A giant wind chime, touch-sensitive biotextiles and the reconstruction of Ukrainian window
designs are among the most intriguing installations at the
London Design Biennale , which kicks off this
first week of June and brings together participants from around the world to celebrate
new forms of international cooperation through design. The Biennale, now in its fourth edition, will present over
40 installations focused on the theme ‘
The Global Game: Remapping Collaborations ’, chosen by this year’s Artistic Director, the Nieuwe Instituut, Instituut, led by Aric Chen. In addition to national participants, the Eureka exhibition will showcase
interdisciplinary innovations from leading UK research centres. So, below, check out the main installations at the
London Design Biennale! Poetics of Necessity (Poland), by TŁO Michał Sikorski Architects
This multinational pavilion is based on a
humanitarian project by architects
Petro Vladimirov and
Zofia Jaworowska who collected abandoned windows from Poland to help
rebuild homes in Ukraine – as these are often destroyed by Russian bombings, and most of Ukraine's
glass supply comes from Russia. As part of the biennale, the project was extended to the UK with over
30 windows donated by Londoners displayed in the exhibition before being
sent to Ukraine . The installation also demonstrates one of more than
100 techniques , devised by
Vladimirov and
Jaworowska in collaboration with local architects, for how windows can be installed regardless of size or shape.
Borrowed Matter (Chile), by Borrowed Matter
Biotextile sheets , made from tree cellulose and natural dyes, are suspended from the ceiling of the
Chilean pavilion , one of which is dipped in water and
will slowly degrade over the course of the exhibition. Others act as
touch sensors , woven with conductive metal wire and connected to speakers that
emit different sounds as the tissues are stroked and poked .
Set on a riverside terrace, this pavilion explores
two vernacular typologies of Indian design: a traditional daybed known as
a chairpai and an open-air
chowk market, which design studio
Archohm describes as “
Indian urban living in the living room .” The pavilion is made up of
woven ropes placed over an angular structure, with a metal tent in the center decorated with
hundreds of clay kullad cups used for drinking chai.
Baking the Future (Austria), by Chmara.Rosinke
Throughout the biennale, designers
Anna Rosinke and
Maciej Chmara will be baking bread in the Austrian pavilion as part of an ongoing
research project into the
geopolitical contexts and microbiological processes behind this common foodstuff. Together with the bakery, the designers created a
collection of exhibits designed to investigate the sensory experience of bread, including a
record player that allows visitors to listen to the bread . "A loaf of bread or a slice of bread may seem simple, but there is a curious complexity to the bread question," the designers said.
Openwork (Türkiye), by Melek Zeynep Bulut
Situated in the central courtyard of
Somerset House , the Turkish Pavilion functions as a giant
hexagonal wind chime that forms a series of steel gates. The pavilion was designed by architect
Melek Zeynep Bulut to act as a theatrical exhibition on the concept of gates and their role in
imposing boundaries and
social hierarchies .
