One of the most important additions for London Design Festival 2021, the Designposts project will introduce 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 collaboration between LDF, the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), and three leading British furniture makers – Benchmark (West Berkshire), Sebastian Cox (South East London) and Jan Hendzel Studio(South East London), the initiative aims to pay tribute to the diverse history and creative culture of London’s neighbourhoods; to give emerging designers a platform to showcase their talent; to give festival-goers a free open-air exhibition of thought-provoking art and design; and to present 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, ready for installation on 15 September.
The designers
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 10 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.

Carrie Coningsby – Islington, Islington Design District
Made by Benchmark Furniture

To honour Islington’s history as a block-printing hub in the 18th and 19th centuries, and to acknowledge the abundance of blue heritage plaques that adorn so many of the district’s buildings today, Carrie Coningsby has created a ‘local landmark library’. The piece invites visitors to discover and reconnect with the key figures from Islington’s past, as well as its rich creative history.

Alba Elezi – King’s Cross, King’s Cross Design District
Made by Benchmark Furniture

Combining sculptural beauty with practical function, Alba Elezi’s design takes the iconic gasholders of King’s Cross and reinterprets them as shared sculptural seating – in much the same way as the now-defunct gasholders themselves have been reinvented as a public park. In order to reflect the holders’ dark iron finish, the oak was ebonised using an iron solution. The Designpost stands in Coal Drops Yard, less than 100 metres from the structures that inspired it.

Daegyu Kim – Mayfair, Mayfair Design District
Made by Benchmark Furniture

The majestic sweeping curve of Regent’s Street inspires Daegyu Kim’s homage to Mayfair. Using long tubes and blocks of red oak to create abstracted versions of the arches and windows of the streetscape, Daegyu seeks to recreate the powerful sensory impression one feels when emerging from the darkness of the Underground station to be greeted by the scale and splendour of the street.

Darta Shokrzadeh – Southwark, Southwark South Design District
Made by Jan Hendzel Studio

Darta Shokrzadeh’s Designpost is a personal response to the streets of Southwark, stemming from time spent exploring the district. Based on photographs taken by Darta, the design captures the round-the-clock busyness and multi-ethnic vibrancy of the area, expressing both the daytime bustle of the streets and markets and the energy of its bars and clubs by night.

Megan Makinson – Shoreditch, Shoreditch Design Triangle
Made by Benchmark Furniture

Megan Makinson’s Designpost celebrates the way that the historical narratives woven into the streets of Shoreditch intersect with the district’s rich culture of street-artist subversion. Starting as a sculptural reflection of its setting in front of the SCP shopfront, the design weaves in other narratives, such as the story of ‘The Theatre’, one of London’s first permanent venues, which was dismantled in 1598 and its timbers used to build the Globe. Aptly, when its time as a Designpost comes to an end, Megan’s sculpture is destined for a second life as a puppet theatre.

Aude Saint Joanis – Park Royal, Park Royal Design District
Made by Sebastian Cox

Aude Saint Joanis’s highly sculptural design draws inspiration from Park Royal’s industrial heritage, referencing its former Guinness brewery (once the largest in the world), its current whisky distillery, and the barrel-making craft tradition that both have kept alive. The form of the Designpost represents a barrel in the process of forming, a nod to the dramatic transformation that the district is currently undergoing, and to the evolving community of craftspeople and makers that has made its home here. Furthermore, because Aude’s piece is made from oak – the principal material used by coopers to make barrels – there is a material connection, too.

Kate Woodcock – Clerkenwell, Clerkenwell Design District
Made by Jan Hendzel Studio

To develop the concept for her Clerkenwell Designpost, Kate Woodcock looked back in time and deep underground. The form of her structure explores the etymology of the district and its historic relationship with water. Each plinth represents a different strand of this history, beginning with Clerkenwell’s origins in the 1100s as the ‘Clerk’s Well’, a source of water used by the various monastic houses of the area, beneath what is now Farringdon Road. By bringing these stories to the surface, Kate hopes to make visitors think about the hidden world beneath their feet and its role in shaping the ground above.

Faye Greenwood – Waltham Forest, William Morris Design Line
Made by Sebastian Cox

In her Designpost, Faye Greenwood fuses two key elements of the district – its historic relationship with William Morris and the wildlife habitats of the Walthamstow Wetlands. The design comprises a series of animal-habitat building blocks, connected with crafted joints and adorned with repeating motifs that visually reference Morris’s work in the Arts and Crafts movement. Combining nature, community and craftsmanship in this way, Faye emphasises the district’s rich creative story, while also celebrating its natural environment.

Jason Brooker – Design District, Design District at Greenwich Peninsula
Made by Benchmark Furniture

Jason Brooker’s Designpost is a meditation on making that pushes the possibilities of red oak as a material, while paying tribute to the past, present and future of Greenwich Peninsula. On close inspection, the curving, sail-like structure of the design references the diverse techniques and methods used by the new creative community of Design District, and by extension the myriad design cultures who have influenced the area’s history.

Jonah Luswata – Brompton, Brompton Design District
Made by Sebastian Cox

Inspired by the form of the obelisk – in particular, by the moonlight towers that were used to illuminate the city in the late Victorian era – Jonah Luswata’s Designpost celebrates its Brompton location in several ways. The design is informed by the district’s plethora of museums, and the socio-cultural history they represent, as well as the vibrant contemporary design culture and reverence for craft that has resulted from the numerous design firms that make Brompton their home today.