Clerkenwell Design Week returns for sixth edition 19-21 May

Over 80 showrooms will be part of Clerkenwell Design Week 2015, and together they play an integral part in proceedings. New participants including heritage brand Carl Hansen & Søn, Italian furniture company Moroso and modernist storage specialist USM will be joined by long-term global supporters including Vitra, Arper, Poltrona Frau, Knoll, Domus, Bolon, Brunner, Sto Werkstatt, Bene, Coalesse and Kusch+Co.

Clerkenwell Design Week’s well-established exhibitions provide a real breadth of product innovation, from leading international brands to emerging design studios. The largest of these design-led destinations is Design Factory at the Farmiloe Building, featuring four floors of established contemporary interiors brands, from Magis and Stellar Works, to Benchmark, Pinch, Case Furniture, Another Country, Eleanor Pritchard and BoConcept. The venue’s courtyard will also be home to the Leica Camera sponsored café.

The Lighting Factory, a dedicated lighting floor, will return to the venue. Lighting brands that will exhibit at Clerkenwell Design Week include Artemide, Prandina, Catellani & Smith, Secto, Terence Woodgate, SCP Contracts and Mullan Lighting. The popular Retail Zone will be part of Design Factory, on the second floor of the Farmiloe Building. There will be an array of design products available to purchase during the festival from brands including Dyke & Dean, Boskke, Black+Blum, Dezeen, Dorothy, Quill and the TFL Shop. Full talks programme to be announced.

Clerkenwell and its creative community have earned a reputation for remaining at the centre of debate, pioneering activities and forward-thinking. Clerkenwell Design Week 2015 boasts a selective range of high-profile talks staged on the third floor of Design Factory at the Farmiloe Building. With five talks scheduled for each of the three festival days, this focused series delivers world-class content right at the heart of Clerkenwell.

Platform at the House of Detention has established itself as the place to spot up-and-coming design talent. These include Chelsea College of Art graduate Louise Tucker, design start up Out of the Valley, Polish designer Danuta Wlodarska, who started Two Or Three Things, African design company MaliMali and UK-based A White Workshop.

The majestic Priory Church at the Order of St John is home to Detail, the place to head to for high-end decorative interior products. The church’s garden will be furnished with Cane-line’s latest outdoor furniture, complemented by a Champagne Jaquart bar. Exhibitors include British fabric company Lewis & Wood, alongside Regina Heinz, Tracy Kendall, C&C Milano, Virginia White and Tiipoi.

After last year’s debut, Additions will once again is given over to small design-led pieces and accessories at the Crypt on the Green at St. James Church. Exhibitors include new French design brand HJEM, surface designer Kelly Hatt, ceramicist Taz Pollard and young designer Wael Seaiby.

CDW Presents has become integral to Clerkenwell Design Week, renowned for its specially commissioned public installations. The Programme provides a major focal point for public interaction, and this year’s features aim to celebrate and explore the transformation of London’s public spaces in a city that is rapidly densifying.

This year sees an intriguing collaboration between furniture maker Sebastian Cox and sculptor Laura Ellen Bacon, supported by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and located under St John’s Arch. ‘The Invisible Store of Happiness’ is a celebration of wood and craftsmanship, bringing together two of the UK’s brightest talents who will fuse their ideas and skills to create an installation for the festival out of American hardwood.

On St John’s Square, architects Cousins & Cousins have designed a multicoloured jewel-like pavilion in collaboration with Gx Glass, a leading UK manufacturer and supplier of glass to architectural interior designers. Drawing on the heritage of Clerkenwell as a centre of design and manufacture, such as the former Victorian glassworks at the Farmiloe Building, ‘Glaze’ offers a journey through glass products that vary in size and colour, creating a walk through a visual wonder.

Swiss design studio Gruppe has been commissioned to re-define the gateways, edges and centre of Clerkenwell to revisit its position as a little city within London. Entitled ‘Vita Contemplativa’ and supported by EQUITONE, Gruppe’s design aims to strengthen Clerkenwell as a place with its own identity by using historic, architectural elements. Specially designed features, including a basilica, a forum and different columns stationed across Clerkenwell, will be on display during the festival, offering visitors the opportunity to connect immediately on entering Clerkenwell.

Article 25, Scandinavian Business Seating and architects russ+henshaw have partnered to create a dynamic temporary installation for Clerkenwell Design Week 2015. The installation, named ‘Agora on the Green’, will be situated on Clerkenwell Green, transforming the forgotten space at its heart into a modern agora, reminiscent of the public square’s rich and colourful past.

Grimshaw and MDT-tex have also collaborated to develop a pavilion installation at St James’ Church. The super lightweight structure is created by a new modular canopy system consisting of complex geometries. During the festival, this exciting space will house the exclusive launch of a new table range, co-designed by Italian furniture manufacturer Cassina and Grimshaw.

At CDW 2015, international type house Monotype – with its London studio based on Clerkenwell Road - will host ‘WordPlay’, a dramatic outdoor showcase of type design. At six locations around Clerkenwell, Monotype will use a selection of its typefaces to spell out six vibrant words that will be suspended from trees, stacked or splayed on pavement, painted on brick walls, or presented on provocative signage.

Following last year’s ‘Prismatic Landscape’ installation, Johnson Tiles will once again be transforming the entrance to Design Factory at the Farmiloe Building. This year’s installation promises to be even more spectacular, with thousands of individually placed tiles turning the building’s outer walls into an eye-catching 3D display of colour.