Mint among 14 top design shops in the world!

ELLE Decoration has nominated mint among the 14 best design shops in the world in their September 2008 issue. We were the only design shop nominated in London, while MOMA Design Store, The Future Perfect and Moss were nominated for New York, Blanc d’Ivoire and Caravane were the Parisian nominees and Spazio Rossana Orlandi and Driade were the Milanese favorites.

After being in the business for ten years, we are thrilled to get such a recognition!

Don’t miss out on our current exhibition on Royal College of Art Graduates, including Simon Hasan, Kelly Allsopp, Fian Andrews, Joseph Harrington and Katie West. The show runs until the end of October.

Roots Laboratory at mint

 

During the London Design Festival which took place last September, mint went through a total makeover in a unique collaboration with Proef from Holland. The entire first floor was converted into a kitchen laboratory during which curious visitors were invited to take part in the experiment. 

Uli & Mahala from Proef getting the vegetables ready to cook

 

 

Root vegetables were slowly cooked inside organic clay which helps preserve the vegetable flavors. Once out of the oven, diners could smash open the clay (with the help of fluorescent pink hammers and saws) and feast on carrots, beetroots, blue potatoes, onions, parsnips and much more.

 

 

This “Roots” installation was designed by Marije Vogelzang, founder of food design studio Proef. This experiment explored the shared culinary history of British and Dutch root vegetables and more importantly, it was a sensory experience that involved all five senses – touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing.

 

Vogelzang sees her installation as ‘an evolving terrain, connecting past and present on a modern table like an eclectic archaeological site’. 

 

The show lasted four days and was a great success! Diners were also invited to take the remaining organic clay pieces and use them as compost for their homes.

 

For more information about Proef, click here

Stay tuned for more mint news coming soon…

Fountain skip by Oliver Bishop Young

Mint has commissioned Oliver Bishop Young to design a skip installation for our ‘Forget me Not’ exhibition during the London Design Festival.

Oliver came up with a pond-like installation with a fountain operated by solar panels, which greatly attracted drivers and walkers by!

Bishop Young converts empty skips into public spaces. His work focuses mainly on the exchange of waste materials, re-use of waste and making use of wasted spaces. He is a Goldsmiths University graduate and was recently nominated among the top 10 students projects on Dezeen.

Sadly, the skip eventually had to go … but luckily Oliver was able to drain the water out in no time thanks to the kind road workers who happened to be right next to it that day… Saved him 6 hours of water pumping!

 

For more information about Oliver Bishop Young’s works, visit his website: www.oliverbishopyoung.co.uk.

Stay tuned for more exciting upcoming events at mint.