Challenging Mindsets at London Design Festival 2022

From 17th - 25th September,  London Design Festival took place across the city in twelve distinct design districts from Park Royal in the west to Greenwich Peninsula in the east.

London Design Festival is a coming together of the global design community.  Think furniture, lighting, architecture, materials and craft.  A rich programme of installations, displays, events, talks and open studios challenge mindsets offering design solutions to tackle some of the problems facing our world. Sustainable thinking is at its heart.

The festival is vast and impossible to visit in its entirety. With only two afternoons to spare, I focussed my attention on distinct hubs. First stop was the V&A South Kensington, home to magnificent collections of jewellery, furniture, glass, china, costume and artefacts. Spanning the world and different eras, it is has inspired designers globally. For the festival, the museum hosted displays, demonstrations and talks dotted around the museum.

On the furniture floor, From the Forest featured projects engaging with questions surrounding the sustainable use of wood. Central to the display was Gitta Gschwendtner's bench made using a technique called 'bodging'. This is a craft process whereby furniture is made from freshly cut wood without using power tools, near to where the tree has been felled. Emissions are reduced by avoiding transporting and drying the wood before putting it to good use.

 Bodge Bench by Gitta Gschwendtner

In the Design 1900 to Now room on level 2 was R for Repair highlighting repair as an art form, encouraging a move away from throwaway culture to that of repair. Designers from the UK and Singapore had given broken possessions a new lease of life and meaning through creative repair.

A treasured saucer from Maxim's de Paris had been repaired by Studio Dam employing a Chinese porcelain technique called Juci using metal staples and epoxy glue. The broken saucer had been given a new lease of life as an ornamental piece. A cherished puffin toy that had it's wing broken by a playful cat had been given a new wing by Ng Si Ying made out of woven rattan secured by a fashionable belt.

Repaired saucer using Juci technique

Puffin toy repaired with new rattan wing

Part of the museum's courtyard John Madejski Garden had been taken over by Bocci for a glass blowing demonstration. Pre-loved copper and glass antiques found in flea markets and antique shops were melted down and fashioned into contemporary artefacts to be loved once more.

Glass blowing demonstration in the John Madejski Garden, V&A

Combined copper and glass artefacts

For my next design hub destination, I headed to Walthmastow with a young companion in tow - my seven year old son. Walthmastow was the home of one of the leading founders of the British Arts and Crafts movement, William Morris and the design district had been named in his honour - William Morris Design Line.

Keeping a seven year old boy amused on a design trail can be a hard task. But, we found entertainment in the form of The Rubbish Games laid out in the grounds of Waltham Forest Town Hall. Recyclable rubbish had been re-purposed for children's games - plastic bottles as skittles, old socks for throwing in a box and milk bottle tops for litter picking were just some of the creative ideas.

Milk bottle top litter picking game

Socks in the box game

The London Design Festival offers a vital platform from which the design community can promote new ideas. This congregation of the creative industries sparks fresh thinking amongst its audiences, which will in turn help build the sustainable products of the future. The next festival will take place from 16 - 24th September 2023. Watch this space!