MADE TOGETHER , APART . ‘connected' at the design museum, london

A material-driven project pushes the boundaries of what is possible with American hardwoods and explores how designers and craftspeople adapted their working practices during the lockdown.

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Last month, nine imaginative and original tables and seating designs were created by nine leading international designers and made beautifully in one of Europe’s top craft workshops. These were unveiled as part of an installation entitled ‘Connected’, at the Design Museum in London. The resulting pieces, on display at the Design Museum, which re-opened to the public, celebrate the act of physically coming back together or reconnecting, after lockdown. Covid-19 has changed the way people live, interact and work, as a result, creatives and makers had to adjust their processes using new technologies to work together at a distance and often operate from new, improvised, home offices. For this project, the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), Benchmark Furniture and the Design Museum challenged the designers to create a table and seating for their personal use, to suit their new ways of living and working from home. The designers had a choice of three American hardwoods to work with - red oak, maple or cherry. They were also invited to record their creative journeys to demonstrate how they approached the brief and developed their designs at a time of limited physical contact.