Brompton Design District has revealed its programme for London Design Festival 2023. Running from 16 - 24 September, London’s first design district will host a range of exhibitions, talks and events showcasing the work of established and emerging designers as well as celebrating leading designers and brands including Cassina, Molteni&C and others from the UK and Europe.

For London Design Festival 2023, the theme for Brompton Design District is Conviviality - The Art of Living Together, celebrating design’s ability to connect us with the people and places around us, exploring how designers can create conviviality and help us to live collaboratively.

Curated programme exhibitions include; Farm Shop by Fels Gallery in collaboration with Grymsdyke Farm where more than 15 designers will develop a new homewares collection following residencies at Grymsdyke Farm. Rio Kobayashi uses the opportunity of his first solo exhibition to invite his friends to collaborate on designing a convivial space to host parties, meals, screenings and to introduce a range of new products and furniture. Peter PiIlotto and Christopher De Vos return to Brompton Design District as PPCDV, whose exhibition Phase 2 showcases a new collection marrying the worlds of fashion and interiors. The New Craftsmen will present new pieces from designers Matthew Raw, Bibbings & Hensby and Studio AMOS among others in Join, Assemble, Hold. For the first time Brompton Design District will close a street for the festival as Eva Feldkamp and the team All in Awe collaborate with the local community on an outdoor design installation All Together at Egerton Gardens.

Guan Lee and Marco Campardo for Farm Shop at Grymsdyke Farm

Internationally renowned design brands based in the District will share their latest collections including; Cassina, Molteni&C, Meridiani, Poltrona Frau, Giorgetti and OKA. New additions to the District this year include German luxury lighting brand Occhio, and the opening of a renovated showroom for luxury kitchen retailer Sub Zero & Wolf. Design graduates and students from Royal College of Art will also respond to the theme with a new exhibition called The Other Side of Product and Brompton Design District has again partnered with Disegno to host a programme of talks with leading designers.

Stretching from the V&A to Brompton Road, Brompton is a destination for design; a cluster of global design brands sit within an ecosystem of fashion shops, local cafes, established restaurants and one of the world's most important cultural quarters. This year the District’s hub returns to Cromwell Place. The arts venue will host four exhibitions from the curated programme as well as a number of other London Design Festival events.

 PPCDV Phase 2 Exhibition detail photo by Oskar Proctor

Curated programme highlights include:

Fels presents The Farm Shop, a collaborative project curated by Marco Campardo, Guan Lee and Luca Lo Pinto bringing together a group of designers, architects and studios to realise a functional exhibition space of locale-inspired dining homeware designed and produced at Grymsdyke Farm, Buckinghamshire. Over the summer of 2023, each designer was invited to partake in a residency at the farm and produce one element of a dining collection, answering the question: “Why do we live with the things we live with?”

The outcomes are the result of direct engagements with the farm’s local community and material palette and explore the genesis of the things around us and how we can care for them. The exhibition presents the collection as a whole and functions as an interactive space for visitors to engage with. As part of the programme The Farm Shop will host a series of three happenings conceptualised and curated by Luca Lo Pinto. Within the setting of the exhibition and amongst the objects, invited artists will blur the boundaries of art and utility, exploring what we consume and how we consume.

Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos return to Brompton Design District with a new exhibition. Phase 2 of the collaboration between De Vos Caballero and Pilotto is a search for the conviviality between fashion and interiors. Following a year of travelling through Latin America, reconnecting with Christopher's roots and upbringing (half Peruvian, half Belgian) a new concept for a studio and brand was developed. Central are questions of what should be prioritised in terms of being inspired and expression of self, the clothing we wear or the spaces we inhabit. The idea is to find a synergy between the two in search for answers such as sustainability, longevity and authenticity. In the exhibition at Brompton Design District, there will be a range of items whose motifs are inspired by mineral patterns seen in gemstones such as malachite, pyrite and black opals.

The showcased pieces include hand knotted rugs - made in Nepal, Jacquard-loom weaves from Italy for upholstery, hand painted and lacquered furniture - made in England, embroidered velvets for screens and soft furnishings, and digitally printed lamp elements and loungewear inspired throws and clothing for both men and women.

Rio Kobayashi x WLM Ella Speakers visualisation for Brompton Design District

Based at Cromwell Place MANUM MANUM LAVAT, ‘One hand washes the other’ brings together design pieces that reflect Rio Kobayashi’s deep sense for relationships. The works on display are results of collaborations and the gallery space will co-exist as a living room for people enjoying the company of design objects and designers. From DJs, to chefs, graphic designers and artists, the exhibition will give a little insight into what is most essential to Rio and his work – bringing people together and having fun. The exhibition’s title could be mistaken for a hedonistic or superficial take on living, but the essence is that happiness is achievable by creating a life of quality both in the materialistic world and in our inner world. Collaborations include new speaker designs with Austrian audio manufacturer WLM, a series of fish tables with painter James Hague, an interchangeable, convivial sofa design with designer Flavia Brändle, a series of exhibition posters with Abäke and other designers as well as Barbini Specchi Veneziani on the Rorrim, Rorrim, Mirror.

