LONDON.- Clerkenwell Design Week is a brand new three-day festival celebrating design’s creative richness, social relevance and technological advancements. The event will excite, inspire, educate and entertain visitors. Come along and check out the latest design innovations and be inspired by the exhibitions and installations on display during Clerkenwell’s first ever dedicated Design Week.

The Clerkenwell Design Week programme of exhibitions and installations will include high profile brands such as Tom Dixon, and MARK. Seminars, workshops and debates aim to tackle thought provoking issues on modern design and architecture. Big design names and inspirational thought leaders will also spearhead a crammed programme of left-field thinking, off-the-wall performances that will challenge all your preconceptions. The event will also provide everything else you’d expect from a great festival: street entertainment, live music, food, exhibitions and parties, all providing the ideal chance for creatives to network with clients in a relaxed yet intensely stimulating atmosphere.

Clerkenwell is widely acknowledged as the heart of London’s creative industries, boasting the most concentrated area of design business in the world. Located right next to the financial district of the City, it is home to over 2000 architectural practices (10% of the UKs profession), 60 design showrooms and a horde of film companies, new media agencies, graphic and interactive design studio’s, all found amongst the area’s elegant greens, squares and historic architecture. In fact the area is truly alive with culture and creativity; nearby institutions such as The Barbican regularly host internationally acclaimed exhibitions and local charity Crafts Central is home to a number of designer-makers and artists making a name for themselves in the area. Alongside this, local clubs, funky bars and famous restaurants are constantly playing host to well know DJ’s, bands, performers, chefs, TV and film crews and one off events.

This year’s event will host an exhibition in St John Street’s historic Farmiloe building, a Dickensian warehouse that was once the home of Victorian lead and glass merchants George Farmiloe & Sons Ltd and recently starred as the backdrop to Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. The Familoe’s will house a pop-up exhibition, featuring displays and installations from an array of international design brands such as Arper, Artifort, Hitch Mylius and Scene+.

Specially commissioned site-specific work by creatives such as; Lee McCormack who has partnered with McClaren Applied Technologies to exclusively launch the latest version of the high-tech fully interactive Ovei™ pod at Clerkenwell Design Week; alongside shoe designer Tracey Neuls, who will be showing a new limited edition shoe specially designed for the festival; and Paul Smith working in collaboration with Lammhults will be displaying their Area chair, which will be auctioned throughout the week with proceeds going to Maggies Centre. The installations in the Farmiloe’s all aim to support and highlight the value of cross discipline collaborations throughout the creative industries.

Bringing the festival feel to Clerkenwell will be outdoor installations that make use of public space located in the many squares and community spaces in the area. For example, The Mechanical Alchemist, an artist who specialises in creating extraordinary installations made from engine parts and scrap material, will be installing a 7ft robot that doubles up as a bicycle rack. Alongside this, Jonathan Batten will be installing a series of new multimedia sound sculptures across Clerkenwell called Sound Flower that have been inspired by the architecture located on St. Johns Square. The flower shape will be made from projection fabric on which videos will be shown via a hidden projector located at the tip of the flower.

Clerkenwell Design Week will also showcase the latest product and furniture design innovations from over 50 British and international manufacturers with showrooms in the area. Confirmed exhibitors include; Cappellini, Poltrona Frau, Moroso, TOTO, Vitra, Boss Design, Knoll, Steelcase and Modus to name just a few. Many showrooms will be staging exclusive new product launches, talks and seminars from high profile speakers and opinion formers, VIP parties and high profile events.

Ultimately, Clerkenwell Design Week is a place where things will happen: visitors will be inspired, educated and entertained. Design and creative businesses will flourish and a community of designers and architects will meet, talk and swap ideas. Put simply, Clerkenwell Design Week will be the destination in 2010 for those involved in the industry to instigate new commercial and creative opportunities and bring new initiatives to life.