LDF 2022: Our highlights
Closing off our year’s design fairs and festivals, we headed down to London Design Festival to take in some of the extraordinary exhibitions and conversations.
A four-day event that boasts highly curated and engaging content, the London Design Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary with a continual focus on promoting the city’s creativity and positioning it as a global destination for design.
HAY
HAY showcased their latest launches, including collaborations with the likes of Laila Gohar and Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec. Previously displayed during Copenhagen’s 3daysofdesign, the London showroom offered the opportunity to view the new Muller Van Severen Colour Cabinets in a different environment with a detailed glimpse of the cabinet’s distinctive wood fibres, something that is difficult to appreciate from images alone.
Muuto
Exploring how physical spaces and objects shape our behaviour and emotions, Muuto shared a conversation on neuroaesthetics, hosting a fascinating talk on the nascent field in collaboration with Disegno.
The panel talk explored emerging research and how that intertwines into the design world. The discussion invited perspectives from Dr Rebecca Chamberlaine, a Lecturer on Neurology at Goldsmiths, Augustin Scott de Martinville, a designer from the Big-Game trio, and Line Brockmann Juhl, Muuto’s Chief Marketing Officer.
With such a diverse panel, the discussion pulled from each member’s expertise to show how the practice of neuroaesthetics reaches into practice. Providing scientific reasoning behind the study Dr Chamberlaine discussed how researchers gather physical evidence of perception through implicit measures like MRI scanners and EEG measures, ultimately looking at how the brain responds to an object.
These implicit measures were revealed to be used on a smaller scale by Muuto at a recent fair, with Brockmann Juhl reflecting on the exciting data and how it spurred dialogue on the concept of preference in design, “What we do impacts how people feel and how they experience a place”.
Hosted within their London showroom, attendees could take in the discussion and reflect on how the concept translates into the surrounding beautiful furniture, lighting and accessories from Muuto, including new pieces like the Relevo Rug and Top Pendant Lamp Series.
Fritz Hansen
In celebration of their 150th anniversary, Fritz Hansen transformed their showroom space around the theme of past and present. With an archive dating back to 1872, the Danish design brand displayed some original pieces of Fritz Hansen’s pivotal furniture portfolio, finishing on the latest PK60 and PK0 A releases.
Designer Arne Jacobsen’s celebrated designs for the 1960 SAS Hotel took centre stage with a recreation of the original Suite 606. Blending contemporary versions such as the Egg and Swan chair in the signature blue with original elements from the hotel.
Complete with a live demonstration of a craftsperson sewing the shell of the Egg Chair, the installation encapsulated Fritz Hansen’s unique identity remaining consistent over the past 150 years.
London Design Fair
Heading to the London Design Fair, the team garnered a snapshot of the latest in global design. British design company Dare Studio displayed some of their core collection, and Italian lighting brand Artemide debuted their latest releases.
Set along the River Thames, the HAY outdoor collection created a striking visual with the London Skyline as a backdrop. Mixing the Balcony and Palisade collection, visitors to the fair enjoyed the remarkable seating while they enjoyed food and drink from a selection of carts. Accommodating various groups and preferences, the versatility of the seating and tables blended in effortlessly with pieces like the Park Palisade winding across the outdoor area.
Mater
Visiting Mater’s newly opened showroom in the heart of Clerkenwell, the team got to experience a selection of Mater classics alongside glimpses into their circular production. With a selection of tactile samples to aid the storytelling, the innovative and unique production process was centre stage, demonstrating how pieces like the Eternity Chair and Borge Morgensen Chair achieve their distinctive appearance.
Tom Dixon
Tom Dixon celebrated their 20th anniversary with the Twenty exhibition, previously unveiled at Salone del Mobile in Milan earlier in the year.
Visiting their showroom in Coal Drops Yard, we took in some extraordinary arrangements alongside innovative recreations of their popular designs. This included the striking Mirror Ball Chandelier, a monumental vertical piece created in 100% recycled polycarbonate, and the modernised Wingback Chaise from their previous work with Shoreditch House.
Tala
Launching their first pop-up showroom concept on Club Row, lighting brand Tala exhibited a number of their beautiful lighting pieces, including displays of The Muse Portable Table Lamp from the Tala X Farrow & Ball collection. Tala also revealed the new Kilter designs within an immersive experiential installation.
Vitra
Unveiling the greatly anticipated UK showroom, Vitra welcomed guests to preview the space alongside an evening of music, cocktails and canapes. The Nest team was lucky enough to attend the evening event and join a tour of the showroom the following day.
With fascinating insights from the design experts who helped lead the project, the Tramshed tour offered an excellent opportunity to understand the design decisions and get a detailed look at the new Jean Prouvé collection in the downstairs gallery.
Lee Broom
Presenting the London debut of Lee Broom’s Divine Inspiration lighting range, the UK-based lighting brand hosted an evening in collaboration with Remy Martin XO. With an unmistakable elegance, the Shoreditch showroom integrated the new collection with distinctive pieces from the established Lee Broom portfolio, including the Mini Crescent Chandelier and the grand Aurora Chandelier.
Did you attend London Design Festival 2022? We’d love to hear about your favourite moments! Share your thoughts and images with us on Instagram @nest_co_uk.
