As the 2017 London Design Festival draws near, so too does the British Land Celebration of Design Awards. Over its past ten editions, London Design Medals have been awarded to figures such as Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers, Sir Paul Smith and Ron Arad, among others.
Now in its 11th year, the awards honour exceptional creativity and innovation in different disciplines, celebrating the past, present and future of design. During a ceremony held at the Gladstone Library of the National Liberal Club later this month, set designer Es Devlin will be awarded the Panerai London Design Medal – an accolade bestowed upon an individual who has demonstrated constant design excellence (more in the October 2017 issue of Wallpaper*, out on 15 September). Additionally, PriestmanGoode founding director Paul Priestman will receive the Design Innovation Medal, an award celebrating merit in entrepreneurship, both on a local and international scale.
This year’s Emerging Talent Medal goes to Julian Melchiorri, an RCA and Imperial College graduate and the first Engineer in Residence at the Victoria and Albert Museum, while the Lifetime Achievement Medal honours British typographer and graphic designer Margaret Calvert, whose signage system for Britain’s roads is still very much relevant today.
The London Design Medal
The awards traditionally offers a panoramic view of the state of design in London and its constant power of reinvention, and this year is no different. Calvert’s career trajectory, for instance, and her client list (ranging from the NHS to the British Rail and British Airport Authority, up until the more recent redesign of the UK government’s website), demonstrate how good design and typography can be a guiding force at the service of the community.
Melchiorri, meanwhile, proposes environmentally-friendly industrial solutions. His ‘Silk Leaf’ project, which attracted the jury’s attention, springs from the designer’s interest in biology and natural processes, creating an artificial object which aims to replicate nature’s efficiency at the service of man-made industries. And the breadth of Paul Priestman’s work, ranging from airplanes to hotel, is another fitting example of how design can reach and affect people globally.
For the first time this year, the medals will be accompanied an exhibition of works by all four winners – complete with an exhibition design by Devlin – hosted at the V&A throughout the duration of the London Design Festival. Devlin’s work will also be showcased in a separate presentation, displaying her set design for Bizet’s Carmen, staged on the lake of Bregenz, Austria, this past summer.
Air Access, by PriestmanGoode, 2012
A render of Julian Melchiorri’s chandelier, which will go on show in Clore Study Room during the London Design Festival
Left, Margaret Calvert’s custom cover for the 2012 Wallpaper* Handmade issue. Right, an example of Calvert’s iconic signage for Britain’s roads
INFORMATION
‘The British Land Celebration of Design Medal Exhibition’ is on view from 16-24 September. For more information visit the V&A website
ADDRESS
Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road
London SW7 2RL
-
Gucci’s ‘Design Ancora’ reimagines furniture classics in rich redGucci launches new editions of Italian design icons in an alluring deep red, showcased during Milan Design Week 2024
-
Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson drafts artists to create 24 extraordinary lamps at Milan Design Week 2024Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson commissioned international artists and artisans to explore ‘illumination within the house’ with a series of lamps and lighting installations, shown at a group exhibition at Milan Design Week 2024
-
What are polynucleotides? Trying the skin injectable made from salmon spermPolynucleotides are the latest in skin injectables, containing DNA derived from the gonads of salmon. Wallpaper* Beauty & Grooming Editor Hannah Tindle tries them to discover exactly how they work
-
‘R for Repair’ at London Design Festival displays broken objects, re-formedIn the second half of a two-part exhibition and as part of London Design Festival 2022, ‘R for Repair’ at the V&A displays broken objects, re-formed
-
‘Finding quality through the act of making’: Pearson Lloyd celebrates 25 years of designPearson Lloyd’s show ‘Change Making’ reflects on past designs from its archives, showcasing the influences on and evolution of the studio, from furniture design to the NHS
-
Tom Dixon marks his studio's 20 years with a show of design experimentsMushroom, cork, steel coral and more: Tom Dixon showcases an overview of his design experiments as he celebrates his practice's 20 years
-
Porro unveils new London showroom at Coal OfficeLondon Design Festival 2022: industrial architecture meets pure geometries in the new Porro showroom, taking over a space within Tom Dixon’s Coal Office to showcase the brand’s systems and furniture
-
Vitra unveils new London home in the Tramshed, ShoreditchLondon Design Festival 2022: after a year-long renovation, Vitra opens the door to its new showroom in the heart of Shoreditch
-
Mudlarking beside the River Thames inspires The New Craftsmen’s makersLondon Design Festival 2022: The New Craftsmen’s new collection, ‘Claylarks’, features work from a group of creatives inspired by a River Thames mudlarking expedition
-
One tree, ten designers: SCP presents The One Tree Project at London Design FestivalLondon Design Festival 2022: SCP enlisted ten British designers to create furniture and objects from a felled ash tree from founder Sheridan Coakley's Hampshire garden
-
London Design Medals 2022London Design Medals 2022 are awarded to costume designer Sandy Powell, architect Indy Johar, researcher Joycelyn Longdon and photographer Sir Don McCullin
