In conversation with a trio of talented designers …
Design Week Dublin brought together three amazing designers, each working with different but timeless natural materials – wood, bronze, wool – to discuss their work with moderator, architect Amanda Bone. During the Design Talk, the audience gleaned insight into the creative process of this talented trio: woodturner, furniture designer and architect Alan Meredith, lighting designer Niamh Barry and Fabrizio Cantoni of Milan-based contemporary rug company cc-tapis.
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Alan Meredith qualified as an architect before turning to furniture making, operating from a studio on his family’s farm in Co Laois. Working in oak, ash and beech, Alan’s work, which is mainly to commission, straddles the boundaries of contemporary craft, sculpture and furniture and has been exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale and Grand Palais in Paris this month alone.
Pioneering artist and master of bronze engineering, Niamh Barry founded the Niamh Barry Studio almost 25 years ago where she creates highly crafted light sculptures, installations and sculptural furniture. Her award-winning work has been featured in the Financial Times and Architectural Digest, and are included in public and private collections around the world. She described her process as being “rooted in intuition”, saying: “What I create with my gut works, what I create with my mind rarely does.”
SEE MORE: At Close Range – An Interview With Designer Niamh Barry
Milan-based Fabrizio Cantoni is the co-founder – with his wife Nelcya – of cc-tapis, the company that collaborates with architects and designers to create exceptional pieces that are genuine works of art. In Milan earlier this year, cc-tapis featured designs from eleven highly-acclaimed creatives with each design expressing an idea formed using a different rug-making technique – from hand-embossing and embroidery to handweaving and hand-knotting. The collection combined the artisan, handmade rug craft that cc-tapis has been refining since it was founded in 2011 and the high-tech realm represented by digital technology. Fabrizio explained how he and his wife started cc-tapis in Milan after a period working in her family’s oriental rugs business. Their rugs are made in Katmandu and their collections feature collaborations with talented artists and designers, many of which can be seen at Minima in Dublin, with whom they have an exclusive partnership.
SEE MORE: See The Best of Modern Design In This Period Home In Dublin
For details of Design Week Dublin, in partnership with Range Rover, see www.designweekdublin.com.
Click into the gallery to see the guests who attended.
Photographer: Conor Healy, Picture It Pix; @pictureitpix
SEE MORE: See All The Guests At The Design Week Dublin Launch
