Clerkenwell Design Week is just around the corner (May 20-22), marking the much-anticipated, beloved appointment on the calendar of London-based and globetrotting lighting and furniture lovers alike. The 14th edition is the largest iteration of the initiative yet, reuniting the over 160 local showrooms and dozens of public activations in a three-day exploration of craftsmanship, community, and innovation.
Clerkenwell — the epicenter of London's creative and architectural scene and the perfect location for the UK's leading independent design festival — will be host to collection launches, talks, brand activations, and some of the best design exhibitions in London.
But with so much to see, where to start? If you've only got a day to work with, these are the six most arresting pop-ups to satiate your design appetite.
Italgraniti's Surreal Vending Machines
Outside Farringdon Station, Cowcross St, London EC1M 6BY, outside Old Sessions House, 22 Clerkenwell Grn, London EC1R 0NA, and inside Church of Design, St Bartholomew the Great, West Smithfield, EC1A 9DS
People heading to Clerkenwell Design Week should be on the lookout for luxury tile manufacturer Italgraniti's Automatica vending machines, and no, there's much more than snacks up for grabs this time! Positioned right outside of Farringdon Station and Old Sessions House, as well as inside of Church of Design — three of the key locations of the festival — this unexpected interactive installation, created by architect Simon Astridge in collaboration with the B-Corp accredited brand, will allow visitors to choose their favorite porcelain tiles from the stock available, purchasable exclusively through a token distributed at the Solus showroom (80 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1M 5RJ). At once sleek and crafty, nostalgic and futuristic, the Automatica vending machines make the Clerkenwell Design Week experience instantly collectible.
May 20-22
India Mahdavi and Martino Gamper's Woven Dreams
Old Sessions House, 22 Clerkenwell Grn, London EC1R 0NA
That any showcase bearing the names of India Mahdavi and Martino Gamper has an easy way into my roundups of best design exhibitions isn't a secret. That's why Woven Dreams, the trailblazing designers' co-authored collection for luxury Italian furniture house Bolzan, couldn't not make it into this list of Clerkenwell Design Week must-sees. Housed within Old Sessions House, the event will see two bespoke headboards, one conceived by each, come to life within an otherworldly setting alongside a curated selection of new and classic furniture pieces. While minimal in their silhouette, these pieces capture both Mahdavi and Gamper's flair for uniting poetry and functionality. With the latter attending the event, Woven Dreams makes for inspiring discussions on the matter of design, ritual, and, of course, dreams.
May 20. 10:30am-12pm
Flokk's New Ways Forward in Design
Flokk Showroom, 31 Great Sutton St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1V 0NA
Flokk, the European luxury workplace furniture disruptor, takes Clerkenwell Design Week as an opportunity to reflect on the materials around us and the influence they have on the planet through a storytelling-led installation conceptualized by Hunting & Narud. Titled Every. Piece. Counts, the initiative aims to shed light on the sourcing and manufacturing processes at the heart of Flokk designs to raise awareness of viable, and valuable, sustainable practices embraced by the house in the battle against climate change. "Bold, colorful, and immersive", the experience won't simply engage, but also explore "scalable solutions for industrial production, shifting the conversation from individual products to systemic impact".
May 20-22. 12pm-3pm
Alex Chinneck's Uncanny Bending Architecture
Charterhouse Square, Barbican, London EC1M 6AN
I have always been fascinated by public art installations, but coming across British sculptor Alex Chinneck's ones has only reinforced my love of the genre. For Clerkenwell Design Week 2025, a new iteration of his 'rippling building' series, the body of work that earned the artist a reputation as a master of architectural illusion, will be on view at Charterhouse Square throughout the event. Similarly to Chinneck's previously unveiled Margate 'sliding house', a flexible brickwork suspended mid-air on a sea-view road, this new commission will prompt viewers to reconsider the assumptions they infer about the structures around them by imbuing a faux four-story Georgian house with an unusually elastic essence. Having already made waves with his 37-meter inverted electricity pylon during London Design Festival, and wowed the audience with his unzipping building at Milan Design Week, Chinneck is once again pushing the boundaries of craft through an installation incorporating 320 meters of repurposed steel, alongside windows, doors, and bricks, produced in partnerships with leading British brands like Chiltern GRC, Cleveland Steel, Crittall Windows, FabSpeed, and Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC.
May 20-22
Hawkins\Brown's Revival of Beasley's Biscuit Bar
30 Clerkenwell Rd, London EC1M 5PG
Anyone who's read my profile on burgeoning culinary artist Imogen Kwok knows how much of an art and food-obsessed lifestyle editor I am, and I couldn't be happier to see this merging of gastronomy and design manifest at Clerkenwell Design Week, too. For the event's 14th edition, architecture hub Hawkins\Brown is playing host to a heartwarming installation, Beasley's Biscuit Bar. Inspired by the legacy of London's first-ever biscuit bar and presented at 30 Clerkenwell Road, its former home, this time-traveling activation will transport people back to the 1940s, when the bar started operating as "a makeshift tea spot in a shopfitter's workshop" only to grow into a cherished local institution. Make your way to its pastel-shaded, Clerkenwell Design Week revival to catch the collaborative practice of designers Carl Clerkin and Alex Hellum, aka Sons of Beasley, up close while savoring your cuppas and Beasley's biscuits. Furnished with the duo's spirited wooden creations, circular designs realized with Plykea offcuts, the rediscovered Clerkenwell hangout speaks to the role that community, craft, and sustainability have played in this London neighborhood in the past, and continue to play to this day.
May 20-22
Elisa Passino's Bert & May Collection
Bert & May Shoreditch Showroom, 11 Calvert Ave, London E2 7JP
If there's a recurring leitmotif bringing all of these Clerkenwell Design Week events closer together, it is their reliance on craftsmanship to inspire, uplift, and entertain. Launching at Bert & May's new Shoreditch Showroom on May 22, Elisa Passino's mosaic-like collection for the brand, Dulce, does all of that and more. Characterized by an emphasis on organic, pastel-shaded colors, this whimsically beautiful cement tile line enchants with its essential forms. "I love the idea that people can identify with the feeling of joyfulness when they enter a space, and I wanted to transmit this through my designs," she said. "My work is all about combining beauty with functionality, and bringing pleasure to the soul is my ultimate goal."
22 May. 9:30am-4pm: Collaboration drop-in with tea and treats. 4pm-9pm: Cocktail party
Looking for more of the best art and design exhibitions? Spring is in full bloom, and so is the British capital's creative scene. From intergenerational artistic dialogues, immersive installations, and experimental furniture displays to Grace Atkinson's all in each, a poetic exploration of "perception, intimacy, function, and form", bringing you mesmerizing textile designs and closing, yes, this Sunday (May 18), there's plenty for you to choose from.
