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Connect with countries, territories, cities and projects. Find out who is behind Pavilions and experience the creative exchange between these global game changers.
Biennale Sessions opened with a talk inside Forest for Change, where Tina Daheley from the BBC was joined by Artistic Director Es Devlin, Film Writer and Director Richard Curtis, Designer of Pavilion of the African Diaspora Ini Archibong and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to discuss the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and what design and creativity can do to make our planet a better place.
The Covid-19 crisis has unveiled the latent fragility of healthcare systems worldwide and put our physical and mental well-being to a test. The need for urgent solutions has inspired designers and architects to intervene. What has this pandemic taught us and what will remain of this catastrophic experience?
The panel below will discuss recovery, justice in healthcare and how design can help us return to a better life.
Speakers:
Mirelle Phillips, CEO and Founder, Studio Elsewhere
Christian Benimana, MASS Group
Chaired by: Kara Hanson, Professor of Healthcare System Economics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
AVAILABLE SOON
Somerset House is joined by members of the Hong Kong Design History Network (HKDHNet), who are representing the Hong Kong Pavilion with their interactive installation Sandtable 沙盆推演.
In this 90-min workshop, HKDHNet members Janice Li, Juliana Kei, Mina Song and Sunnie Chan will share their individual career routes working within design research, curation, academia, and public institutions. The team will share how HKDHNetwork formed, the importance of collaboration and their focus on the design histories and material culture of Hong Kong.
Monuments have always played a key role in shaping collective memories and histories, creating iconic links with the places where they are located.
Through the voices of Ini Archibong and Tamara Houston, who are presenting the first Pavilion of the African Diaspora at the London Design Biennale, and of artist Mehrnoosh Khadivi, the event moderated by Design Curator Ameena M. McConnell explores the role of historical and contemporary landmarks in establishing cultural placemaking.
Speakers:
In 2020 the impossible suddenly became possible and unavoidable. How can we turn our greatest dreams and fears into reality? How can immersive experiences give us a glimpse of science’s most utopian and dystopian fascinations?
London Design Biennale Director Victoria Broackes interviews designer and manufacturer-of-the-impossible Nelly Ben Hayoun, an exceptional speaker for an exceptional look into the future of critical design and radical thinking.
Speakers:
Nelly Ben Hayoun, Founder, Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios Ltd
Chaired by: Victoria Broackes, Director, London Design Biennale
AVAILABLE SOON
Canning House and the London Design Biennale present the Canning Cultural Lecture 2021 welcoming the Latin American designers from this year's Biennale - representing Argentina Chile Guatemala and Venezuela - whose projects address the theme of 'Resonance'.
In this celebration of Latin American design we hear from the designers on the inspirations goals and purposes of their unique and fascinating projects.
The digital trends of the last decade, social networks and the pandemic have all contributed to the multiplication of virtual platforms for social interaction, creating opportunities for debate and for the sharing of information. At the same time, hyperconnectivity appears to be amplifying an interesting process of polarisation.
In this Session, the speakers below look at the dynamics and paradoxes of the web, and how they translate into the physical world.
Speakers:
Join Designers in the Middle’s curator Suzanne Trocmé, co-curator and founder Rona Meyuchas Koblenz and designer Nawal Arafat in a fascinating exploration of the Middle East and its creativity.
Operating as a non-political but geographical platform, Designers in the Middle’s contribution to the London Design Biennale brings together the work of designers from Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine and Qatar, reflecting their intent to promote design and craft as a common language to strengthen collaborations, cultural development, and diversity in the region.
Speakers:
AVAILABLE SOON
A fascinating conversation about the power of sound and its ability to evoke profound emotions. Even the most subtle sonority can create connections with individual and collective experiences, stimulating unexpected reactions that intellect alone cannot trigger.
How can design generate emotional responses so deep that they can prompt positive actions? How can these reactions help people take better care of themselves, the communities they belong to and the planet?
Speakers:
In an age, the Anthropocene, when we as humans feel increasingly disconnected from Nature, design can help restore that balance that could lead us towards a more sustainable future.
Artist Ben Cullen Williams and creative technologist Yosuke Ushigome discuss their work with Suhair Khan, Lead of Strategic Projects at Google, highlighting the potential of AI and digital technologies to rebuild a bridge with nature, as well as our memory and knowledge of what we are losing due to climate change and human impact.
Speakers:
AVAILABLE SOON
LDB Director Victoria Broackes interviews artist and activist Beatie Wolfe, Do The Green Thing's co-founder Naresh Ramchandani and Dr Emily Barritt of the Climate Law and Governance Centre at King’s College London about the role of design in tackling climate change trough beauty.
From active involvement to the exploration of a new environmental aesthetic, the panel discusses what it takes to disrupt the status quo and how creativity can build a bridge between climate activism and law.
