BarberOsgerby
Encyclopedia
BarberOsgerby is a furniture
and industrial design
studio established in 1996 by British designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby.
, England and studied interior design at Leeds Polytechnic. Jay Osgerby, from Oxford
, completed a foundation art programme at Oxford Brookes University
and studied product design at Ravensbourne College of Art and Design of Art in London. They met while studying a postgraduate course in Architecture at the Royal College of Art
. At the RCA their collaboration in design projects started through their friendship and soon developed into a work relationship. After graduating from the RCA they set up a studio at the Trellick Tower
in West London. It was here that they first designed the Loop Table, which was first manufactured by Isokon
. It was show-cased at the Milan Furniture Fair in 1996 and spotted by Giulio Cappellini
, owner of the great Italian manufacturing company. This relationship blossomed, and a series of products were developed bringing early international acclaim to the studio.
Much of Barber and Osgerby’s early work involved the folding and shaping of sheet material, influenced by the white card that they had used frequently in architectural model making. Plywood and perspex were used in the development of the Pilot Table, 1999, and Stencil Screen, 2000. The experimental Hula Stool, 2001, originated from sheet plywood, reassembled to create complex, compound curves. The Shell Table, 2002, (nominated for the Compasso d’Oro) and Shell Chair, were further structural studies in plywood.
In 2002 the pair were asked to design furniture for Portsmouth Cathedral in England and in 2004 were awarded the Jerwood Applied Arts Prize. This led to a commission to design new pieces for the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill On Sea. One of the resulting pieces, a die cast aluminium chair is now in the collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
The Zero-In table was produced by British company Established & Sons in 2005, as part of their launch collection. The table employed car industry techniques in its construction, including compound shell moulding, never before used in the furniture industry. In 2007 Barber and Osgerby were commissioned to design the furniture for the reception of the Royal Institute of British Architects in Portland Place. They were made Royal Designers for Industry by the Royal Society of Arts and launched Tab for Flos, a return to the folded form, in the same year.
The limited edition Iris tables were created in 2008 for the Established & Sons gallery. Known for their use of colour, with Iris Barber and Osgerby developed a new direction, using colour as the starting point for the work. In 2009, Barber and Osgerby launched their first major commission for Murano glassmakers, Venini. This resulted in a series of unique glass vases, created in limited editions and shown in Milan, Porto Cervo and London.
2010 saw the creation of an installation with Sony at the Milan Salone del Mobile Internazionale and an exploration into experimental objects and environments. The installation was an immersive, anechoic space engineered to eliminate ambient sounds and concentrate the senses on the soundscape created by the designers through prototype speakers that also included lighting. These objects explored and exploited Sony’s new innovations in sound technology to transform ordinary materials into sound-emitting objects.
Both professors of design at ECAL (Ecole Cantonale D'art de Lausanne), Barber and Osgerby have lectured internationally and hosted workshops at Ecal, Switzerland and the Vitra Design Museum. Barber and Osgerby's designs can be found in the permanent collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Art Institute of Chicago
, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York.
, Levi's, Panasonic, Authentics, Pantone
, Swarovski
, Venini and Established & Sons, among others. They have also designed furniture for public interior spaces such as The De La Warr Pavilion
, the Royal Institute of British Architects
and the St. Thomas Cathedral in Portsmouth
, England, and sculptural pieces for public spaces including Greenwich Park
.
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
and industrial design
Industrial design
Industrial design is the use of a combination of applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, and usability of a product, but it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and production...
studio established in 1996 by British designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby.
Biography
Edward Barber was born in ShrewsburyShrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
, England and studied interior design at Leeds Polytechnic. Jay Osgerby, from Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, completed a foundation art programme at Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University is a new university in Oxford, England. It was named to honour the school's founding principal, John Brookes. It has been ranked as the best new university by the Sunday Times University Guide 10 years in a row...
and studied product design at Ravensbourne College of Art and Design of Art in London. They met while studying a postgraduate course in Architecture at the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
. At the RCA their collaboration in design projects started through their friendship and soon developed into a work relationship. After graduating from the RCA they set up a studio at the Trellick Tower
Trellick Tower
Trellick Tower is a 31-storey block of flats in North Kensington, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. It was designed in the Brutalist style by architect Ernő Goldfinger, after a commission from the Greater London Council in 1966, and completed in 1972...
in West London. It was here that they first designed the Loop Table, which was first manufactured by Isokon
Isokon
The London-based Isokon firm was founded in 1929 to design and construct modernist houses and flats, and subsequently furniture and fittings for them...
. It was show-cased at the Milan Furniture Fair in 1996 and spotted by Giulio Cappellini
Giulio Cappellini
Giulio Cappellini is the owner of Italian design firm Cappellini based in Milan. The firm's collections are "known for tapping new trends and far-flung talents" and have included sofas, kitchen sinks, shelving and light fixtures "displayed in an industrial hangar far from the gold-plated shopping...
, owner of the great Italian manufacturing company. This relationship blossomed, and a series of products were developed bringing early international acclaim to the studio.
Much of Barber and Osgerby’s early work involved the folding and shaping of sheet material, influenced by the white card that they had used frequently in architectural model making. Plywood and perspex were used in the development of the Pilot Table, 1999, and Stencil Screen, 2000. The experimental Hula Stool, 2001, originated from sheet plywood, reassembled to create complex, compound curves. The Shell Table, 2002, (nominated for the Compasso d’Oro) and Shell Chair, were further structural studies in plywood.
