Liam Treanor is a London-based designer who founded his eponymous brand in 2011, producing modern furniture that’s designed to stand the test of time. His wood-based collections combine clean lines and solid craftsmanship, with a hint of Scandinavia and mid-century architecture. Treanor’s attention to detail is never lost, from the initial design to making sure the pieces that are made are easily produced and shipped for global demand. Let’s take a look at this thoughtful designer’s picks for the very first Friday Five of 2015.
Image by Naomi Games, courtesy of Science Museum
1. Cona Coffee Maker
Function, form, and provider of possibly the finest cup of coffee you or I will ever sample. Abram Games, a celebrated World War Two propaganda graphic designer, designed this Cona coffee percolator in 1959. The model pictured is Games’ reworked design of his equally beautiful 1949 version. There is no better looking coffee machine nor better coffee maker. It’s also wonderful to watch. Games’ other famed work included the Festival of Britain emblem.
Photo of Franz Schuster building through trees by Liam
2. Hansaviertel
I’m a bit of an architecture geek. I often think if I were not a furniture designer I would design buildings. I stumbled across Hansaviertel in Berlin accidentally a couple of years ago. Hansaviertel is an estate designed for the Interbau exhibition of 1957, where world renowned architects and many of Germany’s finest were called to design mid- and high-rise apartment blocks, a church, a gallery, shops and singular houses amongst other structures. It’s a wonderful example of a successful modernist estate, as the purists would have wished. Architects involved include: Walter Gropius, Alvar Aalto, Oscar Niemeyer, Arne Jacobsen. Any architecture fan would drool a little in the presence of das ‘Neue Hansaviertel’.
Photo of Wire album by Liam
3. Music
From The Clash to Patti Smith, New Order to Depeche Mode, Belle & Sebastian to Kurt Vile. Music has opened doors, created friendships and provided me with countless memories. BBC 6 Music deserves an honorary mention.
Photo of chisels by Liam
4. Woodworking
Something I love and something that informs many decisions when designing. Wood is a complex yet wonderful material. It offers a sense of warmth, patina and familiarity. But knowing its limitations is fundamental to a successful product and its suitability for production and longevity. When combined, woodworking and designing, as skills, can become a fruitful partnership.
Photo by Karen Davies
5. Cragside, Northumberland
I have many fond childhood memories exploring Cragside house and its vast gardens with my Grandparents. The beautiful Old English, Arts & Crafts style house was completed in 1963 and soon became the first hydroelectric lit house in the world. Even as a young child the romanticism of this environment was powerful, the valley with a stream flowing into a lake, the gardens filled with huge conifers and shrubs, the beautiful mansion, ironworks evident of the industrial revolution, and its importance in the use of hydroelectricity.
