Atmosphere & Philosophy, When Objects Work

Today I thought you might appreciate this brilliant selection of imagery from the When Objects Work website. This company was founded by Beatrice de Lafontaine in 2001 after a career in the bespoke interior decoration business. The Belgian company produces and distributes exclusive objects designed by leading designers and architects, such as Shigeru Ban and John Pawson, whose work has a minimal and simple aesthetic. In fact I’ve been admiring John Pawson’s work from afar for a little while now, one part because I like his style and aesthetic, another his story is pretty great and is extremely inspiring, he’s also a fellow Englishman like myself. But I was surprised to see how many items he’s actually produced with When Objects Work, a wide variety of stuff including tableware, candle sticks, a bench, some art objects, and even a few cooking pots. John was originally involved in the clothing business before moving to Japan, where he stayed several years working as a teacher and spending time in the studio of designer Shiro Kuramata. On his return to England he enrolled in architecture and established his own practice in 1981, since then he’s been linked with minimalism and his search for simplicity. It’s inspiring to see how he came from a totally different background and worked his way up, now designing a complex amount of items and is not limited by architecture itself.

Moving back onto the subject of these photos, they were actually selected from the “Atmosphere” and “Philosophy” sections of the website that showcases the products in their environment and also the items being made. I guess linking us to the actual handmade nature of the objects and the craftsmen. I like this since I think it’s something you don’t see all that often, hopefully you’ll agree that they were worth showcasing. I’d recommend popping over there right now to check out what they have on offer, I would also say head to John Pawson’s site since I think he has a fantastic mixture of objects and projects that he’s been involved in. Have fun exploring.

www.whenobjectswork.com

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