London Design Festival: where to go and what to see from NASA solar recordings to futuristic light installations

Heyl Van Dam, Cosmobloom (Part of Light in Motion presented by Acrylicize, London Design Festival)
Heyl Van Dam, Cosmobloom (Part of Light in Motion presented by Acrylicize, London Design Festival)

London Design Festival returns for another week-long celebration of innovation and creativity, with a roster of thrilling exhibitions, open studios, talks, tours and workshops.

Launched in 2003 by British designers John Sorrell and Ben Evans, the festival has grown exponentially over the past two decades: last year more tahn 600,000 people from 75 countries attended. Now one of the world’s leading design festivals, LDF is a celebration both of innovative artists and designers, and of pioneering technology and ideas.

“London Design Festival is a fantastic event which brings together designers from across the globe and demonstrates the capital’s position as a powerhouse for the creative industries,” said Sadiq Khan.Here we pick just some of this year’s brilliant exhibitions.

Pavilions of Wonder by Nina Tolstrup of Studiomama

Palm Springs House (London Design Festival)
Palm Springs House (London Design Festival)

A collaboration between Mattel’s Barbie and Visit Greater Palm Springs, this installation explores Californian architecture and the way it has inspired Barbie’s DreamHouse over the years. Visitors are invited to explore several 3D pavilions, which play with ideas around cultural symbols, architectural heritage, pop culture and lifestyle.

Visit Greater Palm Springs, Mattel, Inc.’s Barbie®, Strand Aldwych. Free, no ticket required

Origin – A deep listening experience

Origin, Photo by Stephen Dobbie (London Design Festival)
Origin, Photo by Stephen Dobbie (London Design Festival)

In this transporting installation created by two of Punchdrunk’s associate artists, guests are invited to lay down and be bathed in sound and light. The calming space has been specially designed for disconnection from demanding schedules and fast-paced lives; it uses an audio track to tap in themes around human connection with nature and life cycles. Some of the sound design has been created by students from Goldsmith’s department of theatre and performance.

World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens. Paid, ticket required

Group Show

Crater, Zaha Hadid Coffee Table (London Design Festival)
Crater, Zaha Hadid Coffee Table (London Design Festival)

Promising to be very cool indeed, this group show at David Gill Gallery, suitably titled Group Show, takes a phrase from British poet Sylvia Plath as its starting point. “I am silver and exact” she wrote in Mirror; the exhibition, which centres around six key works by Mattia Bonetti (but also features the works of Fredrikson Stallard, Daniel Libeskind and Zaha Hadid) focuses on the colour silver in all its glory. There’s a ‘crater’ coffee table, a futuristic throne-chair, molten cuboids and a “scribbled” mirror – a reflective feast for the eyes.

David Gill Gallery. Free, no ticket required

Engrained: Material Intelligence

Nic Webb, Big Red. Photo: Leroy Boateng (Sarah Myerscough Gallery and London Design Festival)
Nic Webb, Big Red. Photo: Leroy Boateng (Sarah Myerscough Gallery and London Design Festival)

Sarah Myerscough Gallery represents craft and design artists who specialise in material-led processes: Engrained: Material Intelligence features artists such as Nic Webb, Peter Marigold, Studio Amos, Gareth Neal who are pushing the boundaries of design with wood. The gallery and the innovative artists are interested in showcasing the exquisite properties of wood, in doing so provoking ideas around durability, history, connectivity and ecology.

Sarah Mayerscough Gallery, Cromwell Place Garage. Free, no ticket required

Marine Pavilion: Sustainable Architectural Innovations

Head to Perfetti Gallery for two distinct exhibitions: the first is a display of Naixin Shi’s project Marine Pavilion. The design director collected discarded materials from a village, previously used by fishermen, to build a temporary architectural project. It shines a light on environmentally-focused practices and sustainable solutions.

The second is a display of objects made with leather moulding and lacquer techniques, two techniques rarely combined. This show explores innovative craftsmanship, particularly focusing on the work of artisans in Yangzhou, China.

Patch Design, Perfetti Gallery. Free, no ticket required

Ventete: Take A Deep Breath

Ventete (London Design Festival)
Ventete (London Design Festival)

This is incredibly cool: a prototype of a micro-collapsible cycle helmet that may very well be the kind of protective gear we’ll all be wearing in the future. The helmets, made by Swiss company Ventete, come in a slick pouch and are blown up with a tiny pump. The invention, says Ventete, is “the first meaningful divergence from conventional helmet materials in 50 years”. Simply put, they’re super slick, and will free up a huge amount of space in cyclist’s rucksacks. Plan a visit to try on the helmets.

