair – a symbol of Louis XVI style and the chair that Christian Dior used to seat fashion show guests – other creatives designed more unusual takes on the chair.
Japanese studio Nendo reinterpreted the Medallion chair as a "graceful fusion of modernity and tradition."
[
Read:
Contemporary designers create one-off candle holders for A Flame for Research charity project
](https://www.dezeen.com/2021/09/10/designers-metal-candeholders-a-flame-for-research-cancer-charity/)
The resulting chair is made from curved glass sheets that have been immersed in potassium nitrate molten salt at 450 degrees Celsius and then chemically hardened by cooling.
An oval cutout in the back of the chair is an almost ghostly reminder of the original chair, as it's shaped like the classic Medallion chair backrest.
Nendo's glass chairs came in different colours
Ma Yansong, founder of architecture studio MAD, also reimagined the shape of the Medallion chair for the show.
His two 3D-printed polyurethane chairs, called Meteor, aimed to transport the chair into the future.
"Traveling through time, the chair is caught in motion," the studio said of the pieces, which look like they have been caught in a breeze.
Ma Yansong designed his chairs to look like they were "traveling through time"
Designer Sam Baron also branched out, interpreting the chair as an outdoor swing and double rocking chair as well as a group of stylised seats connected to each other by their entangled backrests.
The other designers taking part in the Dior Medallion Chair exhibition were Nacho Carbonell, Pierre Charpin, Dimore Studio, Khaled El Mays, Martino Gamper, Constance Guisset, Joy de Rohan Chabot, Linde Freya Tangelder, Seungjin Yang, Jinyeong Yeon, Tokujin Yoshioka and Pierre Yovanovitch.
A sofa consisting of cojoined chairs, a rocking chair and a swing were among Sam Baron's designs
This year's Milan design week saw a number of brands return to Milan for the first Salone del Mobile and design week since 2019.
Among the designs on show were Kengo Kuma and OPPO's Bamboo Ring installation, a collaboration between Muji and ÉCAL, and a collection of candleholders created by contemporary designers for a charity project.
Designers and exhibitors taking part in the design week this year said it offered a calmer, more meaningful experience reminiscent of the event's early editions.
Photography is by Alessandro Garofalo.
Dior Medallion Chair was shown on 5-10 September as part ofMilan design week. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
The post Atang Tshikare, India Mahdavi and Nendo reinterpret Dior's Medallion chair appeared first on Dezeen.
#all #products #installations #design #milan #nendo #dior #indiamahdavi #milandesignweek #atangtshikare
Cassandra House of Priam
dezeen (unofficial)
