BARRIER CONES
 

Bespoke ash barrier cones, fabricated for Studio Sanne Visser's 'The Ropery' Exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery.

'As part of The Ropery exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery, we designed and made three new objects specially for the show, all of which are directly inspired by East London’s rope-making trades.
The Barrier Ropes nod to one of the most common applications we find rope across everyday urban life, from jewellery shops to theatres and museums, where it is usually there to hold a distance between a practice or practitioner and an observer. Here the object does the opposite and invites people into the practice, which feels crucial at a time when we have become so detached from making and manufacturing.

Each of the 4 ‘cones’ made from wooden ash are carefully turned on the lathe by hand resulting in an elegant yet iconic shape, drawing from traditional barrier rope stands.'

Designed by Studio Sanne Visser.
Photography by Rocio Chacon.

British Grown Ash, 2026.