firstperson:

I first met Christian Dillon of East London Furniture last April, when as fellow artists-in-residence at Meanwhile Space, Whitechapel, he generously helped Daniel Rourke and I convert the basement into a lounge for our first ever GLIT.CH Karaoke event.

At the time, Christian was in the nascent stages of developing his sustainable furniture “Pallet Project.” At any given moment he could be found searching the city streets for discarded wooden pallets, bringing them back to Meanwhile, breaking and pulling them apart, studying with furrowed brow his trove of materials, or using his amazing sense of design and carpentry skills to create elegantly modern yet warm furniture you’ve always wished you had. I don’t think I ever saw Christian not working except for when he dropped by once for some song and drink. So it comes as a wonderful no-surprise to learn that over the last year, Christian’s brainchild has transformed from the one-man transient Pallet Project into a team of artisans known as East London Furniture based in a shop all their own on Hoxton Street, right off of Cremer, where they are quickly amassing a fanbase for both their work and parties.

Truly sustainable design doesn’t wear do-gooder on its aesthetic sleeve; the beauty of the work comes first, followed by the elating reveal that the piece you covet actually helps Mother Earth. East London Furniture’s designs exemplify this. On first sight, you simply want that perfect singular item for that Ikea-fied corner of your room… and then you want it more when you discover that it’s completely made from used materials that would have otherwise ended up as London landfill… and then even more when you discover how just genuinely nice Christian and his people are. Happy new year indeed.

- Kyoung Kim, London Editor