Rooms Magazine » London Design Festival 2012

Aug

14

2012

London Design Festival 2012

London Design Festival 2012 starts today!

The world’s most innovative design festival is celebrating its tenth anniversary. With more than 200 events taking place across London this September, here are just a few highlights:

BE OPEN Sound Portal

Trafalgar Square / 19 – 23 September

Co-produced by BE OPEN, designed by Arup and commissioned by Sound and Music, this black rubberised structure will host finely-tuned audio technologies which will deliver aural delights to visitors of one of London’s most frenetic public spaces: Trafalgar Square. Every day, the BE OPEN Sound Portal will host a unique soundscape delivered by one of five leading musicians and sound artists. More

Mimicry Chairs by Nendo

V&A Museum / 14 – 23 September

Current darlings of the design world, Japanese studio Nendo are taking over not one, but many, spaces in the opulent surrounds of the V&A Museum for this year’s Festival. Nendo has created a simple chair archetype made from pressed and punched metal which will appear in a variety of guises throughout the Museum, mimicking and complementing existing collections. More.

Prism by Keiichi Matsuda, supported by Veuve Clicquot

V&A Museum / 14 – 23 September

London-based designer, digital artist and film-maker Keiichi Matsuda’s Prism presents an ingenious window into the virtual life of London. A sculptural, immersive interface of screens will be suspended from the V&A’s uppermost cupola onto which fast-moving data streams will be projected, giving a hyper-specific view of what’s happening in London at any one moment. More.

Global Design Forum

Central Saint Martins / 18 September

The Global Design Forum offers participants a unique opportunity to meet with key creatives and business figures to explore and discuss design’s role in creating a positive future for cities, communities and businesses worldwide. With speakers including Olympic-cauldron designer Thomas Heatherwick; Dr Astro Teller, Director of New Projects at Google; Frank Stephenson, Design Director of McLaren Automotive; and Jane ni Dhulchaointigh, Founder and inventor of sugru, this is one of the London Design Festival’s do-not-miss events.

Michael Anastassiades: shop launch

122 Lower Marsh / 17 – 23 September

Two years after his stunning Kinetic Light installation in the V&A during the 2010 London Design Festival, Michael Anastassiades returns with his elegant and understated lighting, furniture and accessories. This September, Anastassiades will launch his new shop in one of London’s most charming and quirky streets, Lower Marsh. More.

The Journey of a Drop

V&A Museum / 14 – 23 September

Conceptual designer Rolf Sachs will create a unique installation for the Henry Cole Wing Grand Staircase at the V&A, open to the public for the very first time during this year’s Festival. Drops of primary-coloured inks will fall down the height of the staircase and into vast glass tanks of illuminated liquid, unfolding into lush clouds of colours below.