Images from the exhibition: Intervention Architecture, Barbican Dancer’s Studio for William Bracewell, 2020, 48 sqm, GIF image courtesy Anna Parker; Takeshi Hosaka Architects, The Love2 House, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 2019, 19 sqm, image courtesy Takeshi Hosaka; Elly Dijkshoorn, Untitled, “Small Things” series, acrylic paint, textiles, wallpaper, on birchwood, image courtesy the artist
“Small Spaces in the City: Rethinking Inside the Box”
Initiated, researched and written by Clare Farrow, “Small Spaces in the City: Rethinking Inside the Box’ (8 Sept. 2023 - 16 Mar. 2024) was commissioned by Roca London Gallery (in a building designed by Zaha Hadid), and looks at the challenges of tiny homes and workplaces in London, Tokyo, Berlin and other cities; in particular, at the innovative solutions to small spaces that are flexible, healthy, modular, inventive, mobile, vertical, and playful.
The exhibition was a press highlight of London Design Festival in 2023. With experiential scenography by Jean-Christophe Petillault, JCPCDR Architecture, Paris, cabinet-making by Thibault Pitois, and Exhibition Design by Tom Robinson. Featuring the prototype “Collective Curve” seating unit by architect Paola Bagna.
With a positive focus on health & wellbeing - including a scientific experiment by The Bartlett to create a probiotic workspace, special sections on ‘The Tokyo Model’ and Furniture ‘Design Metamorphosis’, research sections on ‘A Fascination with the Miniature’ and ‘Design Precedents for Small Spaces’, and an experimental dance film by Candida Richardson featuring William Bracewell (Principal Dancer at The Royal Ballet) - the exhibition features many original interviews by the curator with architects, interior designers, photographers and academics. Participants took part in a talk event, and a few copies of the origami-inspired, unfolding publication are still available.
Participants and Selected Content:
Introduction and Quote
The City in Crisis: A Voice of Concern Professor Phil Hubbard, King’s College London, Images (research images, London photography, illustration from “Alice in Wonderland”)
Materiality in the City Satoko Shinohara Quote, tactile material samples (stone, brick, preserved moss, Douglas Fir and Oak plywood, linoleum and polycarbonate)
Perceptions of Small Graphic by Patrick Morrissey to compare the average size of studio apartments in cities around the world
Design Precedents Diogenes’ barrell, Roman curule chair, Kaidan Tansu (Japanese stepped wooden drawers), Hokusai Tea House woodblock print, Shigeru Ban Paper Tea House, Mechanical Mirror Room and Desk (Le Petit Trianon and Versailles), Leonardo da Vinci Vitruvian Man, the Studios of Giorgio Morandi and Alberto Giacometti, Eileen Gray Adjustable Table and Petite Coiffeuse, Heath Robinson cartoons, Le Corbusier Le Cabanon, Gio Ponti Cabinet (integrated table & chairs), Bruno Munari quote, The Plia Chair, Joe Colombo Mobile Mini-Kitchen & Total Furnishing Unit, Nakagin Capsule Tower (copy of original brochure)
A Fascination with the Miniature 4 ‘Small Things’ Collages by Elly Dijkshoorn (artworks, see Gallery Lightness21), William Blake poem, “Alice in Wonderland” quotes & colour postcards, Netsuke (Man with Dice), tiny Gaming Dice (18th-century objects), Dolls’ Houses, “Gulliver’s Travels” (Jonathan Swift, copy), Brontë miniature books, 1930s wooden chess set (object), tiny Ceramics by Yuta Segawa (objects), Bonsai woodblock print & seeds (object), miniature Japanese Zen garden (object)
States of Being 1 Dance Film with William Bracewell by Candida Richardson (wall projection)
The Hong Kong Experience Michael Wolf 2 ‘Architecture of Density’ photo artworks, Gary Chang (architect)
The Tokyo Model (Tokyo adviser Toshiki Hirano) Photogrammetry series (6 photographic prints on film), Rika-Chan doll’s house (object), Satoko Shinohara, Takeshi Hosaka Architects
Tiny Trends & A Sustainable Choice Colin Chee, Never Too Small
London Solutions Proctor & Shaw, Intervention Architecture
States of Being 2 Dance Film with William Bracewell by Candida Richardson (screen & sound)
Design Metamorphosis: Multifunctional & Transforming Furniture Nendo, Robert van Embricqs, Jongha Choi, Eneris Collective
New York nArchitects
Sweden White Arkitekter
Seville Studio Noju
Paris JCPCDR Architecture
Berlin Paola Bagna
Health & Wellbeing Probiotic Living Microbial Workspace (Desk & Microbial Panels) by Richard Beckett, Associate Professor, The Bartlett School of Architecture, Plia Chair, Tree Photography by Kaupo Kikkas, Living Plants
Collective Curve Reading-Seating-Playing Unit by Paola Bagna with books on the theme of Small Spaces
Conclusion
Selected Press:
‘Why small homes are the next big thing’, Financial Times, 23 Sept. 2023
‘Small Spaces in the City: Rethinking Inside the Box’, Roca London Gallery, 8 Sept. 2023
‘Small Spaces in the City, an interview with Clare Farrow’, Never Too Small, 30 Jan. 2024
Photos by Brotherton Lock, courtesy Roca London Gallery
See below for further images from the exhibition.
