Chairs informed by Nigerian mythology and modernist-style floor lamps were among the objects displayed at an exhibition organised by social enterprise POOR Collective to raise the profile of young designers at this year's London Design Festival.
For the second year in a row, POOR Collective's Powershift exhibition provided a platform for designers who would otherwise struggle to showcase their work during the annual design week.
Powershift featured work by Dean Connell and Joe Slatter (above) as well as Shanti Bell (top image). Top photo by James Harris
Short for Power Out of Restriction, the initiative focuses on empowering young people and giving them opportunities to impact their environment through small-scale architecture and design projects. The exhibition included work by a number of young creatives who have a background in one discipline but have recently chosen to explore an alternative field.
Bisila Noha contributed a sculptural clay vessel
Examples included fashion designer Shanti Bell, who developed a series of benches with moulded plywood seats that evoke fabrics formed around the body, as well as a vessel by international relations graduate Bisila Noha that expresses movement in clay.
"We're primarily a design practice but we also look out for other ways that we can champion young designers," explained POOR Collective co-founder Shawn Adams.
"Each of the participants in the Powershift exhibition is taking skills and knowledge from working in one...