During this year’s London Design Festival, the outdoor Please Be Seated installation by locally based Paul Cocksedge graced Broadgate, the city’s largest pedestrian neighborhood. Encouraging visitors to find urban respite on the hectic Finsbury Avenue Square, it was crafted from 1,152 undulating scaffolding boards reimagined by Essex design firm White & White.
“It was designed as a rippling wave of wood rising up to form arches for people to walk through, with curves serving as spaces to sit, lie, and relax,” says Cocksedge of the landmark commission. “We wanted it to bring out a sense of joy and wonder in people, and that’s true for everything we do. Creative projects that spark people’s curiosity are the greatest reward.”
Ambitious installations like the interactive mistletoe-inspired KISS lighting up Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II for the City Council of Milan and the greenery-infused Living Staircase at London’s Ampersand office reinforce the importance of intrigue to the studio, which Cocksedge cofounded with Joana Pinho, a friend from his days studying at the Royal College of Art after tackling industrial design at Sheffield Hallam University.
“We always try to design something that will push the boundaries; something that hasn’t been done before,” Cocksedge says. That’s certainly the case with Unbound, the anodized aluminium sculpture resembling sheets of paper swirling through the wind outside the Norman Public Library Central in Oklahoma.
Another example is Spectrum. Designed for Art Basel Hong Kong in 2019, the 3D-like installation in Swire Properties’ VIP lounge looked effortless, yet “simplicity was achieved with a complex engineering structure,” he says. The ombré bands of red and blue fabric create a visual rhythm, drawing the eye upward to the stage.
Not one to sit still, Cocksedge is “always walking or cycling—and more importantly, looking around. I discover things and I take pictures, even of seemingly mundane moments,” he says. “I am always fascinated.”
The ombré Spectrum at Swire Properties in Hong Kong
