This week is our design issue, and the theme is “design at play”. Full disclosure: I am exceeding wary of the word playful, or things that seem too fun. 

Nevertheless, I am a huge fan of creative boldness, or using levity to explore a darker subject. Trying to make an argument through academic reason can be trying; sometimes, the playful gesture can convey 10,000 words. It’s a major theme of the artist Carsten Höller, he of the gigantic (and rather frightening) swirling slides. Since 1998 he has been gathering a compendium of games he has invented, both to relieve boredom and explore the social, political and intellectual role of play. For HTSI he has created a new one, Slap Alley, which invites us to stand in lines and slap each other in the face. “We’re in a time of changing behaviours,” he explains, “where the ethical and moral boundaries are radically shifting. It’s a political game that reflects the times.”

I would hardly dare to slap another person, especially in the knowledge that my own cheek would soon be turned. But as a metaphor for global politics, and its climate of hostility and retribution, the ethos of Slap Alley is not quite as silly as it seems.

Likewise, Nairy Baghramian uses sculptures to explore social and geopolitical topics. She defies pigeonholing by the art scribes, however, by using childlike motifs and refusing to explain her work. An upcoming show in Brussels sees the artist becoming more collectable. In an interview with Kristina Foster, the Berliner, who fled Iran in the 1980s, explains why she “goes against” herself in pursuit of “a life unbound”.

Other designers are actually just playful. How else to describe Gufram’s countercultural cacti, Berry Dijkstra’s big stacks of furniture or Gustaf Westman’s blobby tableware? In this issue we’ve visited their different ateliers to find out how they are toying with irreverent – and often brilliant – ideas. Colourful, cheeky and occasionally bonkers, their aesthetic is a welcome pop of joy in an otherwise quite gloomy world.

Our cover story takes us to Arles, and the summer home of designer India Mahdavi, another Iranian-born creative whose peripatetic life has informed her colourful world view. The house in southern France is part of a long association with the region – she’s been working there since 2008 – while the building itself was a “sleeping beauty” that, under her careful renovation, has been brought back to kaleidoscopic life. We were invited for an exclusive preview, with Gisela Williams doing the tour. The house provided many opportunities for play but within strict guidelines: “I want to add a chapter to a larger story,” says Mahdavi of the restoration, “rather than tear out all the pages.” 

Elsewhere we have gathered much in the way of playful inspiration, from surrealist furniture to matchy fashion accessories and fancy forks. I’m also rather taken by the blood-red wall colours that feature so abundantly in the home of Maye Ruiz, this week’s Aesthete. I’m taking her advice to be more adventurous in general. As she tells Mary Holland: “Playful design is all about the unexpected, things that don’t look good together in theory but actually do. I love contrast – a cheap piece of art next to an expensive one, for example. Random things from different places and budgets feel more eclectic and fun.” 

‌

‌

THREE MORE STORIES TO READ THIS WEEK

The unsinkable Kelly Wearstler An exclusive look at the interiors star’s new collectable design platform, Side Hustle Dark chocolate is being rebranded – but is bitter really better? Cadbury’s new Bournville campaign is a bid for an emerging market. Our writer isn’t too sweet on it My favourite fonts in Paris – a typographical tour Graphic designer Yorgo Tloupas explores the signs, signatures and inscriptions of the French capital

‌