Introduction:
In the midst of a cost of living, health and housing crisis, more and more city dwellers are finding themselves living and working in small spaces.
In this interdisciplinary exhibition for Roca London Gallery, Clare Farrow, founder of Clare Farrow Studio, looks at a brilliant array of designs, from London to Tokyo and Berlin to Seoul, that have responded to the challenge of small spaces with millimetre precision, multifunctional concepts and a playful inventiveness that also highlights changing patterns in society.
These micro-solutions and tiny, ordered sanctuaries, which are trending on social media, also propose a lighter, more sustainable way of living and working, where the city becomes an extension of the home, and privacy is balanced with community. It is a positive vision of the future, for some.
Stepping back, the exhibition looks at the design precedents for compact living and furniture metamorphosis, and examines the fascination with the miniature that has been a continuous, imaginative thread in the history of art, architecture, philosophy and literature.
Questions are also asked. How can these small space concepts, which use mobility, vertical stacking, modular flexibility, natural materials and ingenious storage solutions, be applied to all types of housing, to benefit everyone? And can a small space only work for a single person or young couple, with minimalist minds? What about an older person, a pet owner, a collector or young family?
Presenting a wide spectrum of interviews by the curator, with experiments, research studies, and a specially commissioned dance film that explores movement and states of being in a small space, we look at the proposals and realities of tiny living, and explore new ways to be happy and healthy inside the box.
Research, Curation and Writing: Clare Farrow
Support: Oberflex (timber panels); KGK Genix (printing sponsor, supporting local art colleges); Sonae Arauco (Innovus); Silvera; Bramble & Moss; les deux portes
Scenography: Jean-Christophe Petillault, JCPCDR Architecture
Exhibition Design: Tom Robinson
Design Collaboration and ‘Collective Curve’ seating unit: Paola Bagna
Cabinet Maker: Thibault Pitois
Graphic Design: Patrick Morrissey, Unlimited
Project Management: Clare Farrow Studio
Installation Assistance: Ana Bea, and students from the AA and Goldsmiths
This exhibition is dedicated to my parents A.B. and L.D. Farrow.
Images above: Richard Beckett, Associate Professor at The Bartlett School of Architecture, ‘Living in a Probiotic Microbial Space’, installation of a workspace with microbial panels and plants, and a Plia Chair, photo by Brotherton Lock courtesy Roca London Gallery; John Tenniel, black line illustration of ‘Alice Outgrowing the Room’, published in “Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll, 1865, image public domain; Paola Bagna, ‘Collective Curve’, modular reading and seating unit designed for the exhibition, photo by Brotherton Lock, courtesy Roca London Gallery; William Bracewell in his Dressing Room, Royal Opera House, a still from the short film “States of Being” by Candida Richardson.
Below: Leonardo da Vinci quote and London section, photo by Brotherton Lock, courtesy Roca London Gallery; Curator Clare Farrow in the furniture section with “De-Dimension” designs by Jongha Choi, Seoul, South Korea, and “Nontalo” stool by Eneris Collective, Barcelona, photo by Lan-Tien Sophia Guo; Candida Richardson, William Bracewell and Clare Farrow, filming “States of Being”, ROH, May 2023; Talk Event panel, photo by Lan-Tien Sophia Guo; “Collective Curve” by Paola Bagna in situ, photo CF; “A Fascination with the Miniature’ wooden chess set 1930s and tiny ceramics by Yuta Segawa, photo CF; Rika-Chan Dolls House arranged by the KUMA LAB, ‘The Tokyo Model’ section, photo CF; William Bracewell in his Dressing Room, May 2023, photo CF.
