London Design Festival announces landmark project: Mint Street

18 October 2018

London Design Festival is delighted to announce a new Landmark Project for October 2018: Mint Street which is located in Southwark. Landmark Projects have become the public face of the Festival, enlivening the city’s streets, squares and iconic spaces, while presenting the ambition and creativity that have earned London a reputation as the world’s design capital. Co-curated by London Design Festival and Lisbon-based experimentadesign, and designed by Michael Anastassiades Studio in partnership with Portuguese quarry marble companies Mármores Galrão and Dimpomar, a secluded street in Southwark has been paved in a carpet of recycled marble.

Part of the Primeira Pedra (First Stone) programme, the project will officially launch on 31 October 2018 and will be a permanent installation.

Due to minor flaws, discolouring or imperfections, much of marble quarried is then rejected by contractors, architects and designers. Having identified this as a waste of otherwise perfect raw material and it being sent to landfill, London Design Festival were offered unwanted marble and asked to consider how it could be used creatively. Michael Anastassiades responded to the edge of the marble rather than the traditional flat surface, with the resulting design of the street making reference to traditional cobbles, as seen throughout Portugal. These cobbles were similarly rendered from unusable material with each stone then formed by hand. Transported to the historic community in Mint Street, Southwark, these elements create a marble carpet that contributes to the urban landscape of the Mint Street Park area while creating a new connection between the park and its surrounding neighbourhood.

“I wanted to create a simple gesture that used the natural beauty of Portuguese Rosa marble along with other distinctive tonalities,” explains Anastassiades. “Similar to how a carpet delineates a space or marks a path, I imagined the tiled road rolling out on the street, connecting the park to the remaining neighbourhood”.

Ben Evans, Director of London Design Festival says “Much of marble quarried is rejected as imperfect by contractors, architects and designers. It is a scandalous waste of a beautiful raw material. This project shows what can be done by creating a new permanent street of rejected marble.”

Guta Moura Guedes explains, “One of the unique characteristics of this project originates from the fact that it recycles marble through an intervention that underlines the environmental sustainability of this industry when linked to design and creativity. The other is the fact that it is a permanent gift to London, its citizens and visitors, contributing to the quality of the urban landscape of this city.”

Cllr Richard Livingstone, Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport Policy and Air Quality, says, “This is a wonderful and unique project that captures the essence of what we are trying to do in Southwark, which is make our streets more appealing and create interesting landmarks and sights that people want to walk or cycle among. We want to help create streets that people want to walk down and enjoy, and encourage healthier and environmentally friendly forms of transport.”

Page last updated: 18 October 2018