![]() JAY OSGERBY: Furniture is the layer that goes between the body and the building. JAY OSGERBY: You rarely get it at all with architecture, at least not in the same way.ĮDWARD BARBER: You get a lot more control than with architecture, where there are so many unknowns… SUJATA BURMAN: There must be a connection to the material straight away that you don’t get with architecture. You don’t get successive opportunities to change, develop and iterate an idea, whereas in furniture and product design, you do. When you’re doing an architectural project, you only ever make a prototype. JAY OSGERBY: Partly because it’s a faster process. I think that was the moment when we changed our focus, when we realised that we were much more interested in designing furniture than architecture. So we got a leg-up right from the first piece we designed. At the time Cappellini was the most interesting furniture company working with both young designers and established designers, and said he wanted to produce it. That table was really a stepping stone into the furniture world because the table was seen by Giulio Cappellini in 1997. One of the pieces was a low table ,the Loop Table, which is in birch plywood. We were doing small architectural projects at the time and for one of them we designed some restaurant furniture. That was really great because we were close to the wood workshops, we learned a lot about furniture making there, and particularly about plywood.Ī lot of the early pieces that we designed were plywood because we were right there by the workshops. ![]() Then we moved to the Isokon workshops (in Chiswick). I lived there for about six years, we had the studio there for three. SUJATA BURMAN: Your studio has had multiple London locations over the years, how has this informed your practice to date?ĮDWARD BARBER: After our flat in Notting Hill we moved to Trellick Tower – it was on the 22nd floor, we had an incredible view. They tell tales of the Japanese bowl that inspired Bellhop, compare colour choice to naming children and explain turning up their design game for historic companies. Over Zoom, they shine a light on their story of three decades while sitting inside their east London studio, surrounded by their works. With an outlook focused on longevity, they have navigated the pandemic by having an adaptable, multi-floor studio space. Today we’re sharing an interview with Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby – designers of the Bellhop collection for Flos.īased in London, yet truly international, the Barber & Osgerby studio is home to many lighting projects from the Olympic Torch in 2012 to the 2016 Bellhop (and its 2020 Floor version) lamp for Flos. For over 50 years, Italian lighting specialists Flos has continued to pioneer new styles, with the collection offering a range of modern lamps and chandeliers from some of the leading cutting-edge designers.
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