LDF 2011: Royal College of Art events

Monday 8 August 2011

Solar Sintering by RCA graduate Markus Kayser - Sustain exhibition at the RCA


Tutors and students of London's Royal College of Art have lined up a whole itinerary of events during 2011's London Design Festival, from interactive installations and exhibitions to a collaboration with Italian fashion brand Fendi. Here's the complete HBL guide.
Bamboo Utility vehicle by Robert Hagenstrom - Sustain exhibition at the RCA


With an emphasis on sustainable design running across the RCA's entire program for LDF, a series of design research projects which consider looming social challenges, including healthcare and Britain's ageing population, will be on display at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. Called The Problem Comes First, the exhibition confirms a new generation of designers who spend their energies on unselfish attempts to make things work better (watch out for an upcoming HBL report on this topic).

APeel products by RCA graduate Alkesh Parmar - Sustain exhibition at the RCA


The RCA will also be exhibiting the shortlisted entries for its Sustain Award, including WGSN-homebuildlife favourites Apeel by Alkesh Parmar and Scale by Erik de Laurens. Subscribers, read our report from the RCA graduation show here.

Scale by RCA graduate Erik de Laurens - Sustain exhibition at the RCA


The third exhibition, Give Me More, is an update of EPFL+ECAL Lab's recent exhibition on augmented reality. Featuring an installation by innovative RCA graduate Yuri Suzuki (read our interview with Suzuki here), this exhibition runs until 25th September.

Samuel Weller and Imme van der Haak: The Anatomy of Fendi for FENDI and the RCA


The RCA will also be working with Fendi as the Italian fashion brand continues to highlight the craftsmanship of its products (see Fendi's Milan project here). Students from the college's Design Products course will create window displays for the brand's new Sloane Street store using waste materials from Fendi production. The project is overseen by RCA alumnus Simon Hasan, best known for rejuvenating the ancient French technique of leather boiling.

Kinetic Frenetic by Lola Lely for FENDI and the RCA


RCA Design Product students will again collaborate with Yamaha for Resonance, an interactive exhibition set in Chappell of Bond Street - one of London's oldest music shops. Students will be exhibiting the results of a project exploring how to connect audience and performer further.

Meret Probst - Starting with a blank canvas, for FENDI and the RCA


And lastly, a show in East London called Silver-Where?, will see graduates of the RCA's Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewellery department exhibit a collection of domestic objects with a twist - having mixed traditional craft techniques with new concepts and ideas.

And if you can't make it to all of these events, don't worry. WGSN-homebuildlife will be at every single one of them, reporting back on the key ideas, themes, launches and projects from the entire festival. More information here.