This week was Clerkenwell Design Week. Yesterday, a group of us from the office went to check it out. Amongst the abundance of showrooms to visit, other highlights included:

• A Piece of Sky – a mirror funnel installation by Stephen Hürlemann.

• Royal Approval – an installation in the historic St. John’s Gate at the heart of the events. The installation is apparently inspired by an Elizabethan ruff, although arguably in the evening looks a little bit like a spaceship. It was designed by Kinetech Design and Amari Interiors who are developing ‘origami’ architecture where architecture meets functional design.

• The Next Generation Design Pavilion by Scale Rule, centred on the topic of sustainability. It was made up of layers of interwoven string which was designed to represent past, present and future. Its shaped was designed to focus the visitor’s eyes upwards towards the natural elements that surround the pavilion.

• Chelsea College of Art’s ‘Your Tote Counts’ initiative which aimed to raise awareness of the re use of tote bags through an installation and opportunity for customisable screen printing. You may wonder why… well, it turns out the ecological footprint of a tote bag is 327 times worse than a regular plastic bag (according to the UK Environment Agency) so it’s pretty important that they’re used to their full potential.

Of course, there was also plenty of opportunities throughout the evening for networking and drinks!