london design festival 2020 to be held in interactive virtual environments

due to the unprecedented events of 2020, london design festival has announced a highlight exhibition that will take place in a ‘virtual design destination’ created by digital-first online gallery, adorno. under the theme of ‘the new reality’, the virtual event will host 14 country-specific environments, featuring more than 200 exclusive pieces. this online art and design exhibition will be held from september 12 -20, 2020, in addition to the LDF festival taking place in locations across london.

virtual design destination iceland
all images and videos courtesy of adorno

preparations for ‘the new reality’ were initiated during the surge of COVID-19 in europe. the curators of the 14 participating countries have been asked to reflect on specific experiences, thoughts, and themes from the time of lockdown in the curation and art direction of each of their country collections. they have been working with their local designers at the intersection of craft and design to develop sub-narratives to the overarching theme, including gender, urbanization, climate, isolation, and healing, among others. using design as a tool for change, ‘the new reality’ pursues effective and innovative solutions, bringing different knowledge and experiences together through design to investigate what our new reality is.

virtual design destination iceland

as a digital-first online gallery, adorno has set out to revolutionize the way we experience design and art online. working with a skilled team of 3D developers and artists, the aim is to take the term ‘online exhibition’ to the next level. virtual environments are often showcased as simple images or videos, but for the virtual design destination, adorno will use the latest technology to make these environments fully interactive.

virtual design destination sweden

adorno has partnered with the pixel streaming platform furioos to provide real-time rendering from any browser or VR headset, making it possible for visitors to freely navigate around immersive, country-specific environments to experience the collections that have all been modelled in 3D. visitors will even be able to meet the designers through integrated video interviews.

virtual design destination lithuania

last, but not the least, visitors will be able to experience more than 100 pieces in their own homes by enabling virtual reality to place the objects in their surroundings with a smartphone. the 14 confirmed countries are belgium, denmark, estonia, finland, france, iceland, latvia, lithuania, norway, poland, romania, spain, sweden and the netherlands.

virtual design destination estonia

curtain by didi NG

envisioned armchair by vytautas gecas and marija puip

the shift by raili keiv

pilota chair by studio brichetziegler

sand in motion by rive roshan

the mermaid by phuc van dang

tubular armchair by lucas munoz

TRN lamps by pani jurek

event info:

festival: london design festival 2020

event name: virtual design destination

design: adorno

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom