The 22nd London Design Festival showcased over 300 global installations, including standout works by Nina Tolstrup, Craft x Tech, and Jaime Hayon, alongside the Global Design Forum’s design discussions.
The 22nd annual London Design Festival, celebrating the city as a global design capital, featured 308 installations across 11 design districts, including five landmark projects and two festival commissions. The Global Design Forum also returned, bringing together entrepreneurs to discuss responsible design, healthy cities, resilience, repair, and the intersection of technology and humanity. Here are a few of our favorite installations from this year’s festival.
Pavilions of Wonder, Nina Tolstrup of Studiomama
The Pavilions of Wonder, designed by Nina Tolstrup of Studiomama and presented by Mattel’s Barbie Inc. and Visit Greater Palm Springs, combines the playful vibrance of the Barbie DreamHouse with Palm Springs’ midcentury modernism. Located at Strand Aldwych, the installation includes three pink, iridescent pavilions: “Dream: Infinity Garden” with cacti, palm, and sand as a nod to Palm Springs’ climate and mirrored walls; “Discover: Design Stories” featuring the evolution of Barbie, and “Reflect: Playful Pauses” with kaleidoscopic effects.
The installation demonstrates a seamless harmony between the iconic Barbie DreamHouse’s playful vibrance and Greater Palm Springs’ quintessential midcentury modernism. With Barbie taking 2024 by a cultural storm, this intersection between architectural legacy and pop culture stood out in the festival.
“Play has always been part of our practice. I work with my husband, and I guess one could say that play is our hobby,” Nina Tolstrup stated in an email interview with ArchiExpo e-Magazine. “We surround ourselves with things that give us joy and pleasure, and playfulness is in this mix too. Working with Greater Palm Spring and Barbie Dream House has been a wonderful playful process.”
Craft x Tech, Tangent, and the Craft x Tech Tohoku Association
Craft x Tech was an ambitious installation by six Japanese artisans—Sabine Marcelis, Azusa Murakami, Alexander Groves, Ini Archibong, Yoichi Ochiai, Hideki Yoshimoto, and Michael Young—presented at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It blended traditional Japanese craftsmanship with modern technology, featuring artifacts from the Tohoku region, including a pillar-less tea room made with benibana-dyed Oitama Tsumugi and lacquerware tables.
An ancient sound-emitting sculpture using Tsugaru lacquer techniques showcased the “world’s oldest sound-emitting organic technology,” passed down over generations from the people of Aomori. Due to its unique engineering, a deep electronic sound is emitted as one hovers their hand over the structure, making for a visceral, personal experience.
Other notable pieces included “Blossom Links,” a set of wall hangings and side tables made of metal with cherry blossom designs created via 3D printing, and a samurai chest incorporating radical Japanese architectural principles.
The installation required four years of conceptualization and ten months to bring it to life, with communication as the biggest challenge.
“It means not only translation of languages but also how we can communicate the designer’s sensitivity to craftspeople in creating an object together. Still, these challenges are key and an enjoyable part of the project,” Hideki Yoshimoto, founder and creative director of the project, told ArchiExpo e-Magazine.
BDDW: An Open Gallery, Tyler Hays
BDDW is a diverse open gallery created by American artist Tyler Hays. The gallery is fashioned like a luxury home, featuring high-end furniture, artwork, lamps, carpets, a swing, a pool table, and even racks of clothing.
Every single article in the gallery, from the furnishings to the ceramics and clothing, was handcrafted from scratch by Hays in his complex gallery in Philadelphia.
The most arresting artefact in his gallery was the ceramic fireplace, built with handmade bricks and tiles. The aesthetic is characterised by soft white and blue hues and an intentional haphazard arrangement of patterns. The fireplace also bears a few three-dimensional sculpted figurines, as well as a pair of metallic-glazed candle reflectors.
Another interesting piece was a hand-painted jigsaw puzzle wall-hanging from Hays’ “Bather” series. It depicts a woman immersed in a pond and was made using acrylic and milk paint.
VERT, Diez Office in partnership with OMC°C and AHEC
VERT, a landmark project at the London Design Festival, introduces biodiversity, greenery, and shade to urban spaces, located at Chelsea College of Arts. The installation features tall triangular frames draped in biodegradable netting, with hammock-like seating and mini flora alcoves. Made from red oak Ghulam by AHEC and Neue Holzbau, the thermally modified floor deck supports over 20 plant species. VERT lowers temperatures by 8ºC and provides ecological benefits for insects. During the festival, Co-founder of OMC°C, Nicola Stattmann noted:
“We need fairly large structures to generate the necessary amount of shade and biomass.”
Fortnum & Mason x Jaime Hayon
Spanish designer Jaime Hayon transformed the windows and atrium of Fortnum & Mason with an installation blending artistry, tradition, and luxury, celebrating his studio’s 25th anniversary. Titled Celebration I, the display featured sculptures, bronze figures, vases, woodwork, and glass models.
“Every piece tells a unique story and captures a distinct element of my journey. Whether it’s the materials, the shapes, or the emotions behind them, they all come together to form a complete picture of my artistic exploration over the years,” Hayon told ArchiExpo e-Magazine.
A few standout pieces included the T-Bone, a handmade sculptural armchair; the “Embraced” handmade porcelain structure; and the colourful “Explorer” vases and side tables made of lacquered fibreglass body.
The atrium art titled “Malabarista” is an ornate laser-cut panel depicting an ethereal figure juggling celestial elements.
“Collaborating with Fortnum & Mason, with their rich heritage and commitment to craftsmanship, pushed me to delve even deeper into the intersection of tradition and modernity,” Hayon said. “The grandeur of their flagship space also gave me the freedom to scale my ideas in new ways, creating an immersive experience that celebrates the harmony between art and design.”
The aforementioned installations exemplify innovation on all fronts—design, luxury, tradition, and technology.
