We’ve created a free map featuring all London Design Festival events! As the week goes on we’ll be labelling our favourites so keep coming back to discover the best shows.
See a larger version on Google Maps |See all our London Design Festival stories
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Custom portraits by established illustrators and graphic designers through a London-based service
by Malika Dalamal Recently launched in London, Fabulous Noble connects individuals looking to commission a custom portrait with established illustrators and graphic artists from around the world. More than just a replica of a photograph, these portraits are striking works of art that capture the true personality and essence of…
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Le designer japonais Yuri Suzuki a récemment présenté son projet « London Underground Circuit Maps » développé dans le cadre de Designers in Residence au London Design Museum jusqu’en janvier 2013. Son travail explore les systèmes de communication souterrains à travers l’utilisation de circuits électroniques.
Weave your way through the fair with a handy tool that fits right in your back pocket
Like many of the world’s art and design fairs, when the London Design Festival began 10 years ago, the biggest challenge was actually navigating the event itself. Always teeming with a surplus of exciting offerings from across the creative disciplines, fairs present a vast array of work under one…
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London cyclists can hang their bicycles on the walls while they grab a coffee or browse at this Soho store for cyclewear brand Rapha by design studio Brinkworth (+ slideshow).
The Rapha Social Club is conceived as a social meeting place for road cyclists, where memorabilia is exhibited alongside the brand’s latest products and live racing is aired on screens surrounding a cafe area.
Like the company’s other spaces in San Francisco and Osaka, the London club has a Citroen H Van parked up inside it and uses a colour palette of black, white and pink that matches the aesthetic of the Rapha logo and products.
Metal-framed cabinets and tables can be wheeled around the concrete floor to provide flexible display stands.
“With Rapha Cycle Clubs, there is finally a permanent home for cycle fans to totally surround themselves in all the best aspects of road cycling in a great café atmosphere,” said Brinkworth Director David Hurren.
More clubs are due to open in Melbourne, New York and Tokyo and will have similar designs to the London branch.
Other cycling shops we’ve featured on Dezeen include one with chunky chipboard walls and artificial turf floors.
See all our stories about cycling »
Here’s a project description from Brinkworth:
Brinkworth design London Rapha Cycle Club.
Luxury cycling apparel brand Rapha appoint design consultancy Brinkworth to create their unique retail concept – Rapha Cycle Club.
Brinkworth were commissioned to develop the Rapha Cycle Club concept into an environment that would reflect the core cultural values of Rapha’s heritage, the glory and suffering of world road cycling. The first permanent UK Cycle Club now open in London’s Soho, builds on Rapha’s vision to provide a meeting place for the cycling community to eat, drink, watch racing and shop from the full Rapha product range, totally immersing themselves in a space dedicated to the pursuit of road cycling.
The Cycle Club aesthetic exemplifies the Rapha approach of premium design and materials while referencing workshop functionality. A flexible retail system has been developed to display not only apparel but unique products and Rapha’s collection of cycling memorabilia. A double height rear feature wall creates a backdrop to the iconic Rapha ‘H’ Van, a constant element of the brand, evoking a strong image of 60s racing.
Brinkworth have taken an intentionally unconventional approach to the layout, designing a space that places equal importance on the social and retail aspects, to deliver a truly blended experience. Bespoke cycle storage for visitors’ bikes and tools for basic bike servicing and maintenance are available, ensuring that the club is a key destination for both city cyclists and racers alike.
Integrated within the space is a custom-designed bar area with zinc-topped counter, reminiscent of timeless European café culture, underpinned by the Rapha branded cups and espresso machines. Visitors sit at laser-etched tabletops that feature famous alpine climbs, while watching racing on large screens positioned within the space. Solid concrete flooring combined with the unmistakable grey, white and pink Rapha colour scheme brands the overall space.
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Japanese designer Yuri Suzuki has made a radio from an electronic circuit board that’s arranged to look like the London tube map.
The map is inspired by a spoof diagram created by the original designer of the London Tube map, Harry Beck, which shows the lines and stations as an annotated electrical circuit. Iconic landmarks on Suzuki’s map are represented by components relating to their functions, including a speaker where Speaker’s Corner sits and a battery representing Battersea Power Station.
Suzuki told Dezeen he wanted to make the components visible because “it is difficult for consumers to understand the complexity of the workings behind the exterior” of today’s electronic devices. By creating a “narrative to explain how electronics work,” he hopes users will be encouraged to fix their own broken devices.
Tube Map Radio is one of two projects completed by Suzuki in response to a brief of Thrift set for Designers in Residence, an annual platform for upcoming designers at the Design Museum in London. Suzuki previously worked with Oscar Diaz to design a pen that records and plays back the sound it makes as it draws a line and, for his graduation project from the Royal College of Art in 2008, he presented products that investigated the physical properties of sound.
