Design Community Reunite at London Design Festival 2021

Last week, London's design community reunited under the vast creative canopy of London Design Festival 2021.

Spread across 10 design districts, artists, designers, makers, museums, retailers, organisations, associations emerged from the disruption of a global pandemic ready to respond to societal and global issues with creative thinking, fresh ideas and novel solutions.

Connection, future, community, reusability and climate change were recurring themes throughout the many installations, events, open studios and panel discussions that took place.

Park Royal design district is on my doorstep and where I spent a thought provoking few hours visiting open studios. A trail of warehouses around Park Royal have been converted by architects into light-filled creative spaces where artists, designers and makers have room to work and share ideas.  

www.therepublicofparkroyal.com

Contained is the appropriate name given to one warehouse. It is an ex book binding works that now houses shipping containers re-used and reinvented as work spaces.

There, Blast Studios hosted a live 3D printing event. They collect waste - coffee cups and pizza boxes - from the local area and mulch them in to a pulp which is fed into a 3D printer to create sustainable artefacts, architectural material and interior accessories. The objects are inseminated with an edible fungi, the roots of which degrade the waste into a durable material.

Blast Studio explains: 'Instead of consuming products made from materials extracted across the world, what if we saw waste as a locally produced material with which we could create useful products. Over the last three years, we have been developing the concept of Urban Stomach: a micro-recycling station in the city. It establishes a circular economy around waste. Urban Stomach transforms used packaging collected locally into objects, furniture and interior design thanks to natural organisms and robots.'

www.blast-studio.com

Bill Amberg's studio was also open as part of the Park Royal Design district trail. Perhaps most well known amongst consumers for his handbags, the bulk of his business is now centred around high end bespoke interior design commissions.

Bill's staff - designers and artisans skilled in different areas of leathercraft - were  enthusiastic in explaining the benefits of leather as a material arguing that it is sustainable, repairable, recyclable and durable. It is a bi-product of the meat industry that if not utilised by the leather industry would end up in landfill.

www.billamberg.com

London Design Festival will return in 2022 from 17th - 25th September. Visit www.londondesignfestival.com for further information.