Dark arts: Stephen Burks brings a design slant to NYC's Armory Show

In 2011, Brooklyn-based designer Stephen Burks had a solo exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem, which was given the title 'Man Made' by museum director Thelma Golden. ‘Since its founding in 1968, the museum had never shown design before,’ says Burks, who has worked with Aid to Artisans, the Clinton Global Initiative and the Nature Conservancy since 2005, and received the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award last year. ‘But they wanted to show this project because of its social context.’
That context was rooted in the designer’s long-running investigations in the global economy of artisanal craft, which began with Burks’s collaborations with Senegalese basket weavers based in New York and Dakar, and continued with other artisans in South Africa, Peru and India.
‘It was really rooted in a single craft technique by these Senegalese people, which Harlem has a decent population of, and so the question was, if these same people could make your bread basket and hamper, why couldn’t they also make your chandelier or your coffee table?’ asks Burks.
In the years since, he’s employed this model in projects with Dedon, Parachilna, Harry Winston and Roche Bobois (for the 'Traveler' chair, the company's first collaboration with an American designer in its 40 year history). ‘The studio is now called Stephen Burks Man Made because we believe in combining the hand with industry, so the closer we get to the act of making the more potential we have for innovation,’ he adds.
That innovation came full circle this week at The Armory Show, where Burks designed the central lounge with his chairs, ottomans, side tables and lamps from his 'Dala' collection for Dedon, made by artisans in the Philippines. ‘I’ve designed an installation that joins it all together with two arcing walls of painted wooden posts at varying heights that look like a contemporary forest,’ explained Burks before the show. ‘There will be a passageway and a video. I’m trying to optimize this opportunity.’
Meanwhile, he’s also debuting his 'Noir' pendant lamps at a titular exhibition presented by Seattle’s Mariane Ibrahim Gallery (he’ll have a solo show there later this year) that was curated by Maria Cristina Didero for this year’s Armory Focus initiative, highlighting the practices of contemporary African artists and those in the diaspora.
Produced in an edition of 18, the three 'Noir' lamps on display – shown in small, medium, and large sizes – were rendered from a composite fibre woven into flat planes to form a series of architectural stacking discs of different dimensions.
‘We’re actually blackening the surface with powdered graphite, creating this very deep but very rich metallic surface and then the edges are hand-painted in several different enameled colors. They’re very simple, immediate, and practical,’ says Burks, noting the central light tube features an LED element with an amber diffuser that radiates at the edges of the black planes, which have been painted in bright pops of coloured enamel. ‘What’s interesting for me at this point in my junction is how we begin to build upon the potential of technology and craft and how do I bring a broader audience to this work. In a sense that’s what "Noir" is all about.’
Produced in an edition of 18, the three lamps on display – shown in small, medium, and large sizes – were rendered from a composite fibre woven into flat planes to form a series of architectural stacking discs of different dimensions
‘We’re actually blackening the surface with powdered graphite, creating this very deep but very rich metallic surface and then the edges are hand-painted in several different enameled colors. They’re very simple, immediate, and practical,’ says Burks
A view of Burks' central lounge, featuring chairs, ottomans, side tables and lamps from his 'Dala' collection for Dedon
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Frieze London 2025: all the fashion moments to look out for
The best fashion happenings to add to your Frieze London 2025 schedule, from Dunhill’s curation of talks at Frieze Masters to an exhibition of furniture by Rick Owens
-
Artists reflect on Kate Bush lyrics for a War Child auction
Peter Doig and Maggi Hambling are among artists interpreting Kate Bush’s 1985 track ‘Running Up That Hill’ for War Child’s online auction
-
Explore Tom Kundig’s unusual houses, from studios on wheels to cabins slotted into boulders
The American architect’s entire residential portfolio is the subject of a comprehensive new book, ‘Tom Kundig: Complete Houses’
-
With a secret members’ club, this Washington, DC barbershop is a ‘theatre of self-care’
At Manifest 002, come for a haircut; stay for the boldly hued social spaces designed by INC Architecture & Design
-
Step inside a ‘dream desert sanctuary’ tucked into Moab's rust-red landscape
Susannah Holmberg designed this home to harmonise with the extreme climate and dramatic surroundings of Utah’s Moab desert. 'The landscape is everything'
-
Nicole Hollis launches a collection of home objects ‘rooted in mindfulness’
The American interior designer worked with artists, makers and artisans to create objects for the home, emphasising materiality and visual simplicity
-
USM furniture turns shelter in a New York exhibition
‘The Room You Carry’ by interior design studio Loveisenough examines the space between order and wilderness, indoors and outdoors
-
This Brooklyn townhouse renovation nails ‘classic’ without cliché
Interior design firm White Arrow transformed a Boerum Hill home into a space that feels historic, contemporary, and just unexpected enough to keep things interesting
-
This designer’s Montecito home – once a modest wood cabin – has been transformed into a charming sanctuary
Originally built by architect Lutah Maria Riggs, this compact family home has been reimagined by another influential female designer – Tamara Honey of House of Honey – who has imbued the space with her signature touch
-
These sculptural mirrors embody the relaxed spirit of the Med
Photographed in a Mallorcan residence designed by local studio Munarq, these new sculptural mirrors by New York furniture company Ready To Hang are inspired by the sea
-
The owner of this restored Spanish Colonial home turned it into a gallery – with no social media allowed
Casa Francis in LA is a private residence, but recently opened its doors to one member of the public at a time for an exhibition centred around domesticity