Object & Company

Autumn Intrusion

Heatherwick Studio

Harvey Nichols, a renowned department store in Knightsbridge, London, commissioned the studio to produce an installation to celebrate London Fashion Week 1997.

The building dates from the 1880’s and is a well proportioned example of its style of architecture. Known for the quality of their shop window displays, these do not normally relate directly to the building within which they sit.

The studio considered the building façade as a whole, not as twelve separate shop windows. The installation was a single 200m long, veneered wooden element, woven through the façade and rising up the building, engaging with both the architecture and the street.

The installation, named Autumn Intrusion, took a studio team of makers six months to construct and was in place for eight weeks. The structure is a composite of wood and polystyrene, making it both lightweight and strong.

Heatherwick Studio exists to make extraordinary projects happen. Established by Thomas Heatherwick in 1994, it is recognized for its work in architecture, urban infrastructure, sculpture, furniture design and strategic thinking. Team members come from disciplinary backgrounds that include architecture, product design, model making, fabrication, landscape design, fine art and curation.

http://www.heatherwick.com/