The National Centre for Craft and Design

The NCCD are excited to premiere the full version of this Design Museum touring exhibition focusing on the hidden architectural gems of the UK. The British landscape is rich with forgotten architecture: extraordinary buildings, structures and ideas that helped define the landscape of their time, and the technology of the future, but which are often unknown to the general public. Lesser Known Architecture – an ongoing photographic research project by Theo Simpson – seeks to document these structures, bringing their existence (and sometimes their plight) to a wider audience and acknowledging the architects and engineers who created such incredible work.

Featuring more than 30 sites not only in the capital, but across the United Kingdom as a whole, including Lincolnshire, Lesser Known Architecture will present an architectural epitaph for a forgotten era.

Pailing’s practice involves the transformation of everyday materials into sculptural objects, installations and interventions. The work is formed out of a playful, intuitive collaboration between maker and materials. She searches for something in an action rather than presenting a desired permanence.

Consequently, the objects created exist in a space between the made and the unmade: some are bound, restricted, fixed; others appear more precarious as though they could unwrap or unravel at any given time.

For the Window Collection Pailing presents her ‘Object a Day’ series; a large body of work made during the course of her residency with Visual Arts in Rural Communities (VARC).

Website

http://www.nationalcraftanddesign.org.uk/whatson/#helen-pailing-object-a-day

The second of our architecturally themed exhibitions; Space Craft,
is a Crafts Council Touring Exhibition that explores the relationship between craft making and our built environment.The exhibition brings together two disciplines, often considered as separate, and presents work by makers inspired by architecture, and architects that are deeply connected to making.

The exhibition was inspired by a 2010 Crafts magazine by architect Robin Sjoholm, which outlined frustration at how technology had transformed the process of creating buildings – decoupling design from an understanding of materiality and even physical space. He was not alone in his dissatisfaction, and recently a slew of young firms have emerged that put the physical act of making at the heart of their work; examples of which can be seen in this exhibition.
Makers have long been intrigued by architecture and space.

As Edmund de Waal once said, when a pot is thrown ‘you’re making a volume in a very short space of time; you’re creating an internal space.’ The engagement with architecture of the makers featured in this exhibition isn’t expressed in the depiction of buildings or drawing of cityscapes. Their work is architectural in an abstract sense, using materials and techniques to build form and create a sense of space.

Website

http://www.nationalcraftanddesign.org.uk/whatson/#space-craft

King’s slick surfaces and bright colours bring a level of perfection not normally associated with hand-made ceramics. She seeks to combine two extremes within the same object.

When displayed, the sculptures are deliberately poised, conjuring unease and tension. King treads upon new grounds with new works which aim to play on these tensions by spilling from the plinth on to the floor. King is keen to explore and learn from constructive critique from NCCD visitors.

Website

http://www.nationalcraftanddesign.org.uk/whatson/#jane-king-incident

The Northampton Guild of Designer Craftsmen team up with The Örebro Crafts Guild from Sweden to bring crafted objects back into our homes. The vitality and quality of a finely made craft object transcends fashion and style. A skilful craft worker is able to imbue even the most humble object with individuality, beauty and quality that raise it far above the merely functional.

The Northamptonshire Guild of Designer Craftsmen take great pride in the practice of their craft and are committed to uphold and develop traditional skills, but above all they are dedicated to the ideas of quality – that subtle combination
of knowledge, sensitivity, creativity and fine materials which
enriches the lives of us all.

Website

http://www.nationalcraftanddesign.org.uk/whatson/#the-handmade-home