London Design Festival 2013 in Fitzrovia

By News Reporters

From the pretentious to the practical Fitzrovia is once again at the heart The London Design Festival, which kicks off this weekend. London-wide there are over 300 events with 18 events taking place in Fitzrovia and 52 venues within walking distance of the neighbourhood. Events take place between 14 and 22 September, with Wednesday 18 September being a late night opening within the Fitzrovia Design District. 

Tottenham Court Road has been associated with the furniture business since the eighteenth century with its heyday being from 1850 to 1950. It is fitting that many of the exhibitors in Fitzrovia are opening their doors and pealing back the covers to show the furniture manufacturing process. Furniture designer OMK are even based in an early twentieth-century furniture workshop building in Gresse Street.

Our pick of events in Fitzrovia: most events are free but please check details of any charges and times of opening from the links.

The Building Centre, 26 Store Street, WC1E 7BT. The Photon Project. A series of events around a prototype Photon Pod, a glass structure built outside The Building Centre. The public can experience ‘life under glass’ from sunrise to sunset. Seminars will be held within the Centre to explore the effects of daylight on Human Biology.

Lithuanian Design Forum in collaboration with Arup, 8 Fitzroy Street W1T 4BJ. Design Lithuania 2001-2013. A group of leading Lithuanian industrial designers showcase work from the first years of the 21st century. These practitioners explore their identity by drawing on symbols and visual traditions of an historical culture increasingly being challenged by a universal global design language. 

Ligne Roset Westend, 23-25 Mortimer Street W1T 3JE. Meet The Designers. Installations from Nathan Yong and Benjamin Hubert.

EDC London, 20 Margaret Street. How We Make Furniture. EDC will have an exhibition showing the design and manufacturing process.

OMK Design, 30 Gresse Street W1T 1QR. Open House. OMK will be opening their showroom to the public for the first time. On display will be furniture and an exhibition in collaboration with a selection of Central St Martin’s industrial design graduates.

Heal’s, 196 Tottenham Court Road. Design Festival Party. New lighting, spa showroom, and Heal’s Discovers collection featuring young designers to watch – Ian Archer, Sebastian Cox and Matthew Elton – and one-off pieces from Out of the Dark. Also  showcasing new Heal’s Designer Collaborations with Lee Broom, Katie Walker, Jake Phipps and John Galvin and announcing the winner of the graduate design competition between Heal’s and the Cass School of Fine Art.

Fitzrovia Now Design Trail. At various locations in Fitzrovia. Details from FitzroviaNow.com

Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association, 39 Tottenham Street W1T 4RX. Lost Fitzrovia: The Gort Estate, Tottenham Court Road and more… A stretch of Tottenham Court Road and the streets to the west of it, now long demolished, is brought back to life to show the variety of styles of architecture from Geogian, through Victorian, Edwardian, art deco; as well as a hotch-potch of post-WW2 and 1960s refurbishments at ground floor level. Includes a history of the furniture business. Exhibition. Entry: Free. This is an independent event not listed as part of The London Design Festival.

For a full list of venues, events and a map, please visit londondesignfestival.com. There’s also printed copies of a booklet and map at various participating design venues.