top picks at london design festival 2011

Wallpaper* & Bernhadt Design's launch party at St Pancras Hotel

Here are our top 10 picks (in no particular order) for London Design Festival this year, with a bit of art power! -

1. AL_A's Timberwave at the V&A - Amanda Levete's comeback masterpiece after her split with former partner in Future Systems

2. David Chipperfield's Size+Matter at the Royal Festival Hall - the minimalist master's attempt to unite technology and simplicity

3. Designjunction at Victoria House Basement - 30 furniture & lighting brands in 1 location, events on top of showcases

4. Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby at Haunch of Venison - the duo's first solo show with the gallery

5. Faye Toogood at Phillips de Pury - new and old furniture collection by the magazine editor turned stylist and designer

6. Cristian Zuzunaga at EB&Flow - brilliant photographic works by the spanish artist/designer

7. Formosa Show at Candid Arts - taiwanese art & design at your door step, London!

8. John Pawson's Perspective at St Paul's Cathedral - see how the master can attract eyeballs by doing nothing

9. Superbrands at Tent London - it's worth to go all the way to the east with all these big names

10.  De la Espada at Tramshed - suffocatingly beautiful timber furniture by the Spanish brand 

london design festival recap - part 2

further from part 1, here are the remaining highlights of the festival -

brick lane gallery by you.
This architectonic blind/partition by Rikako Iwamoto looks great in the front but not-that-appealing at the back with the connection threads to form the shape running everywhere

*****

east gallery by you.
These matt aluminium mirrors by Daniel Rybakken are pretty sexy, especially it conceals any imperfrections on your face and make you look - mysteriously remote - from your true face. The shape also make it versatile - either wall-hung or stand-on-its-own

full photo set here

*****

Tent London has remained relevant and maintained a healthy number of exhibitors this year despite the economic downtown (unlike 100% Design which looks empty once you walk out of the main hall). The variety of exhibitors has kept the show interesting, bringing in a considerable number of korean exhibitors (but their ideas are not that bright compared to their european counterparts in my opinion) as well as the portugal area (which I had missed totally due to no clear signage at the main entrance when I left - don't tell me to read the map, get better wayfinding next year!)

tent london by you.
Handsome solid wood furniture from London's own de la espada

tent london by you.
Tokyo Wonder by W0W at the digital section - this japanese establishment has the ability to transform ordinary elements into impressive super-cool silk-smooth motions

See the action by yourself -

'tokyo wonder' by W0W - strongly recommended to watch in HD

this is london || 26.09.2009 by you.
Horizon by Flynn Talbot - motion-sensitive colour-changing background/screen

tent london by you.
Minimal furniture by british hundreds tens units

tent london by you.
Face clock by japanese Yoshihiro Yoshida

tent london by you.
High chair at the Polish area

The clock clock by bastian bischoff & per emanuelson, one of the winners in the talent zone

full photo set here

*****

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Design Museum, this night was arranged with live DJ and a few gimmick events. Those who has bought tickets could not only see the 3 shows currently running in the museum, but also took part in the events. Not very impressed with no free drinks - rather pay a few quids more for entry and at least get a free glass of champagne. But then, perhaps they aim at getting the number up instead of making everyone in happy...

super contemporary by you.
Logo of the Super Contemporary show

super contemporary by you.
One of the Bake-off entries

super contemporary by you.
VR demo

super contemporary by you.
Street light chandelier by Thomas Heatherwick - romantic and beautiful

suepr contemporary . timeline by you.
The timeline is a very good exhibit, dividing events from 1950 to 2009 into 4 main aspects - social-political on top, the built environment (architecture & interiors) the second, graphics & media publishing the third, and product design at the bottom.

super contemporary . timeline by you.
The launch issue of Dazed & Confused

super contemporary . timeline by you.
The beautiful bottle of Tyrant water

full photo set here

mariscal at design museum by you.

The other show is on Spanish designer Javier Mariscal. The creator of the Barcelona Olympics mascot, this show has demonstrated the talents of the master. The overall set arrangement is also better than the Super Contemporary show, probably due to the fact that all works are only from a single designer so it is more consistent in style.

full photo set here

remembering jan kaplicky by you.

The show next to Mariscal is dedicated to the passed-away architect of the Future Systems, Jan Kaplicky. His signature 'futuristic' touch on the works shown is also a symbol of the outlook of cityscape towards the 21st century. Now we have already entered the 'new' century, technology is evolving at an unprecedented speed, there are many possibilities lying ahead which await our exploration. Jan's neo-post-modernist style maybe more suitable to remain as a memory of the era that we dreamt about the future, not living in one.

remembering jan kaplicky by you.
National Library in Prague - can you imagine this would appear in the medieval Czech city?

full photo set here

Further reading -
official website of Mariscal's show
official website of Jan Kaplicky's show
Wikipedia's entry for Javier Mariscal
Official website of Future Systems