Annually, lovers of design classics flock to the popular sample sale at the Knoll showroom in London’s Clerkenwell. The one-day sale is an opportunity to pick up esteemed collectibles by leading 20th Century designers.

KNOLLSTUDIO SAMPLE SALE

Saturday 19th November 2011, 10am-4pm

KNOLL

91 Goswell Road, London EC1V 7EX (020 7236 6655)

Design lovers have the opportunity to take advantage of exclusive offers and buy ex-display and photo-shoot samples at up to 70% discount. Furthermore, you’ll be welcomed with refreshments as well as live music played throughout the day.

The sample sale includes products such as:

- Saarinen Tulip Tables from £199 (previously priced from £480)

- Florence Knoll Marble Coffee Tables from £549 (previously priced from £1164)

- Saarinen Tulip Chairs from £499 (previously priced from £984)

- Tulip Dining Tables from £756 (previously priced from £1512)

Look out for the Knoll Star Buy: an iconic Black Barcelona chair will be selling for £899 instead of its usual retail price of £4572.

Knoll is also offering a 15% discount on all orders on existing collections.

Clerkenwell Design Week is a three-day festival located in the creative hub of East London, with over 150 events taking place amid the area’s concentration of furniture showrooms. The festival celebrates contemporary design by focusing it’s attention on a packed programme of exhibitions, installations, workshops, presentations, and debates.

CLERKENWELL DESIGN WEEK, 24th – 26th May 2011

Clerkenwell Design Week returns with exhibition hubs in The Farmiloe Building on St John Street and a new venue called The House of Detention. Both spaces are hosting exhibitions showcasing some of the design industry’s leading talent as well as numerous well-known brands.

A plethora of activities are likely to catch you attention over the three days. For a full listing of events, visit the Clerkenwell Design Week website for more information.

Furniture showroom Viaduct is staging the first UK exhibition by German furniture brand Zeitraum. In a dedicated exhibition space, a selection of Zeitraum pieces are presented in collaboration with new magazine Wrap.

EXHIBITION NO.2, 2nd March-2nd April 2011

VIADUCT

1-10 Summers Street, London EC1R 5BD (020 7278 8456)

The exhibition sees the UK launch of the Morph lounge chair alongside other key pieces from the collection, including sofas, tables, lighting and a children’s chair.

New prints from Wrap are being showcased alongside Zeitraum’s furniture. Wrap is a newly launched publication that showcases design and illustration work.

Details and extractions from Wrap’s collaborators are being presented on digitally printed wallpaper and vinyl wall stickers, as well as on soft furnishings, a collection of transfer printed ceramics and a bespoke light shade.

Specialist in finely-crafted stationery, online shop Present & Correct is temporarily popping out of cyberspace into a physical Christmas ‘pop-in’ shop at House of Propellers gallery space in Clerkenwell.

PRESENT & CORRECT’S CHRISTMAS POP-IN SHOP

4th-21st December 2010

HOUSE OF PROPELLERS

5 Back Hill, London EC1R 5EN (020 7278 7287)

The gallery is being transformed into a festive vintage school classroom, complete with tree, candy cane decorations, school desks and blackboard.

Both new and carefully sourced vintage items are on sale, including rare and out-of-print books and posters. Prices start from just £2.50.

At the shop, you can find functional objects to help organise and decorate your home – desk tidies, calendars and vintage posters; books and games including classics by designers such as Bruno Munari, Charley Harper and Ken Garland.

A selection of vintage French school posters and English travel posters are also available, sourced especially for the event.

Furthermore, Christmas cards, vintage wrapping paper, gift tags, crackers and paper garlands are available. You can even write and post your Christmas cards via the special Present & Correct Christmas post box.

Danish chef Christoffer Hruskova has opened his new restaurant NORTH ROAD on St John Street. He has transferred and developed his Nordic inspired menu from his FIG BISTRO in Islington to the new Clerkenwell site.

NORTH ROAD

69-73 St John Street, London EC1M 4AN (020 3217 0033)

Hruskova’s Scandinavian roots provide the foundation of the dishes at North Road. The dishes are light, sometimes earthy, with no overpowering rich sauces. The ingredients take centre stage whether they are hand-dived scallops or langoustine from the Scottish coast, lamb from Cumbria, beef from Galloway or simply wild herbs or salad roots. View A La Carte menu here.

The design of the restaurant, by El Nino Design, combines oak parquet floors, bronze fittings and mid-century furniture alongside modern yet classic pieces. There are custom-finished smoked-oak Danish dining chairs by J.L.Møllers, Cherner bar stools and aged bronze and brass wall lights, as well as Serge Mouille hanging lights.

The kitchen is on show with windows overlooking the seated white carrara marble bar and another in place for keen onlookers at the Chef’s Table (pictured above).

