Saturday 17 September 2016
Must see: Creative Matters
Creative Matters is a four-day ‘creative futures’ forum including talks, workshops, master-classes, round-tables, installations, exhibitions and networking events. Don’t miss Yeshen Venema’s product photography demos and workshops – all day – and the Design Geek Round Table on Internships at 4pm, hosted by Katie Treggiden with Ella Doran and Intern Magazine editor Alec Dudson, which is also the official launch of our Jobs Board.
- 11am – 7pm
- Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, SE1 9PH
Sunday 18 September 2016
Must see: Brixton Design District
For the first time, Brixton gets its own LDF Design District, inaugurating the event with the theme ‘Rebel Rebel’. Highlights include a special edition of the Crafty Fox Market for LDF, Carl Turner Architects’ Pop Brixton and Eley Kishimoto and Dolman Bowles’ Flash Crossing.
Crafty Fox
- The Dogstar, 389 Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8LQ
- 11am – 5pm
Carl Turner Architects’ Pop Brixton
- 49 Brixton Station Road, SW9 8PQ
- 9am – 11pm
Eley Kishimoto and Dolman Bowles’ Flash Crossing
- Junction of Coldharbour Lane/Atlantic Road, SW9 8LQ
- 24 hours a day
Monday 19 September 2016
Must see: LDF at the V&A
The Victoria and Albert Museum is the ‘hub’ of LDF, with site-specific installations by big-name designers. Highlights include the Green Room: a reinterpretation of the clock by Studio Glithero x Panerai in the stairwell of Staircase G, Level 6; Beloved: Tabanlıoğlu Architects’ interpretation of 1943 novel Madonna in a Fur Coat on the bridge over the Medieval & Renaissance galleries; and Foil by Benjamin Hubert x Braun: a 20-metre moving metallic ribbon made of 50,000 mirrored steel panels in the Tapestry Gallery.
- 10am – 5.45pm
- Victoria & Albert Museum Cromwell Rd, SW7 2RL
While you’re there: Brompton Design District
Grab a map and explore the Brompton Design District to your heart’s content, but make sure you don’t miss…
No Ordinary Love by Martino Gamper with Friends
- 10am – 6pm
- SEE••DS Gallery, 3 Launcestone Place, W8 5RL
Breathless: live glassmaking demonstrations with Dechem, Tomas Alonso, Studio Swine and Michael Anastassiades
- 10am – 7pm
- The Garage, 1 North Terrace, SW3 2BA
Dirty Furniture x The Shit Museum: the launch of the Toilet issue
- 10am – 6pm
- 1 North Terrace, SW3 2BA
The Smile by Alison Brooks Architects x Arup x AHEC: a 34-metre cross-laminated tulipwood installation.
- 10am – 9pm
- Rootstein Hopkins Parade Ground, Chelsea College of Art & Design, 16 John Islip Street, SW1P 4JU
Tuesday 20 September 2016
Must see: London Design Biennale
36 nations from six continents respond to the theme of Utopia by Design at Somerset House for London’s first ‘design biennale‘. Contributions include: Forecast by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby evokes Britain’s nautical history, renewable energy hopes and weather fixation; Norway’s Reaching for Utopia – Inclusive Design in Practice makes the case for inclusive design, showcasing civic projects with social benefits; and Mezzing in Lebanon, curated by Annabel Karim Kassar, presents the people as designers. “The street is where design is created,” she says.
- Tickets from £17.30
- 10am – 6pm
- Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA
While you’re there: Central
Often the best things at design festivals are the smaller ‘fringe’ exhibitions. Explore, keep an eye out for the red LDF flags outside participating venues and don’t miss these two:
British design brand HAM takes over the windows of West Elm with those iconic black bunnies and screen-printing workshops.
- 10am – 7pm
- West Elm, 209 Tottenham Court Road, W1T 7PN
Brown Betty: The Archetypal Teapot at Vitsoe shows how this familiar form became an icon.
- 10am – 6pm
- Vitsoe, 3-5 Duke Street, W1U 3ED
Wednesday 21 September 2016
Must see: Decorex & 100{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} Design
(NB Wednesday is a trade day for both shows, so if you’re not in the industry visit Decorex on Tuesday and 100{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} Design on Saturday.)
