Hasta La Ideas

In the last movie of our Seven Designers for Seven Dials series, designer Paul Cocksedge demonstrates what happened when passers-by called the floating illuminated phone number he installed for the project curated by Dezeen.

“What I’m inviting Londoners to do is to phone [the number] and as soon as it rings it begins to flash and you are in direct contact with the piece,” says Cocksedge.

While the installation was in place during last year’s London Design Festival, anyone could dial the number and the voice of actress Joanna Lumley would answer, inviting the caller to text “smile” to the five digit number that appeared from the original.

She explained that texting gives one pound to children’s charity Barnardo’s and when someone donated the lights changed again and a smile appeared.

Dezeen commissioned seven young designers to create seven installations to hang above the streets of Covent Garden during last year’s London Design Festival, and Cocksedge’s installation was located on Mercer Street.

This is the final movie in our series about Seven Designers for Seven Dials in which each designers describes their installation – see them all here.

Photography is by Mark Cocksedge.

The music featured in the movie is a song called Blue Sapphire by Remote Scenes. You can listen to the full track on Dezeen Music Project.

See all our stories about Paul Cocksedge »
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had no explanation” – Paul Cocksedge appeared first on Dezeen.

Illustrator Vic Lee tells us how his banners depicting the former names of Covent Garden streets hark back to the area’s sordid past in the next of our Seven Designers for Seven Dials movies about aerial installations curated by Dezeen.

“I chose to illustrate the names of the streets as they used to be called,” says Lee. “When they were built they were called something completely different.”

Vic Lee usually works quite small, so creating 3.6-metre-square banners for this project required a sizeable scale-up.

Dezeen commissioned seven young designers to create seven installations to hang above the streets of Covent Garden during last year’s London Design Festival, and Lee’s banners installation was located on Shorts Gardens.

Previous movies in this series include designers Faye Toogood, Dominic Wilcox, Gitta Gschwendtner and Philippe Malouin each speaking about their installations – see them all here. Photography is by Mark Cocksedge.

The music featured in the movie is a song called Blue Sapphire by Remote Scenes. You can listen to the full track on Dezeen Music Project.

See all our stories about illustration »
See all more about Seven Designers for Seven Dials »
See all our coverage of London Design Festival 2012 »

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characters and wayward ladies” – Vic Lee appeared first on Dezeen.

Designer Dominic Wilcox describes why he chose to hang a row of bird cages above a street in London in the next movie we filmed about the Seven Designers for Seven Dials aerial installations curated by Dezeen.

“I found a book called Dickens’ Dictionary of London, written by Charles Dickens’ son,” says Wilcox. “In that book he describes the Seven Dials area as having many pet shops, with birds from all over the world.”

Strung across the street in a line, the bird cages were left open to symbolise that the pet shops have now been replaced by clothes and shoe stores, though Wilcox claims he spotted a few birds using the cages.

Dezeen commissioned seven young designers to create seven installations to hang above the streets of Covent Garden during last year’s London Design Festival, and Wilcox’s The Birds of Seven Dials installation was located on Neal Street.

Watch Faye Toogood talk through her installation of 49 worker’s coats in the first movie from this series here.

Wilcox presents more of his projects in a movie we filmed at Dezeen Live, a series of talks at 100% Design during London Design Festival.

Photography is by Mark Cocksedge.

The music featured in the movie is a song called Blue Sapphire by Remote Scenes. You can listen to the full track on Dezeen Music Project.

See all our stories about design by Dominic Wilcox »
See all more about Seven Designers for Seven Dials »
See all our coverage of London Design Festival 2012 »

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Seven Dials area” – Dominic Wilcox appeared first on Dezeen.

London Design Festival: we’ve recorded each of the Seven Designers for Seven Dials explaining their aerial installations curated by Dezeen and compiled them on an interactive map of the area. Click on the icons in the image above to explore pictures and audio for each project.

Structures by young designers Faye Toogood, Vic Lee, Paul Cocksedge, Philippe Malouin, Aberrant Architecture, Gitta Gschwendtner and Dominic Wilcox are installed above the streets of the Seven Dials area of Covent Garden, London.

There are little exhibits on each one at our pop-up shop Dezeen Super Store at 38 Monmouth Street, where you can still get 10% off any Dezeen Super Store purchase (excluding sale stock and Jambox) and enter our competition to win a designer watch worth £150 by downloading this flyer and presenting it at the shop.

Dezeen has also put together a free map to chart all the events at this year’s London Design Festival. Explore the large map here.

The Seven Designers for Seven Dials installations will be in place until 5 October and Dezeen Super Store is open until 30 September.

See all our stories about the London Design Festival here.

Above: 7 x 7 by Faye Toogood – hanging high above the heads of passers-by on Monmouth Street, Faye Toogood’s installation is a series of 49 outsized workers’ overcoats, representing the different trades within Seven Dials that have shaped the area over the years.

