London’s first ‘Design Biennale‘ took place at Somerset House from 07 to 27 September, overlapping conveniently with the capital’s annual celebration of all things design, the London Design Festival. 37 countries and territories from six continents responded to the theme ‘Utopia by Design’ in celebration of the 500th anniversary of Thomas More’s Utopia. Britain’s contribution (above) was Forecast by London-based designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby. “Forecast calls to mind a romantic image of Britain?s great maritime history, with tall ships, towering masts and fluttering sails, simultaneously evoking wind turbines and weather stations,” say the designers. “It also reflects the necessity to respond imaginatively to the need for environmental action in the face of the precarious state of the planet. The UK is at the forefront of the development in wind energy, with as much offshore capacity already installed as the rest of the world combined.”
Cadavre Exquis: an Anatomy of Utopia by designer Maria Jeglinska and art historian and critic Klara Czerniewska was Poland’s response to the theme. Inspired more by the imaginary journey that leads to Thomas More’s island than the destination itself, the three-dimensional version of the Surrealist game invited visitors to journey towards their own utopia (or dystopia) according to their answers to a series of questions.

Italy’s contribution c...