At Decorex look out for CraftHouse, curated by The New Craftsmen’s Catherine Lock explores how we eat, sleep, bathe and work; Corinne Julius’ showcase of materiality and craft for which she invited 14 designer makers to create new work for Future Heritage; and Tom Raffield, Sebastian Cox and Eleanor Pritchard launch new work.
- From £15
- 10am – 5pm
- Syon Park, Brentford, Middlesex, TW8 8JF. (Use TW7 6AZ for sat nav / 10 minute walk from Syon Lane train station / Shuttle buses every 20 minutes from Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, Osterley Tube Station and Richmond Train station.)
At 100{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} Design, look out for Mairi Helena, Matthew Pope and Kate Cledwyn in the Emerging Talents section and don’t miss the talks programme, curated by the Design Museum, which promises “agenda-setting discussions exploring trends in contemporary practice and the future of design.” We’ll be there, taking notes!
- From £15
- 10am – 6pm
- Olympia London, Hammersmith Road, W14 8UX
While you’re there(-ish!): Robert Penn
The Future of Craftsmen is a talk from Robert Penn, author of The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees – a #designbookclub book, as part of the Blackhorse Workshop programme of events.
- 7pm – 9pm, 21 September
- Blackhorse Workshop, 1–2 Sutherland Road Path, Walthamstow, E17 6BX (10 min walk from Blackhorse Road Underground (Victoria line)
Thursday 22 September 2016
Must see: The London Design Fair
(NB Thursday and Friday are trade days for the London Design Fair, so if you’re not in the industry, visit on Saturday or Sunday instead.)
Tent London and Super Brands London come together under a new umbrella: The London Design Fair. Highlights include: 100{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} Norway, for which Max Fraser has curated the best of contemporary Norwegian design – don’t miss Design Geek editor Katie Treggiden moderating a panel comprising Max and some of the designers at 3pm; This is India: a country-specific pavilion designed by Kangan Arora showcasing Indian design curated by Tiipoi’s Spandana Gopal; Max Lamb, Sebastian Cox, Lucy Kurrein and Giles Miller present the Trentino Collaborations, new work created with manufacturers from the region; and look out for Marie Eklund, Troels Flensted, Forest + Found and Juli Bolaños Durman.
- From £10
- 10am – 7pm
- Old Truman Brewery, 26 Hanbury Street, E1 6QR
While you’re there: Shoreditch Design Triangle
There’s always lots going on in East London, so set aside an afternoon to explore – and make sure you don’t miss these highlights:
Reiko Kaneko explores Japan’s Wabi-sabi philosophy in All That is Broken is Not Lost, her exhibition of broken pieces of ceramics at the Elementary Store.
- 11am – 6pm
- Elementary Store, 77 Redchurch Street, E2 7DJ
Ready Made Go 2 – Modern Design Review‘s Laura Houseley and the Ace Hotel present items created by local designers for permanent use in the hotel.
- Open 24 hours a day
- Ace Hotel lobby, 100 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JQ
Stacking / Packing is an exhibition of stackable flat-pack seating for small-space living by Dean Edmonds at super-trendy cycle shop Tokyobikes.
- 11am – 7pm
- Toykobike, 87–89 Tabernacle Street, EC2A 4BA
Friday 23 September 2016
Must see: designjunction
Designjunction is at a new venue in King’s Cross and we’re excited to see what they have in store. The Dyslexic Design exhibition, curated by Jim Rokos, celebrates the connection between dyslexia and creativity and includes work by Sebastian Bergne, Terence Woodgate and Tom Raffield; plus Bethan Gray, William Branton and Tom Pigeon launch new work.
