Shoreditch Design Triangle '24 returns with vibrant, experimental & erudite showcases

The 22nd London Design Festival (LDF), scheduled to activate the city from September 14 - 22, 2024, is set to host over 300 events addressing disparate subjects corresponding to technology, artificial intelligence, product design, materials, sustainability, experimental art and design as well as community-driven design, across its 11 districts. Among these is the Shoreditch Design Triangle, returning for the 16th time this year in the UK design fair. Having grown organically in the past years, it is now one of the largest official LDF districts.

Shoreditch occupies a border location, at the edge of the city of London. The district encompasses post-industrial spaces and novel mixed-use developments. It is a modern mixed-use inner-city expanse where residents, international visitors and creative industries and enthusiasts find space for individual and communal engagement. Known for celebrating diversity, embracing new ideas, offering space to the individual and providing visitors with a joyful and diverse street-level experience, the district, established in 2008 and located in east London, offers a vibrant and spirited programme of design-led happenings. One can find, within the comprehensive programme of the design week, a blend of both radical and canonical ideas via product launches, exhibitions, design installations, workshops, talks and absorbing design trails.

Ahead of the design event, STIR, as a media partner with Shoreditch Design Triangle for their showcase during the STIR at London Design Festival 2024, enlists expositions, events and allied happenings concerning products, collectable art, lighting design, material exploration and introspective showcases that are pedagogically led.

Product designs melding abstractions, quality and functionality

Prague-based Gazan architect and designer Yara Abu Aataya’s ~ 1 hour collection is an exposition showcasing hourglasses and other interior glass accessories. It deals with the fluidity of time and combines the themes of recycling, love for Czech craft and design, imprints of the Arabian desert and the maker’s dual realities.

The Wax Building at LDF 2024 platforms furniture design such as a sofa and bed design by British design brands Cozmo, Tamart, Minimalux and LightMass. At the digital visual magazine Chair of Virtue’s Open Call exhibition, various UK-based makers such as Max Lamb, Jan Hendzel Studio, Verner Panton and Warren Platner will present sculptural chair designs.

Some other showcases include FLOOR_STORY’s 10 x 10 exhibition showcasing 10 new rug design editions by Henry Holland, Kangan Arora, Camille Walala, Adam Nathaniel Furman, Kitty Joseph, 2LG, John Booth, Gill Thorpe, Flock Studio and Diane Bresson. The Artek Reimagined by Paul Smith collection—a reinterpretation of Alvar Aalto’s iconic designs—by Gallery at Tramshed and the launch of the Anagram sofa system by Panter&Tourron and Vitra will also be presented.

At HAY’s London showroom, one can experience the new furniture, lighting and accessories by international designers such as Marc Morro, Stefan Scholten, Doshi Levien, Naoto Fukasawa and more. At Czech brand LAOKON’s exhibit Czech glass stories in a new collection, various glass products such as vases, beer pints and more can be found. Kettal presents the temporary exhibition Passage by Ronan Bouroullec and SCP’s The Heart of the Matter, showcasing products such as the Gummy chair by Faye Toogood, a new lounge chair by Erwan Bouroullec, lighting by Joe Armitage and sustainable upholstery by George Sowden, Philippe Malouin, Wilkinson & Rivera, Matthew Hilton and Terence Woodgate.

Collectable art and design coalescing heritage, experimentation and plurality

Yinka Ilori’s pop-up shop at The Hoxton in Shoreditch, inspired by West African architecture, imbues the district with the British artist and designer’s humorous designs while offering visitors a chance to experience a novel retail environment and take home vibrant and playful household items. In the realm of collectable art is the Weird & Wonderful Things From Around The World exhibition organised by Travel Things Museum. Emulating its moniker, the exhibition aims to present various uncanny objects acquired by international collectors from across the globe. From flyswatters to airline memorabilia and stencils to dolls, the collections will offer a glimpse of the disparate ways in which design is conceived across disparate locations and agendas.

British industrial design studio BLOND’s Blond Laboratory is a unique travelling exhibition that will showcase the responses of seven global designers—namely Hirotaka Tako from Sony, John Tree, Jon Marshall from Pentagram, Form Us With Love, Julie Richoz, Maddalena Casadei and James Melia from BLOND—to the BLOND ARTEFACTS initiative, which is dedicated to exploring the creation of objects informed by entities no longer in production. Pivoted upon an invigorating concept, the showcase draws focus towards yesteryear products as well as novel ways of conceptualising and creating.

