Serving time: Chi Wing Lo’s silver tea set celebrates craft, past, present and future
Architect and designer Chi Wing Lo straddles East and West. Raised in Hong Kong and educated in the US, he designed for Giorgetti for two decades (serving as art director from 2004 to 2006) before creating his own furniture brand, Dimensione Chi Wing Lo, and home accessories range, 1ness. His work is borne out of longstanding partnerships with Italian workshops, bearing the hallmarks of contemporary European style while displaying a distinctively Chinese grace.
Invited by the Hong Kong Design Centre to participate in this year’s London Craft Week, Lo headlined a show at Seeds Gallery with textile designer Elaine Ng. His main contribution is a geometric tea set with a simple form that belies a complex manufacturing process.
The tea set, made from hand-polished slver and ebony accents
In lieu of casting (which lends itself to imperfections), Lo had his craftsmen carve out individual components by milling machine before welding them together. ‘It’s not a traditional way of making, but it allows for higher precision and clarity of form,’ he says. The surfaces are then hand-polished to achieve a tactile finish. Accented with ebony, Lo’s tea set anchors a wider repertoire of objects including a tea canister, a pitcher and various vases, all intended to evoke the somber elegance of a Vilhelm Hammershøi painting. They are at once timeless and avant-garde.
Lo takes pride in his close collaboration with craftsmen. ‘When it comes to realising designs in the workshop, I never give in, but I never insist,’ he explains. ‘I want to develop objects that understand the possibilities of craft, and bring craft forward to our times.’
As originally featured in the June 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*219)
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Seeds Gallery website and 1ness Design website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
TF Chan is a former editor of Wallpaper* (2020-23), where he was responsible for the monthly print magazine, planning, commissioning, editing and writing long-lead content across all pillars. He also played a leading role in multi-channel editorial franchises, such as Wallpaper’s annual Design Awards, Guest Editor takeovers and Next Generation series. He aims to create world-class, visually-driven content while championing diversity, international representation and social impact. TF joined Wallpaper* as an intern in January 2013, and served as its commissioning editor from 2017-20, winning a 30 under 30 New Talent Award from the Professional Publishers’ Association. Born and raised in Hong Kong, he holds an undergraduate degree in history from Princeton University.
-
A new limited-edition Rhodes piano and Gibson doubleneck guitar aim for the stars
The new Rhodes Mk8 Earth Edition piano and Gibson Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Doubleneck guitar revisit classic instruments at a price
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
The new interior design trends we spotted at Salone del Mobile 2024
These are the interior design trends to look out for in 2024 and beyond, from soft upholstery to conversation pits and low dining
By Rosa Bertoli Published
-
Tiffany & Co nods to its theatrical history with a surreal new campaign
Tiffany & Co campaign ‘With Love, Since 1837’ sees Dan Tobin Smith and set designer Rachel Thomas create an offbeat set
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Step into Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron's dreamy photographs in London
'Portraits to Dream In' is currently on show at London's National Portrait Gallery
By Katie Tobin Published
-
Gerhard Richter unveils new sculpture at Serpentine South
Gerhard Richter revisits themes of pattern and repetition in ‘Strip-Tower’ at London’s Serpentine South
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Meet the Turner Prize 2024 shortlisted artists
The Turner Prize 2024 shortlisted artists are Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson, Jasleen Kaur and Delaine Le Bas
By Hannah Silver Published
-
London gallery Incubator’s six emerging artists to see in spring 2024
Incubator's spring programme features six artists in consecutive two-week solo shows at the London, Chiltern Street gallery
By Mary Cleary Published
-
Kembra Pfahler revisits ‘The Manual of Action’ for CIRCA
Artist Kembra Pfahler will lead a series of classes in person and online, with a short film streamed from Piccadilly Circus in London, as well as in Berlin, Milan and Seoul, over three months until 30 June 2024
By Zoe Whitfield Published
-
Yinka Shonibare considers the tangled relationship between Africa and Europe at Serpentine South
Yinka Shonibare‘s ‘Suspended States’ at Serpentine South, London, considers history, refuge and humanitarian support (until 1 September 2024)
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Gavin Turk subverts still-life painting and says: ‘We are what we throw away’
Gavin Turk considers wasteful consumer culture in ‘The Conspiracy of Blindness’ at Ben Brown Fine Arts, London
By Rowland Bagnall Published
-
Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: Bloomsbury’s untold story
‘Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: An Untold Story’ is a new exhibition at Charleston in Lewes, UK, that charts the duo's creative legacy
By Katie Tobin Published