london design festival recap - part 1

So many happenings around town in the past few weeks, I have to clear the backlog before Frieze Art Fair otherwise these would be never posted. Here are some recaps of the London Design Festival (LDF), hope you have enjoyed yourself if you have been to these places like me. If not, you haven't missed everything as I'm sharing them with you here : )

The Tournement at Trafalgar Square

the tournament at trafalgar square by you.

The main official event for LDF, Spanish designer Jaime Hayón created this playful giant chess set, with 2m-high ceramic chess pieces on a Bisazza mosaic glass chess board. The chess pieces design is inspired by iconic London buildings; their domes, towers and spires; plus a signature spice of Hayón's style. Seated upon elevated platforms, contestants from the British Chess Federation and members of the public battled it out over the five days to become The Tournament champion. I haven't found out who's the champion, but I surely enjoy the actions the chessboard brought to Trafalgar Square and would love to see something as spectacular as this to return as the crown jewel of the festival next year.

the tournament at trafalgar square by you.
Public gathered to watch the game

the tournament at trafalgar square by you.
The MC introducing the helpers who would move the chess pieces, the players and the guest commentators

the tournament at trafalgar square by you.

the tournament at trafalgar square by you.

the tournament at trafalgar square by you.

the tournament at trafalgar square by you.
One of the players sitting on his "commander chair" thinking about his next move

the tournament at trafalgar square by you.

this is london || 22.09.2009 by you.

the tournament at trafalgar square by you.

P1180513 by you.
When a piece is moved away from the board, it would go to the back of the main stage

the tournament at trafalgar square by you.

full photo set here

*****

Open House London - Village Underground

village underground by you.

Open House provides a valuable opportunity once in a year for the general public to get behind the doors of many public and private properties to have a look on what's inside. Village Underground is a private-initiative containing studio spaces for creative and event venue. The studio part is open to public during Open House this year and you could find disused underground carriages being converted to workspaces here -

village underground by you.
Lovely graffiti on the tube

village underground by you.
The upper level carriage overlooking the lower level carriages and the event gallery (the one with roof lights)

village underground by you.
Facilities are minimal inside the tube - you could imagine it's quite harsh during the hot days in summer and much worse during the chilly days of winter

village underground by you.
The tube carriage formerly belong to the old Jubilee Line before its millennium extension - Charing Cross was the terminal at that time

full photo set here

*****

Size & Matter at Southbank Centre

size + matter 2009 at southbank by you.
Marc Newson's Supercell

size + matter 2009 at southbank by you.
Shigeru Ban's Paper Tower

I'm a bit disappointed on this year's Size & Matter pavilions. Perhaps they don't have big budget this year for all the obvious reasons, I don't understand why they don't just put all the resources to make one impressive pavilions rather than having 2 not-so-attractive ones instead.

They may be nice public installations, but certainly not good enough compared to previous works displayed in the same venue to me.

full photo set here

******

Further Reading -
Official website of JamiHayón's Studio