MARK holds INPUT exhibition at Coexistence

I don’t often post about exhibitions here on the blog, but every now and then a really great one comes along and I can’t resist sharing it just in case any of you lovely readers can actually make it along. And I would recommend that you try to go along to INPUT if you are in London when the exhibition opens.

From the 16th March to the 2nd April, British design brand MARK are taking over Coexistence’s showroom with an exhibition and series of events called INPUT,which explore what goes into a piece of high quality contract furniture in four areas: Design, Skills, Materials and Teamwork. The event will also see the launch of the new Verso chair by Tomoko Azumi and Bosco II sofas and benches by Gala Wright.

Danish textiles company Kvadrat has also got in on the action and is collaborating on the exhibition, which promises to give a fascinating insight into how a new piece of furniture is designed and made. MARK is well known as a torch-bearer for UK manufacturing and sustainable production, and Kvadrat produce 85% of their woollen textiles in mills in Britain. The show will include footage of production processes, examples of tooling and details of the collaboration that goes in to bringing a design to the market.

There will be four exhibits to explore, each based on MARK’s products. Tomoko Azumi’s new Verso chair for example will be shown through every step of the design process from the original briefing of the designer, through sketches and tiny scale models to the first production models, showing all the thinking that goes into every detail.

Gala Wright’s Arris and Bosco II ranges are used to demonstrate the skills of the makers that make fine wooden furniture using films and photographs. There will also be a tower of materials, showing the many natural and man-made materials that go into a modern sofa, where these come from, how they are processed, and how sustainable they are.

The team behind the event was very clear in what they were hoping to achieve with the exhibition. They wanted to make sure the show was content-rich and not just a display of furniture components. “We are increasingly aware of there being an interest in the whole story – how the design comes about, what materials are used and where they are sourced and processed, how things are made and who is involved” explains Coexistence’s Daniel Gay. “Both MARK and Kvadrat are very open to this. The event will be a fascinating and revealing glimpse behind the scenes.”