Rio Kobayashi MANUM MANUM LAVAT, ‘One hand washes the other’ Designer sketch of the proposed installation

Brompton Design District has commissioned award-winning collective All in Awe  to develop an installation in the heart of the district at Egerton Gardens in response to Brompton’s theme. ‘All Together’ is designed with a collaborative spirit to tackle the subject of loneliness as a universal human experience and is made in support of the work of local charities Mind Kensington, the Kensington & Chelsea Volunteer Centre and the Kensington and Chelsea Foundation.

Recognising that the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has the highest proportion of one-person homes in the UK across a diverse range of incomes, the installation will tackle the subject in an approachable way.  All Together will bring groups of local residents together to participate in making the installation itself and in community activations led by the charity partners during the festival. All Together will be a temporary monument to the subject of loneliness, drawing attention to this common problem, as well as an antidote; engaging local communities and providing a space for interaction and togetherness.

Ash & Plumb x The New Craftsmen

Back at Cromwell Place, The New Craftsmen presents Join, Assemble, Hold. Two adjoining crafted interiors, rich with beautiful and tactile works that invite the makers’ worlds and hands into our homes. In each room, a statement cabinet provides a focal point, expressing both the physicality of the works and a feeling of connectivity evoked by the space.

Matthew Raw’s Welcome Drinks Cabinet is a drawing room show-piece; a tile-clad bar unit which becomes a playful talking point for gathering and celebrating. Complementing the rich hues of Raw’s ceramic furniture are the iridescent glass objects of Jochen Holz. His unique pieces draw us into his world of the playful and sublime. The room will be illuminated by a new sculptural lighting collection by Edmond Byrne.

The Nailed Pantry by Bibbings & Hensby is an exceptional example of vernacular furniture for the modern kitchen that evokes a sense of abundance and gathering. The Modern Kitchen features crafted pieces that are connected or joined and conjure a sense of conviviality and togetherness. The Nailed Pantry will overflow with turned wood vessels, while a hand-carved installation by Max Bainbridge which plays homage to the humble spoon will adorn the gallery walls.   

Speaking ahead of the festival, curator Jane Withers said:

“This year Brompton  invites designers to respond to the theme Conviviality – The Art of Living Together. Connection  - human and beyond-human - is fundamental to wellbeing and social cohesion. Our curated programme explores how design can bring people together and create objects and spaces that foster interaction and exchange. Can design spark empathy or camaraderie?  Creative friction or resolution?  Moreover what is a convivial design process and how can it catalyse creativity? As always Brompton is a platform for design experimentation and these are some of many facets of conviviality that I’m looking forward to debating through talks, exhibits and commissions.”

Speaking ahead of the presentation of his and Christopher De Vos’ exhibition at Brompton Design District designer Peter Pilotto said:

“Having worked with Brompton Design District in 2017 when Christopher and I first explored our interests in design and interiors, we thought this will be the ideal platform for us to re launch phase 2 of our collaboration. This year’s theme - conviviality, is in line with our mission of uniting fashion’s dynamism and design’s longevity, through surface on objects and textiles that we find exciting.”

Speaking about exhibition Rio Kobayashi said:

“I’m very excited about this exhibition because I want to involve and work together with other creatives. I strongly believe that working together creates more exciting pieces and movements. Rather than making a solo exhibition, I would like to show how my work is connecting me to others and how design can bring people together.

In the place I live I am surrounded by many exciting pieces and objects, which are created or designed by my friends and those things give me happiness and energy. So, I really feel the power of being surrounded by great people, to be creative and get influenced by their great knowledge. There are certain limitations of creativity if I am alone, but working or having conversations with people truly push these limits.”

Alongside the curated programme, Brompton Design District will see design partners based in the District host a series of designer talks and exhibitions.

Highlights include:

Based on the domestic configurations of the ancient Roman Domus under the creative direction of Vincent Van Duysen, Molteni&C’s 2023 collection narrates the connection between indoor and outdoor, between intimacy and sharing, and between private and public space. Embellished with refined materials, innovative construction techniques and craftsmanship, the collection features the Porta Volta, the chair designed by Herzog & de Meuron - created for the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem - transposed for the home environment, and Naoto Fukasawa’s Cinnamon armchair, with its playful, anthropomorphic forms.

The newest addition to Brompton Design District is German luxury lighting brand Occhio whose new flagship store on Fulham Road is the latest in an international network of showrooms in cities including Shanghai, Milan and Berlin. Describing the brand as ‘a new culture of light’, visitors during the festival will have an opportunity to see the brand new Luna Collection before its international release in October.

