In the heart of Mayfair, Bureau of Innovation (BOI) unveils its first design exhibition, Against Nature, an immersive presentation that transforms a private London residence into a living gallery of sculptural furniture and contemporary art. The show marks the launch of No Fixed Address, BOI’s nomadic exhibition series, which reimagines the way design is experienced—placing it within intimate, lived-in environments rather than traditional gallery spaces.
Sculptural furniture as a dialogue between art and design
Taking its title and conceptual spirit from Joris-Karl Huysmans’ 1884 novel À Rebours (Against Nature), the exhibition blurs the line between utility and ornament. It celebrates material excess, sensory indulgence, and the allure of the artificial. Through the works of leading UK and European designers—including Sigurd Nis Schelde, LS GOMMA, Agglomerati x Tom Fereday, Jojo Corvaia, Chris Fusaro, Theo Galliakis, and Kym Ellery—the presentation invites reflection on how design can seduce, provoke, and challenge contemporary aesthetics.
Each piece displayed engages with the setting’s richly detailed interiors, amplifying themes of decadence, craftsmanship, and experimentation. The result is a space where design objects converse with their surroundings, suggesting a world in which beauty and excess are not opposites, but collaborators.
Highlights of the exhibition
Among the works presented, Sigurd Nis Schelde’s Column Lamp captures the poetic tension between light and material. Cast in pewter—a metal steeped in both artisanal and industrial history—the lamp shifts between sculpture and function. When unlit, it stands as a quiet monolith; illuminated, it becomes an atmospheric presence, casting intricate reflections and shadows that reshape the surrounding space.
Agglomerati x Tom Fereday’s stone furniture introduces a dialogue between permanence and adaptability. The designers manipulate solid marble with precision, creating pieces that seem both grounded and fluid—an embodiment of design as enduring sculpture.
Meanwhile, Jojo Corvaia’s ceramic works explore transformation through texture and form, their organic surfaces evoking geological time. Each object feels as though it has emerged from nature itself, yet remains unmistakably human in its refinement.
A nomadic exhibition challenging tradition
With Against Nature, the Bureau of Innovation asserts its curatorial mission: to shape new contexts for encountering design that is bold, purposeful, and enduring. As the first chapter in the No Fixed Address nomadic exhibition series, it repositions design not as static display, but as lived experience—an evolving dialogue between people, objects, and space.
Photography by MICHAEL SINCLAIR
Courtesy of BUREAU OF INNOVATION
Special thanks to PERRIER COMMUNICATION
