Design on display: Es Devlin of Homo Faber on how good curation brings objects to life

Monocle on Design

This episode of Monocle on Design explores the evolving landscape of global design weeks in London, Paris, Zurich, and Venice, with a focus

Key takeaways

• Good curation transforms static displays into dynamic dialogues between objects.
• Design weeks should prioritize public engagement through accessible installations rather than purely commercial activations.

Main topics

• Global design weeks: London, Paris, Zurich, and Venice
• The role of curation in contemporary craft exhibitions

Notable quotes

"My aim is often to be the dumbest person in the room because it can bring a curiosity then. Dumb but curious."

Conclusion

The episode concludes that the future of design lies not in commercial spectacle but in

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) Range Rover is proud to partner with Monocle on Design on Monocle Radio. Speaker 3 (0:05) The original luxury SUV is now available to order with electric propulsion. Built in Solihull, home of Range Rover since 1970, the first ever Range Rover Electric heralds a new era of refinement with uncompromised capability. Quieter, more responsive and with more torque than any Range Rover to date, Range Rover Electric is a combination of peerless design and breathtaking modernity. Range Rover Electric. more Range Rover than ever. This is Monocle On Design, a show where we discuss everything from architecture and craft to furniture and graphic design. I'm Nick Manisse. On today's program, as London, Paris and Zurich design weeks get underway, we'll discuss who does it best and what we're looking forward to. Then we're off to Venice for this year's edition of Homo Faber, where our correspondents speak to the curator, Es Devlin, about the future of contemporary craft. All that coming up on Monocle On Design. Speaker 3 (1:29) Grace Charlton, Monocle's Associate Editor of Design and Fashion. For how much longer, we don't know, but you have been diving into the fashion cupboard seemingly every episode. I know this is an audio medium, but talk us through, because it's cold in here, you need a jacket. Talk us through what you're wearing today. Speaker 2 (1:45) This is actually quite special. It's from a Japanese brand called Keta, and I spotted them at Pitti Uomo in January, but it's for cyclists who commute to the office, so there are loads of different vents that you can create. But it's quite discreet. Yeah, if I turn around, you'll see there's like a massive vent at the back. Speaker 3 (2:02) Yep, yep. So you can unzip it and basically let the air flow through. But you wouldn't know, it just looks like a smartly tailored jacket. Speaker 2 (2:08) Yeah, clever, huh? Speaker 3 (2:09) I like it a lot. Okay, so this is good for when it's like... Speaker 2 (2:12) Actually good for you because you cycle into the office. Speaker 3 (2:15) I thought this was an attack on me being a little bit sweaty all the time. That's fine and that's not for this show. Paris, London, Zurich design weeks are happening. Speaker 2 (2:23) Yeah, all at once. Why is there no international design committee sort of deciding when these things happen? Also, London and Paris are quite close to each other, especially like mentally. I think they compare each other a lot. So I think it's funny that the two design weeks are happening at the same time. Although I will complain about the fact that London Design Festival is just one of many sort of... vaguely design-related weeks that happen in this UK capital. It's Speaker 3 (2:49) not the strongest event, which is a shame because I think there's lots of amazing talent here. But somebody told me once that part of the reason they think it has kind of like declined in recent years is because they don't do press trips for international journalists. You know, at Monaco we like to avoid press trips where possible because you kind of get stuck on these like never-ending tours and seeing the dullest things and it's like... 25 people having 10 minutes with one designer. So we tend to steer clear of them for that reason. But they do bring in lots of journalists from across the globe because they do run them in Paris. They do run them in Milan. They do run them in Copenhagen. But we seem to suffer from that here. Speaker 2 (3:27) Yeah. So why September? I'm really intrigued because Milan, I don't know, it feels like by the time September comes around, Milan Design Week's been... done for about six months. Copenhagen's already happened. Like, I don't know, it's just a bit off. Speaker 3 (3:41) Would you like it to be set up more like the fashion weeks? You do these fashion weeks where you go back to back to back to back. Is that better? Or do you like the big break? Speaker 2 (3:48) That's actually not a bad idea, you know. Because Speaker 3 (3:50) that's Speaker 2 (3:50) how Speaker 3 (3:50) they could structure this. And also running them in tandem with fashion weeks, because Paris Design Week's the week before Paris Fashion Week. They're kind of like Speaker 2 (3:57) leading into Speaker 3 (3:58) each other. Like Speaker 2 (3:59) maybe what would happen is you wouldn't get the Danes going to Milan or the Italians going to Copenhagen. Like it would be a little bit more siloed. by geography. Yeah. Speaker 3 (4:08) I also don't think that's a bad thing because I think these weeks can be so overwhelming. Like in London this week, all the Italian brands are here and we've kind of seen their newest launches in April in Milan. So you kind of end up doing this double up. But I want to ask you, I mean, I know you obviously live in London, but pick of that trio, Paris, London or Zurich, where are you going? Speaker 2 (4:27) It's obviously Paris. Paris is so strong. Like, I love the design week there. It's always quite fun. I think they've got more sort of crafty brands that come out of the woodwork. Speaker 3 (4:37) I agree with you. But I just think Paris has a better gallery culture. It kind of lends itself to kind of like floating between different galleries, as opposed to London, where it can feel a little bit more showroom-y, almost. Speaker 2 (4:48) Oh, yeah, for sure. Also, London suffers from its scale. Like Paris, I feel like you can walk between different... arrondissement. But in London, you're literally on the tube for an hour if you want to go from Shoreditch to Brompton Road. It's so annoying. Speaker 3 (5:01) I'm going to try and check out Antoine Billard. We've talked about him on this show before. He's phenomenal. He's an antique dealer and a vintage ceramic dog lover. I was doing a little bit of additional research and that seemed to come up repeatedly. He likes curiosities and I feel like you like curiosities. Speaker 2 (5:15) Do you remember when we met him at Milan Design Week, I said, how would you describe your taste? And he said, crazy grandmother or something like that. He really does have a sort of eccentricity that is super special. He's Speaker 3 (5:26) doing an installation in the space. So I think that'll be good. So I think that's worth checking out. He described himself as a crazy grandmother. How would you describe your interior taste? Speaker 2 (5:34) Oh my gosh. Someone described it the other day as goth zen. Does Speaker 3 (5:40) that feel right? Yeah, it does Speaker 2 (5:41) actually. Speaker 3 (5:43) But I think it's because you have, and we've talked about maybe on this show before, strong opinions loosely held. But I think that strong opinions, there's like a very sure of your design tastes. Speaker 2 (5:53) Yeah, and I will change that opinion a lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, sweet. How would you describe yours? Speaker 3 (5:57) Maybe classic with a twist. The zigzag chair, it's a classic, but, you know. Speaker 2 (6:03) I'd say you're postmodern. Postmodern. You're post-postmodern. Speaker 3 (6:06) Post-postmodern. I'm a whole new thing. I think postmodern kind of is classic with a twist in a way. It's parodying what has already come before. But sometimes I don't know if I'm parodying something or if it is just me authentically. Do you know what I mean? Speaker 2 (6:20) Oh my God, all the time. Speaker 3 (6:21) Yeah, it's hard. I Speaker 2 (6:21) agree, I agree. Okay, so Paris is happening. London Design Festival is happening. What are you excited to see? Speaker 3 (6:28) One of the good things about London Design Festival is they do do great kind of public installations in the city, which I think is really nice. So Paris, they have better installations in private showrooms and private brands. But in terms of giving back to the public, I think London Design Festival do that really well. On the opening on Friday, I went to an immersive spatial sound experience at the whopping hydraulic power station. That is quite a mouthful. That is quite a mouthful. But essentially, it used to be a power station. Then it became this amazing arts venue, but it's been closed for 12 years. So it was just a chance for them to try to start to reactivate the space. They had DJs and lighting and all sorts kind of in this dilapidated power station. It was really, really cool. One, it brought me to a new space, but it also brought me to a new neighborhood, which I quite liked. And then the other one, I mean, this is a classic, and they've done it in years gone by, but they've got a partnership with St. Paul's Cathedral, and they have installed a light and mirror installation by their Ukrainian artist, Mykola Kabluka. I think that is kind of nice for when you live in a city. I mean, I did a tour of St. Paul's, I've maybe done it twice, maybe when I moved here eight years ago and then 15 years before that. But otherwise, I don't really have a need to go there. So this, even though it's a minor addition, it kind of... pulls you in for a little thing? Speaker 2 (7:42) Yeah, the only time I've been to St. Paul's Cathedral was for a fashion show, which was taking place in the crypt at like 10pm on a Friday. I'm not going to say the brand, but it was quite a sexy brand. And then all these models were coming out in like sort of resort wear, like bikinis and stuff. And