Super Contemporary: Celebrating Visionary Design From London's Creative Mavericks

Super Contemporary is the spirit of London design, past, present and future. The exhibition celebrates and examines the creative magnetism of London and its enduring reputation as a beacon of design. The Design Museum has joined forces with Beefeater 24 to showcase 12 new commissions from London's most dynamic creative's to explore what it is that attracts the world's leading designers to study, work and live in the city.

The 12 commissions from London's future stars and its current elite, including fashion designer Paul Smith, architect Thomas Heatherwick and product designer Ron Arad, form the centre of the exhibition. Their brief was to give something back to the metropolis in which they have made their name, and their designs, to be revealed in the exhibition, reflect acute and varied observations on London life.

A unique collection of personal maps will also be on show, giving a rare peek into London's creative networks and what excites and drives them. A media-rich timeline, beginning in the 1960s and charting London's defining creative moments in architecture, fashion, product design and communication will tell of pivotal events and key figures such as the Lloyds of London building by Richard Rogers, the first ZX80 Sinclair personal computer and Katherine Hamnett's "58% Don't Want Pershing!" t-shirt, alongside the schools, exhibitions and cultural events that have shaped London into one of the most creative centres of the world.

"There is no London style, it's the city in which designers can be themselves," commented Deyan Sudjic, Director of the Design Museum. "It's where art and fashion, architecture and design mix with combustible results. And this is a moment to look at what makes London special, and what lies in store."

---

---