London Design Festival 2019: Design as Legacy

The London Design Festival 2019 featured a special project called Legacy, organized by the festival's president in collaboration with the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC). Ten international designers were paired with directors of London museums and cultural institutions, tasked with creating design pieces using American red oak as the primary material. The pieces were intended to be left as legacies to the institutions or passed down to family members. The projects were exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum. Notable collaborations included Tomoko Azumi designing an outdoor seat for Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director of the Young Vic, inspired by his family history of the African diaspora. Studiomama created a Serpentine Postbox for Hans Ulrich Obrist of the Serpentine Gallery to encourage visitors to send postcards. Sebastian Cox designed a writing station for Amanda Nevill of the British Film Institute. Martino Gamper made a musical shelf for Tamara Rojo of the English National Ballet. Raw Edges created a bookstand for Iwona Blazwick of the Whitechapel Gallery. Marlène Huissoud designed a beehive for Sir Ian Blatchford of the Science Museum to highlight the role of bees in biodiversity. Other designers included Jasper Morrison, Terence Woodgate, and Max Lamb.