Henrietta Thompson: All Bets on Barcelona

Henrietta Thompson is an exuberant visionary and thought leader in the design world. The former design editor of Wallpaper – now editor-at-large – is responsible for the chair arch at the London Design Festival (pictured here), the popular ReMake It: Home (2009) a DIY design guide employing good design for a resourceful waste-free lifestyle, and is a shepherd for a myriad of upcoming projects connecting designers with innovation companies, most if not all fueled by technology. Her mission is to make design more accessible in the next few years. “Design,” she says, “should not be an elitist proposition or an expensive style statement. Design has so much more to offer.”

In service of her hypothesis, she finds ways to work with designers to explore new conceptual products along trends and themes that show how far innovative thinking can make a difference. One such instance was the Hearwear exhibition where she worked with fifteen top designers to rethink the future of hearing. The results kickstarted a wave of innovation in mobile phone companies as well as audio and hearing aid manufacturers.  In a similar vein, after observing that more people are opting to stay in and entertain at home, she challenged designers to create elements that turn a home into a great nightlife space, a feature that appeared in Wallpaper. One whimsical design (whose company Kiwi and Pom is directed by a woman, Emma Young) was a disco chair; when the lights go down the electroluminescent wires fire up. (pictured)

Now she’s working on two new projects, both of which are under wraps but I can hint that one involves an approach to architecture that I’ve never quite seen before – one that genuinely made my jaw drop when she told me about it – and the other is with a web-based business that encourages a more interactive approach to consuming design.

While working on her mission to make design accessible to a wider audience she also has the goal to make a wider audience more accessible to designers. She says that designers are often frustrated. They have incredible ideas and could supply innovation for so many avenues but too often they get stuck in the styling side of the business – “making furniture and home accessories that only a very small proportion of the world’s population buy into”, and, she adds, “very few actually need.” But due to increased awareness toward a social agenda, she says that priorities in the industry are definitely shifting. If you look at the way the music, film, and art worlds have been transformed by the Internet, it’s only natural that design should follow suit.  Open source means sky’s the limit. She mentioned Nina Tolstrup whose project allows people in developing countries to download patterns to make chairs out of shipping pallets (a.k.a. wood crates for us Americans), and which is as popular with design collectors as it is in developing countries – where charities are using the blueprints to create new employment and economic opportunities.  We also discussed made.com, a site that works similarly to print on demand in the book business. Designs are shown on the site and furniture is made as orders come in. The convergent innovation is endless and she acts as a connector of sorts between the different worlds.

Nina Tolstrup, Pallet Project

I asked her how she envisioned the future of design and she said:  “Form and function are pretty much standard these days, so I’d like to see designers put more emphasis on beauty: products that are a genuine pleasure to use. And on the other side of the coin, I’d like to see designers apply their considerable skills to solving real problems, taking more of an interest in social issues.” She also renounced the superfluousness of the luxury industry. “I really think people are bored with ‘design’ in that sense. There are so many problems in the world. I want the ‘problems in the world’ and the design industry to together.”  She added that a lot of people just don’t get what design and architecture can be, and as a result can be very suspicious of it. “I want to engage people in the process a bit more.”

On a different note, though based in London, Henrietta has a second home here in Barcelona. She is absolutely mad about this city and sees a lot of potential for its design future even in the wake of the lingering economic crisis. She gave me a list of her favorite design firms.  I sorted through them and ‘favorited’ my own within the list.  Here’s that slideshow:

Henrietta’s Barcelona Designers You Should Know

Apparatu
Emiliana Design
Vasava and their gallery, Vallery
Lagranja
Brosmind
Diego Fortunato
Ramos Bassols
Lazaro Rosa-Violan
Cuaderno Bandada
Mariscal
Nani Marquina
Bd Barcelona
EMBT

My Barcelona Favorites Plucked From Henrietta’s Picks

A few final questions

What are some of your interests outside design?

I travel a huge amount, if that counts as an interest. I like yoga. I also like rock climbing, fashion, art, dance – especially contemporary dance but I love ballet and Flamenco. I just bought a guitar but I can’t play it yet. I like cooking but I don’t do enough of it. And I like cocktails, particularly martinis.

What’s your writing routine?

I write after I’ve done absolutely everything else. I procrastinate massively but I’m a very productive procrastinator. It helps for me to talk to others about the thing I’m going to write about so when I do get to writing I’m clearer about what I’m trying to say.

Do you do any other kind of writing ?

I wrote a children’s book. It is about a penguin. It was for my nephew. I don’t know that I would ever do that professionally but it was fun.

Why are there so few female players in the design world.? After this interview, she pointed out an article in the New York Times that came out then reporting that 68% of the student body of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) are female.

I’ve spent quite a lot of time in Scandinavia recently, and I’ve noticed that you do seem to find more women in Scandinavia designing than you do in London. I think this is true of the workplace in general in Scandinavia though – they have systems in place to make it easier when it comes to maternity leave, and generally attitudes to professional women are a lot healthier. It’s interesting – many of the talented women I can think of off the top of my head in London are part of a husband and wife team or part of a collective.

I’ve just posted a New York design feature. What are your thoughts on design in the U.S. these days?

I think it is slowly picking up steam. There’s a new gallery in Chicago called Volume which is doing some impressive work. Design Miami is having an effect too. I went to ICFF for the first time last year, which I thought had potential There were a few interesting things going on around town. As for designers, I like Paul Loebach, Rich Brilliant and Willing (see the Julie Taraska feature slideshow for my favorite picks from both of those designers) and there are some talented designer-makers in Brooklyn. There’s definitely more of a scene than there has been but it needs to add something new to the mix, something that’s not going on anywhere else. It seems to still be in the catch up stages.

Friday • March 11, 2011 • by Chauncey Zalkin

Category: Barcelona, Cities, Thinkers