In 2002 the pair were asked to design furniture for Portsmouth Cathedral in England and in 2004 were awarded the Jerwood Applied Arts Prize. This led to a commission to design new pieces for the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill On Sea. One of the resulting pieces, a die cast aluminium chair is now in the collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
The Zero-In table was produced by British company Established & Sons in 2005, as part of their launch collection. The table employed car industry techniques in its construction, including compound shell moulding, never before used in the furniture industry. In 2007 Barber and Osgerby were commissioned to design the furniture for the reception of the Royal Institute of British Architects in Portland Place. They were made Royal Designers for Industry by the Royal Society of Arts and launched Tab for Flos, a return to the folded form, in the same year.
The limited edition Iris tables were created in 2008 for the Established & Sons gallery. Known for their use of colour, with Iris Barber and Osgerby developed a new direction, using colour as the starting point for the work. In 2009, Barber and Osgerby launched their first major commission for Murano glassmakers, Venini. This resulted in a series of unique glass vases, created in limited editions and shown in Milan, Porto Cervo and London.
2010 saw the creation of an installation with Sony at the Milan Salone del Mobile Internazionale and an exploration into experimental objects and environments. The installation was an immersive, anechoic space engineered to eliminate ambient sounds and concentrate the senses on the soundscape created by the designers through prototype speakers that also included lighting. These objects explored and exploited Sony’s new innovations in sound technology to transform ordinary materials into sound-emitting objects.
Both professors of design at ECAL (Ecole Cantonale D'art de Lausanne), Barber and Osgerby have lectured internationally and hosted workshops at Ecal, Switzerland and the Vitra Design Museum. Barber and Osgerby's designs can be found in the permanent collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York.
Work
Barber and Osgerby have developed collections for a large number of clients and manufacturers such as Flos, Vitra, Magis, Cappellini, Coca-ColaCoca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
, Levi's, Panasonic, Authentics, Pantone
Pantone
Pantone Inc. is a corporation headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, USA. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System , a proprietary color space...
, Swarovski
Swarovski
Swarovski is the brand name for a range of precisely-cut crystal and related luxury products produced by Swarovski AG of Wattens, Austria...
, Venini and Established & Sons, among others. They have also designed furniture for public interior spaces such as The De La Warr Pavilion
The De La Warr Pavilion
The De La Warr Pavilion is an International Style building constructed in 1935 and designed by the architects Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff; considered by some to be in an Art Deco style. Some claim it to be the first major Modernist public building in Britain, although in fact it was...
, the Royal Institute of British Architects
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
and the St. Thomas Cathedral in Portsmouth
Portsmouth Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Portsmouth, commonly known as Portsmouth Cathedral, is the Church of England cathedral of the City of Portsmouth, England and is located in the heart of Old Portsmouth...
, England, and sculptural pieces for public spaces including Greenwich Park
Greenwich Park
Greenwich Park is a former hunting park in Greenwich and one of the largest single green spaces in south east London. One of the Royal Parks of London, and the first to be enclosed , it covers , and is part of the Greenwich World Heritage Site. It commands fine views over the River Thames, Isle of...
.
Awards
- 1998 ICFF Editors Award: Best New Designer
- 2003 Design Week - Best Furniture Design
- 2003 FX - Product of the Year
- 2003 FX - Best Furnishing / Accessory
- 2004 Design Week - Furniture Design
- 2004 Jerwood Prize for the Applied Arts
- 2004 ADI Compasso d'Oro Nomination
- 2004 ID Magazine (US)
- 2005 Blueprint Magazine
- 2005 FX - Best Furniture for Leisure Environments
- 2006 Homes & Gardens Classic Design Awards
- 2006 Designers of the Future
- 2006 Red Dot Award
- 2007 Blueprint Magazine - Product of the Year
- 2007 Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby awarded the distinction Royal Designers for IndustryRoyal Designers for IndustryRoyal Designer for Industry is a distinction established by the British Royal Society of Arts in 1936, to encourage a high standard of industrial design and enhance the status of designers. It is awarded to people who have achieved "sustained excellence in aesthetic and efficient design for...
by the RSARoyal Society of ArtsThe Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity... - 2008 Wallpaper* Best Domestic Design Award for Bottle Table
- 2008 Elle Decoration Japan Young Designers of the Year
- 2009 Wallpaper* Best Lamp for Tab Floor Lamp for Flos
- 2010 GOOD DESIGN Award for Tab LED Lamp
- 2010 FX Design Award for Best Museum/Exhibition Space Finalist for Sony Installation
- 2010 FX Design Award for Best Retail Design for H&M
- 2011 Design Museum Brit Insurance Designs of the Year, Product Award shortlisted for Sony Installation
Further reading
- The Design Work of Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby. 2011 Rizzoli New York
- Traldi, Laura (April 2011). ''Beautiful Simplicity. DAMn Magazine
- Koivu, Anniina (April 2011). ''Tip Ton Chair. Abitare Magazine
- Thompson, Henrietta (April 2011). Best in Class. Wallpaper Magazine
- Patel, Riya (May 2011). Interview with Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby. Icon Magazine
- Process. 2008 Lawrence King Publishers
- SPOON. 2002 Phaidon Press Limited
- Phaidon Design Classics. 2006 Phaidon Press Limited
- Ultimate London Design. 2006 teNeuesTeNeuesteNeues is a publishing company founded by Dr. Heinz teNeues in Krefeld, Germany, in 1931. It is a third generation family firm and one of the leading book publishers in the areas of photography, design, lifestyle, and travel...
Publishing (UK) Ltd - Thompson, Henrietta (August 2006). "Are you sitting iconically?". Blueprint Magazine
- Wiltshire, Alex (December 2004). "Barber Osgerby ". Icon Magazine
- Beck, Ernest (May 2005). "Message in a Bottle". I.D. Magazine
- Freyberg, Annabel (January 2007). "Crest of a Wave". The Telegraph Magazine
- Kennedy, Maev (September 14, 2004). "Plywood maestros win top design award", The Guardian