City Installations

NEWS | 29 / 05 / 19

Following three separate design competitions launched by the LFA this year, one in partnership with the City of London Corporation and two in partnership with Cheapside Business Alliance, eight brand-new installations have been installed across the City of London.

City Parklets

The first competition saw the LFA and the City of London Corporation collaborate in a call for designers to create ‘parklets’ – miniature landscaped spaces for City of London when the LFA returns to London’s streets in June 2019. Architects, designers and artists were invited to submit a design proposal for a parklet that will transform a kerbside area into a place to rest, relax and admire the City – bringing additional life and greenery to the City’s streets and public spaces during the world’s largest annual architecture festival.

The chosen designs include:

The London Cablet by Fatkin (West Smithfield Rotunda)
Rocks and Reeds by PARTI (Billiter Street)
Pavement Art Gallery by Patrick McEvoy (1 St Martin le Grand)

2. City Benches

Following on from the hugely popular series of benches installed across Cheapside and the City of London as part of the London Festival of Architecture 2018, the second competition saw the LFA collaborate with Cheapside Business Alliance to select five design teams to create a series of one-off public benches around the City of London. The project showcases emerging design talent and offer imaginative places for people to rest amidst the bustle of their city surroundings, while promoting the Cheapside district of the City of London as a great place to live, work and visit. Each team was selected for their ability to bring a fresh perspective on enlivening Cheapside’s urban environment, with a vision for public furniture fit for a festival.

The chosen designs include:

Benchtime by Anna Janiak Studio (in front of 150 Cheapside)
City Blocks by Astrain Studio Architects (Cheapside Sunken Garden)
Love without Borders by Armor Gutierrez Rivas Atelier La Juntana (Bow Churchyard)
WHIPPET GOOD by Delve & DragonSmoke Construction (Bow Churchyard)
Correlated Journeys by Sarah Emily Porter in collaboration with James Trundle (in front of Royal Exchange)

2. Lunch Break

Lunch Break installation is a result of the ‘St Paul’s Plinth’ design competition organised by the LFA, the City of London Corporation and Cheapside Business Alliance. Following the success of the St Paul’s Gateway installation designed by ScottWhitbyStudio and Arup in 2018 for a pedestrian island in front of the St Paul’s Tube station. The competition sought a site-specific intervention that would both resonate with the site’s historic heritage but also offer a glimpse into the future. The chosen design for the 2019 ‘St Paul’s Plinth’ competition comes from the creative architecture studio KHBT in collaboration with artist Ottmar Hörl and sees 35 gilded angels sitting on randomly arranged bars, suspended from the existing wire grid of the ‘St Paul’s Plinth’, which was first created by ScottWhitbyStudio and Arup in 2018.