The RCA at London Design Festival 2016: Medal Winners, Exhibitions & Events
Congratulations to alumnus David Adjaye (MA Architecture & Interiors, 1993), who was awarded the Panerai London Design Medal as part of the British Land Celebration of Design, following in the footsteps of Zaha Hadid, Paul Smith and Thomas Heatherwick. Design Products Visiting Professor Kenneth Grange was given a Lifetime Achievement medal, and alumna Bethan Laura Wood (MA Design Products, 2009), who was awarded Swarovski Emerging Talent medal.
Across the Festival, cutting-edge research from emerging communication design researchers and socially inclusive design that deals with some of society’s toughest problems are amongst the issues being addressed by the RCA.
Communicating the Intangible
School of Communication Research in Progress Show
17–24 September
The ethics of intimacy on digital platforms, the visualisation of human-perceived smellscapes, wearable artefacts animated by soft robotics and technological predictions through designed artefacts are some of the projects that will be exhibited at Communicating the Intangible.
Communicating the Intangible will showcase cutting-edge research from a group of emerging communication design researchers. The show’s title plays on the idea of the often intangible nature of research and considers how it can be documented through the display of ‘works in progress’. The featured artists and designers will offer a variety of insights into the ways ‘intangible media’ (such as time, light, smell, emotion, sensory aesthetics and digital systems) are explored through the lens of communication design research. Please see the RCA website for details. A programme of film screenings, workshops and talks will accompany the exhibition.
@RCACommResearch
Location: Hockney Gallery and Ground Floor of Stevens Buiding, Royal College of Art, Jay Mews, London SW7 2EU
Open Mon–Fri: 10am–5pm, Sat: 11am–4pm, Closed Sundays
#liveinclusive
Socially inclusive design at the Royal College of Art
20–23 September
This exhibition unveils 16 new projects from the RCA’s Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design that deal with some of society’s toughest problems. Open from 21 to 23 September, a special ‘Meet the Designers’ event will be held on Friday 23 between 3–5pm, open to everyone. Projects are led by the Helen Hamlyn Research Associates – new design graduates from the Royal College of Art who work collaboratively with business, academic, public sector and third sector partners. Partners this year include Athritis Research UK, Unicredit and the London Legacy Development Corporation.
@HHCDesign / www.rca.ac.uk/
Location: Dyson Gallery, Royal College of Art, 1 Hester Road, London SW11 4AN
Open 10am–5.30pm daily
Outside the RCA:Â exhibitions, events and talks involving alumni and staff proliferate. Here is a small selection of related events:
- Particle Particular (RCA alumna Ariane Prin) a showcase of new furniture and textiles pieces by London based studios Prin and Furthermore.
- A highlight of LDF, Electro Craft (RCA alumni including Bethan Laura Wood) is an exhibition of electronic products created by a diverse group of designers who share a fascination with technology and beautifully made objects, from speakers to clocks, and wearable tails to musical instruments.
- Slow (RCA alumni including Carlos Jimenez), an exhibition and artistic exchange conceived by artists Zhu Yingchun with Carlos Jiménez and Aaron Distler that responds to the subjects and visual systems within nature through film and sculpture.
- RCA Innovation Design Engineering Professor Miles Pennington's Takram is holding Scenes Unscene at the Truman Brewery, 22–25 September.
- Rotate Editions Kheyameya Egyptian Appliqué (including RCA alumni APFEL) present a limited edition series of appliqué wall hangings hand-stitched in Cairo.
- Jac + Jack An Open Brief (RCA alumni Soft Baroque: Sasa Stucin and Nicholas Gardner) an installation based on the Japanese art of Suiseki, 'Daiza Daze' using select Jac+ Jack pieces, fabric and texture to create objects of meditation.
- V&A Digital Design Weekend (including RCA PhD student Veronica Ranner’s Polyphonic Futures) Now in its sixth year, the Digital Design Weekend brings together artists, designers, engineers, technologists and the public to celebrate and share contemporary digital art and design.
- Contemporary Applied Arts Masters of their Material (including RCA alumnus Matthew Chambers) a presentation of two ceramicists who work in highly individualist ways.
- London Design Festival at the V&A: Supergraphics with Kellenberger-White in conversation with Tom Banks, Editor, Design Week Eva Kellenberger and Sebastian White met and began their creative partnership at the Royal College of Art, here they are in conversation with Tom Banks, Acting Editor of Design Week.
- London Design Festival at the V&A: Masterclass with Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien (both RCA alumni). Working across disciplines and industries, Nipa and Jonathan will present a selection of their projects. Focusing on the very beginning of projects and their process of working together they will talk about how they arrive at ideas and develop them.
- London Print Studio: What Ho! (RCA Professor Emeritus Andrzej Klimowski). Andrzej Klimowski's light hearted linocuts and installation celebrate the work of legendary writer P.G. Wodehouse.Â
- London Design Festival at the V&A: Green Room (RCA alumni Glithero: Tim Simpson and Sarah van Gameren) Green Room is a monumental installation at the V&A, conceived by London design studio Glithero in partnership with luxury watch maker Panerai, that changes perceptions of what a clock can be.Â
The London Design Festival, 17–25 September, is a citywide celebration that brings together a global community of designers, artists, architects, and retailers to activate projects responding to the transformative power of design. This year over 400 events and installations will take place as part of the London Design Festival. From an engaging programme at the Victoria and Albert Museum to large scale installations in public spaces across the city, these interventions reflect the stimulating diversity of creative thinking, and are all united in their ability to inspire, entertain and arouse curiosity.
Find out more at: londondesignfestival.com #LDF16