- From £12
- 11am – 7pm
- 1 Granary Square, King’s Cross, N1C 4AA
While you’re there: Islington Design District & Clerkenwell Design Quarter
Check out some of the fringe events in Islington and Clerkenwell while you’re North, and don’t miss our top picks:
magCulture offers a specially curated selection of design magazines
- 11am – 7pm
- magCulture , 270 St John Street, EC1V 4PE
Present & Correct presents some fabulous design geekery in the form of Error: 200 erasers and their packaging
- 12noon – 6.30pm
- Present & Correct, 23 Arlington Way, EC1R 1UY
Omer Arbel’s light installation for Bocci at the Barbican, 44, comprises more than 300 free-poured aluminium forms
- 9am – 11pm
- Barbican foyer, Level G, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS
Saturday 24 September 2016
Must see: Blackhorse Workshop & South East Makers Club
Wooden Matters by Ma-tt-er x Blackhorse Workshop comprises talks, workshops and demonstrations exploring the future of wood
- 9.30am – 5.30pm
- 1–2 Sutherland Road Path, Walthamstow, E17 6BX (10-minute walk from Blackhorse Road Underground on the Victoria line)
For the South East Makers Club: Arrive at the Deptford Job Centre to collect a trail map, and pick up stamps at stops including street-art projects, Simple Shape’s Experiments in Clay exhibition, a Peckham design market and a designer pub quiz.
- 10am – 6pm
- Deptford Job Centre, 120 Deptford High Street, SE8 4NP
Sunday 25 September 2016
Must see: Designersblock
Designersblock is back on the Southbank – Camilla Barnard is making an entire stationery shop out of wood, naturally(!), and also look out for Lambert Kamps, Giulia Liverani and Kelcey Towell.
- 11am – 7pm
- Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, South Bank, SE1 9PH
While you’re there: Bankside Design District
Pop into Oxo Tower Wharf for Mr Jones Watches x Anthony Burrill, Designed in Colour and Wagumi’s Japanese craft workshops
- 11am – 7pm
- Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, South Bank, SE1 9PH
And then finish off in the Tate Modern for the new 64.5-metre Switch House by Herzog & de Meuron, Jasper Morrison’s first major retrospective Thingness, and a glass of something fizzy at the Terrace Bar – you’ve earned it!
- 10am – 6pm (Terrace Bar until 5pm)
- Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1 9TG
NB Entry is free unless otherwise stated. Prices take into account pre-registration – prices on the door may be more. Maps are for illustrative purposes only. Please use addresses provided for navigation. All information is correct at the time of going to print and opening hours are for the dates suggested – hours on other days may vary. Please check details with event organisers before travelling. Enjoy!
Download the PDF of our printed version here, or grab a copy from venues right across the capital. Thank you so much to our advertisers and sponsors, Eporta, Rich Brilliant Willing, and Flock who made the printed version possible, and to magCulture who designed it.
And before you go, here are our top 10 tips for surviving the London Design Festival
Take it from a girl who knows: these are must-follow tips if you’re going to make it through this nine-day week in one piece:
1. Pre-register or buy tickets for all the events you want to attend in advance. Some require pre-registration even if they’re free – and you’ll get the best prices and avoid queues.
2. If you haven’t already got one, buy a pre-pay Oyster card and make sure you’ve got plenty of credit – that way you can hop on and off buses and Tubes to your heart’s content. (Allow an hour to get from one part of London to another.) And don’t be afraid to hop in a black cab if you’re starting to flag – they’re often quicker and cheaper than you might expect.
3. Book accommodation as centrally as you can afford – and consider staying in town even if you live within commuting distance. Time spent on trains is all time that could be spent looking at design!
4. Carry water and your default pick-me-up snack on you at all times – with so much to see, it’s too easy to forget to eat.
5. That said, do try to stop and sit down for breakfast, lunch and dinner no matter how much you’ve got on your agenda – it’ll give you the energy to get through the day.
6. Wear flat comfortable shoes, ideally running shoes with lots of support – they’ll protect your feet and your back. And clothes you feel comfortable and confident in – you never know whom you might run into at LDF!
7. Pack a portable phone charger – if you’re doing it right, you’ll be using more maps and social media apps than any battery can handle.
8. Stretch out at the beginning and end of each day. A yoga app will help – or if you’re not a yoga bunny, at the very least lie on the floor with your legs up a wall for a few minutes, and massage your feet with a tennis ball.
9. Leave some gaps in your schedule to allow for the unexpected. It’s a good idea to have a plan, but don’t be afraid to react to last-minute suggestions.
10. And finally, make sure you enjoy it! You can’t see everything – there are more than 200 events – so it’s a question of managing your FOMO (fear of missing out) and having a good time.