Snakes and Tapestries

If you wander down the V&A’s Tapestries Gallery, you’ll probably notice how calm it feels. The medieval tapestries coupled with the room’s somewhat dim lighting give it an almost meditative vibe, and Ross Lovegrove’s snake-like sculpture meandering down the middle of the room certainly added to this feeling. Transmission, a 21m long installation, designed to perfectly to match the wall hangings’ colours, is made from Alcantara, a particularly flexible and durable fabric. Funnily enough, you’re even allowed to use and touch the sculpture, although we had to stop ourselves from lying down all over it!

Making Spaces into Places

MINI LIVING, the car brand MINI’s long-term research project, returned to London Design Festival this year to present their latest installation: Urban Cabin. The project was brought to life with the help of Sam Jacob Architectural Studio to tackle the growing homogeneity of cities all over the world. The cabin’s architecture was inspired by London’s history of geometric façades, which can be seen in the jagged exterior and the flexible interior of the building. There’s a shared kitchen space inside to represent the importance of food markets, as well as a library to highlight the growing regularity of public library closures. In this way, Urban Cabin speaks out by utilizing city space for something creative rather than generic.

Playing in the Neon

If you’re that person who wishes they could relive their childhood, now is your time. Textile designer Camille Walala crafted a huge inflatable arena, dubbed Villa Walala, that people can actually play in. The sculpture stood in Exchange Square, in Broadgate, where city workers tend to spend their lunch breaks. This contrast between work and play creates an atmosphere that Walala hopes will make people contemplate “the balance of hard and soft we all need in our lives.” She also notes that this feature was inspired by the geometric patterns of South Africa’s Ndebele tribe as well as by the Memphis Group, whose use of block colours and bold patterns shaped a key design movement of the 1980s. If you were lucky enough to check it out last week, you may have seen us bouncing around the villa! 

Inhale ... Exhale

Want something trendy and eco-friendly for your home? Come and check out Julian Melchiorri’s Bionic Chandelier at the V&A Museum. Certainly, one of the most innovative installations of the festival, ‘Exhale’ is the world’s first living and breathing chandelier. Using bionic-leaf technologies, it effectively acts as an air-purifier, stripping carbon dioxide from the air, and replacing it with oxygen. It looks stunning, and if you’re reading Julian, we could definitely do with one in our office!

Lights & Mirrors

One of our favourites from last week, Reflection Room by Flynn Talbot is an enchantingly immersive experience. The first thing we noticed as we stepped in was the sheer length of the gallery, layered with 56 stretch Barrisol (a PVC sheet material) panels. Each panel was attached with a strip of LED lights, to present a combination of colours. The largely blue and orange lights give off a sense of calmness and warmth respectively to make it an experience of colour in its purest form.