DESIGN LONDON, presented by Hidden Art in association with Creative London, made a dramatic impact in Milan with its second outing during the city’s world famous Furniture Fair in April 2005.

 

Design London 2005 was twice the size of its predecessor, occupying 700 sqm in Superstudio 13 in the popular Zona Tortona area, with a visitor count exceeding 33,000, all toting their Design London shopping bags on their shoulders.

 

Word spread of the head-turning exhibition design by Frank (stand design) and Multistorey (promotional material and signage), based on a UK electrical switchboard, showcasing more than 70 new and established London-based designers and furniture companies. The space was dominated by the spectacular information wall graphic, towering above visitor’s heads at over 4m tall.

 

For the first time, Design London brought together four exhibiting partners: Hidden Art, the Isos Collection, All Zones and DesignUK, creating a platform to show the fruits of the collaboration between London’s network of designers, manufacturers, retailers, membership organisations and business support initiatives.

 

The Italians and international design crowd were charmed by All Zones, a collection inspired by the design heritage of Transport for London, displayed in the iconic red double-decker bus. The bus stopped traffic on its arrival in the narrow streets of the Zona Tortona, and was a clear crowd-pleaser.

 

Images - clockwise from top left: the Design London information wall, a view of the exhibition, signage of the central information hub, the AllZones bus causes traffic in the narrow streets of Milan, Julian Mayor displays his General Dynamic chair as a hat, Dan Black demonstrates the usefulness of Black+Blum's Lou Read, Jocelyn Warner hides from the big bad wolf in her wallpaper house, Anti-Quaint's Alec Birkbeck play fighting with Lothair Hamman and Arturo Gonzalez Bravo of One Bravo.