Clerkenwell Design Week Presents

Integral to the festival, Clerkenwell Design Week Presents is a series of public facing installations, spread along the Clerkenwell Design Week exhibition trail. This year, there are seven unique installations - but here at DesignCurial, we’ve chosen our three favourites:

Brintons presents the Craigend collection by Timorous Beasties
St John’s Square

Designed by long term collaborators Timorous Beasties, expert carpet manufacturers Brintons will be launching the new Craigend in a pop up installation designed by Studio Shaw architects, which will take over St John’s Square. The third collaboration between Brintons and the scottish design duo Timorous Beasties, Craigend was inspired by textures and surfaces found underfoot.

Your Tote Counts
Garden of St James

After finding that a cotton tote bag’s ecological footprint is 327 times worse than a regular plastic bag’s, Clerkenwell Design Week is addressing the issue with a screen press installation. Five striking designs have been created by Chelsea College of Art students which will be printed live onto the up-cycled bags –with proceeds going to Clerkenwell Design Week’s official charity partner, Maggie’s.

Next Generation Design Pavilion
Garden of St James

Now into its third year, Scale Rule’s Next Generation Design Pavilion has conceived and designed by GCSE students from around London in response to the theme of ‘sustainability'. This year’s winning concept is a sensitive metaphor, with kaleidoscopic layers will represent the past, present and future. Bringing students together from across the capital, Scale Rule's Next Generation Design Pavilion aims to inspire young people to pursue construction-related careers. 

Conversations at Clerkenwell

Hosting a high-calibre range of speakers, the Conversations at Clerkenwell talks programme has become an important part of Clerkenwell Design Week, where industry issues can be raised, new products can be introduced, and where design professionals can explore current industry topics. With so many talks to choose from, we’ve selected six that we think will be the highlights of this year’s Festival.

On Tuesday, explore Clerkenwell’s creative evolution in Clerkenwell 2049: from historic craft district to visionary urban centre, or if you want to hear more from Timorous Beasties, they’ll be discussing their new Craigend collection with Priya Khanchandani. Exploring the Festival on Wednesday? Sign up for Be Human: social media strategy in 2018 and take part in a social media master class. Discover the future of the Square Mile and see past the myths surrounding sustainability. Finally, discover the influence of Blue - the world’s favourite colour - in a design-focused colour trends session on Thursday.

Fringe

In amongst the showrooms that are opening their doors during Clerkenwell Design Week, as part of the Festival a selection of other local practices will become hosts of a range of workshops, installations and displays.

Taking place on Grenville Street, the Bleeding Art installation will be painted live before its big reveal on Thursday. Emulsion will be hosting a mindfulness meditation session and walking tours of Clerkenwell with Mr Londoner. French design brand Petite Friture will take over creative workspace Fora, and the ingeniously designed space will also host a range of talks over the Festival. For those interested in London’s history, the London Metropolitan Archives will be uncovering images of London’s lost buildings – but if you’d prefer to the future, sustainable packaging start up Skipping Rocks Lab will be showcasing their ‘Ooho’, an edible alternative to single-use plastic drinks bottles.

For more information on any of the brands, installations, exhibitions and talks that have featured in this article - or to register for Clerkenwell Design Week, please visit the Festival's official website here.