Hadid, Collishaw and Paltrow's Christmas baubles
Artists, designers and celebrities make one-off Christmas tree decorations to benefit a British children's charity
After stunning Christmas furnishings, that also, in this season of goodwill, give a little back? Then go here. The celebrity fashion designer Matthew Williamson has asked 19 of his better-known friends, including the artist Matthew Collishaw, the architect Zaha Hadid and the actress Gwyneth Paltrow, to design their own Christmas tree baubles. These one-off decorations are currently hanging upon the tree in the Aqua Shard restaurant, on the 31st floor of Renzo Piano's Shard, in London. You can also see them on Ebay, where they're being auctioned to benefit the charity Kids Company, which works with underprivileged children in British cities.
We think the architect's contribution looks a bit like a 23rd Century Christmas tree. However, Hadid's own explanation doesn't suggest the bauble is entirely figurative. In the listing, she states, "The Zaha Hadid Christmas decoration is a contemporary representation of a traditional decorative object. Manufactured using rapid prototyping technology and materials, the piece is a digital creation representing current techniques employed in the field of architecture, design and research."
Matthew Collishaw's decoration, meanwhile, does speak directly to the Christmas message. "I have taken inspiration from Christmas being the commemoration of the birth of Jesus," he explains, "and the conception of the virgin egg by the sperm of the almighty."
Paltrow's, on the other hand, is the kind of tasteful take on festive home furnishings we would expect from the editor-in-chief of GOOP. There are plenty more, from Rankin, Sienna Miller, Mary J Blige and, of course Mr. Williamson himself. View and bid on them all here. The auction ends on 22 December, and, with courier delivery, you should get them in time for Christmas.
For more on Hadid and her contemporaries take a look at our Architecture Travel Guide app, the essential tool for architectural professionals or anyone who wants to discover contemporary architecture around the world. Buy them both from the people who made them, here.