First ever London Design Biennale opens this week with mission to define utopia
by Kim Megson | 05 Sep 2016
The first ever London Design Biennale will open to the public on 7 September, with participants from 37 nations using the event to explore the concept of utopia.
Brand new work by leading architects, designers, scientists, writers and artists will explore how good design can respond to challenges such as pollution, growing and aging populations and mass migration to create perfect societies.
The exhibition will include large-scale kinetic sculptures, immersive digital installations, culinary pop-ups, live performances and VR renderings of future cities, as well as homages to unrealised utopian proposals of the past.
Among the attractions, visitors can visit an authentic recreation of a Beirut city street, a conceptual Taiwanese restaurant in a forest-like setting and a virtual recreation of a Spanish city 100 years in the future.
The biennale is being organised in collaboration with car manufacturer Jaguar and arts centre Somerset House, which is hosting the festival until 27 September.
Dr Christopher Turner, director of the London Design Biennale, said: “When we set our inaugural theme, Utopia by Design, we hoped to engage with some of the most fundamental issues faced by humanity today. How might the critical and optimistic imaginations of designers transform our future world, and how do perspectives differ across the globe?”
International museums and organisations representing their countries by supporting installations include the US’ Smithsonian Design Museum, the German Design Council, the Moscow Design Museum, the India Design Forum and The Japan Foundation.
London Design Biennale utopia architecture design future art London
The Republic of Korea's installation is Peach Blossom, a digital map that you can explore virtually Credit: Korean Institute of Design Promotion (
The Immersion Room from the US uses digitised wallpapers to illustrate how we create ideas of utopia within our own personal spaces Credit: Cooper Hewitt
Utopia: Lost Archives of Soviet Design offers a glimpse into an idealised world created by Soviet designers Credit: Moscow Design Museum
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The first ever London Design Biennale will open to the public on 7 September, with participants from 37 nations using the event to explore the concept of utopia. Brand new work by leading architects, designers, scientists, writers and artists will explore how good design can respond to challenges such as pollution, growing and aging populations and mass migration to create perfect societies. The exhibition will include large-scale kinetic sculptures, immersive
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