London Design Festival 2015 kicks off tomorrow with events, exhibitions and shows scattered around the city. Beyond the anchor events at the Victoria & Albert museum and the expected constellation of tradeshows—Design Junction, Tent, 100% design, designersblock—new venues for independent ideas in design are drawing from fresh pools of talent from the UK and abroad. Below is a roundup of eight exciting food design projects to see at this year’s London Design Festival. Leave a note in the comments for other food design events we missed!
Living in a Material World at One Good Deed Today
73 Kingsland Road, Shoreditch
The new materials research studio Matter launches during LDF with an exhibition and a series of workshops exploring the relationship between materials and the senses. With each day’s designer-led workshops organized around a single sense—touch, sound, smell taste and sight— the programming alone gives visitors a reason to keep coming back. Signup for Saturday, September 26th taste workshops including a food waste tasting by Save the Date Cafe, Miriam Ribul on material activism and Whispery Savoury on listening to your food.
September 22-27, 11-19:00.
Studio Appétit for LAUFEN at designjunction
12-42 Southampton Row
The food design studio headed up by Ido Garini is launching The Gem Room, a special installation and eating experience highlighting Swiss bathroom manufacturer Laufen’s ceramic material SaphirKeramik. With food consumption on one end and well, bathrooms on the other, this collaboration promises to be interesting. Garini himself let us know: “Get your fudge ready!”
September 24-27, 11-17:00 daily. £14 at the door.
eaTaipei at Tent
Old Truman Brewery, Hanbury Street
This exhibition and “food performance” showcases contemporary Taiwanese design inspired by its capital city through a five-course tasting by Chef Chung-Ho Tsai. eaTaipei is a primer to Taiwanese designers like Pili Wu and Pochi Lai as Taipei prepares itself to take the stage as World Design Capital in 2016.
September 24-27. £20 (including entry to Tent London) for a 40-minute tasting session.
Lindsey Adelman for 1882 Ltd at the Future Laboratory
26 Elder Street, Spitalfields
Inspired by Japanese wall gardens and overgrown garden terraces, Lindsey Adelman debuts her first ceramics collection with British heritage brand 1882 Ltd. The New York-based designer is known for her strong lighting forms inspired by nature and this interest continues in the fine bone china tableware collection, Power Plant, and the Fibonacchia, a ceramic object using “Chia pet technology” intended for sprouting greens on its surface.
September 22-27
Type Tasting at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road, South Kensington
Ever wondered what Helvetica might taste like? Or how Times New roman might smell? We wrote about Sarah Hyndman’s recent book documenting her sensory explorations in typography and LDF presents an opportunity to experience a workshop for yourself.
September 19 and 20, 2PM. Free and open to the public.
Bompass & Parr Studio Visit for the Disegno x Camper Walk
Begins at Studio Octopi, 1C Burrows Mews
Design magazine Disegno hosts a walking tour of the southeast London neighborhood Southwark with includes a studio visit to food designers Bompas & Parr and a look at their newest installation, Alcholic Architecture, a pop-up bar in Borough Market with a walk-in cloud of breathable cocktail. The tour starts at architecture practice Studio Octopi and includes a stop with fashion designer and founder of the Fashion and Textile Museum Zandra Rhodes.
September 23, 2PM. £10 Tickets Available through the Design Museum.
Plants Out of Place at Queens Park
Kingswood, Avenue Kilburn
Since 2008, this art and design collaboration between designers Studio Aikieu and gardening house Coloni has been instigating dialogue around the value of wild plants in service to a more sustainable future. During LDF, the collective behind Plants Out of Place presents a series of workshops and dinners—forage with the Outlaws, participate in a weed-based beauty apothecary or enjoy a nostalgic five-course tasting menu of wild plants.
September 18-22. Daily, 9:30-18:30.
Arabeschi di Latte at Tom Dixon Multiplex
Old Selfridges Hotel, 1 Orchard Street
Billed the department store of the future, Tom Dixon and Wallpaper* have produced an over-the-top shopping experience featuring products ranging from beauty to DIY, furniture to engineering workshops. Book a session at the REVIV bar, “to restore hydration and energy” before taking on 20,000 square feet of shopping. The food design studio Arabeschi di Latte anchors the “food court” with a “tri-dimensional” pantry promising massive blocks of chocolate and charcoal baking powder to create an installation that offers parody, conceptualism…and bread!
September 18 – October 15. Open daily, Noon-18:00.
