See you at the London Design Festival 2022

“Ukraine. Design for real time”
Brompton Design District / Cromwell Place
4 Cromwell Place, London, UK
September 15 to 25

Gropius Low Chair Military Edition
By Kateryna Sokolova & NOOM in collaboration with Nataliya Bakulina & Antonina Latayko

Concept:

The exhibition shows two periods of Ukrainian design: before and after February 24, and how the essence and principle of artistic design are changing in a historical context. Combining the chair’s form that was developed in peacetime with a camouflage net from wartime, we aimed to convey our feelings. For every Ukrainian, the world, regardless of his age and profession, is divided into "Before" and "After," and design has acquired new meanings and functions.

Make yourself at home:

Our installation is a manifesto - an attempt to draw attention to the fact that the war is not over; the war continues. Ukraine is a home for millions of people, for millions of women and children who are forced to seek out temporary asylum. We are grateful to be able to team up with Brompton Design District and its curator Jane Withers Studio to represent the theme of the festival ‘Make Yourself At Home. London Design Festival has become a temporary home for Gropius Low chair Military Edition, just as Europe has become a temporary home for hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians.

The Process:

Design is a method of solving specific problems; it is primarily about function, which is followed by a clear aesthetic form. Design finds its place in war. After February 24th, Ukrainian designers focused on functional objects that were necessary for the new wartime reality. These objects help solve problems in bomb shelters, temporary shelters, dugouts, temporary hospitals, and bombed houses.

In Vinnytsia and other cities and villages of Ukraine, with the outbreak of the war, there are many centers where willing locals and people who moved from the North, East, and South of Ukraine are convening to weave camouflage nets for military needs.

VinnSolard is one of those centers where, from the earliest days of the war, people of various professions worked on camo nets, united by a single goal - victory.

Among those who joined the volunteering were Antonina Latayko, art director and a graphic designer from Kyiv, and Nataliya Bakulina, producer and, until recently, editor of ELLE Decoration Ukraine.

The net with which the Gropius chair has been upholstered was woven in the original technique, developed by volunteers from the VinnSolard Center, located in Vinnytsia.

Mathematician Svetlana has woven the net base for the Gropius chair, which has more than 4,000 knots. From Vinnytsia, the base was transferred to production in Kyiv, where it was stretched on a chair over fabric upholstery. After that Tonya and Nata tied colored pieces of fabric that remained from our production to the chair.

#standwithukraine

If you want to help Ukraine: 

Ukraine launches global initiative United24. Its goal is to unite people from all over the world in their desire to help Ukraine.
A fundraising platform United24 provides the ability to make a donation in one click from any country. The funds are distributed in three areas of assistance:

- Defense and demining
- Humanitarian and medical care
- Reconstruction of Ukraine

Real ways you can help Ukraine as a foreigner can be found here: 
https://u24.gov.ua/

#StandwithUkraine 💙💛