Design store Places and Spaces is curating ‘The Workshop’ exhibition during The London Design Festival, taking place at a show space within the workshop of the highly acclaimed architects Studio Egret West in Clerkenwell.

‘THE WORKSHOP’, 21st September-10th October 2010

STUDIO EGRET WEST

40 Compton Street, London EC1V 0AP

At the show there are companies, designers and makers from around the globe. Companies exhibiting within the main space are Droog (who are launching their new pieces for the first time during the show), Merry, Smarin, Judith Seng, Roll and Hill, Mint, Moustache, ABR, Mater, and Spell.

The exhibition is taking place at the workshop but it’s also within the outdoor courtyard and lobby area of the building, with street access off Compton Street.

During the London Design Festival, furniture and lighting showroom Viaduct is staging an exhibition titled ‘Northern Lights’, curated by designer Gitta Gschwendtner. Visitors can expect the latest designs from Northern Europe including e15, Montis, Pastoe and other leading manufacturers.

NORTHERN LIGHTS, 16th September-2nd October 2010

VIADUCT

1-10 Summers Street, London EC1R 5BD (020 7278 8456)

A dramatic installation of fluorescent lighting and furniture is encapsulated in a rubberised room to create a new sensory experience. From utilitarian fluorescent tubing to the deluxe sophistication of contemporary design, the show is inspired by the imagination of Dan Flavin.

Gitta Gschwendtner has created an original exhibition with designs from Stefan Diez for e15 as well as pieces from Tom Dixon, Piergiorgio & Michele Cazzaniga.

The lighting within this ‘red room’ alternates between all red and all white, affecting the visitor’s engagement with the objects.

LuLu Bright is launching its first ‘pøp üp butik’ in London to present a diverse collection of authentic midcentury Scandinavian furniture and design pieces, providing a snapshot of Scandinavian design and lifestyle in Clerkenwell.

PØP ÜP BUTIK

1st – 11th September 2010

97-99 Clerkenwell Road, London EC1R 5BX (07535 637 731)

Jacobsen Stools – c1950

Primarily comprising of original Scandinavian furniture from prestigious designers such as Jacobsen, Wegner and Mogensen, the collection also has pieces inspired by the clean and minimalistic approach of the Nordic aesthetic.

Uosikkinen for Arabia Jars – 1966

Acquired from the infamous Mangano Collection of the Italian curator and promoteur of Finnish design, there’s also on show a selection of Arabia jars and iittala glasses designed by Timo Sarpaneva. In addition, the boutique features The Bright Finds – more affordable and regularly updated range of vintage products found and presented by Lou and Louie Bright.

‘Kekkerit’ Timo Sarpaneva for iittala – 1972

The opening of ‘pøp üp butik’ coincides with the launch of LuLu Bright’s new online boutique – lulubright.co.uk – where visitors can learn more about the fusion of practicality and sophistication that is typical for Scandinavian design. One can also browse and shop the entire LuLu Bright and The Brights Finds collections.

Ekstrom ‘Rustler’ Chair – 1959

Top image: Hvidt Coffee table – 1956, Larsson Armchair – c1950

This exhibition by leading designer Tord Boontje overturns the conventional expectations of what lace might be. In this collection of work showing at Marsden Woo Gallery, Boontje employs traditional craft skills while substituting unorthodox materials, changing the references and subverting our preconceived notions of value.

TORD BOONTJE: The Lace Maker, 24th June-31st July 2010

MARSDEN WOO GALLERY

17-18 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DN (020 7336 6396)

“With lace,” Boontje points out, “all the value is invested in the labour and so it seemed a good idea to start working with cheap materials … But also, by changing the material you can change the references.”

Works in the exhibition include a dramatic black sofa that emerges from a large three-dimensional web-like structure of bound and knotted Aramide and Dynema fibres. The sofa is one example of what he has been able to create by employing traditional craft skills, while substituting unorthodox materials. Others are a curtain composed in a random pattern of tangled flora and a selection of exuberant lighting designs, all constructed from natural raffia.

Some of the more delicate works are items of jewellery, such as necklaces and a hairpiece, and a selection of test samples made in a variety of natural materials, including grass. The exhibition includes a short video about the process of making a raffia lace dress, offering further insights into his approach, which he describes as “spontaneous – not organized and symmetrical.”

Installation shots courtesy of Marsden Woo Gallery (© Phil Sayer).

Clerkenwell Design Week is a new three-day festival launching in an area already thriving with design activity in London. Centred around the area’s concentration of furniture showrooms, the festival aims to focus attention on a packed programme of exhibitions and installations.

CLERKENWELL DESIGN WEEK, 25th-27th May 2010

Exhibitions, events, installations, seminars, talks, bike tours, and parties are taking place across venues in Clerkenwell.

The hub venue is The Farmiloe’s Building, 34 St John Street, EC1M 4AY.

For full listing of events during the festival, visit the Clerkenwell Design Week website for more information.