A HIRE PURPOSE
For many stylists and photographers, licensing art and sculptures to feature in shoots is a hassle. Not only can finding the copyright holder prove difficult, displaying artworks — however much in the background — can be prohibitively expensive. That’s why interior stylist Laura Fulmine launched M.A.H, a London based gallery that provides a curated selection of licensed fine art for temporary use. For LDF, M.A.H’s bricks and mortar space on Vyner Street will exhibit dellostudio’s Prototypes collection, alongside a host of new commissioned pieces by various different artists — with the majority of them made bespoke for the occasion. These include, sculptural ceramics by Simone Bodmer-Turner, Ateme Ceramics, Atelier Armand, Kristiina Haataja, Naomi Bikis and Spencer Walton.
PLEASE SIT
Fenton House, a 17th-century merchant home in Hampstead, offers people a fascinating insight into history and heritage, but it’s probably not the first place you’d have looked for cutting-edge contemporary design. The National Trust, who care for the house, commissioned designer Gitta Gschwendtner as guest host to engage with Fenton’s rich and characterful heritage and create a series of installations within the house. Gitta, alongside five other participating designers, selected and responded to a particular detail of their chosen room — whether a feature of its interior, its existing furniture or the artefacts it contains — and offer their interpretation by creating new seating. These interventions create a unique collision of past and present to encourage people to slow down their journey through the house, take time to sit, and consider the various aspects of the home and its contents from a fresh perspective.
NATURE/NURTURE
Brompton is home to a vast array of flora and fauna. More than 3,000 species, including birds, insects, amphibians, fungi and plants, have been recorded in the Natural History Museum wildlife garden alone. However, it’s now more vital than ever to integrate nature into urban environments and find a way for humans and wildlife to coexist. For this year’s LDF, Brompton Design District puts the issue in the spotlight, inviting leading international designers and forward-thinking institutions including Marlène Huissoud, Jorge Penadés and the Interaction Research Studio at Goldsmiths, University of London to respond to the Nature/Nurture theme.
The Interaction Research Studio at Goldsmiths, University of London, present a habitat integrated with it’s My Naturewatch DIY wildlife cameras. Assembled from low-cost household materials, these motion-sensitive cameras were designed in collaboration with the Royal College of Art to offer an accessible way for people to use technology to bring them closer to nature.
WALALA LOUNGE
A long-standing advocate of urban design’s capacity to inspire joy, Camille Walala and her studio team set out to create a family of street furniture that would both solve a practical problem and spark of joy in the people passing through. The result is Walala Lounge, a set of 10 sculptural benches, accompanied by planters and a series of oversized flags that will be strung, bunting-style, from shopfront to shopfront, completing the conversion of South Molton Street into an immersive corridor of colour. Designed to feel like an open-air urban living room, Walala Lounge will provide a place for people to come together, chat and relax. Commissioned by Grosvenor Britain & Ireland to energise South Molton Street in Mayfair, Camille decided to make a positive and practical contribution to the streetscape offers people passing by the 200m street a place to pause.
TASTE OF DESIGN
For LDF, the British design brand Established & Sons present the latest iteration of their Principal Collection in an experience that is truly a treat for the sense. Having transformed their Old Street apartment into a gourmand’s delight, the experimental exhibition is Inspired by 1st century AD Roman gourmand, Marcus Gavius Apicus’ concept of the “first taste is always with the eyes”.
Featuring Swedish food experience designer Vilma Luostarinen and London chef Emily Plunket, Taste of Design reimagines four of Established & Sons’ distinct designs as a taste encounter. Chef Plunket selected seasonal and locally sourced ingredients to represent the new products, interpreting design in a myriad of edible encounters — from Venetian food culture to plant-based milks. What better way to round of a day of design in the British Capital.
