A year in review 2022
  • End of Year Summary
  • Journal

A year in review 2022

Starting the year off with a bang – two Caro clients were recognised in the Wallpaper* Awards –  VitrA bathrooms for their Liquid collection collaboration with Tom Dixon and Carl Hansen & Søn for the Petal Lamp and the CH26 collaboration with Ilse Crawford.

In February we helped 5th Studio launch Bloqs, an open-access factory in north London, described by Olly Wainwright as ‘a temple for London’s growing army of makers’.

Caro also helped Studio Saar to launch Secure Sanand in Gujarat, India – an uplifting work environment to promote staff wellbeing, later shortlisted in the Dezeen Awards.

Studio Saar © Ankit Jain

We launched two major design collaborations – Victorian by Mary Kantratzou for Villeroy and Boch, and a special colour palette selected by Ilse Crawford for Carl Hansen & Søn’s Wishbone Chair.

Our client Richard Parr spoke to The Modern House about the 17 years he’s spent slowly restoring his home in the Cotswolds.

In Carlow we helped to launch i see Earth, an installation of sculptural work by architect Tom dePaor produced by the Irish Architecture Foundation and VISUAL Carlow.

In March, we were in Bath for the launch of the new Holloways of Ludlow showroom and in Ealing for the launch of Dappled Light, a major solo exhibition by Rana Begum at Pitzhanger Manor.

Just in time for spring, we helped DSDHA to launch Exchange Square, now one of the City of London’s largest green public squares.

We celebrated another win for Grafton Architects Town House for Kingston University, as the extraordinary building was awarded the 2022 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award.

In May we used VR to discover the train station of the future, during the Explore Station tour of the country, starting at the National Railway Museum.

During Clerkenwell Design Week, VitrA launched their fifth Design Update publication – Colour + the Senses was put together by Caro’s content team in collaboration with VitrA and Foxall Studio, and accompanied by a major installation in the windows of the showroom, by artist Lothar Götz.

The 11th Edition of Sculpture in the City began with the unveiling of the inaugural Aldgate Square Commission, Earthing by Jocelyn McGregor, and was followed by the launch of 20 other pieces throughout the Square Mile, from artists including Sarah Lucas, Emma Louise Moore and Mike Ballard.

Artist Leo Villareal was in London to program a special lighting edition of the Illuminated River bridges to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June.

In Basel, we supported AMDL on the launch of the Novartis Pavilion and in London the Elizabeth Line opened to much excitement, with stations designed by WilkinsonEyre.

The design team were back in Milan post-pandemic, with clients Matthieu Lehanneur, Vitra, Krill, Preciosa, AMDL and Lodes.

Our old friend Nigel Coates launched his memoir to a full house at RIBA as part of the Lives in Architecture series.

For the London Festival of Architecture, we hosted the Davidson Prize exhibition at Yorkton workshops in the Pearson Lloyd office. The brief asked whether co-living could offer a transformative key to the design of our homes – as well as our communities, and the winner was Charles Holland Architects with Quality of Life Foundation, Verity-Jane Keefe and Joseph Zeal-Henry.

BLOQS

In July we took a press trip to Copenhagen and Funen ahead of the launch of a new collaboration between Carl Hansen & Søn and Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects. During the trip we took journalists to Gelsted, to meet the master weavers making chairs like the Faaborg and the Wishbone, using techniques that haven’t changed for a century.

During the hottest week of July we welcomed journalists to Epic Games’ London Lab, to explore the possibilities of 3D, real-time visualisation technology – in the built environment, and beyond.

In August, we welcomed architect, author and former punk drummer Suresh Singh to our where he enthralled us with stories from his memoir A Modest Living, Memoirs Of A Cockney Sikh.

The Caro team summer outing took us to the V&A for the Africa Fashion exhibition, curated by Dr Christine Checinska.

In September, London Design Festival saw VitrA host an immersive colour experience by design duo Carnovsky at their Clerkenwell showroom. At Design London, the Department of International Trade Promotion showcased a portfolio of 12 sustainable design solutions from Thailand. Meanwhile Istituto Marangoni London hosted its inaugural Design Graduate Show. Carl Hansen brought master craftsman Bruno to their Clerkenwell showroom and Explore Station, hosted an afternoon of free talks at the V&A, about the future of train stations.

In October and November the Sherman Centre for Culture and Ideas landed in London for two weekends of curated programming on fashion and architecture as part of the UK Australia Season.

We also celebrated the ten year anniversary of Gardens by the Bay The project, designed by WilkinsonEyre, Atelier Ten, Atelier One and Grant Associates.

In December, Piercy&Co hosted Supermodels, an exhibition celebrating celebrating the art of model making in King’s Cross, representing the distillation of 20 years the firm’s design thinking around the importance of the haptic, sensory and experiential in architecture.

And finally, for the Caro Christmas party we visited the Gingerbread City exhibition at the Museum of Architecture.