Speakers:
Beatie Wolfe, Artist and activist
Dr Emily Barrit, Climate Law and Governance Centre at King’s College London; Centre of Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance, University of Cambridge
Naresh Ramchandani, Co-founder, Do The Green Thing and Pentagram Partner
Chaired by: Victoria Broackes, Director, London Design Biennale
AVAILABLE SOON
Design draws inspiration from many art forms and cultural heritages. Stories, novels and even urban legends can be the basis of the most brilliant projects. At the same time, designers can influence and enhance the creation of new stories and pieces of literature through their works.
Kate Bailey, V&A curator of the exhibition “Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser”, the team of the Latvian Pavilion at LDB2021, and Charles Lai and Teresa Dermawan of the Paviliion of Hong Kong address the synergies between design literature and storytelling.
Speakers:
AVAILABLE SOON
As the global population increases, and with it the demand for new homes, concerns emerge about the high levels of carbon emissions generated from the heating and cooling systems in our buildings.
Architects and designers have started questioning the most common ways to generate and maintain an unnecessary multitude of internal microclimates in our domestic environments, while some are also looking back at traditional methods of the pre-electricity era to suggest more sustainable solutions and a return to a conscious participation in the cycles of nature.
Speakers:
AVAILABLE SOON
In “Reinventing Texture”, the Japan pavilion curated by Clare Farrow Studio, Toshiki Hirano uses 3D scanning and digital fabrication to transform the ancient art of Japanese Washi papermaking into a material for the 21st century, capturing urban textures, objects and sounds in the streets of Tokyo.
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With an introduction by main sponsor KP Acoustics, the discussion will be moderated by interdisciplinary curator and writer Clare Farrow.
AVAILABLE SOON
The search for a universal visual language in design and architecture has historically led to the manifestation of a predominant ideology, shaped by the cultures of the “Global North”. For a long time, this phenomenon has suppressed the voices and ignored the needs of the communities that inhabit the most populous part of the world, as well as their diasporas.
The panel address the failure of design and how different cultures can find new ways to resonate, both locally and globally.
Speakers:
Dea Widya, Artist and Designer
Chrissa Amuah, Founder, AFRICA BY DESIGN
Chaired by: Priya Khanchandani, Head of Curatorial and Interpretation, Design Museum
Norway’s digital contribution to London Design Biennale 2021 will bring people closer to the ocean and the Nordic fjords, waterways and rugged coast.
Norwegian design and architecture firms Snøhetta and Feste Landscape - Architecture, tourism company The Fjords, shipyard Brødrene Aa and the founders of the underwater restaurant Under will join Alice Macdonald, Policy and Campaigns Director, Project Everyone to present how the “northern way” connects with the UN Global Goals, and how inclusive sustainable design in resonance with nature provides positive ripple effects for people, the environment and business.
Speakers:
Snøhetta and Stig & Kathrine Ubostad, Under
Helle K. Bakkeland, Commercial manager, The Fjords and Torstein Aa, Industrial designer, Brødrene Aa Shipyard
David Fjågesund, Architect MNAL, Feste Landscape - Architecture
Alice Macdonald, Policy and Campaigns Director, Project Everyone
Chaired by: Amy Frearson, Editor-at-large, Dezeen
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A common dining experience can hide a world of thorny issues, but it can also reveal surprising solutions for sustainable development.
Questioning traditional design culture and its wasteful processes, our panel will discuss the benefits of circular economy, investigating new materials and suggesting ingenious ways to upcycle food waste through architecture and interior design.
Speakers:
Thomas A. Geisler, Director, Museum of Decorative Arts of the Dresden State Art Collections
Maria Elena Pombo, Founder, Fragmentario
Chair: Dr Jana Scholze, Design Curator and Associate Professor at the Kingston School of Art
AVAILABLE SOON
For its third edition, London Design Biennale introduces a special section dedicated to the best examples of sustainable and innovative ideas emerging from the academic world and design industry.
This talk takes a close look at the best examples of sustainable practices and collaboration originated from the initiative of individuals and small residential communities in India.
Speakers:
Christoph Lueder, Associate Professor in Architecture and Urbanism Kingston School of Art
Melissa Smith, Principal Architect, Partner, BandukSmith Studio and CEPT University Ahmedabad
Nisha Mathew Ghosh, Principal, Mathew and Ghosh Architects
Chaired by: Dr Christopher Turner, Keeper of Design, Architecture and Digital, V&A
AVAILABLE SOON
In this Session, our panel discuss the evolving relationship between nature and our expanding urban environments. Through the examination of new techniques for the responsible use of traditional materials, they explore new adaptable solutions to reduce the impact of climate change and create a sustainable balance between people and the planet.
