Things to see and do at London Design Festival 2021
With a promise to help people “rediscover the whole city”, Design Week picks out the not-to-be-missed features of this year’s London Design Festival.
Furniture
All things furniture design, including the latest modern collections, interviews with furniture designers and profiles of retailers such as Ikea.
“A creative polymath”: Isamu Noguchi’s life explored in new Barbican exhibition
As the Barbican prepares to show the first retrospective of the Japanese-American designer and sculptor in 20 years, we explore his life, inspirations and work.
Network Rail launches competition to design bike parking solution
The competition is being run in connection with the London Festival of Architecture, and is looking for “creative and innovative” pop-up bike parking ideas.
Uncovering the women that design history forgot
We speak to Dr Jane Hall, whose new book Woman Made, seeks to highlight the work of women in design who have largely been overlooked by history.
Ladder design wins inaugural £40,000 Conran legacy award
Kingston recent graduate Cameron Rowley has won the Designer of the Future Award, an accolade set up by the Conran Shop to celebrate the late Terence Conran.
Preview: Salone del Mobile returns to mark a “new Renaissance” in Italian design
This year’s special edition of the design festival, Supersalone, hopes to provide connection for designers after a year of being apart.
Where are the design opportunities in the home of the future?
Everything from climate change to growing inequality is affecting the way homes need to be conceived and designers are rising to these new challenges.
Heineken’s Greener Bar takes aim at unsustainable events hospitality
The design has been developed to reduce water, waste, emissions and energy use, with the aim to make it a standard across the events industry.
London Design Festival 2021 looks to help visitors “rediscover the entire city”
The festival returns for its 19th edition in September, with a more extensive programme planned than last year’s event, which was held in the midst of the pandemic.
Picks of the month: the best design events to catch in July
A new book on design icon Tom Eckersley and an installation of ping pong tables are among our highlights for the upcoming month.
Charlotte Perriand’s life in design: “She refused to confine women to a closed kitchen”
We take a look at the life and work of 20th century French designer Charlotte Perriand, whose modernist career is the subject of a blockbuster new Design Museum exhibition.
Design Week Awards 2021 – the shortlist in full
We’re excited to announce the full Awards shortlist below. Stay tuned later in the month for our Winners Showcase, which will be revealed on the site as part of a
Modular design system Nowdio tackles expensive and slow studio fit outs
The IKEA-style solution aims to make the fit-out process easier and cheaper, while also getting designers back into unoccupied commercial space.
“Forget the fairy lights!”: what makes for good outdoor hospitality design?
The hospitality sector is reopening following lockdown, with the government allowing revellers to once again visit in person, provided they eat and drink outside. With this in mind, we asked
David Rockwell’s 2021 Oscars set is both “intimate and grand”
The designer and architect went back to the Academy’s 1920s and 30s roots with a set inspired by “some of LA’s most iconic ballrooms”.
Design inspiration: the best projects from March
From naked puzzles to the future of skin care, March was filled with innovative and imaginative design work – here are our favourite projects.
“It is plurality that defines us”: a Brazilian design guide
As part of our series exploring countries’ design cultures, we explore how Brazil’s politics of the past and present are affecting design, and how young designers are forging their own visual culture.
Design Week Awards 2021 entry deadline extended
You now have an extra three weeks to get your entries over before the deadline on 1 April and find out everything you need to know here.
Interior inspiration: Design Week’s picks
Although it may take a while before we can see them in the flesh, here are some real-world interiors projects from the hospitality sector that have caught our eye recently.
City of London launches design competition for £250,000 Digital Service Points
The multifunctional public interventions will look to replace the Square Mile’s outdated blue Police Boxes with 21st Century digital hubs.
Design Week Awards 2021 opens for entries
This year winning work will be given a bigger platform than ever before, we are assembling our biggest ever judging panel and categories have been tweaked for maximum relevance.
Design in 2021 – what will furniture design look like?
As part of our series of design in 2021, Ruth Wassermann, design director at Made.com looks at what will happen in furntiure design in the next 12 months.
Design inspiration: the best projects from November
Another month spent in lockdown had some designers yearning for nightclubs and events gone by, while others are revisiting old projects or pushing new boundaries.
Pentagram redesigns The New Republic to match its “forward-thinking content”
Eddie Opara and his team have created a typographic identity for the New York-based liberal journal and its accompanying website.