Above: Aerial Escape by Gitta Gschwendtner – German-born designer Gitta Gschwendtner has also taken inspiration from the area’s slum history, when each of the seven apexes facing the Seven Dials monument housed pubs linked by underground escape tunnels. In Gschwendtner’s installation, seven interconnected ladders link two windows either side of Earlham Street to seemingly provide an escape route across the road and beyond.

Above: The Birds of Seven Dials by Dominic Wilcox – London designer Dominic Wilcox has created an arch across Neal Street made out of empty bird cages, symbolising Charles Dickens’s description of Seven Dials as a place full of bird shops. Each cage is left open to symbolise the memory of the bird shops and birds long departed from the street.

Above: Catchpenny Quackery by Aberrant Architecture – Aberrant Architecture’s installation consists of 18 large metallic coins hanging above the street. Each coin features a unique symbol that advertises one of the bogus products and services that used to be offered by quack doctors in the Seven Dials area in years gone by.

Above: Bunting by Philippe Malouin – Philippe Malouin has erected a giant installation of bunting made from transparent PVC to celebrate and highlight the Seven Dials area and its landmarks. Blown by the wind, the sixty bunting lines point the way to the Seven Dials monument.

Above: Illustrations by Vic Lee – London-based illustrator Vic Lee has created a series of flags that draw on the shady history of the Seven Dials area. The illustrations incorporate the old street names during the 17th and 18th centuries, a time when Seven Dials was a slum famous for its gin shops.

Above: Dial by Paul Cocksedge – Paul Cocksedge has suspended a mysterious interactive installation called Dial, consisting simply of a large floating telephone number suspended between two buildings. Only those curious members of the public tempted to call the number will discover its secret.

Photographs are by Mark Cocksedge.

Dezeen’s London Design Festival map

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The map above is taken from Dezeen’s guide to the London Design Festival, which lists all the events going on across the city this week. We’ll be updating it over the coming days with extra information on our highlights so keep checking back. Explore the larger version of this map here.

The post Seven Designers for Seven Dials
audio guide appeared first on Dezeen.

Seven aerial installations by young designers Faye Toogood (above), Vic Lee, Paul Cocksedge, Philippe Malouin, Aberrant Architecture, Gitta Gschwendtner and Dominic Wilcox will be installed above the streets of Seven Dials in London during the London Design Festival next month, as part of a project curated by Dezeen.

Called Seven Designers for Seven Dials, the project is a collaboration between Dezeen and the Seven Dials shopping district, and will run from 14 September to 5 October 2012.

Each of the designs, which draw on different aspects of the history or character of Seven Dials, will also be showcased in an exhibition at Dezeen Super Store, our pop-up design emporium located in area. You can see details about each installation below.

Above: Queen Street, one of four illustrations by Vic Lee

London-based illustrator Vic Lee will create a series of flags that draw on the shady history of the Seven Dials area. The illustrations will incorporate the old street names during the 17th and 18th centuries, a time when Seven Dials was a slum famous for its gin shops.

Above: Dial by Paul Cocksedge

Paul Cocksedge will create a mysterious interactive installation called Dial, consisting simply of a large floating telephone number suspended between two buildings. Only those curious members of the public tempted to call the number will discover its secret.

Above: Bunting by Philippe Malouin

Philippe Malouin will erect a giant installation of bunting made from transparent PVC to celebrate and highlight the Seven Dials area and its landmarks. Blown by the wind, the sixty bunting lines will point the way to the Seven Dials monument.

Above: Catchpenny Quackery by Aberrant Architecture

Aberrant Architecture’s installation will consist of 18 large metallic coins hanging above the street. Each coin will feature a unique symbol that advertises one of the bogus products and services that used to be offered by quack doctors in the Seven Dials area in years gone by.

Above: Aerial Escape by Gitta Gschwendtner

German-born designer Gitta Gschwendtner has also taken inspiration from the area’s slum history, when each of the seven apexes facing the Seven Dials monument housed pubs linked by underground escape tunnels. In Gschwendtner’s installation, seven interconnected ladders will link two windows either side of Earlham Street to seemingly provide an escape route across the road and beyond.

Above: The Birds of Seven Dials by Dominic Wilcox

Dominic Wilcox will create an arch across Neal Street made out of empty bird cages, referencing Charles Dickens’s description of Seven Dials as a place full of bird shops and bird cage makers. Each cage will be left open to symbolise the memory of the bird shops and birds long departed from the street.

Above: 7 x 7 by Faye Toogood

Hanging high above the heads of passers-by on Monmouth Street, Faye Toogood’s installation will be a series of 49 outsized workers’ overcoats, representing the different trades within Seven Dials that have shaped the area over the years.

Seven Designers for Seven Dials
14 September to 5 October 2012

Seven Designers for Seven Dials is a collaboration between Dezeen and Seven Dials. More information about each of the installations can be found at:  www.sevendials.co.uk/events.

www.dezeen.com
www.sevendials.co.uk

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aerial installations curated by Dezeen appeared first on Dezeen.