Interiors: Why these Design Routes are the perfect introduction to the London Design Festival
Despite the unsettling combination of stasis and turmoil gripping the whole of the UK, London is still thriving in many fields, not least in design. For the past 16 years, London Design Festival, which takes place every September, has got bigger and stronger. Cash is being spent on bringing cutting edge design to every corner of central London.
Also thankfully, the organisers of LDF have parcelled it up into manageable chunks (the bumper guide is free to pick up at central London locations). As well as major venues hosting events, the LDF organisers realise we simply want to go somewhere and get the most out of it, so they’ve packaged it up geographically.
The five Design Destinations are the busy trade fairs that are also open to the public; then there are 11 Design Districts; finally, there are four Design Routes – Brixton, King’s Cross, Mare Street and Paddington Central – which are smaller clusters of design activity than the districts, and where the venues are within walking distance of one another. On the mobile site of londondesignfestival.com there’s an “Around Me” tool to see events nearby, or you can browse the website then plan, save and share your itinerary with the “My Festival” feature. Here are a few highlights along the Design Routes:
Tom Dixon's Coal Office is part of LDF 2018
King’s Cross
The next phase of regeneration is set to open next month with a whole new retail development, Coal Drops Yard, with a design focus. Get a sense of it on the King’s Cross Design Route, which encompasses six installations, as well as Tom Dixon’s shop and showroom at The Coal Office. It is hosting Electroanalogue, an exploration of digital technology and design, including the use of sound in the form of a 1970s discotheque, while records are being cut in The Factory.
Paddington Central
Described as “an urban waterside oasis”, British Land’s Paddington Central has sprouted up around the Grand Union Canal outside Paddington Station. If the premise of Paddington 2 centred on a pop-up book of London, then the design route curators have taken this literally.
Alphabet by Kellenberger-White in Paddington
The route explores the Snohetta Book Pavilion, a library pod inspired by the immersive joy of reading, and the Flip Book Garden, bringing the pop-up book to life, in a garden setting. Don’t miss all-day refreshments aboard the floating art barges Darcie & May Green, with their unique livery designed by legendary pop artist Sir Peter Blake. Bookings recommended; visit daisygreenfood.com.
Mare Street
Called the Maker Mile, this Design Route is a creative cluster of fabricators, studios and workshops in East London radiating from the open-house studios of Containerville, open for LDF for the first time (containerville.co.uk). The home of start-ups and scale-ups, head here for grassroots London.
Brixton
Championing the inclusiveness of community, Brixton Design Trail is themed around “we belong”, with a huge number of installations, exhibitions and events.
Clusters of life-size silhouettes of people will float above the streets in the art installation Reflections, and artist, designer and activist, the late Jon Daniel, has a brilliant retrospective of work at 198 Gallery.
London Design Festival runs 15 to 23 September (londondesignfestival.com)