Ventete. Free, ticket required

The Sun, My Heart by Marjan van Aubel Studio

The Sun, My Heart by Marjan van Aubel Studio (Lucas Marcus Schilder, London Design Festival)
The Sun, My Heart by Marjan van Aubel Studio (Lucas Marcus Schilder, London Design Festival)

There’s real excitement around Marjan van Aubel Studio’s upcoming exhibition: an interactive show, The Sun, My Heart will “synchronise visitors' hearts with solar rhythms” to raise awareness of the relationship between the human body and the wider universe.

The multi-layered installation comes as a reminder of solar energy's endless potential: a “constellation of lights” reflecting the sun’s rays on Earth throughout the day, and a soundscape based on NASA's solar recordings (a sonic translation of the sun’s waves, loops and eruptions) are likely to trigger the brain's theta waves (which are associated with relaxation and light sleep).

Marjan van Aubel Studio is a pioneer of solar-focused design and its work hangs in permanent collections around the world, including New York’s MoMA, Paris’s Centre Pompidou and London’s V&A.

Somerset House. Free, no ticket required

Luminous Kinetics: Sculpting with Light in Motion

Dawn Bendick, Pipe Rock Stack Rubble, Charles Burnand Gallery 2024 (Image: Graham Pearson, Courtesy of London Design Festival)
Dawn Bendick, Pipe Rock Stack Rubble, Charles Burnand Gallery 2024 (Image: Graham Pearson, Courtesy of London Design Festival)

A fascinating exhibition of objects which explore the interplay between light and movement, the show will feature some of the fields of study’s leading artists, including Brussels-based studio Studio Élémentaires and Dawn Bendick, whose work has been acquired by National Museum of Norway.

Charles Burnand Gallery. Free, no ticket required

Liquid Light

Liquid Light render (Marshmallow Laser Feast and Johnnie Walker, London Design Festival)
Liquid Light render (Marshmallow Laser Feast and Johnnie Walker, London Design Festival)

Liquid Light, one of this year’s key exhibitions, is a collaboration between Johnnie Walker and the artist collective Marshmallow Laser. The show, described by LDF as a “groundbreaking and immersive” installation, will be housed in The Old Selfridges Hotel and promises to be a visual representation of some of the pioneering research and development around the craftsmanship of glassmaking. Exciting stuff.

Johnnie Walker, Marshmallow Laser Feast, The Old Selfridges Hotel. Free, ticket required

Light in Motion presented by Acrylicize

Relative Distance, Phase, 2024, Light In Motion (London Design Festival)
Relative Distance, Phase, 2024, Light In Motion (London Design Festival)

This group show features artists, designers, and engineers, including Duncan Carter, Kai Lab, Heyl & Van Dam, Maria Vera, and Relative Distance – creatives who have employed cutting-edge technologies in their work to explore ideas around space, movement, and time. Expect a series of interesting sculptures and designs that form a thoughtful exhibition about the natural world’s convergence with technology.

Acrylicize, The Art House. Free, no ticket required

Matter Forms

Matter Forms (London Design Festival)
Matter Forms (London Design Festival)

Matter Forms is an award-winning multidisciplinary design studio that works on material innovation. It’s focused on circular architecture and design – products that will support a circular economy and contribute to a cleaner future. Oyster[Crete], their first material, is two years in the making. The new substance has been created as an alternative to traditional concrete and is made of discarded oyster shells. Head to Redchurch Street to see a presentation of the brand new material.

Matter Forms, UJNG. Free, no ticket required

Bio-Spaces: Regenerative, Resilient Futures

Bio-Spaces: Regenerative, Resilient Futures (Roca London Gallery)
Bio-Spaces: Regenerative, Resilient Futures (Roca London Gallery)

Experimental and multi-sensory, this exhibition imagines the architecture of the future. Curated by environmentally focused platform Planted, the show explores nature-based design; as climate change puts pressure on resources and as the world’s population grows, more imaginative approaches to building are required.

Roca London Gallery. Free, no ticket required

Off The Shelf Pavilion by Rio Kobayashi & Webb Yates

Off The Shelf Pavilion rendering (London Design Festival)
Off The Shelf Pavilion rendering (London Design Festival)

Artist Rio Kobayashi and engineers Webb Yates have curated a new pavilion for fostering human connection. Their Off The Shelf Pavilion, inspired by both traditional Japanese wooden homes and the Olympia building, employs contemporary engineering techniques. The space will become a stage for exhibitions, workshops and performances.

Off the Shelf Pavilion at Olympia. Free, no ticket required

London Design festival, September 14 to 22; londondesignfestival.com