Il London Design Festival gains more and more consistency both for the offer of innovation and social meanings in the 11 districts scattered around the English capital. The 22nd edition, from 14 to 22 September 2024, focuses on the individual, not as a single element but in relation to the benefits and problems of living within a community. Here is a roundup of the most interesting places to see during the London design week.
INSTALLATIONS, FROM SOMERSET HOUSE TO STEFAN DIEZ
Nina Tolstrup con Pavilions of Wonder occupies the new pedestrian space in front of Somerset House on Strand Aldwych which, with the closure of the road to traffic, has given a new perspective to the entire gallery. The installation by the Danish designer (who with Jack Mama forms Studiomama) is divided into three different interactive pavilions. It is a concentration of playful design and the iconic modernism of the Californian desert of Greater Palm Springs, a celebration of a lifestyle and the myth of Barbie, the two sponsors of the event (the first DreamHouse in the modernist style of the doll came out in conjunction with the development of the Californian location). The colorful Pavilions of Wonder can be read on multiple levels: the most immediate and playful, attractive for the little ones or for posts on Instagram and the more intellectual one with precise architectural references to American masters such as Albert Frey or E. Steward Williams.
Speaking of Barbie, at Design Museum London the Barbie®: The Exhibition exhibition, on the world of the iconic doll that just turned sixty-five, is still ongoing, until February 23, 2025.
Always at the Somerset Housethe installation The Sun, My Heart of the Dutch Marjan van Aubel (a title borrowed from the text by Buddhist monk and activist Thích Nhất Hạnh) is the result of his decade-long research into brightly colored solar cells. Specifically, the composition of seventy-seven self-powered Sunne pill-shaped lamps evokes the daily course of the sun in a chromatic dance that varies from pink to yellow to orange. The symphony of colors interacts with the touch of visitors in an ideal exchange of energy.
The German designer Stefan Diez (with the American Hardwood Export Council – AHEC and the urban green specialists at OMC°C) created the temporary experimental structure Vert. A micro ecosystem (on view until October 14) made from a laminated oak structure and a biodegradable net on which twenty different species of fast-growing plants climb. The structure in the centre of the courtyard of the Chelsea College of Arts promotes the city’s biodiversity and provides a community gathering space during the festival, but it also aims to be a hypothetical sustainable solution for city green spaces, rest areas or even car parks etc.
«It is a flexible structure resulting from a choral project that opens the way to the future of design, which I see as made up of collaborations that push in the same direction»affirms Diez.
PooR Collective – Power out of Restrictionmedal for Emerging design in the last edition, created the installation Together In Battersea with which he invaded the Turbine Hall of the iconic Battersea Power Station with over one hundred brightly coloured and boldly designed flags.
PROJECTS AT THE VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM
There are eight projects scattered throughout the halls of the famous London museum, by established and emerging designers. Worth seeing, Craft x Tech which with six furnishings describes the interaction between the mastery of traditional Japanese craftsmanship from as many districts in the central Tohoku region and contemporary technology. The collective curated by Maria Cristina Didero, focuses on the excellence of Japanese manufacturing that is disappearing and its possible survival with a different and more global evolution. Beautiful pieces (small tables and a wall sculpture) in Urushi lacquer by Sabine Marcelis inspired by Yōkan sweets (made with Kawatsura Shikki) or the reinterpretation of the chest-like chest of drawers of the samurai or merchants Metropolis.I by Studio Swine (with Sendai Tansu) or the metal tables Blossom Links by Michael Young (with Nambu Tekki).
British of Ghanaian origin Gilles Tettey Nartey reinterprets the community rituals and culinary traditions of West Africa with the enigmatic piece Communion While Sitting With Your Virtues And Vices by Kenyan-born designer Arjun Singh Assa (Assa Designs), part of the V&A’s annual commissions for emerging designers, is a conceptual sculptural seat in iroko wood inspired by the five vices and virtues of the Sikh faith.
JAIME HAYON IN THE SHOWCASE OF FORTNUM & MASON
The eight windows of the department store Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly they celebrate the 25th anniversary of the studio of the Spaniard Jaime Hayon. Celebration I is a retrospective of Hayon’s innovative creations, characterized by dynamic silhouettes, eccentric forms and extravagant creatures in a path undertaken between design and art. The pieces in ceramic, bronze, glass and wood are creations that have seen the light or remained experimental prototypes or made for exhibitions, however all representative and relevant for the development of Hayon’s alphabet of forms and colors. “It is an acknowledgement and an honor for me. In recent years I have naturally deepened my creativity through painting and sculpture, which goes hand in hand with design.»says the designer.
Its installation Jugglerwhich will soon be positioned in the atrium, is an intricate and evocative composition on laser-cut panels of a figure juggling celestial elements.
DESIGN AND SURROUNDINGS
Some of the most interesting projects we have seen are united by the idea of manual work linked to the concept of lightness, such as the new collection of LED lights LightMass^ of the London studio Raw-Edges. Aerial and sculptural like a mobilewere made with an innovative digitally designed mesh.
Renowned for its intersectional approach to art, science and technology, the London-based artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast he created Liquid Light, immersive experience of glass, light and sound to celebrate 200 years of the Johnnie Walker brand and the new lightest glass bottle in the world, presented at The Old Selfridges Hotel.
Our Mark Campardo presents Reading Design at Gallery 7 in Cromwell Place the result of the workshop at Grymsdyke Farm in the English countryside of Buckinghamshire, the work of a select group of students guided by tutors (in addition to the Italian designer, Attua Aparicio, Studio Glithero and Guan Lee) on processes and materials, specifically wax, glass, plaster and metal.
The international platform for brands, designers and manufacturers Material Matters is confirmed as one of the most interesting destinations after its launch only two years ago. This edition also occupies all five floors of the iconic Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, with the innovative research materials.
A Squashed Spacethe designer’s installation Faye Toogood for Poltrona Frau, represents Toogood’s incessant experimentation in this case with leather. The patchwork and sinuous walls are cut with irregularly shaped doors and windows together with sensual and quilted leather panels applied to wooden totems that reflect the soft lines of her recent Squash collection. Added to this are the English folk motifs hand-painted on the windows that give a distinctive touch to the environment. During the London Design Festival, the English designer also opens the doors of her studio to present the new pieces of the series Assemblage 8: Back and Forthin particular the Gummy Armchairhis first upholstered seat.
THE AWARDED CREATIVES
The medals in London represent the recognition of the four different award categories. This year’s winners are pioneers of creativity and innovation in a wide range of fields: from redefining beauty and fashion to promoting sustainable design and humanitarian solutions. LDF24 Gold Medal it’s english Pat McGrathconsidered the most influential make-up artist, the most sought-after in the world for twenty-five years. The award for theEmerging Design was awarded to the Irish-born engineer Harry Blakiston Houstonin recognition of his recent impact on the design scene and as a promise for the future with projects such as Insulate Ukrainedesigned to install low-cost temporary windows in bomb-damaged homes in the war-torn country. The medal for the Design Innovation a Edit Audrey Chieza celebrates entrepreneurship in all its forms, including bioeconomy and biotechnology. The prestigious Lifetime Achievement Medal went to the Japanese Rei Kawakubo for how she has defied convention in redefining fashion for nearly five decades, since founding the Comme des Garçons brand in 1969. The award for the designer (who was absent from the ceremony) was accepted in her stead by architect Amanda Levete, who for many years was the designer of Kawakubo stores.
London Design Festival
when: from 14th to 22nd September 2024
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Source: living.corriere.it
