Mathew Williamson at Design Museum

Matthew Williamson is a unique success story within the British fashion industry. Ten years after setting out on his own as a fashion graduate in 1997, he now has a store in the heart of Mayfair, his collections are worn by celebrity clients including Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow and Sienna Miller, and he is Creative Director at Pucci. This overview will present his most iconic designs and will deconstruct the process behind his work, illuminating his distinctive use of pattern, print and colour.

17 October – 31 January 2007 at Design Museum

President's Lectures and Forums 2007

IVAN CHERMAYEFF

Date: Wednesday 31st October 2007
Location: Peacock Theatre, London

A prolific designer, illustrator, and artist, Chermayeff has created memorable, iconic images for literally hundreds of clients. He studied at Harvard, the Institute of Design in Chicago, and received a BFA at Yale. In 1957 he formed Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar with Tom Geismar, who he met at Yale, & Robert Brownjohn, a friend and former student of Ivan's father, architect Serge Chermayeff.

By 1960, Brownjohn had left and Chermayeff and Geismar pioneered abstract corporate symbols with designs for the Chase Manhattan Bank and others, and in 1963 began their 38-year consulting relationship with Mobil Oil Corporation.

Ivan's posters, publications and art installations for contemporary buildings have received nearly every award bestowed by the profession, including gold medals from the AIGA and the Industrial Art Medal from the American Institute of Architects. Chermayeff & Geismar have published two books on their work ‘TM:’ in 2000 and ‘designing’ in 2003.

Ivan will be showing standout designs from fifty years of pioneering work and will be talking about his career, design philosophy.

Taken from D&AD site

Singapore Uncovered 2007 Event Report by Calvin Chua

Singapore Uncovered 2007 - Designing Singapore Panel Discussion

The Singapore Uncovered festival was launched last Thursday 4th October on a high note with a panel discussion on Designing Singapore at the Royal Gardens Hotel, London. I was very privilege to be one of the three SCNUK architecture students to be sponsored by Contact
Singapore for this event. Not only did I leave the event being more informed about design developments in Singapore, it was also heart warming to converse with the panelist on a personal level.

The panel consisted of key Singapore architects, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong – although not an architect by training but he was influential in leading and 'designing' Singapore in the nineties – Mr Liu Thai Ker, ex-Chief Planner in URA; and very prominent British architects, which included Jack Pringle who was chairing the discussion, Graham Cartledge and Michael Wilford who played a pivotal role in Singapore's architectural scene, such as the realisation of our Esplanade.

The discussion started with SM Goh giving a brief history of Singapore's building, planning and architectural developments, followed by Mr Liu who expounded on the possibilities and vision of
Singapore's architectural and design scene. Various pertinent Singapore architectural issues very were brought up during the discussion, such as question of sustainability in our buildings, the 'disneyfication' of our architecture and heritage and the over emphasis of architecture as the main driving force in our design industry. I also posted a question on the level of public involvement in our architectural projects, and if Singapore could learn from the British in this aspect. Interestingly, each of the panelists had different interpretations on my question and gave a whole range of insightful replies, such as the problem with Private Public Partnership architectural projects and how Singapore should not model after it. However, I felt that the time allocated for discussion was too short given that the participants were very forthcoming in their
opinions and Jack Pringle had to make the difficult decision in ending the discussion even though there were several participants wanting to post their questions.

After the discussion, dinner was fabulous, not only because of the delicious Singaporean food, but also the opportunity in interacting with other participants and especially SM Goh and Mr Liu, who shared their vision and thoughts on our design culture and society on a very personal level. Indeed, the panel discussion was intellectually stimulating and I believe each of us took home another perspective of Singapore's architectural development.

Calvin Chua
Architectural Association
School Of Architecture
SCNUK member