(UK) – Cultural space sketch has commissioned London-based designers Bethan Gray, Moritz Waldemeyer, and architect Tannaz Oroumchi to create site-specific installations, each responding to the architecture of a distinct area of the expansive space, and reimagining it through their own creative lens. 

The installations will open for London Design Festival (17-25 September), which marks its 20th anniversary this year, and remain on exhibit throughout PAD London(10-16 October) and Frieze London (12 -16 October).

In the Entrance, Bethan Gray will present the Inky Dhow Universe, a complete immersion in the designer’s kaleidoscopic world of cobalt blue and white stripes as they flow across walls, floors, furniture and accessories. Grey’s signature pattern, influenced by the billowing sails of Omani dhow boats, will come vividly to life across a myriad of pieces, made in collaboration with her long-standing craft partners, against a backdrop of panels beautifully hand painted by the designer herself. 

The Inky Dhow Universe will stage the London debut of Grey’s new armchair and sofas from her Ripple modular furniture collection, upholstered with leather digitally printed by Bill Amberg, and her Orion Swirl range of handblown glass table lamps and pendant lights, designed and made in partnership with Murano-based lighting atelier Baroncelli. 

Moritz Waldemeyer will take over The Glade with Through the Looking Glass, a sculptural chandelier composed of 45 specially designed LED lights that mimic flickering candles. Strikingly suspended from the ceiling in the centre of the room, the LED stems are framed by a stylised magnifying glass and pay homage to the flame as the first and only natural light source.

With Through the Looking Glass,Waldemeyer sets out to define an entirely new form of LED lighting – with the playfulness, emotion and atmosphere of a candle – while always remaining low-power and low-impact on the environment. Fusing remarkable craftsmanship with state-of-the-art technology, Waldemeyer’s statement piece, specially designed for sketch, takes cues from the past to reinvent the future. The Through the Looking Glass light piece is designed byWaldemeyer under his Mori London label; he collaborated with Mayice Studio to create the magnifying glass frame.

Tannaz Oroumchi will present Change of Form, a collection of over 50 large-scale architectural drawings in The Pods. Hand-drawn on architectural film, the intricately detailed drawings are based on the internationally-renowned aesthetic and much-loved philosophy of sketch: there are no rules. Over multiple centuries, sketch’s rich history has included fashion, art and architecture, and now its present unites them all. 

To celebrate the three installations, sketch’s Bars Director Alena Cagnato and her team will create three unique cocktails, which will feature throughout the bars at sketch during London’s notable design and art months, from 17 September to 16 October. The cocktails take inspiration from the sea and sails of Grey, the flames ofWaldemeyer, and the floating works ofOroumchi.

www.sketch.london