Share this on

London Design Fest Shapes Up

Tom Dixon to give away chairs; B&B Italia to unveil new products; and a play by Droog Design.

Staff -- Interior Design, 8/28/2006 12:00:00 AM

With the London Design Festival (LDF) now clearly on the horizon, the fair’s specific events are beginning to take shape. Now in its fourth year, the festival is bigger than ever, touting more than 200 events and activities taking place across the city from September 15-30. Exhibitions, events, seminars, lectures, and parties cover a broad spectrum, including applied arts, architecture and buildings, creative business, fashion, furniture, graphics and branding, interiors, product, and photography. Most of the events are free and open to the public.

The festival will take place across all sections of the city. In Central London, highlights include Design U.K. at Liberty and designer Tom Dixon at Trafalgar Square. The latter will team up with the EPS Packaging Group to give away his latest designs in what’s come to be known as the Great Chair Grab. The popular 100% East show returns with a multidisciplinary array of the hottest emerging international talent. Ceramics in the City, another returning crowd-pleaser, will be held at the Geffrye Musuem. In South London, small-scale contemporary venues and large public spaces at the Victoria & Albert Museum and Tate Galleries will host various events and exhibits. With interiors retailer Geoffrey Drayton hosting "Frederisk Kiesler's Seating Designs of the 1930s and 1940s," Brompton Cross Association's open evening, and Westside London’s various events in the Paddington, North and West London are placed squarely on the LDF map.

Also on the happening front, 100% Design, a key partner to LDF. Aimed at interior design professionals, 100% Design will return to Earls Court 2 from September 21-24 with more than 450 U.K. and international exhibitors. A host of global and national launches and award-winning designs will be exhibited.

In other news, B&B Italia will use LDF to launch new furniture by designers Antonio Citterio, Naoto Fukasawa, and Patricia Urquiola, as well as new products by Moooi. Over at the Conran shop, Polly Dickens, the store’s creative director, who recently set off on a solo buying trip to Tokyo, has put together a cross-section of products, materials, styles, and price points. For the treehuggers, [Re]design 06 will address design’s “enormous potential to enable social and environmental change” via installations, seminars, books, and other resources. At the Decorex International Champagne Private View, guests will get a special preview of 240 of the best new collections for the luxury market.

And never ones to miss out on the fun, Droog Design will present “Droog Event II: Urban Play.” An "international project of catalysts to inspire people to be creative in the city," "Urban Play" kicks off a three-year run of exhibitions, public projects, and events with a premiere project created especially for London, after which it will travel to six different European cities.

Over at the Design Museum, Design Mart, an annual survey of new and emerging design talent, will be held once again. This year's exhibition features the work of furniture, lighting, and product design collective Viable, furniture by Max Lamb, and Philip Worthington's fascinating light boxes, among other work.

Numerous other activities, which are being updated on an ongoing basis, include lectures, educational initiatives, exhibitions, screenings, and awards.