A few other creative endeavours, existing at the brink of art and design, are the Can I feel it? textile exposition by Cheeky Studio and Christopher Farr's presentation of two rug designs adapted from the original artworks of multidisciplinary Swiss artist and designer Sophie Taeuber-Arp. The former invites visitors to experience the tactile allure of textile art via works by eight designers from South Korea, the US, the UK and Singapore. Jhuley Lal: Crafting the Contemporary by THISS Studio is a British and Pakistani co-design project and showcase that utilises local craftsmanship techniques and cultural heritage to offer a speculative glimpse into Sindh’s future craft traditions.

Some creative works conceived by students and young creatives and shortlisted for the showcase at the design festival are Futurity by the postgraduate batch from Kingston School of Art, the 1:1 exhibition and the Alloy - Contemporary Craft Exhibition exhibition by Alsolike gallery. While the former will present innovative work such as lights, stools and more by the 2024 graduates from Kingston School of Art’s Product and Furniture Design department, the latter will showcase metal, jewellery and textile works by emerging artists who graduated from the Royal College of Art and the Glasgow School of Art.

Achieving circularity via material innovation and experimentation

Various demonstrations within Shoreditch will also highlight the aspect and importance of circularity in design and the potential of material exploration in reaching this end via aesthetic routes: London-based interdisciplinary design studio Matter Forms’ exhibition Oyster[Crete], following the practice's overarching ethos of levying focus on circularity and material innovation, showcases their first material developed in-house following a year of research. The material, eponymously called Oyster[Crete], is obtained by transforming discarded oyster shells into a bio-alternative to traditional concrete.

Will's Wednesday Work’s From Binning to Winning show will illustrate the possibilities of reimagining the contents of one’s recycle bin, via repurposed furniture and interior accessories. Surface Matter’s Open Studio will offer a chance for the visitors to engage in workshops and networking events shining a light on the circular economy and Bill Amberg Studio’s retrospective exhibition is a celebration of 40 years in leather innovation and experimentation.

Playing with light

"Light is both medium and subject, it is thrown around the space, reflected or emitted, used to clarify or distort," mentions the description of the Light in Motion show presented by Acrylicize. Featuring the works of Duncan Carter, Kai Lab, Heyl & Van Dam, Maria Vera, Relative Distance, Sophie Mei Birkin, Star Holden, Will Laslett and Will Muir Llia, the exhibition brings to the fore innovative techniques and materials in conjunction with light. The resultant textures, surfaces, lights and shadows created by their works unfurl the potential of light as a medium in art, beyond its canonical functional usage. Some other events in Shoreditch dedicated to discussions and explorations on light design and art include the DRK Lighting - Saving the planet one remanufacture at a time open studio event, the Light & Life - a panel discussion and Lee Broom’s showcase of the Alchemist collection featuring four unique lighting ranges—Mythos, King, Solstice and Gemini—spanning pendant lights, chandeliers and wall sconces.

Observe - Introspect - Learn

Beyond the display of the shiny chairs and chiselled vases, the curvy tables and etched sculptures are backend processes—ideation, introspection, conception and craftsmanship—that often get overshadowed and overlooked by the end product. It is these processes that various exhibitions at London Design Festival 2024 draw attention to within Shoreditch.

The talk panel In conversation with NINE x Objective Studies x Disegno promises to guide one through the complete process of creating an object from conception to reality, while highlighting the importance of collaboration. The Well Made: What it means today exhibition curated by Pearson Lloyd brings together 30 people and practices with the aim of exploring, understanding, discussing and redefining what 'well made' design is. Another design exhibition Object Lessons - Archivio 10 by Jasper Morrison Shop queries - "What are the enduring qualities of a good object?" With the showcase of different objects across time, geography, authorship and typology, the exhibition opens the room for an understanding of the aforementioned inquiry.

With Proof of Concept at 83 Rivington Street, the organisers of the exhibition showcase the works of 10 emerging multidisciplinary designers. However, instead of solely showcasing final works, the show will present the finalised designs along with prototypes, sketches and models, revealing each creation’s evolution from conception to realisation. Lastly, architecture and design practice studio HANDS' Shaping Spaces exhibition is a showcase with pedagogical assertions. It presents the potential of everyday objects encompassing the power of transforming the spaces they occupy. These include furniture, prints, paintings, interior objects and more.

In its 22nd edition, the London Design Festival—including its 11 design districts, partners and the design fair Material Matters—stirs the city with a dynamic programme of installations, exhibitions, workshops, talks and more. Follow STIR at London Design Festival 2024, as we continue to bring the best of the festival's offerings as media partners along with our own initiatives across the city, including our partners Shoreditch Design Triangle, Mayfair, the Global Design Forum, and more across Brompton, Battersea, Chelsea, Dalston to Stokey and Bankside.