Opened in January on South Kensington’s Launceston Place, See••Ds is one of the most interesting design projects to have emerged in London in the past months. Owner Natalie Azzi has worked with Milanese studio Actant Visuelle to create a design that combines conceptual visual research with a retail dimension.
The latest effort of the gallerist features a collection of pottery pieces by Martino Gamper and 'friends’. Titled 'No Ordinary Love', the selling exhibition features an array of ceramic shapes created by the Italian designer as well as associates such as Bethan Laura Wood, Max Lamb, Tiago Almeida, Gemma Holt and Silo Studio, among others. The group of designers, who had been friends for a long time but had never collaborated on a project, took to an English workshop to create objects in clay, working as a collective and presenting work united by a sun-shaped logo.
The exhibition questions the concept of authorship and its importance in the design panorama. The curation (by Gamper in collaboration with the duo behind Actant Visuelle) asks several questions relating to the pieces’ signatures, wondering whether authorship is in fact more important than an object’s aesthetic or function.
See••Ds owner Natalie Azzi worked with Milanese studio Actant Visuelle to create a design that combines conceptual visual research with a retail dimension
To create a conversation around this concept, the three curators devised a series of rules for the collection, the first of which was unveiled on the exhibition’s opening. Each piece has been signed by the collective, and sold at a starting price. A buyer can accept this price and the somewhat anonymous origin of a piece, or request to know the author but pay double the starting figure.
The second part of the exhibition features further new projects by the designers, using a variety of media and materials, and expressing each creator’s aesthetic. These include a series of solid, hand-bent aluminium chairs and furniture by Max Lamb, neon light shapes by Jochen Holz, an etched glass cocktail set by Bethan Laura Wood and steel furniture by Faudet Harrison.
This double project strengthens the gallery’s engagement with design on a deeper level, creating a broader movement while at the same time presenting new work by an exciting roster of designers.
The group of designers, who had been friends for a long time but had never collaborated on a project, took to a workshop to create objects in clay, working as a collective and presenting work united by a sun-shaped logo
Each piece has been signed by the collective, and sold at a starting price. A buyer can accept this and the anonymous origin of a piece, or request to know the author but pay double the starting figure
The second part of the exhibition features further new projects by the designers, using a variety of media and materials. Pictured left: an etched glass cocktail set by Bethan Laura Wood. Right: glass vases with moirè effects by Silo Studio
Neon table and pendant lights by Jochen Holz
Pictured left: a chair made of solid aluminium by Max Lamb. Right: a pot from Martino Gamper's Duo Tone Duo collection
Pictured left: Gemma Holt's jewellery. Right: a stained glass shelf by Silo Studio
A transient coffee table and shelving system by Faudet Harrison, made of brushed aluminium
INFORMATION
'No Ordinary Love – Martino Gamper with Friends' is on view until 20 January. For more information, visit the See••Ds website
ADDRESS
3 Launceston Place
London W8 5RL
-
Curtains up, Kid Harpoon rethinks the sound of Broadway production ‘Art’He’s crafted hits with Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus; now songwriter and producer Kid Harpoon (aka Tom Hull) tells us about composing the music for the new, all-star Broadway revival of Yasmina Reza’s play ‘Art’
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekHere in the UK, summer seems to be fading fast. Moody skies and showers called for early-autumn rituals for the Wallpaper* team: retreating into the depths of the Tate Modern, slipping into shadowy cocktail bars, and curling up with a good book
-
To celebrate 50 years in business, Giorgio Armani is opening up his extraordinary archive to everybodyLaunched at the Venice Film Festival, Armani/Archivio is a digital archive charting 50 years of Giorgio Armani through the house’s most memorable designs
-
10 things not to miss at London Design Festival 2025We bring you the best new installations, exhibitions and products to launch at London Design Festival 2025 (13–21 September)
-
Lee Broom’s brutalist-inspired ‘Beacon’ will light up London as Big Ben strikes the hourSet to pulse through London Design Festival 2025 (13-22 September) and beyond, the British industrial designer’s sculptural light installation on the South Bank draws on its surroundings
-
Yuri Suzuki turns sound into architecture at Camden Arts ProjectsThe sound designer unveils ‘Utooto’, an interactive installation at London’s Camden Arts Projects (until 5 October 2025), in which visitors collaboratively build a sonic piece of architecture
-
Alex Tieghi-Walker unveils his plans for Brompton Design District 2025Ahead of London Design Festival 2025, we catch up with New York gallerist Alex Tieghi-Walker about his appointment as curator of the Brompton Design District programme
-
‘The point was giving ordinary people access to bold taste’: how Ikea brought pattern into the home‘Ikea: Magical Patterns’ at Dovecot Gallery in Edinburgh tells the story of a brand that gave us not only furniture, but a new way of seeing our homes – as canvases for self-expression
-
Design beyond humans: a new exhibition argues that the world doesn’t revolve around us‘More Than Human’ at London's Design Museum (until 5 October 2025) asks what happens when design focuses on the perspectives and needs of other species, from bees to seaweed
-
‘100 Years, 60 Designers, 1 Future’: 1882 Ltd plate auction supports ceramic craftThe ceramics brand’s founder Emily Johnson asked 60 artists, designers, musicians and architects – from John Pawson to Robbie Williams – to design plates, which will be auctioned to fund the next generation of craftspeople
-
‘Disabled people have always been here’: a new V&A show centres on disability in designCurator Natalie Kane takes us through five key exhibits from the London show, where design points the way to a more inclusive society
