100% DESIGN LONDON - DalCasa

Cover story
Redesign - sjedalica pod nazivom
“Plava marmelada” / Redesign - a
chair called “Blue Marmalade”
James Design
The necessity of energy preservation and the possibility of recycling should be just as
important a design category as utilization and aesthetics – that was the unique notion
of “100% Design”. Everyone shared the same goal: to prove that it is also possible to
create an admirable object by reducing the consumption of energy and materials, while
also denying the prejudices about the smaller aesthetical value of a recycled product
Fact 1: Great Britain still trails the rest of the European
Union when it comes to ecology and using new
technologies in the construction industry, especially
the Germans who pride themselves on being the
leaders of this trend.
Fact 2: The “100% Design” fair in London has decided to
change the order of things in that sector.
This year’s “100% Design”, as no other fair of design and
architecture thus far, was marked by “the colour of
green”, as well as sustainable growth, ecological products,
recycling, energy preservation… Earl’s Court in London
hosted, from the 20th to the 23rd of September and
for the thirteenth time, the best from the world of architecture
and design of interiors, furniture and accompanying
products, and this year was the first time that famous
designer Tom Dixon appeared as the creative director of
the fair, which was appropriate because his career was
launched during the first years of “100% Design”, largely
due to the propulsion of the fair where he exhibited his
early projects. This year’s “100% Design” went down as
an integral part of the Design Festival in London, which
traditionally takes place at four different locations in the
British capital in the second half of September; people
from the profession would claim that it is truly the most important
part of the festival. Therefore, all the visitors could
enjoy the presentations of newest collections by respectable
companies, such as Moros, B&B and others, as well
as plenty of accompanying events and performances,
but also gazing at the enormous installations at South
20
Bank that were built by architects Zaha Hadid (“Urban
Nebula”, a sculpture (furniture) made from 150 concrete
blocks) and Amanda Levette (“Prototile” from corian),
while the festival director Ben Evans happily watched the
success of the concept that demanded close intertwining
between the creators and the manufacturers during
the fair. The two abovementioned sculptures clearly
demonstrated that because they couldn’t have been
created without the sponsorship of material manufacturers
– “DuPonta” for corian and “Aggrevate Ind.” for
concrete. It’s precisely that principle of connecting profession
and industry that was the basis of “100% Design”,
where 650 exhibitors from Great Britain and around the
world encountered, but which also hosted four related
happenings.
“100% Futures” was imagined as a place of freedom for
obscure designers (about fifty of them) to contact the
companies in order to find those who are interested in
investing into their ideas, or to find new materials for creation
of certain designer products. This event was started
based on experiences from previous years where these
types of encounters would happen spontaneously and
without formalizations.
The “100% Details” exhibit, which was held within “100%
Design” for the fifth time this year, was dedicated to sustainable
construction with small emission of carbon monoxide
and possible recycling, or usage of recycled materials
(we’ve already mentioned several times that the
construction industry is one of the largest polluters in the