Frieze London, 2009
Architecture and branding have developed a close relationship across the Frieze art fair design since it launched in 2004. Here, at the 2009 rendition in London, the trademark Frieze stamp appears like a billboard atop three chunky architectural columns marking the entrance. While the branding has become more muted as the fair has matured, this bastion is reminiscent of the early Frieze days. As a streak of continuation, sections of the fair continue to be highlighted by a series of neon shades. Photography: Graham Carlow
Frieze London, 2009
In the early days, visitors walked across a scrappy patchwork of timber, board and carpet plots, synonymous with the start-up nature of the fair driven by young entrepreneurs Matthew Slotover and Amanda Sharp. Today however, as Frieze has matured into the world’s leading contemporary art fair, the flooring is much more seamless. At Frieze Masters, launched in London in 2012, gallerists may select their shade of grey carpet from a restrained palette, resulting in beautifully muted acoustics. ictured, Frieze 2009, London. Photography: Graham Carlow
Carmody Groarke, Frieze London, 2011-2013
London-based architecture practice Carmody Groarke designed structures for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 editions of Frieze in London. The architects designed a series of interlinked, translucent pavilions surrounding the perimeter of the exhibition tents, a concept designed to strike a balance between viewing art, the social experience of the fair and the park context. These timber-lined ‘rooms’ were carefully positioned around the trees and the palette of materials was rudimentary in character, with proprietary timber flitch beams and raw plywood sheathing for walls and roofs, covered externally with polycarbonate – reflecting the temporary nature of the tent itself and its material. Pictured, Frieze 2011, London.Photography: Christian Richter
Carmody Groarke, Frieze London, 2011
Frieze tents pride themselves in their temporary and site-specific nature – as seen in wHY’s latest rendition for the inaugural Frieze Los Angeles. Here we see a tree, built purposefully around by Carmody Groarke, to preserve the outdoor nature and use the assets of the surrounding natural context as part of the design. Photography: Christian Richter
Thomas Bayrle, Frieze Projects, 2012
On many occasions at Frieze, art has become a part of the architecture. For Frieze Projects in 2012, a repeating pattern by German pop artist Thomas Bayrle was woven into amenity and intermediary spaces of the fair. Two patterned designs – this one pictured, the Laughing Cow cheese motif – from 1967 were replicated and stretched into a ‘world suspended between positive collectivism and deadening uniformity’. Photography: Polly Braden
Angelo Plessas, Frieze Projects London, 2013
Many architectural interventions take place outside the main tent structure. In 2013, London’s Frieze Projects included a small tent to function as a space for visiting families. Greek artist Angelo Plessas designed ‘The Temple of Play’, a free playground providing activities throughout the duration of the fair. Like building blocks, cubes were assembled in a curve to delineate the space and a slim angular triangle entry area created a fun intervention for children. See the Wallpaper* 2013 Frieze edit.
