Collective Design has announced the addition of major partners for the fifth edition of the fair, to be held May 3-7, 2017 at Skylight Clarkson Square during NYCxDESIGN. The LAB at Rockwell Group, The Noguchi Museum, Huniford Design Studio, Brook Landscape, and Stickbulb have joined the fair to present immersive, site-specific installations that will reinforce the fair’s signature experiential nature. These dynamic, high-profile partners reflect Collective Design’s spirit of authenticity, craft and innovation, and their participation underlines the fair’s role as an essential platform for New York’s leading design thinkers.
For their first work at Collective Design, the LAB at Rockwell Group, the firm’s in-house design innovation studio, will create a thrilling arrival moment at the entrance to the fair. Inspired by the idea of reinventing the red carpet, the LAB has designed an undulating passageway made of CNC-milled plywood ribs clad in playful layers of shimmering reflective foil fringe. Arching over a blue carpet, Collective Design’s signature color, the interactive installation will appear to expand and contract, almost as if alive. The entry experience will foster a sense of discovery and drive excitement.
The Noguchi Museum returns to Collective Design for a second time to activate a raw industrial space previously unseen by fair visitors. In "Waiting Room: Noguchi/Stadler," the works of Isamu Noguchi and Austrian-born contemporary designer Robert Stadler will come together in a surreal, somewhat otherworldly pastiche of public and private forms of standing-by. The installation coincides with "Solid Doubts: Robert Stadler" at The Noguchi Museum, the first exhibition to pair Noguchi's work with that of a living designer. Both the exhibition, which is on view from April 26 through September 3, and the installation at Collective Design are curated by Noguchi Museum Senior Curator Dakin Hart in collaboration with Robert Stadler, and will highlight the scope of Noguchi’s vision and continuing impact on our contemporary culture. Stadler will also be the subject of a solo exhibition at Carpenters Workshop Gallery from April 27 through June 17, 2017.
Huniford Design Studio, helmed by James Huniford, will bring a refined and elegant vision to the 2017 VIP Lounge. The design will showcase furniture from the firm's latest Huniford Collection, a luxury furnishings line, and will mark the launch of the new collection this spring 2017. Huniford’s signature approach combines graceful design and optimal craftsmanship in distinctive combinations. First launched in 2013, the new Huniford Collection is restyled with upholstery in textured solids and subtle patterns, building on Huniford's penchant for pure materials, clean lines, and subtle details.
Expanding Collective Design’s longstanding enthusiasm for sustainable, ecologically connected design will be two major installations repurposing material salvaged from iconic New York City sites:
Stickbulb, a handmade lighting brand committed to using sustainably sourced wood, will debut an ambitious, limited edition art piece featuring redwood planks reclaimed from demolished New York City water towers. Designed in collaboration with RUX, the founding creative team behind Stickbulb, "Ambassador" re-adapts the richly textured wood into a giant semi-circular portal of ethereal light. The form and scale connect with the majesty of the world's largest and most ancient trees.
Brook Klausing of Brook Landscape will create a site-specific green corridor that transports visitors from the fair entrance through a classical garden passageway. The subtle, enchanting installation will feature raw timbers salvaged from the Rockaway boardwalk after Hurricane Sandy. Select pieces from Natural Workshop, a new product company launching this spring from Klausing and collaborator Brian Green, will be integrated into the space. Bringing the outdoors in, the project will impart a transitional space with an air of permanence and playfulness.
Further amplifying and diversifying its robust audience, Collective Design has added major partners for 2017. Cultural partners include The Museum of Arts and Design, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Storefront for Art and Architecture, Open House New York, and The Architectural League. Continuing its commitment to educational partners, Collective Design welcomes London’s RCA, Royal Academy of Art; NYSID, New York School of Interior Design; SVA, School of Visual Art; and BCG, Bard Graduate Center.
