Utopia Looms Over London’s First Design Biennale

Visitors to London’s Somerset House this September can step into the imagined worlds and futuristic possibilities being presented by countries participating in the city’s first Design Biennale, a three-week showcase of creative and solution-driven design.

Responding to the theme "Utopia by Design," museums and design institutes from 37 nations have put forward snapshots of the past, present and future, exploring contemporary social issues through multi-disciplinary installations, where the quest for a better, more inclusive world is the driving force.

From a bustling street scene in Beirut, where guests can sit under curtained structures to enjoy falafel or shisha, to a Taiwanese dinner table rich in cultural heritage and identities, the festival veers away from branded or functional design and into the field’s more socially-minded qualities.

“We wanted everyone to be engaged in the same conversation about Utopia, however tangential,” says Dr. Christopher Turner, director of the London Design Biennale. “Designers can engage with all sorts of disciplines, be it architecture, art, engineering or fashion. Designers can ask questions and also propose solutions to them. I suppose we wanted to show that broad depth of design here.”

Urban planning, intercultural communication and notions of identity, both past and present, are just a few of the overlapping topics covered in each individual country’s response to Utopia. Russia, for instance, presents a catalog of designs made during the Soviet era, drawing attention to how design developed during the time, often idealistic and forgotten, of a state-regulated economy. Finding historical or sociopolitical significance in design is also indicative of the Japan installation, which reimagines everyday objects through a Japanese lens, already noted for its symbolism, in hopes that viewers find commonality to their own cultural practices.

“In the design world, I think it’s important to be able to provide links back to emotional, symbolic and functional values,” says Benjamin Loyauté, designer of France’s installation. “For me, design is a kind of language where ideas and emotional can have a function too.”

Loyauté uses an open approach to design, crossing between art and literature, to illustrate the ambition and spirit possessed by even the tiniest items, in this case, small candies. Called le bruit des bonbons - The Astounding Eyes of Syria, Loyauté has collected memories from Syrians living around the globe, shared by the familiarity of the sweets, with the aim of preserving a living heritage. A film accompanies the candies, which are sold with proceeds going to a charity assisting refugees.

“The loose, quite conceptual brief has invited people to suggest alternative futures, cautionary futures or a look back at the failed utopias of their countries past,” explains Turner. “We also wanted to show that design can contribute in small ways to making the world better.”

Australia’s installation, for example, looks at ways to harvest ocean plastics, recycling them in order to make a new object in the form of a ‘terrazzo-like composite.’

“That’s a situation where design has suggested a solution to a problem,” says Turner. “I think when you move design away from the trade fair, which is all about new products, you see that design is actually really integral to everything.”

Studying product design, Angus Milne, attendee of the London Design Biennale, comes from an engineering background, less likely to engage with the more artistic spectrums that design can offer.

“Design is about improving people’s lives,” he tells The Creators Project. “However you can do that is still design for me, from a commercial product to a different community structure.”

Award-winning installations were those from Lebanon, Russia and Switzerland, presented with medals for most exceptional design contribution and best interpretation of theme and innovation, respectively. The jury, which consisted of 13 people working in creative industries, also applauded Chile, Mexico and Japan for their takes on the theme. A public favorite award, voted by visitors, will be given out on September 22nd.

The London Design Biennale is on at Somerset House through to September 27, 2016. Find out more here.

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