People are rushing from one exhibition to another showroom; clutching their red guidebooks as if their lives depending on them, the rich variety of languages showing how international Clerkenwell Design Week has become, both in terms of the design, furniture and material showrooms that have concentrated in this area of London and of the visitors who will spend some time here this week.

Pavement graphics mark out a core route between the main exhibition areas which include some of those from previous years, but others have had to be replaced due to redevelopment.   The Fabric night club has become the ICON House of Culture; the underground House of Detention still provides an atmospheric exhibition area for new and emerging design talent and the church, crypt and garden of The Order of St John is much improved this year by being more open and not subdivided by partitioning, while the square outside has the Detail Pavilion and Brewhouse Yard has become a new hub.  The prize however must go to Tom Dixon and St James Clerkenwell which work together as a great partnership, while the crypt underneath shows many examples of British talent.

As in previous years, there are pieces of architectural and sculptural magic in the streets and squares aiming to push the boundaries of design and materials which this year include “The Future of Design” pavilion, Clerkenwell Design Week’s first community and education project aimed to inspire young people to take up careers in the design industries, the graphic “Collaboration” on the side façade of the Finsbury Business Centre,  Giles Miller Studio’s flowing ceramic sculptures and FleaFolly Architects’ timber “HakFolly” within the historic St John’s Gate and the first fountain in the world created from filing cabinets.

Another successful year as the Clerkenwell Design Week goes from strength to strength.