Occhio London Flagship Store at 91-97 Fulham Rd

Also welcoming visitors to a new showroom is the first company globally to offer ‘below zero’ refrigeration technology, Sub-Zero & Wolf. Based at 251 Brompton Road and family owned and operated, the brand’s extensive range of products spans refrigeration, indoor and alfresco cooking, wine cooling and countertop appliances, affording its users a world of epicurious possibilities. For London Design Festival, Sub Zero & Wolf invite visitors to view their 2023 “Classic Series” Collection in their new contemporary art deco showroom and theatre kitchen.

For this year’s festival Giorgetti will present their 2023 collection which includes the Karphi modular sofa by Carlo Colombo, a modern system that offers maximum versatility outlining a dynamic and compelling domestic landscape, accompanied by the curved and enveloping shapes of the Hero armchairs. The space is framed by the Kukei sideboard by Mauro Lipparini, a timeless piece of furniture that in its microcosm interprets a personal dynamic and variable composition in harmony with contemporary living, creating a stage with a light but strict volume. A partnership with Pontone Gallery will see Giorgetti’s London showroom host a selection of works by contemporary artists such as Reef Hsu, Lee Jungwoong, Raffaele Rossi and Tim Wright where the artworks will complement the 2023 collection.

CASSINA Moncloud Sofa designed by Patricia Urquiola photo by Francesco Dolfo

At Cassina, the iMaestri Collection, which includes some of the most iconic works of 20th century design, celebrates its 50th anniversary and evolves to welcome authors who have earned their rightful place in this emblematic universe: Vico Magistretti, Gio Ponti, Carlo Scarpa and, Charles and Ray Eames. The pioneering method that Cassina has established over the years to authentically edit the great classics through painstaking research is recounted in the book Echoes, curated by Ivan Mietton and published by Rizzoli, which will be previewed during LDF. In parallel, Cassina underlines its commitment to innovation and its conscious approach to design with Moncloud by Art Director Patricia Urquiola. This sofa’s comfortable, curved shapes are sculpted in recycled PET wadding. Made possible thanks to the experimentation and identification of circular materials to minimise the use of polyurethane foam, Moncloud marks major design progress for the furniture industry.

WAVE exhibition photography at Japan House photo by Jeremie Souteyrat

At Japan House Brompton Design District Visitors are invited to discover the vibrancy and variety of Japanese graphic arts at the exhibition: WAVE: Currents in Japanese Graphic Arts. Curated by artists Hiro Sugiyama and Takahashi Kintaro, the exhibition presents the work of 60 of Japan’s most significant graphic artists today, introducing many of them to the UK for the first time. Opening on the 16 September for London Design Festival Japan House also will host two installations and a booth celebrating the work of sound designer Yuri Suzuki. A highlight of the booth is Suzuki’s ‘Ambient Machine’, which allows visitors to design their own background ambience through the individual selection of thirty-two switches that control a variety of sounds and music. The machine is indicative of Suzuki’s practice, which explores the relationship between people and their environments, questioning how both music and sound evolve to create personal experiences.

OKA, Estella Coffee Table

OKA will be presenting its Autumn 2023 Collection at its Chelsea flagship store on Fulham Road. Mixing textural finishes and playful forms with warm rusty hues, accents of mellow mustard and touches of bold burgundy, the collection is a celebration of autumn and the shift in the way we live from season to season. Highlights include the Estella Range decorated with hand-carved bone, the Melodeon Table Range a new style of weave, a golden-hued wicker, which adorns the Sovannah Range coffee, console and side table.

Marthe Armitage Prints introduces ‘Lobby’, a previously unseen multi-coloured wallpaper pattern from the eponymous artist’s archive, printed for the first time on fabric. Together with long-standing collaborators - antique dealer and design studio Sigmar - the team will showcase a bespoke sofa in the shop window of Sigmar’s King’s Road gallery and reveal a teaser of the collection to follow. The studio will also display an exhibition of other Marthe Armitage products from the wider range - including their digital wide width papers and single colour signature fabrics.

District showrooms including Liaigre, Poltrona Frau, Slamp and Kartell will also host London Design Festival events and activities from 16 to 24 September.

Brompton Design District is delighted to again partner with Disegno Magazine to host a series of thought-provoking talks exploring the theme of Conviviality - The Art of Living Together. The programme will be an opportunity to hear in person from leading international and emerging designers.

The full District programme will be able to be viewed online at www.bromptondesigndistrict.com from August 2023. On Thursday 21st September visitors will be welcomed to Brompton for a series of late night events in Cromwell Place and in showrooms across the District.

For further information, interview and image requests please contact Owen O’Leary, Oh Really PR on 07815992658 or email owen@ohreally.co.uk

View and download hi res images here: https://app.box.com/s/7plb498ib0gkkf83g2yowu1agbl17x4q

Visit www.bromptondesigndistrict.com to see the full programme and a map of venues. Follow Brompton Design District on instagram here: @brompton_design_district and London Design Festival here: @l_d_f_official