Design celebrated at London Festival of Architecture

The new-look London Festival of Architecture kicks off this week, with a raft of designrelated events throughout the capital.

Replacing the London Architecture Biennale, the LFA runs from 20 June to 20 July, and is staggered across five hubs in Bloomsbury, Kensington and Chelsea, the City of London, the South Bank and Canary Wharf. It will be headquartered
at the New London Architecture building on Store Street, WC1.

Among the hundreds of events taking place, designers will be particularly interested in Fresh Flower, by China Design Now designer Tonkin Liu – a mobile steel pavilion consisting of 11 giant petals covering a moveable stage. Also of note is the smat tering of pink plywood furniture by Studio Weave (dec orated by Eley Kishimoto) which will appear around London.

Also of interest to the design world is the Skywalk of Montague Place designed by Carmody Groarke; and The Mobile Porch designed by art and architecture collective Public Works, which will feature a mini mobile garden space with its own programme of events.

Other key design features include: the Singing Chimney by Spark, an installation of music and live performance dedicated to chimneys; AOC’s four-storey mobile creation The Lift, which will house talks, screen ings and performances at the Southbank Centre and in Stratford Park; and the Wunder Kammer – free – standing 3D ‘wonder cabinets’ in Canary Wharf, designed by Jane Pitt.

LFA director Peter Murray is confident there is much to inspire design professionals. ‘Because a big chunk of the programme is about visual awareness, it’s about taking a fresh look at places and things, about installations and events that change the way people understand the environment around them – this is as relevant to designers as it is to architects,’ he says.

Numerous talks, exhibitions and events are also scheduled, such as Screening the City – a series of film screenings
celebrating the buildings of the capital – and talks by creative luminaries such as David Chipperfield, Daniel Liebeskind and Peter Ackroyd.

Murray adds, ‘I see the festival as a conversation between the design professions and the public. I hope that people will go away with a better understanding of what makes the city tick and how design can
improve their lives.’

Other highlights will include walking, cycling and river tours; a look at the creation, distribution and consumption of food in the capital; and various musical and gastronomic celebrations.

FESTIVAL HUBS

• Kensington, Chelsea, Knightsbridge (20-25 June)
• Canary Wharf, Stratford, Thames Gateway (26 June to 1 July)
• King’s Cross, Bloomsbury, Fitzrovia, Covent Garden (3-7 July)
• Southwark and the South Bank (9-14 July)
• Clerkenwell, City of London (15-20 July)
• www.lfa2008.org