The Design Museum will be showcasing two exhibitions for London Design Festival. Their main exhibition, This is Design, is a celebration of the Design Museum’s collection which examines the impact of design, whilst also exploring the consequences of design and how it shapes our lives and contemporary culture.  Alongside exhibiting for the fourth year is Designers in Residence, which celebrates emerging design talent by allowing them to build on their current design practice, this year’s residents are Simon Hasan, Hye-Yeon Park, Will Shannon and Jade Falawiyo.

 

This is Design

24 August 2011 – 22 January 2012

 

This is Design is a collection which has been in storage for over 5 years; where it has been catalogued, conserved and documented. It contains artefacts ranging from early items of mass manufacture through to cutting edge contemporary design including fashion and furniture to transport and graphics. By showing the design process through this collection of objects, it demonstrates how design plays a role in shaping the way we live.

 

The collection includes an Anglepois lamp, UK road signs and traffic lights, as well as a Moulton bicycle, architectural models, couture garments, and street furniture. This exhibition also looks at how sustainability impacts upon the methods of making and designing. It has been supplemented by loans and gifts, as the Design Museum is preparing to move to a new home at the former Commonwealth Institute in 2014. At the new venue there will be an allocated area to display This is Design as a permanent collection.

 

Designers in Residence 2011

14 August 2011 – 22 January 2012

 

The 2011 designers in residence, Simon Hasan, Hye-Yeon Park, Will Shannon and Jade Folawiyo were selected via an open-call. They were asked to respond to a brief, which considered the idea of imperfection in an object, environment or experience. The exhibition offers an insight into their way of working and design development by exhibiting their final pieces as well as early experiments, tests, sketches and drawings.

 

Simon Hasan continues with his exploration of leather. He questions the perception of leather as a luxury material whilst ‘exploring how to create links between crafts processes and volume production’. He is currently working with Casa Fendi for the London Design Festival.

 

Hye-Yeon Park’s latest work explores time and its transitory nature. Nominated for a Design of the Year award 2011, through her residency she made the ‘Autonomous Clock’, which is a playful interactive time-telling device.

 

Will Shannon’s current work places him between the role of designer, maker and manufacturer as he creates travelling workshops. For this exhibition he has created an ‘Autonomous WorkPlace no004: Mobile Chipboard Factory’

 

Jade Folawiyo graduated from Central St Martin’s and through her work she draws inspiration from her Nigerian heritage. By the tarnishing and rusting of metal, she has created a series of luminaries in an attempt to develop new techniques.

 

 

DESIGN MUSEUM, Shad Thames, London SE1 2YD

Opening: 10.00 – 17.45 daily.