The London Design Festival is an annual event, taking place across the city every September. One of the most influential events of its kind in the world, this year it was staged for the eleventh time and boasted a programme of 333 projects. The six design destinations: 100% Design, Decorex International, designjunction, Focus/13, Southbank Centre, Tent London and Superbrands London attracted 1396 exhibitors between them.
The London Design Festival continued its collaboration with one of the world’s leading museums of art and design, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). As the central hub location for the festival for the fifth year, the V&A housed a broad range of commissioned activity spread throughout the museum and included 84 installations, events, talks and workshops.
The programme attracted an audience of 97,403, which was a 63% rise on the preceding week. Visitors were invited to view a spectacular 8-storey lighting installation, ‘28.280’ by Omer Arbel for Bocci, which was installed in the Grand Entrance of the museum. ‘God is in the Details’ saw visitors following a trail of Swarovski lenses focused on the design details of objects across the Museum’s extensive collections. FAT Architecture and Amorim collaborated on a natural cork floor that covered the existing bridge over the V&A’s medieval and Renaissance galleries.
The Norfolk House Music Room in the British galleries provided a theatrical backdrop for Scholten & Baijings’ ‘The Dinner Party’, where visitors were invited to interrupt a staged dinner party in session.
Alessi provided visitors a rare insight into the production processes of its brand by exposing the making skills of its factory, picking key pieces from the archive to embellish each story. The V&A’s Clore Study Area was completely transformed for ‘8 – 18’, a bold floor-to- ceiling graphic installation celebrating the 2D typographyled magazine, ‘Circular’. Moleskine and the London Design Festival invited over 70 London-based designers to participate in the Moleskine Sketch Relay, the display showcased illustrations responding to this year’s festival campaign ‘Design is Here, There and Everywhere’.
The festival’s landmark project, ‘Endless Stair’ - a large structure inspired by MC Escher’s surreal staircase - was installed on the lawn in front of the Tate Modern, overlooking the Thames. Designed by Alex de Rijke of dRMM, Dean of Architecture at the Royal College of Art, the piece is constructed from a series of giant interlocking staircases (a total of 187 steps) formed from American tulipwood and sponsored by American Hardwood Export Council. It has been estimated that when the installation closes on 10 October, a staggering 400,000 people will have seen it.
The second Global Design Forum took place on 16-17 September. Taking place annually, it is the pre-eminent thought leadership event for design bringing together key figures from across the design industry as well as those from other sectors to explore and debate the powerful and pressing issues facing design in the modern world. The event was held at the V&A and Southbank Centre during the London Design Festival 2013 and addressed some of the most turbulent and critical areas of activity: innovation, urbanism, brand power, the character of creativity, and the realisation of the ‘Big Idea’. Over 250 delegates and 25 speakers took part, including Peter Saville, Brent Hoberman, Jamie Hayon, Ilse Crawford, Ross Lovegrove, Sir John Hegarty and Michael Young.
The London Design Medal is British design’s most coveted accolade, awarded each year by a panel of judges to an individual who has made an immense contribution to design and London. Presented at a lavish dinner at Lancaster House, this year’s medals were awarded to Peter Saville; winner of the Panerai London Design Medal, Dieter Rams; winner of the Coutts Lifetime Achievement Medal, David Constantine; winner of the Veuve Clicquot Design Entrepreneur Medal and Daniel Rybakken; winner of the Swarovski Emerging Talent Medal. The London Design Medals are designed and made by London jeweller Hannah Martin in collaboration with Pentagram. The display boxes were designed and produced by John Jones.
The digital reach of the London Design Festival is impressive. The festival’s website had more than 174,000 visitors and an online community of 146,000 followed regular newsletters, information on the Festival’s Facebook page and on Twitter. The 2013 edition of the London Design Festival attracted a larger number of International press than any previous edition. Reflecting the festival’s global audience and recognition, it welcomed press from over 28 countries, from Brazil to Australia, and a range of VIP press from Europe. The international press breakfast was hosted for the first time at the V&A Museum and was attended by 78 press members.
