London Design Festival
www.thedesignermagazine.com 73
“You could say that,” replied Rudge. “After all, if you’ve got a big tent
– or in our case, endless brick caverns – you can do what you like in it.
“I’ve brought the original spirit of 100% Design – the nature of
it, the surprise of it. You end up with what you didn’t expect. That
show was set up to highlight emerging designers, and it was radical.
Now it’s time to do something new again. And the wonderful nature
of the Brewery makes us free to do what we want there.”
MacDonald is easy and affable, with a personal charisma that
touches everything. It only partly conceals a steely determination
to ever-sharpen design’s cutting edge. He is a tireless proselytiser
for new talent, and has in the past scoured not only all parts of
the British Isles, but even the Continent, pushing on as far afield as
Russia and Israel in a quest for the greatest grads of all. Talent Zone
Left: Cabinet by
at Tent will present this year’s cream of the crop.
Boca Do Lobo of
Tent is the “natural evolution” of 100% East, says MacDonald.
Portugal Brands –
“East was the incubator for 100% Design, and probably generated
Your Space,
Tent London
100% Futures [see our separate preview on page 66]. What’s interesting
now is that commercial designers are slowly starting to follow the lead
of emerging designers, to mimic their initiatives and audacity.”
“And you mustn’t forget the exhibitors,” MacDonald says. “They
“I WANTED TO MOvE ON
are crucial to us. We are not ‘infrastructuring’ them financially
because we can’t. But they often want to work together with us on
TO SOMETHING NEW… YOU
new ideas and installations that may not currently be core to their
business at all.” Adds Rudge: “We give people the chance to test new
HAvE TO kEEP PUSHING
things, to try out the market, to get feedback.”
“But we’ve got to stay fresh,” says MacDonald. “The recipe we’ve
YOURSELF. IT’S A CHALLENGE,
got does mean we can change what we do each year and keep it
surprising. But we will only put in product and companies if they’ve
BUT IT LEADS YOU TO
got something to say. And if they want to do something specific,
with a more grandiose agenda, then we are there to showcase that.”
THE UNEXPECTED”
On a more homely note – and unusually for such shows – the
public (and children included) are welcome throughout, and
exhibitors can sell design direct from their stands.
It’s gone the other way around, then? “Yes, we’ve now got big I joked about the leaks in previous years, when there had been
companies coming to join us.” As an example, Jimmy cites Sony a few strategic buckets. Rudge gave a typically quick and bullish
Ericsson arriving to launch the latest in mobile technology: the response: “Ah, but we know where they are now, you see, and we’ve
new XperiaTM X1. Coles will be at Tent this year, as will Ercol and got it all fixed.”
Marimekko. The pair are keen to push design to the furthest limits of
So who does what at Tent, exactly? “That’s a truly tricky one,” technology. Prime example is this year’s winner of the ground-
says Rudge. MacDonald adds: “I’m good at running shows and Ian is breaking Workspace Group Urbantine Project. This is a competition
at ideas.” for ‘fast architecture’. The winner gets £10,000 to build a pavilion
They do a double act even in conversation, but do they at Tent during the London Design Festival. It has to go up in a
sometimes quarrel? MacDonald: “Of course we bloody do – but couple of days, and come down in half that time, “so less-recognised
that’s part of the process.” architects can showcase their ideas in three dimensions,” says
Ian responds: “You have to get things out into the open. But we MacDonald.
always come through it. One of us always gives in.” Currently, they This year, the brief was a digital challenge, and the winner is the
seem amicable enough. Working Architecture Group (www.wag-architecture.co.uk) with a ➔
Tent p.indd 73 28/8/08 15:19:54
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