Geffrye Museum has designs on bumper summer of celebrations

Exterior of the almshouses by Philip Norman

The Geffrye Museum in Hoxton is celebrating two milestones this year: its centenary as a museum and 300 years since the former almshouses in which it is located were built using funds bequeathed by the former Lord Mayor of London Sir Robert Geffrye.

Celebrations kicked off on 29 April with a major new exhibition showcasing innovation and creativity in domestic design which highlights one of the museum’s original purposes – to inspire the furniture-making industry. Entitled Useful and Beautiful: Contemporary Design for the Home, the exhibition takes as its starting point the famous advice by Arts and Crafts founder William Morris: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful and beautiful.”

The exhibition will showcase innovation and creativity in domestic design and includes a host of contemporary furniture, lighting and fabric designs, with creations from Shoreditch designers Seongyong Lee and Jasper Morrison, as well as Hackney Wick’s Matthew Elton.

A mixture of mass produced, batch produced, handmade and experimental pieces will be on display, such as the Rising Chair by Robert van Embricqs, which literally ‘rises up’ from a flat sheet to become a three-dimentional seat.

Curator Alex Goddard is excited about how the new exhibition relates to the museum’s past and present. She said: “Useful and Beautiful contains so many exciting and innovative designs for the home. We hope all our visitors will discover something interesting and new to them.

“It’s also great to be acknowledging the museum’s founding purpose 100 years ago to inspire local craftsmen in an area still bursting with creativity.”

Young people will be at the heart of a summer of celebrations to mark the landmark anniversaries. Children are invited to explore and re-interpret the Geffrye’s historical almshouse buildings in a project culminating in an outdoor exhibition in the front gardens. Opening in late July the exhibition will feature large-scale photographic cubes, a mobile phone audio tour and large animal sculptures.

The museum will also lead special monthly tours of the restored almshouses and produce a new online interactive timeline of the site’s rich history. A designer-makers’ fair on the front lawn, tea-themed events for adults and children as part of the Chelsea Fringe and live musical performances are all part of the museum’s plans.

Then in August the museum is to host a weekend family event created by young people with craft activities, music and games, before Ceramic in the City in September, a showcase of the work of 50 potters from across the UK.

The Geffrye Museum opened its doors in 1914 and explores the home from 1600 to the present day, focusing on the urban middle-classes, particularly in London.

The former almshouses were bought by London County Council in 1912 to provide an open public space which was much needed in such a densely populated part of London.

Members of the Arts and Crafts movement then persuaded the council to convert the almshouses into a museum dedicated to the local furniture industry. Its purpose was to provide a reference collection of furniture of a “fine standard of technical and artistic excellence” which would educate and inspire the local workforce.

Useful and Beautiful: Contemporary Designs for the Home is at The Geffrye Museum, 136 Kingsland Road, E2 8EA until 25 August.