Speakers:
Mario Cucinella, Principal, Mario Cucinella Architects - MC A
Michael H. Ramage, Director, Centre for Natural Material Innovation, University of Cambridge
Ron Bakker, Founding Partner, PLP Architecture
Chaired by: Ellie Stathaki, Architecture Editor, Wallpaper*
AVAILABLE SOON
Climate change is becoming one of the hardest challenges that designers are called to address.
These speakers share their thoughts on how sustainability is changing the cultural sector and what new skills designers should develop to be adequately prepared to address the climate crisis and help engage ordinary citizens.
Speakers:
Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino, Founder, The Low Carbon Design Institute
Graciela Melitsko Thornton, Creative Green Programme Lead, Julie’s Bicycle
Chair: Gonzalo Herrero Delicado, Curator, Museum of the Future, and Associate Lecturer, Central Saint Martins, UAL
AVAILABLE SOON
With the arrival of the design season, many gardens are blooming at Somerset House.
Recreating spaces for contemplation and thinking, curator Varuna Kollanethu, HRH Prince Nikolaos and designer Meherunnisa Asad take us on an imaginary walk through the forests of Scotland, the orchards of Greece and the gardens of Asia, exploring the many ways in which design and nature resonate with individuals and communities.
Speakers:
AVAILABLE SOON
Upgrade Yourself will be streaming live to New York to meet with the inspiring Mirelle Phillips, (Founder & CEO) of Studio Elsewhere, who are representing the New York City Pavilion this year at London Design Biennale, presented at Somerset House. This will be hosted by Future Producer, Cherece Lucina John.
Empathy is a key stage in the human-centred design process. Experienced designers are familiar with a variety of design tools and methodologies that enable them to empathise with their users and audiences. Though this is a valuable starting point, it’s no longer enough.
Join a conversation exploring the role of empathy in design with Enni-Kukka Tuomala and Sumitra Upham, the Design Museum’s Senior Curator of Public Programmes and Curator of Programmes for the 5th Istanbul Biennial ‘Empathy Revisited: Designs for more than one.’
Speakers:
We hosted a digital series in collaboration with Chatham House, our partners for Design In An Age of Crisis. These sessions investigated how radical design ideas can shape HEALTH, WORK, ENVIRONMENT and SOCIETY in the run up to London Design Biennale 2021. Join our a panel of experts in engaging with the crisis we face, and explore how design communities can respond, while highlighting projects from our gallery of submissions.
Tune in to these Sessions below
Redesigning the Future: Radical design ideas from the next generation
25 May 2021, 13.00-14.00 GMT
The final event in the run up to the London Design Biennale questions how design can play a crucial role in engaging with people around the world to reimagine what a sustainable and equitable future might look like. This event is an opportunity to hear from designers, policymakers and thinkers on how radical design thinking can provide positive answers and innovative solutions to shape our future.
Speakers include:
Redesigning Society: Radical design ideas for inclusive and equal societies
27 April, 13.00-14.00 GMT
With so much unconscious or unspoken bias in design, taking a more humanity-centred and participatory approach to design will help to empower all members of our society – across divides of race, gender, ability and age. In this event we’ll ask, if design thinking can be focused on helping the most vulnerable or marginalized members of society, could we end up with the best design outcome for everyone?
Redesigning for the Environment: Radical design ideas to build greener economies and communities
23 March 2021, 13.00-14.00 GMT
Radical design thinking can deliver transformative policies and ideas to build a more environmentally sustainable world, from increasing biodiversity in our landscapes and localities to creating new more sustainable materials. Innovations can disrupt food production methods, waste systems and transport systems to name a few.
In this virtual event, Oksana Bondar, Director of Design, Biohm; Daniel Raven-Ellison, National Park City Founder, Center for London and Professor Peter Rees, Professor of Places and City Planning, UCL, The Bartlett School of Planning, Faculty of the Built Environment addressed what radical design ideas could protect our environment and build resilience in the face of the diverse and bigger shocks to come from the climate and biodiversity crises.
Redesigning Work: Radical design ideas to reshape work and wellbeing
23 February 2021, 13.00-14.00 GMT
At this event, Ana Yang was joined by Professor Jeremy Myerson, Director, WORKTECH Academy & Helen Hamlyn Chair of Design, Royal College of Art, Nasim Köerting, Head of Design at The Office Group and Federica Saliola, Lead Economist, Jobs Group, World Bank.
Watch as they approach questions around the future of work: how can design thinking create work that is more people-centred? What new systems or business models could emerge?
Redesigning Health: Radical design ideas to keep us healthy, now and in the future
26 January 2021, 13.00-14.00 GMT
In this virtual talk, Ana Yang was joined by Thomas Heatherwick, founder of Heatherwick Studio, plus Emma Ross and Professor David Harper from Chatham House. Watch their discussion on how design has responded to the immediate health crisis brought about by COVID-19.
They addressed questions like, how can we move from illness to wellness? How can great design thinking play an important role in improving our health and wellbeing?
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