Five Must-See Installations at London Design Festival 2017
If you’re anything like us, then no doubt you’ve been sitting on the edge of your seat just waiting for this year’s London Design Festival to kick off. We’ve been teased with whispers of collaborations and sneak previews whilst the creative industry works hard to curate the annual event that celebrates design in its broadest scope.
Opening this weekend and running until the 24 September, London will play host to a plethora of design talent, with its streets, museums and public spaces providing a canvas for the creative fields of product design, interiors and architecture (plus everything in between). From immersive installations that challenge the concept of colour and light, to a hub of new talent emerging from the UK’s leading design institutions, LDF presents London, quite rightly, as the design capital of the world. With the Festival offering up hundreds of unique events and design destinations across the city, we thought there’d be no one better suited to give you the low-down on the city’s must-see LDF installations than London-based lifestyle blogger (and queen of all things colourful) Emma Jane Palin.
Over to you, Emma!
Let’s face it, London Design Festival can be a pretty overwhelming experience and when the capital is inundated with events, installations, exhibitions and workshops, it’s hard to know what to take out the time to see. There are over 400 events this year, stretching from Brixton to Islington to North Greenwich and beyond, and it’s certainly not going to be possible to visit them all. If you’re thinking big and want to look at some experiential design, these are our five must-see installations at London Design Festival 2017.
Villa Walala by Camille Walala at Broadgate London
Villa Walala was announced earlier this year as the first London Design Festival Landmark Project and has already created a lot of buzz due to the colourful nature of the project and Camille Walala’s ever-growing popularity. Located at Broadgate London as part of the Shoreditch Design Triangle, the colourful soft-touch structure will feature Walala’s bold and bright patterns as well as a surrounding floor application of bold stripes.
The villa’s vibrant tones, tactile surfaces and engaging shapes are designed to complement and enhance the recreational function of Broadgate, providing a place to meet-up and get inspired in the city centre.
Exchange Square, 100 Liverpool Street, London, EC2M 2RH
URBAN CABIN by MINI LIVING & Sam Jacob
The second Landmark Project for London Design Festival will be situated at the iconic Oxo Tower Wharf and will draw on its surrounding environment and distinct London characteristics. Sam Jacob Studio has partnered with MINI LIVING to create ‘Urban Cabin’ - a research space for relevant urban needs and local identities in London.
The structure comprises a shared kitchen and a micro-library where visitors to the space can share and swap literature that focuses on the history of living in the British capital. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the offerings from the 27 design stores located around it!
Oxo Tower Wharf, Barge House St, London SE1 9GY
citizenM Shoreditch Estate Playground by Yinka Ilori
London-based Nigerian designer Yinka Ilori is set to be everywhere this London Design Festival so don’t be surprised if you see his work more than once on your travels. His biggest installation will be within boutique hotel chain citizenM’s Shoreditch base, where he will be transforming the entrance of the hotel into a vibrant public playground, inspired by his memories of growing up on a council estate in North London.
citizenM Shoreditch, 6 Holywell Lane, London, EC2A 3ET
Reflection Room by Flynn Talbot at V&A
Making use of the Prince Consort Gallery at the V&A for the first time during LDF, ‘The Reflection Room’ has been designed by Flynn Talbot as an immersive coloured light experience. The vaulted space will be lit at each end to highlight and define the dramatic 35-metre length of the gallery offering a fragmented view of shifting colours, faceted reflections and light as well as playing with the shadows of visitors to the space.
V&A, Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL
Gateways by Adam Nathaniel Furman at designjunction
If you’re planning on visiting designjunction then you won’t miss this next installation. Turkishceramics has collaborated with designer Adam Nathaniel Furman to design ‘Gateways’ – a ceramic installation for the centre of Granary Square consisting of 4-metre-high colourfully-tiled gates, referencing London Underground stations and celebrating Turkey’s rich artisanal history.
Granary Square, Kings Cross, N1C 4AA