Photography by Petr Krejci
Sir John Sorrell, Chairman of London Design Festival, together with the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), invited leaders of London’s cultural institutions to collaborate with some of the world’s most prolific designers to create a ‘Legacy’ piece of design – an object of personal or professional relevance to them.
As part of the Legacy project, Kwame Kwei-Armah CBE, Artistic Director of The Young Vic, asked Tomoko Azumi of tna design studio, to create a sculptural seat for his garden that his grandson would be able to touch or sit in long after he was gone.
Photography by Petr Krejci
When Tomoko Azumi first met Kwame, he didn’t have a set idea of the object he wanted, so they started by designing several different pieces.
They finally decided on a boat-shaped garden seat, inspired by the journeys of Kwame’s ancestors, with the structure of the seat representing the crystal structure of gold, known as a face-centred cubic system, which has atoms at each corner of the cube and six atoms on each face.
Photography by Petr Krejci
With the help from the craftsmen at Benchmark, thin slats of American red oak were steam-bent into shape to create the boat structure, and an X was placed in the center to capture all of the elements Kwei-Armah desired.
Photography by Petr Krejci
By using different lengths of timber, Tomoko has lightened the structure at the top, that ensures privacy for the person sitting in the seat. A boat varnish was used for the finish of the red oak.
Photography by Petr Krejci
The Legacy project will be on display as part of the London Design Festival, and can be viewed at the Victoria & Albert Museum until the 22nd of September 2019.
After the Legacy project, Au will be placed in Kwame Kwei-Armah’s garden in London for him and his grandson to enjoy.
Photography by Petr Krejci
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