Designposts of LDF 2021 capture the spirit of the festival

Design collaboration introduces a series of sculptures made from American red oak to the streets of London

October 08, 2021 – One of the most important additions for London Design Festival 2021, the Designposts project introduced a series of wooden sculptures to the streets of London, each capturing the spirit of one of the festival’s 10 dedicated design districts. A ollaboration between LDF, the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), and three leading British furniture makers – Benchmark Furniture, Sebastian Cox and Jan Hendzel Studio, the initiative paid tribute to the diverse history and creative culture of London’s neighbourhoods; giving emerging designers a platform to showcase their talent; festival-goers a free open-air exhibition of thought-provoking art and design; and presenting the potential of an underused and highly sustainable material – American red oak – to Europe’s creative community.

From an homage to the landmark gasholders of King’s Cross to a tribute to the barrel-making craft heritage of Park Royal, the Designposts provide illuminating responses to the multitude of stories that have shaped the city over the centuries. The Designposts have been designed by a student or recent graduate of either London Metropolitan University or the Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL. Each was assigned an individual LDF Design District and invited to personally respond in the form of a large-scale sculptural structure. With guidance from AHEC and the expert furniture makers, they have spent the last few months finessing their designs, which were on display from September 18 – 26, 2021, for the duration of the London Design Festival.

Over the last 18 months, architecture and design students have had their education significantly disrupted by the impact of Covid-19 and lockdown. Access to workshops and making facilities has been limited by restrictions, and – with no fairs or end-of-year shows – opportunities to showcase their work have been all but eliminated. Project mentors Peter Marigold, Professor of Design and Entrepreneurialism from London Metropolitan University, and Izaskun Chinchilla, Professor of Architectural Practice at Bartlett School of Architecture, have both collaborated with AHEC on creative projects in the past, and have a proven passion for timber as a material. They selected the ten students and graduates, assigned them each an LDF district, and asked them to research and develop a concept that would capture its unique identity and idiosyncrasies.

The ten designers involved with the project included: Carrie Coningsby for Islington; Fioralba Elezi for Kings Cross; Daegyu Kim for Mayfair; Darta Shokrzadeh for Southwark South; Megan Makinson for Shoreditch; Aude Saint Joanis for Park Royal; Kate Woodcock for Clerkenwell; Faye Greenwood for William Morris Design Line; Jason Brooker for Design District at Greenwich Peninsula; and Jonah Luswata for Brompton. Over the course of an immersive four-day visit to Benchmark’s Berkshire workshops, the students and graduates had the opportunity to catch up on lost hands-on making time. They also had a chance to hone their abilities working alongside Benchmark’s highly skilled team of craftspeople, tapping into their expertise and experience, and sharing in an exhaustive understanding of red oak’s material properties and environmental impact.

The Designposts were erected on plinths manufactured from cross-laminated panels of tulipwood, repurposed from LDF and AHEC’s 2019 Landmark project MultiPly, which will in turn be used again in future editions of the festival. Following the festival, the Designposts themselves will likely be donated to London institutions, either to live permanently or be repurposed for new student
projects. The completed Designposts acted as beacons, signaling to festival goers that they have arrived at an LDF design district, and serving as a natural starting point from which to explore the other projects and installations within it. The project also enabled AHEC to highlight red oak across London at a time when design is a focus for the city.

“One of the key aims of this project is to communicate to both designers and the wider public that hardwoods such as red oak are viable material options from a sustainability perspective. Red oak is the most abundant species in American hardwood forests yet is often overlooked. Over-reliance on a small selection of woods can have a damaging effect on forest ecosystems, so we believe that designers and architects have a responsibility to use whatever nature provides. Growing wild rather than planted, red oak represents both a highly sustainable and renewable material option, and one with significant aesthetic appeal for designers and architects. Red oak also serves as a carbon store, locking away the CO2 absorbed from the atmosphere during the tree’s lifetime, and reducing the Designposts’ carbon footprint as a result,” concluded Roderick Wiles, AHEC Regional Director.