Photography is by Hitomi Kai Yoda.
Here’s some more information from Suzuki:
This year, the Designers in Residence project theme is Thrift and in response to this brief I have made projects which re-design the communication system of electronics.
I have investigated the workings of consumer electronics. Appliances such as transistor radios and toasters used to be easy for the user to take apart and repair. Today, products such as iPods have sleek, impenetrable skins and nanocomponents too small for the human hand to fix. It is difficult for consumers to understand the complexity of the workings behind the exterior.
In response to this, I have explored the use of printed circuit board (PCB), the simple and efficient components found inside the majority of electronic devices today. First project is tube map radio inspired by Harry Beck’s 1933 spoof diagram of his original design for the London Underground map drawn as an electrical circuit.
The PCB circuit pattern is extremely complicated and difficult to find out how electricity connect between components. In tube map radio I positioned electronic components based on the function of London city, for example speaker volume for speaker corner, power battery for Battersea powerstation and so on. Then you will realize how electricity is less complicated than you imagine, and if you replace it with something you are familiar with it will be simpler to understand.
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Interior designers Matteo Bianchi Studio have installed a customised retro jukebox in the window of this estate agents in north London.
The Carlton estate agents in Islington is fitted out in a style inspired by gentlemen’s clubs.
A bespoke winged armchair has been placed near the window while metal stools with latticed backs line the long desk.
The jukebox in the window operates as a flip display to show the houses on offer.
Photography is by James Balston.
Click above for larger image
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Our visit to London’s discerning indie station and its musical marauders
Operating out of a tiny hut in the center of Dalston is NTS Radio, now one of London’s most influential pirate radio stations. Founded just over a year ago by locals Femi Adeyemi and Clair Urbahn, the station provides a daily range of unfiltered content by a host of…
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Architecture firm Gensler have released a conceptual proposal for a new floating airport for London, located in the Thames Estuary with terminals connected by underwater tunnels.
Unlike previous concepts for a new London airport, including last year’s proposal by Foster + Partners, Gensler’s plans do not involve pouring earth into the river for land reclamation. Instead, “we’re going to float the scheme on giant platforms,” explains Ian Mulcahey, the firm’s global head of planning.
The proposal comes as the UK government looks at ways to increase airport capacity in south-east England. Called London Britannia Airport, it would comprise four floating runways tethered to the seabed and departure concourses leading to underwater rail tunnels, which would connect passengers to central London as well as European rail networks.
Passengers coming by car would travel to three land-based terminals – two located north and south of the estuary and a third proposed between Canary Wharf and the Olympic Park. The proposal also includes plans to transform Heathrow Airport into an eco city providing homes for 300,000 people.
Above image shows sketch for Heathrow Eco City
Talking to Dezeen about the possibility of a third runway at Heathrow, Mulcahey said that would “only be a sticking plaster.” Instead of wasting time on a short-term solution, he thinks it would be better to start again properly: “The scheme totally rethinks how the airport of the future will operate.”
See more stories about airports here.
Here’s some more information from Gensler:
Global design firm Gensler reveals its concept for a new London aviation hub. London Britannia Airport (LBA) would position the capital as the global gateway for Europe in what would be the world’s most innovative infrastructure development this century, while reducing environmental impact, cost and disruption to London.
Providing a further endorsement to the Thames Estuary as the preferred location for London’s new airport, Gensler have designed a unique solution creating an entirely new approach to modern airport design and construction with a clear focus on convenience and accessibility.
The proposals also envisage a new future for Heathrow as the largest urban expansion project in Europe with the development of an eco city – Heathrow Gardens – on the former airfield that can utilise the existing infrastructure to provide additional homes for 300,000 people and employment for over 200,000.
Chris Johnson, Gensler managing principal and the creative director for the airport said: “This is a once in a century project that will build on the capital’s reputation for innovation and creativity and provide a new symbol of national pride. This is a fantastic opportunity to rethink the problems created by a redundant 20th century airport model and provide a genuine 21st century airport that creates a new standard for the world, minimising nuisance and maximising environmental benefits.”
Ian Mulcahey, Project Director: “This will be a ‘national’ infrastructure project that can inject new pace and dynamism into our economy. The airport can be quickly manufactured in the ship yards and steel works across the UK and can be floated by sea and positioned in the Estuary. This isn’t a London Airport, it is a Global Airport, designed, manufactured and built in the UK.”
Environmental Benefits
The relocation of a UK hub airport to the Thames Estuary will provide a state of the art facility that will transform the quality of life for millions of Londoners and will provide London with the space and infrastructure to grow and thrive over the next century. The marine location not only minimises noise disruption to existing communities whilst enabling 24 hour passenger arrival and departure, but it also avoids any demolition of homes.
