Creativity thrives inside the Old American Can Factory in Gowanus, Brooklyn, a historic industrial complex made up of six buildings occupied by more than 300 makers. When Susan Clark, founder of Radnor, came to know the site through her close collaborators Workstead, she knew it made sense to join. ‘It’s very much about supporting makers, so we feel honoured and lucky to be a part of it,’ she says at the opening of Radnor’s new studio space there.
Radnor, a design platform that creates limited-run collections – Radnor Made and Radnor Represented – with likeminded designers and makers who believe in the fruitful combination between craft and design, is similarly predicated on collaboration.
‘A lot of the work comes from industrial designers who have really taken on the knowledge and expertise of their craft,’ Clark explains of Radnor Studio’s offering. ‘And then there are the traditional ceramic artists, or woodworkers, true traditional makers who are inspired and push their work into the design realm.’ Loïc Bard’s Bone Dining Table can be counted as an example of the former, a piece that ‘on its own feels incredibly sculptural,’ Clark says, ‘but once you put it into context, you understand the liveability of the work.’
A candle holder and block sconce table lamp by Henry Wilson, an industrial designer who collaborates with a forgery close to his studio in Australia, is similarly sculptural, yet defined by process and technique.
Some of the most tactile pieces shown in Radnor’s new studio are made by the second kind of Radnor collaborator: craftspeople with a design edge. Alexandra Kohl weaves with horsehair, while Salem Van Der Swaagh uses selvedge from Scotland woolen mills to weave textiles with her blind cousin. They created custom cushions for the Lotus Chair, a 1968 design by Miller Yee Fong with a ‘technical wicker construction that is mind-blowing’, says Clark.
Radnor’s celebration of craft and technique comes together with a host of other design collaborations too. The Marilyn twin bed designed with Adam Rodgers and manufactured in a Mennonite and Amish community in the U.S., Bunn Studio’s Halyard Rugs made according to updated traditional Seisal techniques, and a new edition of the Arv Chair, designed by Studio David Thulstrup for the historic Danish company BRDR Krüger – strong instances of how Radnor’s dialogue between technique, process and functionality drives design forward.
INFORMATION
-
The world's most enticing new hotel openingsExplore the best new hotels in the world, from Saltmoore, a chic country retreat in north England, to Palm House, a retro-inspired Florida hotel
-
The new Frederic Church Center at Olana complements its leafy Upstate New York siteTour the Frederic Church Center for Architecture and Landscape, now open at Olana, a historic site in Upstate New York, courtesy of architecture studio ARO
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper editors have been doing this weekA week of jetsetting has seen the editors in Tokyo, Milan, Vienna, Miami, New York and drinking Guinness with Jonathan Anderson in London
-
Alessi Occasional Objects: Virgil Abloh’s take on cutleryBest Cross Pollination: Alessi's cutlery by the late designer Virgil Abloh, in collaboration with his London studio Alaska Alaska, is awarded at the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2023
-
Design Miami 2022: highlights from the fair and around townDesign Miami 2022 (30 November – 4 December) aims at ‘rebooting the roots of our relationship with nature and collective structures, ecospheres, and urban contexts’
-
Salon Art + Design 2022: design highlights not to missWallpaper* highlights from Salon Art + Design 2022, New York
-
Design Week Lagos 2022 celebrates creativity and innovation in West Africa and beyondCurated by founder Titi Ogufere, Design Week Lagos 2022 is based on a theme of ‘Beyond The Box’
-
Designart Tokyo transforms the city into a museum of creativityDesignart Tokyo presents global design highlights through a series of exhibitions involving global creative talent and traditional Japanese craft
-
Nendo’s collaborations with Kyoto artisans go on view in New York‘Nendo sees Kyoto’ is on view at Friedman Benda (until 15 October 2022), showcasing the design studio's collaboration with six artisans specialised in ancient Japanese crafts
-
Tom Dixon marks his studio's 20 years with a show of design experimentsMushroom, cork, steel coral and more: Tom Dixon showcases an overview of his design experiments as he celebrates his practice's 20 years
-
Vitra unveils new London home in the Tramshed, ShoreditchLondon Design Festival 2022: after a year-long renovation, Vitra opens the door to its new showroom in the heart of Shoreditch
