1st March 2022
Zetteler welcomes JA Projects and TOG, Bureau’s new neighbours, and TAKT’s film triumph
March news: people, projects and exhibitions driving change in architecture, design and the workplace across London, Venice and Milan
JA Projects founder Jayden Ali. Image by Mark Cocksedge.
*New client* JA Projects’ social vision for architecture
Through his practice, JA Projects, Jayden Ali is striving to change the shape of our cities. His multidisciplinary team believes in bringing as much attention to the social fabric of a place as to the physical built environment, resulting in public spaces that engage, inspire and actually improve the lives of the communities that live there. They’re the brains (and heart) behind interventions on London’s Low Line; the £8 billion Thamesmead Waterfront development; and the exhibition design for the V&A’s landmark ‘Fashioning Masculinities’ show, opening on 19 March.
We’ve long admired Jayden Ali, and firmly believe that his commitment to socially driven architecture projects is where the rest of the industry needs to be. Equal parts style and substance, he has some pretty extraordinary projects on the horizon – not least the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2023 (see below) – get in touch and be one of the first to know more.
Find out more about JA Projects’ approach to urban space.
From left to right: Jayden Ali, Meneesha Kellay, Joseph Henry and Sumitra Upham. Image courtesy of the British Council.
Powerhouse British team for Venice 2023
Last week, the British Council announced the curatorial team for the British Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2023. The stellar line-up? JA Projects founder Jayden Ali, the V&A’s contemporary programme curator Meneesha Kellay, urbanist-designer and Sound Advice co-founder Joseph Henry, and head of the Crafts Council’s public programmes, Sumitra Upham.
Even at this early stage, the pavilion looks set to be a knock-out exhibition, exploring ‘non-extractive’ approaches within material culture and how diasporic craft and material cultures can help foster a more sustainable future for British architecture, built on principles of care and equity.
Want to find out more about Jayden's plans? Email us
Even at this early stage, the pavilion looks set to be a knock-out exhibition, exploring ‘non-extractive’ approaches within material culture and how diasporic craft and material cultures can help foster a more sustainable future for British architecture, built on principles of care and equity.
Want to find out more about Jayden's plans? Email us
Black and White building designed by Waugh Thistleton Architects. Building render courtesy of TOG.
*New client* TOG is changing the workplace
From technological revolution to global pandemics, how we work is changing fast and
showing no signs of slowing. With so much in flux, we’re excited to team up with TOG (aka The Office Group), the leading creators of design-led workspaces. Taking advantage of flexible office spaces across the UK and in Europe, their 17,000 members come from start-ups, SMEs and major corporations; and the brand is the driving force behind some of the most extraordinary buildings in London.
Speaking of which, TOG has some major launches lined up for the months ahead –including its first post-pandemic opening, and London’s biggest timber office building.
If you care about the world of work (and extraordinary architecture and design), they should absolutely be on your radar.
Let's talk TOG
showing no signs of slowing. With so much in flux, we’re excited to team up with TOG (aka The Office Group), the leading creators of design-led workspaces. Taking advantage of flexible office spaces across the UK and in Europe, their 17,000 members come from start-ups, SMEs and major corporations; and the brand is the driving force behind some of the most extraordinary buildings in London.
Speaking of which, TOG has some major launches lined up for the months ahead –including its first post-pandemic opening, and London’s biggest timber office building.
If you care about the world of work (and extraordinary architecture and design), they should absolutely be on your radar.
Let's talk TOG
From left: Room divider, Collective Division by Nebil Zaman. Aluminium by Hydro. Stool, Shift by Hallgeir Homstvedt. The Sverre Fehn Chair by Fjordfiesta. Plate, Etage, and Vase, Monoblokk by Nedre Foss. Chair, Minus by Minus. Image by Sara Angelica Spilling, styling by Kråkvik & D’Orazio.
Norwegian Presence opens Material Lab in Milan
Norway’s exhibition is always a highlight of Milan Design Week, but their 2022 show, Matter by Norwegian Presence is set to be one of their most inspiring to date. With a new exhibition director taking the helm, Cecilie Molvær Jørgensen, and the curatorial rigour of Oslo creative studio Kråkvik & D’Orazio, run by Norway-native Jannicke Kråkvik and Italian-born Alessandro D’Orazio, the exhibition in Brera’s gorgeous Galleria Milano explores classic Norwegian materiality with an emphasis on the good of the planet.
Keep your eyes peeled for the new Material Lab – a special exhibit chronicling the transition from raw material to finished product, demonstrating how a material’s inherent natural visual and textural characteristics are expressed in the final design. Let us know if you’d like to receive the press pack.
Follow Norwegian Presence
Keep your eyes peeled for the new Material Lab – a special exhibit chronicling the transition from raw material to finished product, demonstrating how a material’s inherent natural visual and textural characteristics are expressed in the final design. Let us know if you’d like to receive the press pack.
Follow Norwegian Presence
Friends and colleagues lunching at Bureau. Image by Joe Howard.
