Benjamin Hubert at Design Junction London 2012 – expect the unexpected

We are looking forward to visiting Design Junction as part of BlogTour London and seeing their exciting collection of international brands. And Benjamin Hubert is high on our list of people to see. They describe what they do as ‘materials driven industrial design’. That means they start with a material or a method of production and then make something beautiful rather than deciding what they want to make and taking the well trod path of tradition. As a consequence, they design  surprising pieces from surprising materials in surprising ways. We want to show you a couple of their chairs and a selection of lights.

The Maritime Chair (top)  is made from plywood and solid wood by Casamania.  We love it for its clean, distinctly Northern European lines. And as with their other products, furniture and lighting, it doesn’t really look like anything you will find anywhere else.

And then we have Pod. Wing-back chairs were originally developed as a response to drafty Victorian and Edwardian homes. But that wraparound structure also gives a sensation of privacy and comfort. Pod Chair manufactured by De Vorm is upholstered in pressed felt which, with its sound proofing qualities, makes this a wonderful place to loose yourself in a book or a day dream.

And, as much as we love their furniture, we are fascinated by the lights from Benjamin Hubert. Again, they feature surprising materials creating unexpected pieces. The top light, for example, is Float, made from Portuguese Cork manufactured, indeed hand turned, by Benjamin Hubert themselves.

In the middle, made by De La Espada is Quarry, made from hand turned marble. And finally, a light which has attracted a lot of attention on Modenus, Heavy is made by Decode from concrete. Hands up anyone who can name someone else making concrete lights. No, we thought not.

The shows at The London Design Festival delight in all sorts of ways. Our advice to the Blogtour visitors, and everyone else calling in at Benjamin Hubert is to expect the unexpected.