Founded in 2016 by Sir John Sorrell CBE and Ben Evans CBE, the London Design Biennale champions global collaboration and highlights the transformative power of design. Through innovative exhibitions and installations, it addresses shared challenges and showcases design as a tool for universal solutions.
London Design Biennale 2025 returns to Somerset House from 6-29 June (preview on June 5th). This leading event in the global calendar of London design events explores the theme ‘Surface Reflections’, investigating how internal experiences and external environments shape design ideas.
This year, Dr Samuel Ross MBE, founder of A-COLD-WALL* and SR_A, leads as artistic director. His vision drives a bold edition of the London Design Biennale, where designers and changemakers from across the globe present thought-provoking installations tackling urgent global challenges.
Discover Clerkenwell Design Week 2025
Global Design Forum
The Global Design Forum joins the London Design Biennale 2025 with a special series titled ‘Design and the Invisible’. These sessions unite creatives using design to address the unseen forces shaping our world.
Highlights from the London Design Biennale 2025 Pavilion Line-Up
Abu Dhabi – House of Artisans presents Tides and Traditions, a multisensory journey into maritime crafts and cultural identity.
Argentina – SUR ANDINA takes visitors on a 3,500km journey across the Andes through textile, light, and ancestral knowledge.
Azerbaijan – MAMA Mother Nature explores ecology and spiritual design inspired by natural landscapes.
Black British Artists Grant Programme by SR_A supports designers of colour and builds sustainable creative networks.
Chile – Minerasophia celebrates mineral heritage and redefines environmental and cultural ‘value’.
EU Delegation – Global Gateway reflects Europe’s design-led global partnerships.
Discover the World Design Congress 2025
Delegation of the European Union to the United Kingdom, ‘Global Gateway’, photo Daniel Bel, courtesy London Design Biennale
Design Council – Green Design Skills Blueprint defines key sustainable design skills to shape the future.
Eco-Vision Plan – Rainforest Succession connects tea farming, biodiversity, and Blang traditions.
Hong Kong – Human-Centred Design uses neuroscience to design spaces aligned with emotional well-being.
UCL – People Powered Prosperity explores prosperity through citizen science and participatory design.
Japan – Paper Clouds blends Washi paper, sound, and suspended sculpture to honour material lightness.
Life Calling – Notes to Humanity invites handwritten reflections on preserving humanity in the digital era.
Malta – URNA challenges death rituals and proposes new forms of collective remembrance.
Melek Zeynep Bulut – The Recursion Project reimagines the surface as a concept of infinite reflection.
The Netherlands – Remapping Collaborations questions how design collaborations function globally.
Nigeria – Hopes and Impediments reflects on cultural identity through design and speculative storytelling.
Oman – Memory Grid uses Omani pottery to explore value, survival, and memory.
Oman, ‘Memory Grid’, courtesy of Oman pavilion, courtesy London Design Biennale
Peru – Hæirloom celebrates hair weaving traditions as tools of empowerment and heritage.
Poland – Records of Waiting uses ornamentation to explore the politics of suspended time.
Portugal – Metabolisms of Repair imagines ecosystems at the heart of regenerative design.
Rachel Botsman – Roots of Trust reinterprets the world’s first organisational chart to explore information flow and trust.
Romania – Inner Reflections, Outer Worlds turns recycled materials into a platform for social dialogue.
San Diego-Tijuana – Play Borderisms explores border identities through audiovisual storytelling.
Saudi Arabia – Good Water rethinks water’s value and hospitality through the symbol of the sabeel.
Saudi Arabia, ‘Good Water’, photo Aziz Jamal, courtesy London Design Biennale
Silk Road – Teplo Store supports women-led brands with a contemporary take on heritage fashion.
The Global South – Wura pays tribute to cultural resilience with gold and cowrie installations.
Turkey – Emotional Reflections evokes Istanbul’s soul through multisensory urban storytelling.
UK Civil Service – Serious Gaming invites visitors to co-create climate policy through interactive play.
Uzbek Design – Once and Future Garden revives Samarkand’s legacy through craft and storytelling.
World Monuments Fund & English Heritage – Coastal Connections showcases global strategies to protect coastal heritage.
Northumbria & UCL – Living Assembly uses biology to grow sustainable architectural components.
King’s College London – Curiosity Cabinet curates unusual objects to spark design inquiry and imagination.
King’s College London, ‘The Curiosity Cabinet’, photo Jack Latimer, courtesy London Design Biennale
VCUarts Qatar – Matter Diplopia blends cultural narratives and design impact in Qatari society.
London Design Biennale, London, June 6-21, 2’25
Venue: Somerset House, London
London Design Biennale is mostly for professional
Size: over 40 pavilions
Admission tickets and more info on website Londondesignbiennale.com
Other images of London Design Biennale Pavillions
