This year designjunction will launch a brand new talks programme at the Everyman Cinema in King’s Cross, in association with the UK's leading online destination for sourcing furniture and lighting from premium design brands, Clippings.

Set against the millennial-pink backdrop of the cinema and curated by design and architecture writer and commentator Grant Gibson, the two-day platform (Thursday 19 - Friday 20 September) is set to challenge, provoke and engage with an eclectic range of topical issues that include: sustainability and the circular economy; the relationship between dyslexia and design; the need for increased diversity in design; and the importance of wellbeing at work.

In responding to this year’s theme Re(act) , the two-day programme breaks the mould and opens up a discussion about what truly matters through a series of lively discussions. The diverse and considered programme includes debates and book clubs with a slew of the industry’s leading thinkers and expert voices including: renowned architect Nigel Coates , designer Sevil Peach , leading designers Sam Hecht and Kim Colin of London design studio Industrial Facility , Founder of 1882 Emily Johnson , product designer Matthew Hilton and University of Cambridge researcher, Helen Taylor .

To view the full talks programme and to book tickets click here .

Thursday 19 September
10.00 - 10.45

Wellness in the Workplace - Is It Anything More Than A Passing Fad?

Speakers: Interior Architect Sevil Peach; Rosamund Pomeroy, workplace Scientist and Co-founder of brainybirdz; Fabienne O’Neil, Co-founder and Director of Cuckooz and Mark Eltringham, Founder of Workplace Insight.

A panel of workplace experts – including designers, journalists and workplace scientists – will unpick our current obsession with wellbeing and ask if it’s simply feng-shui for the new Millennium.

11.00 - 11.45

Speaker: Ella Doran

Sheep to Seat, Fleece to Floor: Ella Doran and the Circular Economy Speaker: Ella Doran

The award-winning designer Ella Doran discusses her latest project with the Yorkshire Sculpture Park , Sheep to Seat, Fleece to Floor, where she took fleeces from the sheep grazing in the park’s grounds and turned them into a variety of products that were then sold in the park’s shop. The project involved a host of manufacturing companies including Camira , Coakley & Cox and Alternative Flooring . The talk promises to touch on subjects such as sustainability and the importance of the circular economy.

12.00 - 12.45  Lunchtime Book Club

Brinkworth: So Far So Good

Speakers: Adam Brinkworth, Founder of Brinkworth and Kevin Brennan, Co-CEO at Brinkworth To celebrate the launch of their new monograph – written by Graeme Brooker and with a foreword from Michael Marriott and Peter Higgins – Adam Brinkworth and Kevin Brennan discuss the award-winning practice ‘ Brinkworth ’ and chart how it has grown from a small workshop in East London into a globally renowned design and architecture studio, with clients ranging from Converse to All Saints .

Chaired by Riya Patel , Curator at The Aram Gallery and Contributing Editor at ICON

14.00 - 14.45

Dyslexia and Design

A high powered panel including designer Ab Rogers of ARD, product designer James Rokos, metal artist Simone ten Hompel and Cambridge University Educational researcher Helen Taylor who are set to discuss their dyslexia, looking at the impact it has had on their lives, their experience of the education system, and, ultimately, how it has enabled – rather than hindered – their careers.

16.00 – 16.45

The Standard London: How the Capital Got its Hottest New Hotel

Housed in the former Camden Town Hall Annex a mere stone’s throw from the Everyman Cinema, The Standard London is the brand’s first hotel outside the US. It contains 266 rooms in 42 unique styles and has been described as ‘L ondon’s hottest hotel open for 2019 ’. In a warm up to the Sleep & Eat show in November, Sleeper magazine’s editor Matthew Turner talks to some of the people that made it happen.

Friday 20 September

10.00 – 10.45

Britain Can (Still) Make It

Speakers: Emily Johnson, Founder of high end ceramics company 1882; Joni Steiner, Founder of hi-tech furniture firm Open Desk; Furniture and Product Designer, Matthew Hilton and Richard Blackwell, Executive Director at Bisley

A panel discussion that looks at the future of British manufacturing, seeking to unpick the problems and the benefits of making things in this country and asking what role design can play, as well as pondering how technology is likely to disrupt the traditional model. Expect Brexit to be mentioned on at least one occasion.

11.00 – 11.45

New Voices in Design

Organised in conjunction with Living Etc , this panel talk seeks to discover how new voices from diverse backgrounds can be encouraged into the design industry. It will include a combination of personal stories and policy ideas.

The panel promises to feature industrial ceramic designer and creative director of Thomas Goode, Peter Ting, as well as textile designer Eva Sonaike, Kevin Green co-founder of STORE STORE and Ella Ritchie, director of Intoart, an art and design studio that works inclusively with people with learning difficulties.

12.00 – 12.45

The Future: Design in Turbulent Times

Speakers: Central Saint Martins Graduates including Mael Henaff, Elissa Brunato, Benjamin Benmoyal and Graysha Audren A session of rapid fire presentations from recent graduates of Central Saint Martins, tying in with its show at the nearby Lethaby Gallery. What will the future of design look like? And what materials will we be using? Can design help society become both more sustainable and equitable?

This talk will be introduced by Carole Collet , Director at CSM LVMH Sustainable Innovation, and hosted by William Knight , former Deputy Director of the London Design Festival.

14.00 - 14.45

Queer Culture and the City

Renowned architect, designer and educator Nigel Coates discusses how LGBTQ culture has fundamentally changed – and will continue to transform – the shape of our cities. With Isabel Allen, editor-in-chief of the new architecture magazine, Citizen.

16.00 - 16.45

Aperitivo Book Club: Industrial Facility

To celebrate their recent Phaidon monograph, leading designers Sam Hecht and Kim Colin of Industrial Facility discuss the studio’s history, which has encompassed an array of projects from office furniture for Herman Miller to a spray watering can for Muji via lights for Wastberg and, of course the brilliant Branca chair for Mattiazzi.

This year’s talks programme has been curated by design, craft and architecture writer Grant Gibson .

Grant has been published in The Observer, New Statesman, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, FRAME, Dwell, House & Garden amongst others.

During a long career in magazines, Grant has been editor of Blueprint, deputy editor of FX, and acting executive editor of the RIBA Journal. More recently he has been editor of Crafts and a contributing editor of the Dutch architecture title MARK. He was also the launch editor of the London Design Festival Guide and co-founded Real to Reel, the UK’s first film festival devoted to making and in 2019 he launched the critically acclaimed new podcast series Material Matters.

designjunction Talks Programme

Thursday 19 - Friday 20 September 2019

Everyman King’s Cross | 14-18 Handyside Street | King's Cross | London | N1C 4DN

Please ensure to arrive 15 minutes before the talk time

For further information about the designjunction talks programme and to book tickets at £10

per talk visit: www.thedesignjunction.co.uk/talks

designjunction 2019
Thursday 19 - Sunday 22 September 2019
King’s Cross Design District, London NC1
For tickets visit: https://www.thedesignjunction.co.uk/en/Book-tickets.html

Public ticket price:
£15

Platinum ticket price:
£30

Trade registration:
Free in advance (online booking)
£15 from 1 September

Press registration:
Free entry now open

Press preview:
Thursday 19 September 9:00 - 11:00
Register here: thedesignjunction.co.uk/press

Opening times:

Thursday 19 September 11:00 – 20:00
Friday 20 September 11:00 – 19:00
Saturday 21 September 11:00 – 18:00
Sunday 22 September 11:00 – 17:00 

19 - 22 September 2019
King's Cross Design District, London N1C