London Design Festival is an annual event that celebrates and promotes the UK’s capital as a powerhouse for the creative industries and a design mecca of the world. Showcasing the breadth of London’s creativity, it draws in the country’s greatest thinkers, practitioners, retailers and educators to a deliver an unmissable celebration of design – whilst attracting a global footfall.
We’ve put together a list of our favourite installations that represent the best on show in contemporary lighting design.
1. The Sun, My Heart by Marjan Van Aubel Studio @ New Wing, Somerset House
Inspired by designer Markan Van Aubel’s Sunne sonar lights, this piece uses specifically modified lighting to symbolise our vital connection to the sun. The immersive experience aims to synchronise visitors’ hearts with solar rhythms, expanding awareness of our relationship with this celestial body. A constellation of light mimics the sun’s daily cycle, complemented by a soundscape based on NASA’s solar recordings. The installation triggers the brain’s theta waves, produced during sleep relaxation, inviting reflection about our relaxation.
2. Liquid Light by Johnnie Walker and Marshmallow Laser Feast @ The Old Selfridges Hotel
This groundbreaking and immersive installation delves into the innovation and craftsmanship of glassmaking, exploring the intricate balance between strength and fragility in the medium. The installation’s centrepiece features an array of glass-blown droplets suspended in mid-air, collectively symbolising the evolution of form over time. Visitors will be enveloped in a mesmerising interplay of light and shadow as a moving light passes through the glass forms, projecting elegant undulations onto surrounding white walls. This dynamic display, accompanied by a musical score, brings together the elemental forces of gravity, liquid glass, and human breath, offering a commentary on the interplay between material and design.
3. SPECTRUM by 2LG Studio @ Hart Shoreditch
In this immersive exhibition Hart Shoreditch has partnered with 2LG Studio, using the hotel’s spaces to bring an inclusive exploration of colour to life. Exploring human and personal connections to colour, SPECTRUM aims to evoke memories and invite conversations. 2LG’s chosen collaborators for their immersive installation include composer, Quentin LaChapele, digital artist Lucy Hardcastle, 3D print pioneers, Sheyn, utilising their new eco textiles and vegan leathers. Through video projection, 3D printing, bespoke upholstery, evocative scent and a rich soundscape, Hart Shoreditch further establishes its position as a creative home in Shoreditch.
4. Light in Motion presented by Acrylicize @ The Art House
Light in Motion brings together a group of innovative artists, designers and engineers for an exhibition presented by Acrylicize at the Art House including design objects, artworks and mesmerising installations. The works convey ideas about space, movement and time, and emphasise the dynamic play of light and motion. Light is used as both a medium and a subject. It’s thrown around the space, reflected or emitted, used to clarify or distort. The artists employ innovative techniques and materials in their works, creating unusual textures, surfaces and a sense of depth to amplify their ideas. The works are connected by natural elements; the movement of a futuristic metal flower unfurling, undulating light cast across the walls, a river frozen in time, waves washing up against the beach. The natural elements contrast with the rational technological modes of display.
London Design Festival runs from 14–22 September 2024 across a route of London Design Districts. Find out more.
