Pub tales: Mad Atelier reconstruct a boozer for LDF
‘A good local pub,’ the poet and artist William Blake once said, ‘has much in common with a church, except that a pub is warmer, and there’s more conversation.’ He wasn’t wrong – often the corner of the community, pubs are fertile ground for a good old chat, what with the lubrication a pint brings to the voice box and the ego. The Lord Cecil in London’s Clapton, which closed its doors in 2006, was no different. Now Mad Atelier – the design boutique sister business of architecture practice MAD, which took over the building after 12 years of dereliction – wants to bring some of the Lord Cecil’s stories to light through an installation inspired by locals’ memories.
And crikey, those memories don’t disappoint. From the romantic tale of a client who met her husband in the pub 20 years ago to a devastating fire, even a panther that roamed the premises 1980s, Mad Atelier’s founders Chantal Martinelli and Julien Desormeaux have been gathering oral histories from the Lord Cecil’s regulars since they opened their store and studio in 2017.
For London Design Festival this year (14-30 September 2018), Chantal and Julien will create a pop-up pup inspired by the stories, aesthetic and lock-ins of the Lord Cecil. Fusing Mad Atelier’s distinctly Mediterranean feel with all the character of an East End pub, the installation will consist of a shell of a bar, filled with furniture, decorative features, sounds and scents that each reflect a different facet of the Lord Cecil’s remembered past. Fittingly they’ll also be drinks available, including traditional British spirits paired with Mediterranean mixers or spices and vice versa.
‘I like to think of design as a representation of how people live, think and dream,’ says Julien. ‘We had the idea to reverse this relationship and tell a story through design. So we started exploring the theme of memories. The project is inspired by the concept of reconstructive memory – the idea that memories are shaped by the beliefs and emotions of the person doing the remembering.’
Want to know more about Mad Atelier’s story? Read our Q&A with founders Chantal Martinelli and Julien Desormeaux here.
We’ve been shouting from the rooftops about Mad Atelier’s fusion of Mediterranean style and collectible design ever since we took them under our PR wing. To find out more about what we do, check out its client page here.
8 Andrews Road
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E8 4QN