Ten must-see installations at London Design Festival 2022
With London Design Festival 2022 set to begin in less than a week, we've rounded up this year's must-visit installations, events and exhibitions, from a sculpture made from ocean plastic to chiselled outdoor seating.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, London Design Festival is one of the world's leading design events and a staple in the UK's cultural calendar.
To mark the anniversary, more than 300 events across 12 design districts will operate across the capital city from 17 to 25 September.
Visitors can expect a varied roster of events including installations, workshops, exhibitions and product launches, as well as showroom tours, talks, trade fairs and other fringe events.
Activities set to take place on Monday 19 September will be rescheduled to honour Queen Elizabeth II's funeral.
See Dezeen Events Guide's digital guide to London Design Festival 2022 for more information on the many events taking place at this year's festival.
In the meantime, read on for our highlights:
Swivel by Sabine Marcelis and SolidNature
Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis and Dutch material brand SolidNature will showcase Swivel, a site-specific outdoor seating installation in St Giles Square.
Upon entering the square, visitors will be welcomed by several colourful stone chairs that can be easily rotated and are designed to encourage communication and interaction.
Crinkle-Crankle Concrete by Seratech, Akt II and Byrne Bros
A series of blocks made from a cement alternative curl around a bench to form Crinkle-Crankle Concrete, an installation by engineering company Akt II that will be shown throughout the eight-day design festival.
The curved installation is made from blocks of Seratech, a material that uses a green-coloured magnesium–iron silicate called Olivine to absorb carbon dioxide in a process known as mineral carbonation.
Plasticity by Niccolo Casas
Italian architect Niccolo Casas will exhibit a 3.6-metre-high sculpture made from Parley Ocean Plastic – upcycled marine plastic waste by environmental organisation Parley for the Oceans – at the V&A museum.
Called Plasticity, the sculpture has been 3D printed together with design brand Nagami. The designers hoped to illustrate how harmful waste material can be turned into something new in the circular economy.
Henge by Stanton Williams, LSI Stone and Webb Yates
This year, London Design Festival has commissioned architecture studio Stanton Williams, British stone supplier LSI Stone and engineering company Webb Yates to create Henge, a circular pavilion.
The pavilion, which is made from 150-million-year-old Jurassic limestone and marble, is informed by historical Neolithic stone circles and monuments that are located across Britain, Ireland and Brittany.
Attendees are encouraged to engage with the sculpture, which was designed to be a space for performance as well as contemplation.
I Was Lost But Now I Live Here by RCA
The I Was Lost But Now I Live Here by the Royal College of Arts exhibition, held in west London's Brompton Design District, will showcase works by students and recent graduates that respond to the theme of the changing ideological landscape of design.
Among the projects on display is a biomaterial made from eggshells blended with different fruits and vegetables (above) by product design masters student Emelie Ågren, which intends to highlight the emotional impact disposable objects can have on us.
Jelly Salad by Bethan Laura Wood and Christopher Farr
British designer Bethan Laura Wood will present Jelly Salad, a vibrantly coloured tactile rug designed to look like vegetables suspended in a jelly sea.
Wood developed the rug for British textile brand Christopher Farr using the hooked rug technique – a process whereby strips of fabric are looped to create different textures. The resulting 1.2 by 1.8-metre rug incorporates varying heights and textures.
Christopher Farr, 18 Calvin Street
We are Here
Interior designer Tola Ojuolape (above) – who is best known for completing the interiors of the recently reopened The Africa Centre – is among those who will be speaking at We are Here, a film and music-led event in east London.
Held within Rio Cinema in Dalston, the series of talks will explore the role that public and private spaces in the built environment play in uniting London's diasporic communities.
Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland High Street
Huguet x Pentagram by Pentagram and Astrid Stavro and Huguet Mallorca
Seven partners – Jody Hudson-Powell, Sascha Lobe, Giorgia Lupi, Jon Marshall, Luke Powell, Yuri Suzuki (whose work is pictured above) and Matt Wiley – from design consultancy Pentagram will exhibit a colourful collection of tiles and objects.
Created in collaboration with graphic designer Astrid Stavro and material company Huguet, the playful tiles and objects marry contemporary design with traditional craftsmanship and local, sustainable materials such as terrazzo.
4 Cromwell Place, South Kensington
Jan Hendzel Studio
A coffee table made from reclaimed pitched pine (above) is among the sculptural items that Jan Hendzel Studio has featured in its re-aimagining of two suites in the Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green.
The London-based furniture manufacturer will showcase an array of functional pieces of furniture throughout the two suites, which are designed to look like art galleries.
Town Hall Hotel, 8 Patriot Square
Material Matters
Over 35 brands and designers including Zena Holloway who will showcase a material made from grass root (above and lead image) will come together to explore the significance of materials and their ability to shape our lives in the Material Matters fair.
Spanning five floors, the material-focused event will host exhibitions, site-specific installations, a marketplace, learning space and an extensive talks programme.
London Design Festival 2022 takes place from 17-25 September 2022. See our London Design Festival 2022 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.