Design Museum, Kvadrat, Piet Hein Eek and Rem Koolhaas feature at VDF this week
Week 11 of Virtual Design Festival features a collaboration with Danish textile company Kvadrat and London's Serpentine Galleries, as well as a series of conversations with the architects behind Melbourne's annual MPavilion designs.
Tuesday sees a takeover from the Design Museum, which will unveil work by its designers in residence. Among them are architect Stiliyana Minkovska, who designed a series of undulating birthing chairs, and Robert Johnson, whose Fatconomy project explores fat as a new sustainable material.
Furniture maker Sebastian Cox and Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek are this week's guests for our Screentime series sponsored by Philips TV & Sound.
We will also screen a new talk from Therme Art in partnership with the British Council.
Australia's MPavilion presents a number of relay talks on Thursday, featuring the architects of previous MPavilions interviewing their successor.
The conversations will feature MPavilion founder Naomi Milgrom and architects Sean Godsell, Amanda Levete, Bijoy Jain, Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten, Carme Pinós and last year's MPavilion designer, Glenn Murcutt.
The week ends with a collaboration with London's Serpentine Galleries, who will exclusively premiere the latest episode in its Back to Earth series of podcasts. This will be followed by a live conversation between Rebecca Lewin, Serpentine Galleries curator of exhibitions and design, Ma-tt-er founder Seetal Solanki and Caroline Cornish, honorary research associate at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Plus, Kvadrat will present a live interview between French designer Erwan Boroullec and Dezeen founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs about Boroullec's design for Kvadrat's Shade's roller blind collection.
Tuesday 23 June
VDF x Design Museum
Design Museum‘s Virtual Design Festival takeover will showcase a full day’s programme of events from the London institution’s designers in residence Màle Uribe Forés, Stiliyana Minkovska, Marta Giralt and Robert Johnson.
2:00pm Screentime: Sebastian Cox
Today’s guest at our Screentime series, sponsored by Philips TV & Sound, is British furniture maker Sebastian Cox, who has worked with materials from wood to mushroom mycelium.
Wednesday 24 June
2:00pm Screentime: Piet Hein Eek
Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek, who is known for his work with recycled wood but whose practice spans a variety of materials and genres, including architecture, joins our Screentime series sponsored by Philips TV & Sound.
3:00pm VDF x Therme Art
Therme Art presents The Social Culture of Cities: Shaping a Performative and Participatory Social Reality, a discussion in partnership with the British Council looking at how artists and art can play a more central role in defining how we live.
Thursday 25 June
VDF x MPavilion
Australia’s MPavilion joins VDF today to present a series of interviews with the seven architects who have been commissioned to create the annual pavilions in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens, including Amanda Levete, Rem Koolhaas and Carme Pinós.
Friday 26 June
VDF x Serpentine Galleries
8:00am Back to Earth: Tracing the Roots podcast
Serpentine Galleries exclusively premieres it latest podcast episode, in which hosts Rebecca Lewin and Victoria Sin think about what design looks like when it begins from a position of ecological responsibility. The episode features designers and artists Formafantasma, Dunne & Raby and Black Quantum Futurism.
11:00am Re-learning Perspectives: Archives, Exhibitions and Studios
Rebecca Lewin, curator of exhibitions and design at the Serpentine Galleries, brings together Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew researcher Caroline Cornish and Ma-tt-er founder Seetal Solanki to think about the ways in which histories, politics and ecologies are embedded in materials, from the perspective of an art gallery, botanic garden and design practice.
Starting with Cambio, Formafantasma’s Serpentine exhibition, which is temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the discussion will explore the colonial past of the timber industry and its impacts, as well as strategies for how we can become more responsible in our use of materials.
2:00pm VDF x Kvadrat
Danish brand Kvadrat, known for its work with designers including Raf Simons, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and Doshi Levien, joins VDF today for a live conversation with Marcus Fairs.