London designers take over an abandoned house, and stage a Christmas Market

On the Square is a new project by London-based designer Rio Kobayashi, who invited his design community to stage a takeover of an abandoned Victorian townhouse in London’s De Beauvoir Square. 

'The house had been abandoned for few years, and so it was perfect occasion to cheer it up!' says Kobayashi. Collaboration has been at the core of the Austrian-Japanese designer’s work, as he demonstrated with a solo exhibition during London Design Festival 2023 presenting a body of work created in collaboration with designer friends and artisans. For this takeover, he gathered multidisciplinary creatives to temporarily furnish the house to give life to the abandoned building. 

Owner Irenie Cossey, a design consultant, interior architect and curator, approached Kobayashi to invite him to take over the house, as she was waiting for renovations to start in the new year. The designer brought over his pieces from the London Design Festival exhibition, and invited friends to also collaborate on the interiors, which will remain on view until the end of December 2023. The line-up for the project includes Martino Gamper, Peter Pilotto, Bethan Laura Wood, Jochen Holz, Shirobey Kobayashi (Rio's ceramic artist father), and more. 

As part of the takeover, the group of designers is now staging a two-day Christmas market, on 25 and 26 November 2023. The two-day event will offer an array of stocking fillers and precious, one-off design objects by the group of creatives, with accessories and furniture up for grabs.

On The Square Festive Market, 25-26 November 2023, 11am – 7pm

9 De Beauvoir Square
London N1 4LG

@on_the.sq