09/26/2021 London, England, UK
London Design Festival 2021
London Design Festival returns for its 19th edition this September with a programme of online and offline events and features installations and exhibitions from top and emerging artists, designers and architects across the UK capital.
Dates
London Design Festival (LDF) takes place from 18 to 26 September 2021.
Locations
LDF takes place across London. Two key venues are the V&A museum in Kensington, which hosts a range of installations and exhibitions, and the Magazine London events space, which hosts the Design London trade show.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road
London SW7 2RL
Magazine London
11 Ordnance Cres
London SE10 0JH
The rest of the festival’s events take place across various different design districts spread throughout London.
Design Districts
There are ten design districts participating in LDF this year. Design districts returning to the festival from previous years include:
Brompton Design District
King’s Cross Design District
Clerkenwell Design District
Islington Design District
Mayfair Design District
Shoreditch Design Triangle
William Morris Design Line
There are also three new districts:
Design District at Greenwich Peninsula
Park Royal Design
District and Southwark South Design District
Each of the city’s 10 design districts will unveil a sculptural place finder to welcome visitors and convey each of the location’s unique character.
The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) will work with furniture maker Benchmark to produce the design posts in collaboration with 10 selected students and recent graduates.
V&A exhibitions and installations
Each year, the V&A museum acts as a hub for LDF and showcases projects, installations and exhibitions by designers in efforts to inspire debate and creativity amongst industry professionals, designers, students and the public.
This year, in the run-up to COP26, installations, projects, performances and events hosted by the V&A will look at design and its relation to climate change, showcasing projects that explore a low-carbon future, the circular economy and climate justice.
Installations include a collaboration between mixed reality studio Tin Drum and Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, who will premiere an installation called Architecture + Reality (A+R).
Design London trade show
The Design London trade show makes its debut at the 2021 edition of LDF. It takes place from 22 to 25 September and showcases a selection of furniture, lighting and interior brands along with collaborations with emerging and established designers.
The event takes place alongside the new Design District on Greenwich Peninsula with participating designers and brands including Ethimo Design, Penta, Poliform and Artemide, Fritz Hansen and Buster + Punch.
Special events
Alongside the city-wide exhibitions and installations, the annual Design Medal Awards take place during LDF.
The awards champion and recognise excellence in British design. Previous recipients include David Adjaye, Tom Dixon, Thomas Heatherwick, Marc Newson, Dame Vivienne Westwood and Paola Antonelli.
Global Design Forum also takes place during LDF. It offers a series of lectures, guided tours and workshops.
Tickets
LDF exhibitions are free for the public to visit or attend.
However, the Design Medal Awards and Global Design Forum special events are ticketed. Details of where to buy tickets will be added once they go on sale.
London Design Festival 2021 takes place from 18 to 26 September 2021 at various locations across London, England.
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