designjunction (22 – 25 September) is set to transform its new home in King’s Cross into one destination full of immersive design concepts and stimulating experiences.
On Wednesday 21 September designjunction will host its first open-air party on Granary Square alongside headline partner Dezeen, and sponsored by EIZO. Expect street food from Real Food Festival, pop-up bars and live DJ sets from Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip and Adventures in Paradise.
Throughout the show, the centrally located Granary Square will be home to eight giant Monopoly-style houses, filled with conceptual installations, creative projects and live activities.
Leading online platform for home design and renovation, Houzz, is the headline partner for this area occupying two of the houses on Granary Square. Presenting its SmartHouzz concept, Houzz will demonstrate how to maximise urban living space through smart design, smart use of space and smart technology.
Leading high-end kitchen and bathroom manufacturer, Dornbracht, will create an immersive installation – the Dornbracht Water Experience – at designjunction. This will be a dramatic representation of the impact that water has on our health, whilst highlighting the company’s unparalleled ability in controlling and orchestrating the performance of water.
Specialising in visually accurate, colour correct monitors and display systems, EIZO will invite visitors to step into its EIZO ColourLab. The laboratory-style setting is designed to show the intricacies of colour critical industries, whilst demonstrating how EIZO’s latest technology maintains the accuracy and vibrancy of the world’s leading brands.
In addition to the eight houses, Granary Square will see the presence of Danish lighting brand VITA Copenhagen with its specially-designed VITA Van. This mobile lighting showroom enables visitors to immerse themselves in the world of Danish design, amongst some of the brand’s iconic styles such as the EO.
Housed in a spectacular exhibition space designed by leading architect Ab Rogers, Dyslexic Design will feature a range of new and existing work from leading designers including Sebastian Bergne, Terence Woodgate, Kristjana S Williams, Tom Raffield, Tina Crawford, Rohan Chhabra, Tiphaine Dugast and Bethan Laura Wood – all of whom are dyslexic.
Gift subscription service company, Not Another Bill – which delivers a carefully curated surprise present in the post every month – will offer visitors to Granary Square the opportunity to send a surprise (and free) postcard daily at the show. Bringing back the nostalgia of receiving post, a trike-riding postman will encourage visitors to write, address and post their cards in his very own postbox, all of which will be stamped and sent onwards so that the recipients receive a sweet surprise on their doorstep.
Innovative design studio, four23, will create a playful, interactive installation in its red house on Granary Square. Using the words of Eliel Saarinen as a foundation – later adopted by Charles and Ray Eames –“A chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan”, the immersive experience will feature a 360 film which explores the relationship between our physical surroundings and our ability to think, daydream and create. The installation accompanies four23’s annual exhibition in its Clerkenwell Studio as part of the festival.
Leading publication The Architectural Review will be campaigning against the phenomenon known as Notopia, the global pandemic of generic buildings infecting our cities and resulting in a loss of identity and cultural vibrancy. Visitors to designjunction can join the debate by visiting the magazine’s dedicated house on Granary Square where they can sketch, draw or scribble their suggestions for change that will make a great city.