Art & Design: London Design Biennale & Eureka 2023 has opened at London's Somerset House

The international London Design Biennale has opened in Somerset House. It serves as a platform for designers, artists, and innovators from around the world to come together and showcase their creative ideas, concepts, and projects, celebrating design as a powerful tool for driving change, improving lives, and shaping a better future. 

Dubai Pavilion.
Image courtesy of London Design Biennale.

From June 1 to 25, the Biennale takes over the entirety of Somerset House in London, including the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court and River Terrace, where participants from across the globe are interacting with one another through the medium of design and enacting new forms of international cooperation.

London's Somerset House, shown with the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court, is an iconic neoclassical building
located in the heart of London, UK,
situated on the south side of the Strand, overlooking the River Thames.
Photo: Richard Bryant

This year's Biennale is held under the artistic direction of Nieuwe Instituut, the Dutch national museum and institute for architecture, design and digital culture, led by its General and Artistic Director, Aric Chen.

Visitors can immerse themselves in a diverse range of installations, interactive displays, and thought-provoking exhibits. These exhibits often incorporate innovative materials, cutting-edge technologies, and sustainable design principles. 

The event encourages cross-cultural collaboration, fosters dialogue between different design disciplines, and encourages visitors to engage with the ideas and concepts presented.

 Poland's entry – ‘Poetics of Necessity’ - was awarded the London Design Biennale 2023 Medal, for the most outstanding overall contribution. Photo by Iona Wolff

Some 40 designers from around the world are showcasing their work responding to the theme: The Global Game: Remapping Collaborations.

There are 45 pavilions from 5 continents, involving more than 50 countries, cities and territories, including Abu Dhabi, Ai-Da Robot, Austria, Automorph Network, Beatie Wolfe, Bidibidi Pavilion, Care Pavilion, Chile, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark & Switzerland, Dubai, Future for Beginners, India, Inner Peace Pavilion, Italy, Japan, Malta, Mudac Museum, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Serbia, South Korea, Spain & Peru, Taiwan, Turkey, The European Union Delegation to the United Kingdom, Ukraine and the USA.

The London Design Biennale has tackled various themes in its previous editions, including Utopia by Design (2016), Emotional States (2018), and Resonance (2021). Each theme invites participants to explore and respond creatively to social, political, and environmental issues of global significance.

This year's theme, Eureka, showcases design-led innovation from the UK’s leading research centres, featuring cross-disciplinary invention and creativity from academics, and problem solvers, exploring a wide range of topics, from ageing to city planning to Britain’s colonial history, social equality and the cultural and emotional significance of our oceans. 

Participants include Canterbury Christ Church University, Centre for Natural Material Innovation, Cambridge University, Royal College of Art, Glasgow School of Art, King’s College London, Kingston University, Lab4Living, Sheffield Hallam University, The UK’s National Centre for Ageing (NICA), University of Strathclyde, University of the Arts London.

Visitors can also take part in a workshops scheduled during the Biennale, such as baking bread, witness an AI Robot designing, weave a tapestry, get inside a space pod, find inner peace and visit a virtual garden and more. 

For talks schedule, booking details and workshops, click HERE.

The global London Design Biennale will take place 4 - 23 September 2018 at Somerset House

“Emotional States” is the chosen theme for the second London Design Biennale to take place at Somerset House situated on the banks of the Thames in the heart of London, from 4 - 23 September 2018.

The inaugural London Design Biennale was held at the Somerset House in 2016.  Photo by Bradley Lloyd Barnes.

Building on the success of the inaugural 2016 London Design Biennale, this second edition global event will be participated by more than 40 countries and territories, including France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, UK and USA.  The UK entry will be curated for a second time by the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A).

UK entry at the London Design Biennale 2016 at the Somerset House.  Photo by Ed Reeve.

Taking over the entirety of Somerset House, the exhibition will see the world’s nations presenting newly commissioned works in contemporary design, design-led innovation, creativity and research.

India's entry for the 2016 London Design Biennale at Somerset House.  Photo by Ed Reeve.

The theme of ‘Emotional States’ is deem to provoke a broad interpretation across design disciplines, with immersive and engaging installations that interrogate how design affects every aspect of people’s lives – the way we live and how we live – but also influences our very being, emotions and experiences.

Sustainability, migration and conflict, civic responsibility, pollution, water, social equality, and innovative solutions for issues in 21st-century life are some of the big issues of our time being explored.

Just a few months ago, Gallup released their Global EmotionsReport 2017, based on 149,000 interviews across 142 countries, measuring feelings and emotions that traditional economic indicators ignore. This index finds Paraguay as the country with the highest positive emotional experiences, and Yemen the lowest (Syria, previously ranked bottom, was too dangerous to survey).

At the 2016 Year in Focus exhibition at Getty Images London, people of various nations in conflict, civic unrest and various social issues were illustrated through photographs.

The UK is positioned at no 38, alongside Mali, South Africa, USA they were struggling.  In the two years leading to Brexit, there was a 15% decline in the number of people rating their lives ‘thriving’, the largest drop in the history of polling. However, 75% stated that they had smiled and laughed in the previous day.

Thus it will be interesting to see how the various countries will respond to the theme of “Emotional States” at the Biennale event in London in September; their investigation into the relationship between design, strong emotional responses and real social needs.

It is widely expected that the Biennale will see some of the world’s most exciting and ambitious designers, innovators and cultural bodies gather in London to celebrate the universal power of design and explore the role of design in our collective futures.