Designers including Fernando Laposse, Studio Furthermore and Future Facility will present work exploring materiality and artificial intelligence at a major exhibition curated by Dezeen for ASUS Zenbook during this year's London Design Festival.
Titled Design You Can Feel, the exhibition will take place from 17 to 22 September in Shoreditch, London.
It will explore materiality, craftsmanship and artificial intelligence, demonstrating how material qualities such as form, colour and texture can be combined to create objects or moments that awaken the senses.
In particular, the exhibition will investigate Ceraluminum – an innovative material by ASUS used to make its Zenbook laptop.
Ceraluminum combines the lightness of metal with the resilience of ceramics through an aluminium ceramisation process, resulting in a new proprietary material with distinctive nature-inspired hues that make each object unique.
The exhibition will also include a specially commissioned piece crafted from Ceraluminum by Future Facility, the design and research studio led by distinguished designers Kim Colin, Sam Hecht and Leo Leitner.
Through this conceptual design, which will be revealed on Dezeen next week ahead of the exhibition opening, the studio explores the relationship between the digital and physical worlds and asks how artificial intelligence (AI) technology and materiality can combine to create calm and tactile objects, ultimately changing the way we experience digital interfaces.
In addition, an aluminium lounge chair by Seoul-based design studio Niceworkshop has undergone the ceramicisation process. Both projects are the first time Ceraluminum has been applied to objects other than the ASUS Zenbook.
This will be presented alongside work by other leading designers and curated around themes that speak to the qualities of Ceraluminum and showcase ASUS's approach to design.
Other featured designers include Laposse, Giles Miller, Natural Material Studio and Studio Furthermore.
Read on for a taste of what to expect from the exhibition:
Fernando Laposse
Mexican designer Laposse specialises in transforming overlooked natural materials indigenous to Mexico, such as sisal, loofah and corn leaves, into refined design pieces.
On display at the exhibition will be his furry Sisal Pup Bench, which is crafted with a fibre derived from the leaves of the agave plant. After being washed and dried, it is transformed into a unique material that can be knotted to showcase its natural raw state.
Laposse will also present his Loofah Divider, which repurposes the edible fruit as a versatile and valuable material, showcasing its potential as a sustainable solution for multifunctional living and working spaces.
Niceworkshop
South Korean design studio Niceworkshop specialises in experimental creations that explore the physical properties of materials, with a particular appreciation of metals.
The studio will present its Aluminium Formwork (AL - FORM) series, in which furniture is made using old skyscraper formwork. The series repurposes formwork panels used in construction to cast concrete structures into a collection of durable seating and tables.
The series was created in partnership with Format, the producer of the aluminium formworks. Especially for this exhibition, the lounge chair was ceramised by ASUS using its patented Ceraluminum process.
Giles Miller Studio
British artist and designer Miller creates multisensory pieces that explore surface, structure and sculpture. He has a particular interest in neuroscientific findings relating to biophilia, form, scale, texture and colour.
Miller has created a floor-to-ceiling sensory installation called Awaken for the exhibition. This is made up of over 1,800 components, including hundreds of one-millimetre-thick solid timber petals that are positioned in precise angles of rotation to create rhythmic patterns.
Studio Furthermore
Led by design duo Marina Dragomirova and Iain Howlett, Studio Furthermore specialises in material experimentation, crafting furniture and lighting collections that explore the relationship between the natural formation of geological resources and humanity's ongoing depletion of them.
The studio will present its most recent collection of suspended lighting elements, titled Quasar Lamp, which are hand-formed from thin slivers of aluminium foam that structurally resemble lava stone.
Each lamp is made using an aluminium casting process that utilises material recycled directly from discarded car wheels, which is then finished in a colour-shifting coating.
Natural Material Studio
Founded and led by Bonnie Hvillum, Danish practice Natural Material Studio is a multidisciplinary practice that creates bespoke designs and spatial installations using self-developed biomaterials.
The studio will present its new Lighting Works, which feature handmade bio-textiles created from a mixture of bio-polymers, natural softeners, chalk and clay to diffuse and spread light, balancing organic textures with simple forms.
It will also showcase four bio-textile tapestries in the exhibition. These are handmade from protein-based biopolymers, natural softeners and chalk and cast using the studio's own technique called Procel.
ASUS Zenbook
The Design You Can Feel exhibition will celebrate Zenbook, the new range of laptops from ASUS.
These thin and light ultra-portable premium laptops feature advanced AI tools and are clad in the proprietary Ceraluminum material.
The light and durable material can be used to create unique, everlasting designs. Each of the pieces in the exhibition – ranging from furniture, lighting and installation design – will speak to these qualities in different ways.
Visitors to the exhibition will also be able to learn about the design story behind ASUS Zenbook and try out the AI tools it features for themselves.
Design You Can Feel takes place during LDF
Design You Can Feel will run from 17 to 22 September at Protein Studios in Shoreditch during London Design Festival. Find out more information including opening times at: dezeen.com/designyoucanfeel.
The Design You Can Feel exhibition graphic is by My Beautiful City, which used the generative AI tool Midjourney to create the imagery. You can see Dezeen's policy on AI here.
London Design Festival 2024
London Design Festival 2024 takes place from 16-22 September 2024. See our London Design Festival 2024 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.
Partnership content
The Design You Can Feel exhibition is a partnership between Dezeen and ASUS Zenbook. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.