Postcards from Barton Springs

Above: Interior of The Design Museum

A basement space in the Victoria & Albert Museum was the first home to Boilerhouse, a showcase for modern design that outgrew that space and another subsequent one before transforming the 1960s Commonwealth Institute into today’s The Design Museum on Kensington High Street. The most striking feature of the post-war modernism landmark originally designed by RMJM is its tent-like parabolic copper roof. The dramatic interior rehabilitation of it was completed in 2018 under the direction of John Pawson.

Exhibitions change, but I’m going to mention two. The first is “Antifurniture,” handsome wooden sculpture designed by performance artist Fyodor Pavolov-Andreevich and BoND Architecture to engage interaction, to invite one to “inhabit” the works. By “one,” I definitely mean someone other than me. Among the phobias the artist strives to help combat are agoraphobia, atychiphobia, demophobia, gelotophobia, acrophobia and basophobia.

Sometimes when we feel overwhelmed we may ignore the problem before us and metaphorically ‘bury our heads in the sand.’ This reaction can cause anxiety and encourage us to avoid the problem; Rock-n’-Desk, however, invites you to confront it.”

Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich