Walala Lounge
“I wanted to push myself by creating another style of public art to make people smile again.This time I have designed public benches, where people can feel at home, surrounded by plants and rugs. I want to create a place where people can gather, appreciate their surroundings and enjoy the city. I love the idea of bringing an element of fun to the street, weaving colour and joy into a city which is sometimes lacking in both.” – Camille Walala
London Design Festival 2019 marked a new stage in Camille Walala’ s ongoing mission to enrich city spaces, as it saw the transformation of an entire street in London’s Mayfair into a vividly colourful urban living room.
Lined with boutiques and cafés, South Molton Street is a popular 200m thoroughfare off Oxford Street that suffered from a lack of public seating. Determined to create an installation with both artistic impact and practical value, the studio responded by developing a family of sculptural street furniture – including 10 unique benches and planters – and festooning the street with strings of specially designed bunting.
The street became an immersive corridor of colour, complete with sculptural benches that brought the bright colour palettes and bold patterns of Camille’s distinctive murals into striking three-dimensional form.
Designed to feel like an open-air living room, Walala Lounge created a vivid sanctuary that uplifted the surrounding urban environment while bringing positivity to the passing public – inviting them to take a moment to stop, breath and connect with themselves and each other.
More than just a LDF installation, Walala Lounge was commissioned to be a semi-permanent addition to the streetscape. It is set to remain in place until 2021, and – fingers crossed – beyond.
