London Design Festival: Meet the playmakers (Young V&A)

Join us for London Design Festival at Young V&A in Bethnal Green, for a day of a hands-on exploration of design focused on the young! We invite families to attend a range of free activities led by designers working in the realms of product, furniture and architecture. This will be an opportunity to see how the museum collaborates with designers and with our audiences to co-create meaningful experiences. 

The chosen designers utilise play and inclusivity in their design process and use their projects to highlight their values around sustainability, with projects using found, waste and re-usable materials. To celebrate London Design Festival, Young V&A will host a hands-on cardboard creation activities workshop with Studiomama, play with U-Build’s modular construction kit, launch a set of Tactile Stools by Max Lamb and take part in the sensory design workshop that inspired them alongside a chance to explore a new range of flatpack furniture from the same studio.

All activity will happen between 10.30 - 12.30 & 13.30 - 15.30, all events are drop-in on the day. Please see below for more detail.

Tactile Stools by Max Lamb:

Young V&A will launch a set of tactile stools created by experimental designer Max Lamb. The four stools, each made from a different core material, offer a sensory hands-on experience allowing visitors to engage with making processes. The stools were designed with children and families from The Together Space. Find the stools in ‘The Factory’ in Young V&A’s Design Gallery. 

10.00 – 17.00 Explore and interact

Meet Max in The Factory or Open Studio between 10.30 – 12.30 & 13.30 – 15.30

Sensory Design Workshop: 

Explore our tactile library of objects and join us for an open-ended explorative workshop that inspired Max Lamb’s ‘Tactile Stools’ Supported by a visual step-by-step explanation, you’ll assemble objects with a focus on the senses. Find this workshop in ‘Open Studio’ in Young V&A’s Design Gallery.

10.30 – 12.30 Sensory Design workshop (All ages, Families) 

13.30 – 15.30 Sensory Design workshop, (All ages, Families)
Priority entry given will be given to children and young people with additional needs and their families.  

SRM Plastic Children’s Chair by Max Lamb:

Meet designer Max Lamb and discover how he created a new flat-pack children’s chair made from recycled plastic toys, cars and racetracks. Visitors can assemble and disassemble the chairs, giving them insight into design choices around materials, processes, textures and forms. Find this workshop in ‘Open Studio’ in Young V&A’s Design Gallery.      

10.30 – 12.30 & 13.30 – 15.30 Build and explore with Max Lamb                                               

Play Folly by U-BUILD:

A Folly for Thought will be an opportunity to design and build a space for play using modular U-Build boxes constructed by you! Learn how to use tools and watch a 3D folly unfold and change over the day as families add to the installation. Find this event in Young V&A’s Town Square. 

10.30 – 12.30: Build workshop (5+ Families)

13.30 – 15.30: Explore (All ages, Families)

Cardboard Creations by STUDIOMAMA:

Join Studiomama to see live making that explores the creative possibilities of cardboard and a chance to get involved in some hands-on activity at Young V&A, led by designers Nina Tolstrup and Jack Mama, participants will transform this everyday material into imaginative objects and structures. Find this activity in Young V&A’s Town Square.

13.30 – 15.30: Cardboard Creations workshop (5+ Families)