Building upon the UK’s capability as a world leader in marine construction, London Britannia Airport includes four five-kilometre floating runways. To minimise environmental disruption the runways are tethered to the sea bed and to the final departure concourse which provides access to the marine rail tunnels that connect directly to central London and the European High Speed Rail Networks.
The design’s inherent flexibility creates a platform whereby runways can be floated in as required and taken away for maintenance in the future. The concept allows for future expansion to accommodate 6 runways when required.
By floating the runway and its associated hard standing it is possible to avoid the negative effects of land reclamation in the sensitive estuarine waters of the Thames. The location of the airport can then be optimised to avoid the key feeding and migration areas between high and low water.
London Britannia will have a sustainable access strategy with unparalleled accessibility to the UK and Europe through a combination of rail, ferry and jetfoil connections. Vehicular access will be dispersed to three new land based Departure/Arrival terminals, two located north and south of the estuary, and a third Central London terminal proposed between Canary Wharf and the Olympic Park.
The airport has also been designed to generate much of its own power from marine turbines situated within, and adjacent to the floating runways.
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Dezeen Wire: here’s the first image of a new 190-metre skyscraper for the City of London designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox to house the European headquarters for insurance company W. R. Berkley Corporation.
The office tower will have 35 storeys plus two basement levels and two roof plant levels, and the proposal includes a new a new public square.
Subject to planning, construction is expected to start next year.
Kohn Pedersen Fox are also the architects behind the Heron Tower, which was the tallest in the Square Mile until overtaken by the completion of The Shard earlier this year, and The Pinnacle (formerly known as the Bishopsgate Tower), under construction but stalled since March due to lack of letting commitments.
Other skyscrapers under construction in the area include the Leadenhall Building by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, 20 Fenchurch Street (nicknamed the Walkie-Talkie) by Rafael Viñoly, and 100 Bishopsgate by Allies and Morrison with Woods Bagot.
See more stories about skyscrapers on Dezeen »
Here’s some more information from W. R. Berkley Corporation:
W. R. Berkley Corporation to build new European headquarters in the City of London
W.R. Berkley Corporation, one of the world’s premier property casualty insurance providers, has submitted a planning application for a major new European headquarters at 52-54 Lime Street, London EC3, in the heart of the City of London.
Demonstrating the strength of W.R. Berkley Corporation’s commitment to London as one of the world’s leading insurance centres, the company, whose member insurance companies are rated A+ by Standard & Poor’s, will be funding the 35-storey building, which will draw together all of the company’s London presence into one place, from its own balance sheet. W. R. Berkley Corporation London companies will initially be occupying approximately 25% of the building. Other occupiers have already expressed interest in the building.
Designed by multi-award winning international architects, Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), who also designed the Heron Tower, the planned building is approximately 190m tall, consisting of 35 floors of offices above ground and mezzanine levels with an additional two basement and two roof plant levels. Entrances to the building would be on Leadenhall Street and from a new public square.
Floor plates will range in size from 9,000 sq ft to 22,000 sq ft and are arranged around a side core located to the south of the building, which optimises floor plate dimensions, limits solar gain and offers views of London to the, north, east, west and south west.
Public space created by the development will include a ‘square’ of approximately 11,000 sq ft which will complement the existing precinct around the Willis Building. The space will include public seating and planting as well as potential space for public art and tables linked to a specialist ground floor coffee shop, echoing the 17th century origins of the specialist insurance markets at Lloyds Coffee House.
With Lloyd’s of London and Willis adjacent to the new public square and Aon to occupy 122 Leadenhall Street, W.R. Berkley’s new European headquarters will effectively create a global ‘HQ’ of the insurance industry in London.
KPF’s work is being led by Bill Pedersen, one of the world’s most decorated architects and seven time winner of the American Institute of Architects National Honour Award.
Subject to planning, work on the project is scheduled to start by 2013 and it is anticipated that the development could be ready for occupation by 2017.
William Berkley, founder and chairman of W.R. Berkley Corporation comments:
“The proposed development of 52-54 Lime Street is an integral component of our international growth strategy. With the continuing expansion of our operations here, it makes sense to invest in a landmark building which will provide a strong base for that growth.
“This major investment is a signal of our belief and confidence in London as the centre of the global insurance market. Creating a new European headquarters on Lime Street, alongside of some of the largest companies in the industry, is an affirmation of the City of London as the centre of the insurance and reinsurance industries.”
About London’s insurance industry
Insurance companies and pension funds are crucial to the UK and City of London economy, accounting for £32.5bn in GDP contributions
The City of London is the home of the specialist insurance sector, with gross premiums on the London market conservatively estimated at £36.9bn in 2010, and Lime Street is the heart of the sector – from historic players like Lloyds, to world leading brands like Willis, Aon, and Aviva.
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