Christopher Jenner presents new design project on Regent Street, crafting English architectural heritage to eccentric effect, that sits jauntily within the Beaux Arts style for which the street is famous.
At times societies break away from their obsessive ambitions, giving way to the pursuit of pleasure. With the British Empire at its height and the change of command at Buckingham Palace, the dictated and constrained moral values of Victorian England surrendered to a pre-war period of discovery, eccentricity and joviality.
The last vestiges of their old connections were now thrown aside, and they emerged in all the splendor of their new-born glory’ — Charles Stuart and A.J. Park The Variety Stage (1895). In the arts the Aesthetic movement expressed a committed support of aesthetic values over socio-political thinking, renouncing projected dictation and favouring values of ‘beauty’.
The project is an assembly of these values created via a collection of pattern, form and texture in a synthesis of traditional English handcraft and high-tech manufacturing.
Styled as a symbiosis of the classic and contemporary, the design investigates a thoroughly current fusion of classic Edwardian splendor and Japanese Manga.
Jenner’s strategic and lateral approach to the design is revealed through the sole use of brand iconography as informant, layered via materials and textures, emphasising his signature pointillist style.
Giant padded walls, punctured by sticky chamfered light boxes, draw the eye into a kaleidoscope of heritage; ceiling roses inspired by Westminster Abbey introduce a Tudor fretwork ceiling from which glossy Brighton Pavilion Onion Dome chandeliers are suspended.
Extensive marquetry paneling and handmade furniture in white Oak, gloss and laser-cut solid Brass, surround a candy-stick maze table with bow stools, all of which sit upon a bespoke patterned encaustic cement tile floor.
This project is the next chapter for the Studio, establishing its success in the world of ‘sensation design’ and demonstrating its strategic, creative technique in exploring the relationship between brands, emotion, luxury and craft.
Christopher Jenner
British designer Christopher Jenner’s work is grounded in a deep appreciation of the complexity within nature, which he first experienced as a child in South Africa. As in nature, his work is an assembly of elements and forms rooted in interconnected relationships. Having travelled the world extensively after graduation from the Johannesburg School of Art and the Boston School of Design in Cape Town, he settled in London where he established his studio in 2010.
From inception his work captured the mood change in society, provoked by the financial crisis, recognising the shift towards deeper values and a justified creative expression. Working globally he implements a concept of ‘fractal analysis’, a strategic process of brand discovery whereby a challenge is deconstructed into multiple facets representing the inherent values (heritage, product, personality) of a project. Assembling these elements into magical solutions, Christopher Jenner’s work uniquely evokes reaction.
Detailed and textured, the work is kaleidoscopic in effect, similar in nature to pointillism where the eye creates its own picture from a subliminal application of colour and texture. The Studio does not work to a set of ‘good or bad’ design aesthetics, preferring to pursue work of depth and quality with its own set of emotive values. His commitment to artisanal skill is evident in the immense detail of his work. It brings tangible refinement to the finished article and valuable support to highly specialised crafts.
With the acclaimed launch of the Swell collection with ‘The Looking Glass House’ at the Salone del Mobile, Milan in 2012, the studio embarked on the design of ‘house’ collections. Inspired by a love of lateral communication, they take their cue from collisions of thought and observation.
Each collection captures a distinctive spirit, presented via harmonious relationships between traditional hand crafts and progressive technology, allowing the collector to play with their personal sense of style, while enjoying the pleasure of creativity.
