What to see and do at LDF 2023
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What to see and do at LDF 2023

The world’s best design festival returns this week with a jam-packed schedule of talks, walks, panels, parties, showroom openings and much, much more.

There are hundreds of events, across thirteen design districts (including a new one in Stoke Newington and Dalston), but where to start?

Don’t worry – we’ve scoured the schedule for trends, themes and tips for this year’s festival.

1. Colour, collaboration and installation

In the City of London, two Christopher Wren landmarks play host to installations to mark the tercentenary of the architect’s death.

At St Paul’s Cathedral, London , Spanish artist Pablo Valbuena presents ‘Aura’, a live installation that reacts to and materialises sounds within the cathedral.

Meanwhile at St. Stephen Walbrook, Moritz Waldemeyer’s ‘Halo’ evokes planetary motions, to trace a ‘celestial path’ around the Henry Moore-designed altar.

Nigella’s favourite porcelain ceramics brand, Mud Australia launches an innovative new lamp collection at their newly opened Marylebone store.

Created in collaboration with Zachary Hannah and Mud founder Shelley Simpson, the collection blends Mud’s signature porcelain-making processes with the technical functionality of modern lighting.

VitrA London welcomes design consultants 2LG to their Clerkenwell showroom for a futuristic collaboration inspired by boundary-pushing sci-fi films – explore the captivating ‘Playscape’ all week.

2LG_Vitra

Our old neighbours Present & Correct have moved down the road to Bloomsbury – the new store is a collaboration with Architecture for London, described as a stationery ‘Wunderkammer’.

2. Icons only

At their Clerkenwell showroom, our Danish client CARL HANSEN & SØN launches the 2023 edition of the CH07 Shell Chair by Hans J. Wegner, alongside an exhibition exploring the Wonders of Wood, with sculptures by Nicholas Shurey.

LDF-2

Modernists should make haste to Mayfair and nearby Covent Garden. At their Mayfair showroom Vitsœ host The Modernist Book Fair, a two-day event that invites new interpretations and recitals of modernist and brutalist architecture, meanwhile in Covent Garden, Aram Store, London present a series of new rug designs inspired by the art of Modernist pioneer Eileen Gray.

Over in Shoreditch, Lego and It’s Nice That invite visitors to build their own Lego art pieces in a make-shift community garden.

3. Futureproofing design

For the annual V&A Emerging Designer Commission during LDF, Andu Masebo retells the life story of a scrapped car through a series of objects at Part Exchange.

Material Matters’ four-day takeover of the Bargehouse at the Oxo Tower explores ‘how we can create new sustainable systems for design and architecture by rethinking the materials we use’, and features live talks from speakers including Sofia Hagen of HagenHinderdael, Debika Ray, Pearson Lloyd and Nancy Diniz, as well as a live recording of the podcast, with Michael Young .

Try your hand at welding, laser cutting, or just have a look around as the UK’s first open-access factory, BLOQS designed by 5th Studio, opens its doors to visitors for workshops, tours and more.

4. Public vs private

On Fashion Street, Istituto Marangoni’s art director, Giulio Cappellini will be in conversation with Jay Osgerby of Barber Osgerby and Tom Dixon, moderated by Sarah Douglas, Editor in Chief of Wallpaper*. They’ll discuss ‘future landscapes’ – exploring the future of both public, and private spaces.

An installation in Egerton Gardens looks for creative solutions to combat loneliness – All Together by social enterprise All in Awe for the Brompton Design District is a participatory project, in collaboration with local residents, as well as Mind Kensington, the Kensington & Chelsea Volunteer Centre and the Kensington and Chelsea Foundation.

In Somers Town, Climate Art, in collaboration with AKT II I, present three innovative proposals for the future artwork for the neighbourhood currently undergoing a major regeneration project, master-planned by DSDHA .

Follow our #LDF2023 explorations over on Instagram, at @carocomms