Adam Nathaniel Furman

Furman was born at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington^[1] to an Argentine father and a German-Japanese mother, both Jewish,^[2] and raised in North London near Finchley Road.^[3] Furman attended Highgate School.^[4]

In 2001, Furman enrolled in a foundation course at Central Saint Martins.^[5] He went on to study at the Architectural Association (AA), graduating in 2008. This was followed by further graduate studies at the AA.^[6]

Furman became co-director of the AA's research group Saturated Space and opened Madam Studio. In 2013, he was invited to join the Design Museum's Designers in Residence programme.^[7] In 2014 and 2015, Furman had a residency at the British Academy in Rome, where he was awarded the Rome Prize in Architecture.^[8] Furman's winning project The Roman Singularity was later displayed at the Soane Museum in 2017.^[9] He also returned to Central Saint Martins to teach and run the Productive Exuberance studio.

Named as one of the Architecture Foundations 'New Architects' in 2016,^[10] Furman was also named as a new talent by Metropolis, who described him as "a master of surface and ornamentation" who relies on their "own imagination rather than trends for inspiration".^[11] That year, Furman co-authored Revisiting Postmodernism with Terry Farrell, and was commissioned to design a futuristic town hall concept called Democratic Monument for Architecture Fringe.

Furman was named a 2019 FX Product Designer of the Year. In 2021, Furman had a sixth-month residency at King's Cross, where he installed the Proud Little Pyramid for Pride Month.^{[citation needed]}

Furman co-edited the 2022 anthology Queer Spaces with Joshua Mardell,^[12] which includes pieces from contributors on domestic, communal, and public spaces where LGBT+ individuals have found safety and solidarity over the decades.^[13] As of 2023, Furman is in the process of creating a 57-meter-long mosaic mural titled A Thousand Streams on a wall outside London Bridge station with the London School of Mosaic,^[14] as well as ceramic tile colonnades for the new Enclave tower in Croydon.^[15]

At a young age, Furman was inspired by the tiles and mosaics they saw in London Underground stations, particularly Eduardo Paolozzi's mosaics in the old Tottenham Court Road station.^[3]

In an interview about Democratic Monument, Furman stated "In great contrast to the rest of our cultural output, our physical environment is crushingly uniform."^[17]

In 2020, Furman coined the term New London Fabulous (NLF) to refer to a group of London-based artists and designers who reject "monochromatic minimalism"^[18] in favour of "kaleidoscopic" colours, ornament, and geometry.^[19] NLF also places emphasis on creating public spaces that represent and celebrate the city's local communities and cultures. Notable NLF figures include Yinka Ilori, Camille Walala, and Morag Myerscough.^[20]

Furman lives in Belsize Park with their long-term partner Marco Ginex. He has dyslexia.^[3]

Public art and spaces

• The Roman Singularity (2014, 2017), ceramic sculptures made in Rome, later displayed at the Soane Museum
• Gateways (2017), installation in Granary Square
• Look Down to Look Up (2018), street crossing patterns for Croydon Council
• Pontoon and the Paddington Pyramid (2019), at Paddington Central
• Boudoir Babylon (2020), installation for the National Gallery of Victoria's Triennal
• Proud Little Pyramid (2021), installation at King's Cross for London Pride
• Abundance (2023), installation in Paddington, London^[21]
• Babs Baldachino (2023), monument for the Birmingham Fierce Festival
• Cassata Pavilion (2023), sculpture at the Plastikgarten in Leipzig
• Click Your Heels Together Three Times (2023), installation at Canary Wharf
• Bristol Quilt (2023), ceramic mural in Bristol city centre
• Croydon Colonnade (2023), mosaic pedestrian thoroughfare under residential building
• In a River a Thousand Streams (2024), mosaic mural at London Bridge station^[22]

Collection s

• Baalbak, Chess and Phoenician, porcelain and glassware for Beit Collective
• Beiruti, Lisa and Noor, weaved chairs for Beit Collective
• Capricciosa and Mediterranean, rugs for Floor Story
• Chomp and Lounge Hog!, laminated furniture for De Rosso
• Glowbules, glass lights for Curiousa
• MySplash, home items for Mirrl
• New Town, tiles for Bottega Nove
• Petalfall, ceramics with Hiroyuki Onuki
• Princex, ceramics for Nuoveforme

Other

• Sculptures for ITV animation
• Democratic Monument (2017), maximalist town hall concept for Architecture Fringe
• Architectural Icons (originally Postmodern Icons, 2022–), illustrations of famous buildings

• Yinka Ilori – British artist and designer (born 1987)
• Morag Myerscough – British artist and designer
• Bethan Laura Wood – British designer (born 1983)

• Revisiting Postmodernism (2017) (co-author with Terry Farrell)
• Queer Spaces (2022) (co-editor with Joshua Mardell)