Building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico was a focal point of the 2016 U.S. presidential election; the idea has turned attention to the border between the two countries but ignores the point that they coexist in a complex synergy. Designed in collaboration with FR-EE / Fernando Romero Enterprise in response to the official theme, “Utopia by Design,” “Border City” is the Mexico installation at the first annual London Design Biennale.
Located in rejuvenated King’s Cross London, The Plimsoll Building, designed by David Morley Architects, references the Victorian industrial heritage of the area and it is named in honor of Samuel Plimsoll, one of Victorian Britain’s most important historical figures and one with links to the history of King’s Cross.
The inaugural World Architecture Festival (WAF) London event was held at the Ambika P3 space at Westminster University in June 2015.
The client’s brief was to design and establish a branded environment and event design that would serve as a satellite event to the main WAF Festival in Singapore. This new event was a chance to showcase all of the entries for this year’s WAF Awards in a new city, with 375 projects displayed in total.
Ian Whybrow has designed and implemented wayfinding schemes for over twenty five years.
He founded Whybrow in 1997, a London based, award winning independent wayfinding and environmental graphics agency, and since then has built it successfully with a broad client base and a strong reputation for delivering high quality and cost-effective wayfinding.
Ian Whybrow works closely with clients, designers and stakeholders from the outset of every project, overseeing strategy, design and implementation.
Simon Lee is a Director at Maynard, a multi-disciplinary design studio who creates graphics, products and environments for public and private sector clients worldwide.
The city of Bath is historically in awe of its own heritage. The World Heritage Site is perhaps best known for its Roman hot-spring baths and its distinctive Palladian architecture. Its modern-day residents take their city’s cultural heritage very seriously, and any new features added to Bath’s streets are often viewed by those who live there as a form of cultural vandalism.
PearsonLloyd (product design), FW Design (wayfinding strategy, graphic design), City ID (wayfinding/digital strategy
Wayfinding solutions for people with low vision have yet to take full advantage of emerging technologies. David Sweeney, a research associate at London’s Royal College of Art, investigated tools that could improve wayfinding experiences for visually impaired users and provide them with the luxury of choice and exploration while navigating. But while Sweeney’s research focused on the visually impaired, it also has implications for helping all users navigate public spaces and manage complex information about the built environment.
David Sweeney, Royal College of Art Helen Hamlyn Centre
London is a city of complex structures, partly dating back to medieval times, with few long vistas but a multitude of destinations and attractive areas. With more than 27 million visitors a year, walkability is important. It’s well known that London’s “tube map” is one of the best wayfinding diagrams in the world. But the above-ground terrain has been less well served. Surveys conducted in conjunction with the Legible London program showed that more than 40% of people have been using the tube map for walking, too.
