4 Latin American design collections we loved at the London Design Fair
Photo by Tommy Frost and Styling by Martin Clausens.
During London’s Design Week, the entire city becomes a stage for design and architecture installations, featuring several design shows including the London Design Fair, 100% Design and designjunction. This year we are focusing on the London Design Fair because they give greater importance on having international representatives at the show. londondesignfair.co.uk
Crossovers by Adorno Design
Crossovers by Adorno presented a range of collections of dynamic works by independent designers from a selection of 11 countries— Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey. The exhibition aimed to celebrate the designers and communities playing a central role in maintaining and renewing today’s local design and crafts cultures, highlighting the aesthetic traits and beauty of each country, facilitating a cross-cultural dialogue - a dialogue that takes departure from design, but evolves to further cultural and societal issues.
We chose to highlight Mexico, a country of such diverse ancient traditions, where pushing a contemporary aesthetic without losing the connection to tradition is a very thin line to walk. In a world of globalization at risk of nurturing a homogeneous design rather than celebrating what makes each of us unique and different, maintaining these distinct, authentic and local cultural voices becomes ever more important.
Curated by Ana Elena Mallet and Pilar Obeso, the collection features eight designers and studios rescuing time-honored traditional craft techniques, and materials for the world of contemporary design, solidifying and reaffirming their country’s distinct and compelling cultural voice. Featured designers are Tributo, Popdots, Ayres MX, Piedrafuego, Rituales Contemporaneos, Canto Artesanos, Estudio Pomelo, and Perla Valtierra. adorno.design/crossovers
International Craft Pavilion
In the 3 years since its inception, the British Craft Pavilion became the go-to exhibition for high-end craft during the London Design Festival. This year, we were happy to see the pavilion open its doors to global makers, becoming the International Craft Pavilion.
México Territorio Creativo
Showing at the London Design Fair for the first time, México Territorio Creativo (MXTC) brought together a selection of collaborative pieces between designers and local artisans from Design Week Mexico’s residency program, Visión y Tradición, that takes place across Mexican states with techniques such as wood carving, textiles, clay, silver smiths and more.
MXTC is a foundation that brings together and promotes creative production in Mexico. The objective of MXTC is to foster design’s potential as an agent of change and a tool to face global challenges. Locally, MXTC establishes a space for analysis and reflection on design and its impact across fields, such as sustainability, education, innovation, culture and economy. mxterritoriocreativo.com
Allpa x Studio Altar
Amsterdam and London-based Studio Altar’s latest collection, Vestige, is a selection of pottery and textiles produced in collaboration with Allpa, a Peruvian fair trade organization based in Lima, Peru, part of the WFTO global network. The pottery, produced in Chulucanas in the north of Peru, is a reflection of the original line and function of the pre-Columbian water vessels of the Vicus culture traditionally constructed by an almost extinct technique in Peru called “Paleteado” (paddling).
Studio Altar’s practice is driven by a passion for traditional crafts and draws from the critical exploration of the crossover between vernacular aesthetics, history and cultural context of the communities Studio Altar collaborates with. studioaltar.com
Poetic Forms - Uruguay Pavilion
With the support of Uruguay XXI and curated by Matteo Fogale, nine Uruguayan Design studios presented Poetic Forms, an exhibition inspired by the work of one of Uruguay’s literary and cultural icons, Juana de Ibarbourou’s Las Lenguas de Diamante, a seminal body of poetry that catapulted Latin American literature to the international stage. On the 100 year anniversary of its publication, the designers reflect upon its main themes of love, freedom, the body and nature, producing a collection of individual pieces that celebrate Uruguayan design and the raw materials Uruguay has to offer. buyfromuruguay.uy/en/poeticforms
Menini Nicola. Photo courtesy of Bruto Videos.
Lamps by Carolina Palombo.