Reading Design: Falling

Inspired by the action poems of Fluxus artist Mieko Shiomi (b.1938), designers and thinkers led a series of workshops at Reading Design. ‘What do we notice when we fall?’ they asked. The result is a series of human-sized objects made from off-cuts and remnants of earlier projects sourced from around the Farm, with an emphasis on working with what already exists: the leftover, the unstable and the in-between. For LDF 2025, our satellite venue in Marylebone - London House - will be transformed to host these objects, fragments and casts, alongside film and photography by George Baggaley. Workshop 1: Design thinker, Maurizio Altieri in collaboration with curator Luca Lo Pinto, worked with plaster-casting and wet-moulding leather to capture fingerprints and create masks and prosthetics, transforming body parts into traces of hardened skin. Workshop 2: Designer and Creative Director of Grymsdyke Farm, Marco Campardo, and Venetian artist Lorenzo Vitturi explored falling as a conceptual shift and a physical gesture. Using foam and clay as a starting point, students experimented with sandcasting in aluminium to capture the fleeting state of matter. Workshop 3: Danish artist FOS (Thomas Poulsen) and Guan Lee, Founding Director of Grymsdyke Farm, worked with students to create a series of objects that gave shape to new social spaces, from chairs made from scrap in one afternoon to monumental fridges resembling Neolithic standing stones. Workshop 4: Soft Baroque and the students investigated pulp as both material and metaphor. Starting from the industrial process that gives rise to pulp products, the workshop examined how construction and culture are increasingly defined by fragmented, reconstituted elements. Students for Reading Design came from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds including Architecture, Industrial Design, Innovation Design Engineering, Fine Art, Anthropology and Jewellery Design: Karolina Adamiec; Joseph Bonetti; Andia Chan; Shouhui Chen; Luna Copponex; Guandong Diao; Priyanshi Dhanrajbhai Jain; Emily Foster; Eliza Friend; Joe Horgan; Eddie Huddart; Zarin Islam; Richard Kirk; Murat Kurul; Mingxuan Ma; Curro Guillen Martinez; Seb Masters; Margaux Richler, and Tianqin Yang. Our thinking and making was also shaped by a programme of Reading Design Talks by eminent writers and curators: Leonard Koren, Rujana Rebernjak, Yeoryia Manolopoulou, Laura Houseley and Vicky Richardson. Visit Reading Design: Falling is at London House, 29 Molyneux Street, London W1H 5HW The exhibition will be open from 2pm to 7pm from 15-21 September, and by appointment. To arrange a visit outside these hours, message +44 7951 031228 Are you interested in shaping a new future for design education? Reading Design is design school as it should be: exploring design, making, materials and ideas, while emphasising creative freedom alongside tuition by leading designers and makers. We are seeking patrons who are interested in supporting young talent and shaping a new future outlook for design education. About Grymsdyke Farm Grymsdyke Farm is a shared space for design experimentation located just outside London. Over the past 20 years the Farm has repurposed its agricultural buildings to create maker spaces and communal facilities where traditional craftsmanship blends with modern digital design. We host workshops with design studios and architectural practices, and support university design and architecture programmes. About London House London House is a satellite location for Grymsdyke Farm, situated in Marylebone in central London. Here we host events and exhibitions that celebrate design and architecture, often in partnership with cultural and educational organisations. Get in touch to enquire about hiring our facilities and spaces for workshops and events. Email: grymsdykefarm@gmail.com Keep in touch! To join our mailing list for events and workshops, subscribe here https://www.grymsdykefarm.com/vision