'Discovered' showcases emerging talent at the Design Museum in London

The Design Museum announces an installation of personal works from a globe-spanning roster of emerging design talent. A collaboration between, the Design Museum, Wallpaper* and the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), Discovered is a global initiative featuring pieces by 20 graduate designers selected from 16 countries. Ranging from functional furniture to sculptural objects, the pieces on display at theLondon Design Festival, are the result of a process of reflection and experimentation, supported by a programme of mentorship from established global designers – including Tomoko Azumi, Maria Jeglinska-Adamczewska, Nathan Yong and Adam Markowitz, as well as Wallpaper* editor-in-chief Sarah Douglas, and David Venables and Rod Wiles from AHEC.

Selected from the annual Wallpaper* Graduate Directories and through AHEC’s own design network, the 20 participants were invited to formulate a personal response to the pandemic year using their choice of wild-grown woods: American red oak, hard and soft maple and cherry. Despite their versatility and abundance – making up 40% of the standing volume of timber in the US hardwood forests – these species are rarely used in contemporary furniture making. Their use in Discovered therefore represents a move away from the fashionable and transient, to an inherently more sustainable use of the forest. As well as showcasing the character and capability of these unusual timber varieties, the outcome is a diverse and imaginative meditation on notions of isolation and connection, our relationship with the everyday objects with which we surround ourselves, and an exploration of the changing resonances of domestic and public space.

Drawing on their diverse cultural backgrounds and sense of identity, each designer has channelled their own experience into material form. Some have created pieces that celebrate contemplation and mindfulness; others have created objects that respond to the mental and physical adaptations that life under coronavirus has made necessary. Some have delved into the design traditions and social rituals of their own heritage, actively involving their families in the design process; others have chosen to focus on materiality and the comfort derived from physical touch.

From armchairs to keepsake cabinets, abstract objects that tempt with tactility to chairs that transform into slides, Discovered offers a multifaceted and truly global perspective on what it means to be a young designer at an extraordinary time for the world.

13 September – 10 October 2021

the Design Museum, London