Asif Kahn: At The Intersection

22 July, 2013

Asif Kahn

Lauded by the New York Times as one of “Five Designers to Watch” and W Magazine as “The New Guard”, and named The Independent’s “100 Most Influential Creative People” as well as having been awarded “Designer of The Future” by Design Miami (2011), his meteoric rise to prominence has been anything but furtive.

West Beach Cafe

What is it about this Brit that garners him such high praise?

As a trained architect, graduating in 2004 from the Bartlett School at University College in London, Khan has spent as much of his career working outside the usual conventions of the architecture profession.

Parhelia for Swarovski

Whilst trained in architecture and presenting a portfolio very much concerned with spatial interests, it is the breadth of artistic and experiential projects that define his career thus far.

Parhelia for Swarovski

A plethora of commercial commissions, both built and timed installations, sit side-by-side with personal explorations of material and dimensionality. Perhaps it is the unabashed, enquiring mind and coercive nature of the designer that have brought him into the spotlight.

Cloud York Hall

A recent commission for Coca-Cola at the 2012 London Olympics serves as a prime example of that unorthodox spirit enticing people to step off the beaten path. In designing the Boombox Pavilion, Khan delivered “an experimental fusion of architecture, sport, music and technology”. Visitors interacted with the building as they passed through it, creating a soundtrack from pre-recorded sound bites as they moved and responded to the space. Most impressively Khan’s installation was the first ever non-branded Coca-Cola installation in the company’s history.