Textiles: Architect David Adjaye Designs Textile Collection inspired by Africa for KnollTextiles
The Adjaye Collection, David Adjaye for Knoll
[image credit: The Adjaye Collection, Aswan upholstery by David Adjaye for Knoll]
The Adjaye Collection is a visually stimulating range of textiles designed by architect, David Adjaye for KnollTextiles. Working in collaboration with Dorothy Cosonas, KnollTextiles Creative Director, the collection is inspired by Africa, blending the influences of the architect’s African heritage with the language of modern textile design. And, through the collection David aim is to challenge the stereotypical images that often define Africa. Presented at the NeoCon commercial interior design trade show in Chicago, the collection corresponds with the recent opening of ‘David Adjaye Selects‘, an exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum that was curated by David.
Influenced by a number of objects and textiles from the Museum’s permanent collections, the Adjaye Collection features nine woven or printed designs whose patterns draw on geography, nature, African architecture, culture, classical motifs and textile dyeing processes. And, each design is named after a place on the continent that David cherishes. The Adjaye Collection comprises upholstery, drapery, and wall coverings and will be officially launched in September 2015.
KnollTextiles is a division of Knoll, the New York-based design firm whom David collaborated with on several furniture designs that I featured previously on Atelier Fifty-Five. The Aswan textile, above, is a dynamic, digitally printed pattern that is inspired by a traditional African kente cloth from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum collection, and reflects the colours and energy from the region of origin.
I loved this idea of using textiles as way to dispel stereotypical images of the continent. That is the narrative that runs through both the exhibition and the collection. – David Adjaye, OBE
[image credit: The Adjaye Collection, Cairo upholstery by David Adjaye for Knoll]
The architectural geometric pattern of the Cairo upholstery is based on David’s own pyramidal line drawing.
[image credit: The Adjaye Collection, Harare wallcovering by David Adjaye for Knoll]
Harare is a printed wallcovering that references the pattern of an Adrinka Wrapper from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum collection. Although printed the design exudes a feeling of movement generally found in a woven textile
[image credit: The Adjaye Collection, Kampala upholstery by David Adjaye for Knoll]
Kampala is inspired by examples of the traditional woven caps worn by men, and part of the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum collection.
[image credit: The Adjaye Collection, Meroe upholstery by David Adjaye for Knoll]
A Pelete Bite Wrapper from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum inspired the graphic line drawn pattern of the Meroe design.
[image credit: The Adjaye Collection, Dakar drapery by David Adjaye for Knoll]
Using David’s own artwork as a starting point, the Dakar textile is an architecturally rooted design, which references the coastal city of Western Senegal .
By taking David out of architecture and into textiles we translated his point of view on geometric and organic systems through varied weave structures and construction techniques. – Dorothy Cosonas, Creative Director KnollTextiles.
[Image credit: The Adjaye Collection, Lagos upholstery by David Adjaye for Knoll]
The Lagos textile design is influenced by an Akwete cloth from the permanent collection of The Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.
[image credit: The Adjaye Collection, Djenne upholstery by David Adjaye for Knoll]
The Djenne textile is inspired by the texture and form of woven raffia and wool men’s cap from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum collection.
[image credit: The Adjaye Collection, Kumasi drapery by David Adjaye for Knoll]
The Kumasi textile design is inspired by the patterns displayed on an Adinkra Wrapper from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum collection.
Additional information sourced from:
www.dezeen.com
Additional details:
David Adjaye Selects at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum runs from 19 June 2015-14 February 2016
For further information about the exhibition visit: www.cooperhewitt.org
http://www.cooperhewitt.org/events/current-exhibitions/david-adjaye-selects/For further information about the Adjaye Collection for Knoll visit: www.knoll.com
For further information about David Adjaye visit: www.adjaye.com
[Image credits: All images belong to Knoll. If downloaded and used elsewhere please credit accordingly.]
