Urban Upholstery Gallery

In London, Urban Planning took a turn for the ugly in the 1960’s. A significant amount of the city remains covered in bleak housing projects, whose plain grey or brick facades cry out for excitement. Melissa French embarked on a mission to introduce pattern and texture to the urban landscape. Her “Urban Upholstery” collection is a range of building materials that are informed by textile craft skills.

She imagines that the building materials of the future can be both functional and ornamented. Her choice of “ingredients”, therefore, includes such construction staples as concrete and steel. These durable materials are integrated with softer materials that are traditionally used in interiors textiles. In Melissa’s collection, you will find that hand-dyed yarn, traditional jacquard loom weaving, and elaborate floral prints all find their way into the hard surfaces that an urban planner would use to build a city.

Urban Upholstery challenges the traditional notion of placing decorative materials inside and functional materials outside. Patterns can be enhanced by exposure to harsh weather, making the city’s public spaces just as beautiful as its domestic spaces. Rust emerges in deeply saturated hues of orange, adorning the steel sheets with classically decorative forms.

In a nod to the subversive acts of beautification carried out by graffiti artists, Melissa envisions Urban Upholstery being installed without permission, in the middle of the night, to challenge the city’s cautious approach to public design.