Bureau update: meet the neighbours
Spring has (almost) sprung, and since we last spoke about Bureau, people have started working from, and hanging out in, its twin set of buildings. From our vantage point, it has been inspiring to see a project go from architectural drawing, to press release, to real-life hub of activity, with members now taking advantage of flexible workspace, top-flight on-site restaurant, a knockout events programme – and, of course, some truly inspiring neighbours.
Design District’s creative community is growing fast, with the likes of QueerCircle, Open City, Concept Kicks, Helen Kirkum and Uncommon Projects taking up tenancy in the new hub. If you’re a freelancer or a start-up business in the creative sector, it’s hard to imagine a more exciting and varied set of brands and business to surround yourself with.
If you haven’t checked our Bureau yet, we’d strongly encourage a visit – so if you’d like to set one up and see the creative resurgence in Greenwich first hand, let us know.
Join the club
Design District’s creative community is growing fast, with the likes of QueerCircle, Open City, Concept Kicks, Helen Kirkum and Uncommon Projects taking up tenancy in the new hub. If you’re a freelancer or a start-up business in the creative sector, it’s hard to imagine a more exciting and varied set of brands and business to surround yourself with.
If you haven’t checked our Bureau yet, we’d strongly encourage a visit – so if you’d like to set one up and see the creative resurgence in Greenwich first hand, let us know.
Join the club
Film still from ‘Thank you for living sustainably’ by Bine Bach for TAKT.
TAKT’s offbeat treat lauded by critics
What comes to mind when you think about environmental responsibility? Probably not broken teeth and flying china dogs. The latest campaign by young Danish director Bine Bach for eco furniture brand TAKT explores a series of outlandish and outrageous ways of talking about sustainability – and the critics are loving it, with industry experts adforum, Best Ads and 1.4 all citing it as their ‘ad of the week’ and ‘best creative commercial.’
With Bach’s distinctive vision and gift for deadpan comedy turned up to the nth degree alongside TAKT’s unique approach, no wonder it’s been so well received. This is an ad not to be skipped.
Watch now
With Bach’s distinctive vision and gift for deadpan comedy turned up to the nth degree alongside TAKT’s unique approach, no wonder it’s been so well received. This is an ad not to be skipped.
Watch now
The interior of London’s new LGBTQ+ Community Centre. Design and image by Martha Summers.
Design community’s team effort for London LGBTQ+ centre
It’s worth shouting out those special moments when design shows it can be more than an industry, and proves it’s a community, too. The overwhelming response to London’s new LGBTQ+ Community Centre is one such example.
When we reached out to our network to solicit furniture donations, we were bowled over with the generosity shown; and now since it’s opened, a number of wonderful press features have come out – including a two-page spread in Time Out (read it here) and a mention in the Guardian (and here, also).
Visit the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre online today.
When we reached out to our network to solicit furniture donations, we were bowled over with the generosity shown; and now since it’s opened, a number of wonderful press features have come out – including a two-page spread in Time Out (read it here) and a mention in the Guardian (and here, also).
Visit the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre online today.
From raw industrial core to warm colourful welcome. Image by Taran Wilkhu.
Zetteler HQ sets down firm roots in a flexible world
Last but not least, can we say that we’ve been absolutely blown away by the positive reception our new office has received?
Wallpaper* discussed how our ideas about ‘future of the workspace’ translates into the space; Dezeen explored the ‘distinctive zones’ that shape it; Design Milk celebrated how the office is ‘flexible for new ways of working post-pandemic’; Architects' Journal pays attention to the ‘shifts in colour’; and Design Anthology caught onto the homely feel, saying it ‘feels more like a contemporary East London apartment’.
Huge thanks go to Studio Rhonda for her design genius, and to Taran Wilkhu for his exceptional photography.
While we’ve embraced a fully flexible working culture, it was always important to have a home for our work – somewhere to keep our library, to collaborate IRL, to bump into our neighbours and have friends drop by. So far, we’ve shared the office with Extinction Rebellion, Lon-art, the Architecture Foundation’s Young Trustees, Standing Voice and, of course, Design Can, and we’re looking forward to seeing who else it can help.
Wallpaper* discussed how our ideas about ‘future of the workspace’ translates into the space; Dezeen explored the ‘distinctive zones’ that shape it; Design Milk celebrated how the office is ‘flexible for new ways of working post-pandemic’; Architects' Journal pays attention to the ‘shifts in colour’; and Design Anthology caught onto the homely feel, saying it ‘feels more like a contemporary East London apartment’.
Huge thanks go to Studio Rhonda for her design genius, and to Taran Wilkhu for his exceptional photography.
While we’ve embraced a fully flexible working culture, it was always important to have a home for our work – somewhere to keep our library, to collaborate IRL, to bump into our neighbours and have friends drop by. So far, we’ve shared the office with Extinction Rebellion, Lon-art, the Architecture Foundation’s Young Trustees, Standing Voice and, of course, Design Can, and we’re looking forward to seeing who else it can help.
+44 (0)7791 568890
Unit 73B Regent Studios
8 Andrews Road
London
E8 4QN
8 Andrews Road
London
E8 4QN