LDF 13: The V&A

Last Friday I went to the official launch of the London Design Festival at the V&A which was an excellent excuse to wander around this wonderful museum in the name of "work". Here are a few of the things I saw.

The theme of this year's festival is "Design is Everywhere" which has been boldly rendered in this red and white typographic identity by legendary design agency Pentagram. The signs are up all over town reminding us that design is all around us - it doesn't always have to mean something beautiful, expensive or on a plinth.

You can't miss this in the Cromwell Road atrium of the V&A. It's an extraordinary chandelier by designer Omer Arbel for Canadian company Bocci called 28.280 [there are 280 of their '28 Series' handmade glass pendant lamps]. It's hung from the cupola, the highest point in the museum, and falls 30 metres. The copper cables all had to be unrolled and bent into shape meaning that it can never be exactly recreated again. It's absolutely beautiful and will be up for two months so there's time for you to see it. 

It's quite Christmassy actually. 

The man himself, Omer Arbel, in front of his creation. I snapped this while he was posing for someone else.

 'The Wind Portal' by Lebanese designer Najla El Zein is an installation of "5,000 paper windmills turning in the breeze" and it's beautiful. What this picture can't capture is the lovely rushing water sound it made. 

Clockwise from top left: 'God is in the Details'  a project with Swarovski (and their magnifying lenses) encouraging us to stop and take a closer look at something, which is a good way to deal with the overwhelming amount of stuff to see at the V&A; the mind-bending things you can do with seaweed; touring the V&A with deputy festival director Max Fraser; cork floors are back in fashion people, this time with a geometric twist.