Tony Chambers on Amazon's new London HQ and furniture that's down withe the kids - and him

Wallpaper* editor-in-chief Tony Chambers on furniture that is down with the kids and him, charity art up for grabs and Amazon’s new London HQ
Tony Chambers31 August 2017

I used to believe that good design was the exclusive realm of adults. Indeed, a smartly furnished home and children seemed a terrible mix — why run the risk of them scampering over Eames loungers and scribbling on Noguchi coffee tables? And why invest in expensive pieces of miniature furniture that the little ones would quickly outgrow?

With parenthood, of course, comes a new perspective. When my daughter was born in 2013, I inevitably paid more attention to children’s furniture, toys and accessories, and naturally gravitated towards the better-designed variety. I came to appreciate, thanks to things like our Bugaboo stroller and Stokke Tripp Trapp chair, the difference that good design can make to the life of a parent.

I have also seen how the market for children’s design has evolved over the years. It started with scaled-down versions of iconic 20th-century seating — such as the Barcelona chair from Knoll, Vitra’s

Panton chair, the Vanity Fair chair from Poltrona Frau, Gaetano Pesce’s voluptuous Up chair for B&B Italia and Arne Jacobsen’s svelte Series 7 chair for Fritz Hansen. Since then, quite a few design brands have created dedicated children’s ranges. Italian furniture manufacturer Magis led the pack with its Me Too collection, which includes Puppy, a playful plastic sculpture by Eero Aarnio that can be ridden, and Bunky, a modular bed system by Marc Newson.

Last year, plastic furniture savant Kartell changed the game with a kid’s line that includes a transparent, curvaceous rocking horse by Nendo and a streamlined swing by Philippe Starck. At this April’s Milan Design Week, it also unveiled a candy-hued doll house by Fabio Novembre.

Shrink naps: Poltrona Frau Vanity Fair armchairs

Good news comes with a new children’s collection launched by Skandium. The retailer has scoured Scandinavia for refined furnishings and accessories, including geometric poufs, stuffed and wooden animal toys, and a minimalist storage unit. I’m particularly fond of two pieces by Danish design brand Ferm Living — the Miniature Funkis House, a modernist take on the doll’s house crafted in natural plywood, and the Little Architect desk and chair set, a smart, contemporary base for budding creatives to play and learn. It’s the perfect set-up to foster a new generation of design brats.

The experience

More than 150 creative luminaries — among them Ilse Crawford, Jasper Morrison, John Pawson, Nigel Coates and Tomoko Azumi — are participating in Joy of Living, a charity project founded by design writer Max Fraser. Each of them has been invited to create an artwork from three sheets of differently coloured A4 paper, which will be displayed anonymously at No 1 Poultry in the City from 5-10 September, and will be available to buy on location and online. All proceeds will be donated to Maggie’s Centres, to help the fight against cancer. (maggiescentres.org)

The tech

The new Asus ZenFone AR promises powerful augmented reality capabilities. The phone comes with three rear cameras — for photography, motion tracking and depth sensing, allowing it to ‘see’ the world as we do. It opens up a host of opportunities for gaming, but also can take room measurements and place virtual furniture, making it an ideal tool for home improvements. It also pairs seamlessly with the Google Daydream VR headset, and its burnished-leather rear surface makes it a delight to hold.

The people

With their artfully crumpled aluminium tables and polyurethane armchairs that resemble geological formations, the Anglo-Swedish duo of Ian Stallard and Patrik Fredrikson have established a reputation for boundary-busting collectible design. They open a solo show, Intuitive Gestures, at London’s David Gill Gallery from 13-28 September, anchored by their new range, Antarctica, in which they have manipulated acrylic to take on the appearance of chiselled blocks of ice. Fredrikson Stallard is also producing a new book, Momentum, on the pair’s more than two decades of collaboration, due at the end of the year.

The building

Amazon has just moved its London headquarters to Principal Place, a 15-storey office tower sandwiched between the City of London and Shoreditch. Designed by Foster + Partners, it has a characteristically sleek glass structure and two atriums that run the full height of the building. The extensive roof gardens are open to employees and guests of the tech titan only, but there are restaurants, an organic grocery and a boutique gym designed by Daytrip Studio, all open to the general public.

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