Kicking off tomorrow, this annual celebration of contemporary design will once again take over a number of venues in London with more than 400 events ranging from talks to fairs such as the massive international furnishings trade show 100% Design. But, it just wouldn’t be a true London Design Festival experience without a visit to some of the site-specific installations that are erected for this occasion. Here are our best guesses for which extracurricular activities are worth taking a gander at if you’re in the vicinity this month.
The Green Room at the V&A; all V&A images courtesy London Design Festival 2016 supported by British Land
Victoria and Albert Museum (September 17 – 25)
Always a favorite with the architectural crowd, the festival-concurrent installations at the V&A tend to lie at the intersection of art and architecture as well as materiality and technology.
The Green Room
This year, highlights will include The Green Room by design duo Glithero, which will conceptually respond to the passage of time with a revolving composition of colored strings in a stairwell void; Benjamin Hubert’s Foil, which will comprise a custom LED system and 20-meter-long (66-foot-long) undulating ribbon made with 40,000 reflective metallic elements to make light dance around a gallery space; and Liquid Marble, which will explore the materiality of marble with a fluid-appearing piece designed by Mathieu Lehanneur using 3D software.
Foil at the V&A
The making of Foil
Liquid Marble at the V&A
Istanbul-based Tabanlioglu Architects has designed an evocative 13-meter-long (43-foot-long) mirrored black box that will be set on a bridge over the museum’s Medieval & Renaissance Galleries. Cracks in the surface will offer visitors glimpses into the life of the main character of classic Turkish novel Madonna in a Fur Coat using text, light and sound.
Bridge installation at the V&A
Whilst at the V&A, be sure to check out the current exhibition “Engineering the World: Ove Arup and the Philosophy of Total Design,” the first retrospective on the figure credited with redefining the way architects, designers and engineers work together. An accompanying garden installation, Elytra Filament Pavilion will highlight the importance of engineering in design and everyday life with a canopy of carbon fiber that was tightly woven using a novel robotic production process. The pavilion, which opened in May and stays on view through November, was conceived by experimental architect Achim Menges with Moritz Dörstelmann, structural engineer Jan Knippers and climate engineer Thomas Auer.
Elytra Filament Pavilion at the V&A
London Design Biennale (Through September 27; Somerset House)
Did you know that London introduced its first-ever design biennale this month? If not, there’s still time to view presentations by the more than 35 participating countries. Highlights include the US’s The Immersion Room, an interactive installation of digitized wallpapers from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and Turkey’s The Wish Machine, by multidisciplinary design studio Autoban, which draws on ancient Anatolian faith’s “wish-tree” tradition with an interactive pneumatic system in a mirrored space that takes visitors’ wishes written on paper.
The Immersion Room, photos by Matt Flynn © Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
© Gareth Gardner
The Wish Machine, photos by Gareth Gardner
© Gareth Gardner
© Gareth Gardner
MINI Living (September 17 – 25; Shoreditch)
Three plant-filled rooms (with the names Relax, Connect and Create) designed by architect Asif Khan will sit in busy areas across Shoreditch to provide respite, a meeting spot or place to spark creativity, depending on the structure. They’ll essentially be minimalist translucent volumes furnished with different types of seating depending on the room name and decked with plants inside or outside of the structures. BMW brand MINI is sponsoring these “mini environments.”
MINI Living
The Smile (September 17 – October 12; Rootstein Hopkins Parade Ground, Chelsea College of Arts)
Demonstrating the versatility of sustainable timber, this large-scale installation designed by Alison Brooks Architects is a curved rectangular tube that will be constructed with cross-laminated tulipwood panels. Touching the ground at a single point, The Smile will boast open-air balconies at either end that hover above the ground to afford visitors unique views of the city. The installation was created in collaboration with Arup, Merk and the American Hardwood Export Council.
The Smile
designjunction (September 22 – 25; King’s Cross)
The annual contemporary design show that sets itself apart by exhibiting against industrial backdrops is moving into a new, long-term home this year: King’s Cross. Among the four exhibits, you’ll want to visit Granary Square, which is an outdoor plaza that will be open to the public and not just to show registrants. This centrally located area will sport eight bespoke, Monopoly-style red houses adorned with conceptual installations. The structures will also be backdrops to some live activity from various luxury brands, and on Wednesday, September 21, Granary Square will host the designjunction opening party with live DJ sets, street food vendors and popup bars.
designjunction at Granary Square