Benchmark works together with a group of students at London Metropolitan University to create a special Aldgate Gold project using the furnituremaker’s wood cutoffs and other objects collected from London’s streets. What they create from these materials is presented as a part of Clerkenwell Design Week. Each design incorporates objects that are gathered from neighborhoods nearby and created into new items using wooden components.
Designer and course leader Simon Hasan explains the project, “Looking with the eyes of a designer slash creator, we wanted them to unlock the latent potential within the ‘old’ objects through thoughtfully designed and beautifully crafted appendages. We encouraged the students to scour the streets – avoiding the urge to just pick up anything but to instead really choose an object that they personally felt has latent potential.”
