London Design Biennale 2025 Showcases Global Pavilions at Somerset House

The London Design Biennale launches its fifth edition from 5 to 29 June 2025 at Somerset House in London, marking the venue's 25th anniversary. Under the theme 'Surface Reflections', curated by Artistic Director Dr Samuel Ross MBE, the event explores how internal experiences and external influences fuel ideas, featuring over 40 pavilions with designers and changemakers worldwide. Director Victoria Broackes emphasizes design's power to address global challenges through international collaboration. Key installations include Oman's 'Memory Grid', which reinterprets traditional pottery as data storage, and Japan's 'Paper Clouds Materiality in Empty Space', a SEKISUI HOUSE – KUMA LAB and Clare Farrow-curated display celebrating Washi paper with a soundtrack by Midori Komachi. Malta's 'URNA' pavilion reimagines death rituals post-2019 cremation legalization with a 2.4-meter limestone sphere, while Rachel Botsman's 'Roots of Trust' revives an 1855 organizational chart from the US Library of Congress. Turkey's 'Emotional Reflections: The Soul of Seven Horizons' responds directly to the theme with a sensory installation. The biennale aims to foster reflection on heritage, work, and mourning through design-led solutions.