Exhibition pamphlet & book
Pamphlet text for Exercises in Seating 3 in Harrow-on-the-Hill, Frieze Week 2025
Excerpt: “The venue is a shift in context too, going back half a century in architectural time, from the 1930s Garage Sanremo and bright early Modernism of Villa Noailles to the creaks and quirks of an atmospheric Arts and Crafts church hall. Built in 1884, it’s an early work by the architect, E.S. Prior, who became a leading figure of the movement. In a career of churches, schools and grand houses, this is one of the few times he had to design a façade on a street. When you step out into the alley, look up to see how beautifully the building turns the corner in bricks. For many years, it was home to SRM plastics, a factory that made cracker toys and rubber moulds – one of the chairs on show, SRM Plastic Child’s Chair, started life in the sprues and waste they left behind.”
Exercises in Seating 3 by Max Lamb a new book published by Dent-de-Leone to coincide with the exhibition: a trilogy of seating in a single binder full of experiments, materials, people, processes and sites all over the world. In terms of text (and design by Kajsa), this is the favourite book I’ve worked on for Max. I don’t know if it’s because he was writing some of these descriptions in the early hours of the morning around the impossible deadlines he sets himself, but there’s a real pace and humour running through it. Also, a funny passage written by Tom Dixon .
You can buy it via Dent-de-Leone or in good bookshops: https://www.dentdeleone.com/product/exercises-in-seating-volumes-1-3
Author / Editor: Max Lamb / Åbäke, Gemma Holt, Sarah Simpkin
Design: Kajsa of Åbäke
Text: Tom Dixon, Laura Houseley, Sarah Simpkin
Year: 2025
Price: £30
Pages: 296 pages
First Edition: 4000 copies
ISBN: 978—1—907908—93—4
Editorial Content 