This exhibition is a physical manifestation of The New Modernists – one of the five groups that make up the ‘Design Tribes’ editorial feature within LONDON DESIGN GUIDE.

THE NEW MODERNISTS

 17th-26th September 2009

Viaduct, 1-10 Summer’s Street, London EC1R 5BD (020 7278 8456)

A LONDON DESIGN GUIDE exhibition in collaboration with Viaduct. This is an extract from the Design Tribes chapter of LDG:

“Year after year, designers vie for the attentions of manufacturers in the hope that their new design proposal will come up trumps against the rest. Mass production still represents the holy grail of success. Yet amid a sea of competition and marketing noise, it becomes rather easy to miss the designs that are most likely to sustain the industry on a commercial level. Provocative, entertaining and sensationalist design – a tiny but loud segment of the market – has tended to overshadow the more pragmatic work of hardworking designers.

That said, there is still a pulse in the area of commercial production that concerns itself with subtle – as opposed to seismic – improvements and advancements in our everyday material landscape. Refined, pure and formalist. Classic and timeless in visual language. Pragmatic in functionality, sometimes with a smattering of irony. This is the work of the New Modernists.”

Taking the concept of The New Modernists, Viaduct is celebrating their 20th birthday with an exhibition that celebrates everything that Viaduct stands for: timelessness, quality, refined aesthetics and an ability to spot enduring talent.

Viaduct will be showing the diverse designs of Maarten Van Severen, Bertjan Pot, Studio Job, Stefan Diez, Arik Levy, Jasper Morrison, Simon Pengelly and introducing British design dynamo Benjamin Hubert.  Viaduct will show exciting and eclectic work from some of the most influential names in modern furniture design – the show is more about the future but does give a quick reverential nod to its twenty years in business. The New Modernists manufacturers include, amongst others, Cappellini, e15, Montis, Pastoe and Zeus.

Entry: free

After months of research, countless conversations, endless reviewing and numerous trips around the capital, the LONDON DESIGN GUIDE is now complete and available to buy, priced only £10.

“The best tenner’s worth available in design right now”
Design Week, 3 September 2009

Where do you go to find the best design shops, galleries, museums and book shops dedicated to contemporary and vintage design in London? By visiting this website, chances are you would like to know. LONDON DESIGN GUIDE comprehensively reveals this information for the first time, as chosen by design commentator Max Fraser.

Explore London area-by-area according to key concentrations of design activity. Let one of our walks by an informed local steer you around the neighbourhood. Find a good place for a drink or a bite to eat with our restaurant suggestions. If you’re from out of town, find yourself a hotel too.

Intrigued? For this plus a whole lot more editorial content, order your copy direct to your doorstep today (free P&P within the UK).