Monument Gallery Blends Radical Design and Functional Art in East London

Monument, an archival design gallery founded in 2020 by New Zealanders Leah Forsyth-Steel and Victoria Spicer, operates from a warehouse space in east London. The gallery focuses on furniture and objects defined by form, materiality, and gravitas, currently emphasizing radical German design from the 1980s. Pieces include a prototype bed by Ron Arad, a German constructivist chair, a bronze sculpture by Anna Mizak, and a concrete sphere originally from St Ann’s Square in Manchester. The founders met in New Zealand and reconnected in London, launching online before opening a nearby gallery in 2021 and moving to their current location last autumn. Their clientele includes Gucci, Burberry, and Net-a-Porter, with services extending to furniture hire, sourcing, and styling. Upcoming initiatives include Monument Elements, a range of plinths and platforms, and a presentation at Milan Design Week this month featuring Magazzino Archive in collaboration with design consultant Harold Mollet. The gallery’s aesthetic favors neutral materials like steel, glass, and concrete, with occasional accents such as Shiro Kuramata ikebana vases and Philippe Starck’s Royalton bench. Forsyth-Steel and Spicer champion divisive, challenging designs, viewing beauty in items others might deem ugly or impractical.