This London hub showcases a sublime mix of architecture and design classics

A 20th Century Design Pop-up Makes its Home in a Palladian-Style Mansion
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Prompted by the absence of art and design fairs, PAD and Frieze, Nordic specialist gallery Modernity has taken over a spectacular Georgian mansion and filled it with the best of Nordic Design.

A 20th Century Design Pop-up Makes its Home in a Palladian-Style Mansion

Modernity was founded in Stockholm in 1998 by Scottish dealer Andrew Duncanson, specializing in furniture from the most renowned Scandinavian designers of the 20th Century. Duncanson and co-owner Isaac Pineus invited Adrian Sassoon, UK's leading gallery for contemporary decorative art and design, to collaborate in presenting a compelling and innovatively curated display of their distinctive signature collections in a grand Georgian mansion. Scroll through the gallery below (Photography: All courtesy images) to discover more: 

A 20th Century Design Pop-up Makes its Home in a Palladian-Style Mansion

The Grade II listed Palladian-style mansion, built-in 1770, has been stripped back to the brick, in preparation for a full restoration and development into an ultra-modern office space. Architectural practice William Smalley was appointed to restore the space, leaving only its original features such as the stone floors, ornate cornicing, and elegant shuttered windows.  

A 20th Century Design Pop-up Makes its Home in a Palladian-Style Mansion

Furniture and objet d'art are spread over the eight rooms set over five floors and connected by a stunning, original stone staircase allowing an unprecedented appreciation of a curated ensemble of 20th Century Nordic design. This is a rare chance to experience the pieces in a domestic setting, which is both exciting and inspiring. The building's dilapidated grandeur provides a dramatic backdrop to the curation with its stripped-back walls and exposed rafters juxtaposed with graceful period details. 

A 20th Century Design Pop-up Makes its Home in a Palladian-Style Mansion

Modernity's classic pieces by leading Finnish, Swedish, and iconic Danish design furniture set against raw plaster walls are breathtakingly beautiful—providing a starck contrast between the rough interior and the beautiful vintage furniture.

A 20th Century Design Pop-up Makes its Home in a Palladian-Style Mansion

Sassoon's highlights include a series of monumental hand-painted vases by acclaimed contemporary artist Felicity Aylieff. A stunning bowl by acclaimed British ceramicist Kate Malone MBE entitled Atomic Snow Bowl (2020) has her characteristic crystalline glaze. Danish glassblower Tobias Møhl's new Seven-Part Leaf Collection (2020) comprises seven vessels containing delicate strands of woven and twisted coloured glass. Japanese artist Hitomi Hosono's intricate shallow vessel, Pine Tree Pool (2019), has a captivating landscape of gently twisting porcelain leaves set within it. 

A 20th Century Design Pop-up Makes its Home in a Palladian-Style Mansion

Meanwhile, Modernity's exceptional contemporary pieces include instantly recognisable classics, such as an Arne Jacobsen Egg chair and a pair of Alvar Aalto's Armchair Number 31, as well as iconic Nordic gems that include a Chieftain Chair by the late Danish architect Finn Juhl (1949), and a K2-33 pierced brass model Ceiling Light by Paavo Tynell for Taito Oy (designed in the 1950s) created to hang in a Finnish church. Alongside, there’s a stunning "Flora" model 852 designed by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn, Sweden 1937, in mahogany, birch interior, and hand-painted paper.

Tags: architectureartculturehistoryLondon
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