camille walala inflates bouncy and patterned villa walala at the london design festival

for this year’s edition of the london design festival, textile and graphic designer camille walala has created a huge inflatable structure titled ‘villa walala’ located at the exchange square in broadgate. showcasing primary colors and shimmering patterns, the castle appears like a stack of exceptionally large building blocks crossed with a boxing ring. ‘I wanted to introduce a sense of the unexpected,’ comments walala on the installation. ‘I think that, to turn a corner into broadgate, and find a huge, bouncy, pink and patterned house will be hugely entertaining. and people are, of course, invited to come in and play.’

called ‘villa walala’, the patterned inflatable structure is located in the exchange square
image © andy stagg

with the memphis group cited as one of her biggest influences, camille walala takes their use of block colors, bold shapes and humor, and transforms it into a playful area. its black and white borders, together with the padded posts invite city workers to come in and let off steam during their lunch breaks. the installation has been a collaborative process between walala and go visual, with whom she worked closely to translate her concepts into a large-scale, soft but robust, three-dimensional sculpture.

with the installation, walala introduces a sense of the unexpected
image © andy stagg

‘exchange square is very much a ‘breakout space’ for people working on the campus; so it felt like something playful and maybe even a little childlike could underline and enhance this aspect of the environment. originally, I wanted to create a giant stress ball or something you could go and squeeze if you needed to, but that proved technically impossible, so my thoughts led me to other things that feel good to squeeze – a giant inflatable seemed an excellent option. I wanted something that played to this idea of escaping the office and winding down.’ – camille walala

the giant inflatable castle features bright colors and striped borders
image © andy stagg

the shape could resemble a large boxing ring gone wild
image © andy stagg

walala references the memphis group in the design
image © andy stagg

the structure is made of big blocks, bold colors and a bit of humor
image © andy stagg

the castle appears like a stack of exceptionally large and differently shaped building blocks
image © designboom

it was created in collaboration with go visual
image © andy stagg

villa walala is part of the london design festival 2017
image © andy stagg

‘I wanted something that played to this idea of escaping the office and winding down.’ said camille walala
image © designboom

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