Perfectly Imperfect: Brompton Design District

Curated by Alex Tieghi-Walker, Brompton Design District’s 2026 programme explores the theme Perfectly Imperfect. Rather than focusing solely on finished objects, the programme reveals the processes that shape them: experimentation, material discovery, research, collaboration, revision and the unexpected directions that emerge through making. Across Brompton, a series of installations, exhibitions, residencies and performances brings these processes into public view. Mexican designer Rafael Prieto transforms The Lavery’s Private Dining Room with On the Sunset, Which is Only One. Six sculptural chairs by Prieto’s studio, Savvy, respond to different positions of the sun, accompanied by lighting and artworks that create an intimate meditation on perception and perspective. New York stylist and creative director Beverly Nguyen presents CONCIERGE, a travelling platform by BEVERLY 1975 connecting global communities through design, hospitality and everyday ritual. Vietnamese kitchen essentials, textiles, baskets, ceramics, lighting and objects for the home are brought together within a space for gathering and exchange. Homenkà presents Nchọ: Our Parlour, an immersive domestic environment created by four Igbo women working across design, art direction, photography and food. Centred on an heirloom reinterpretation of the traditional Igbo strategy game Nchọ, the installation explores how objects and traditions gather meaning through use and collective experience. Artists in Residence Ushara Dilrukshan and Sonnie Carlebach transform Brompton Cemetery Chapel into a live studio for Giulia Tofana, an experimental operatic performance installation. Rehearsal, scenography, movement, sound and performance are made visible as the work develops, culminating in public performances over the closing weekend. Jesse Butterfield’s A Veiled Boundary brings together hand-hammered stainless steel stools and lamps constructed from sewn handmade paper. The installation challenges assumptions about both materials, allowing their physical qualities and the processes used to transform them to determine the final forms. Throughout August, Byron Pritchard and his team turn a garage in Cromwell Mews into a working studio for Finding Form. A single slab of sycamore is shaped using only hand tools, with no drawings or predetermined designs. The material, the tools and the act of making guide what emerges. The Reading Room, curated by Alex Tieghi-Walker, brings together bespoke furniture by Dominican-American designer Rich Aybar and a selection of books from Tenderbooks. The installation offers a quiet place to pause, read and consider research and knowledge as essential parts of the creative process. Founded by creative director Isamaya Ffrench, Studio Iron presents an interdisciplinary group exhibition bringing together emerging and established designers, artists and master artisans. Furniture, objects, sculpture and experimental practices move between art, design, fashion and contemporary culture. Together, the programme presents design as an evolving process rather than a fixed outcome, celebrating experimentation, collaboration and the value of imperfection. General Opening Hours Saturday 12 September: 10am–6pm Sunday 13 September: 11am–5pm Monday 14 September: 10am–6pm Tuesday 15 September: 10am–6pm Wednesday 16 September: 10am–6pm Thursday 17 September: 10am–9pm Friday 18 September: 10am–6pm Saturday 19 September: 10am–6pm Sunday 20 September: 11am–5pm Locations The programme takes place across several Brompton locations: The Lavery, 2–4 Cromwell Place, London SW7 2JE Cromwell Mews, London SW7 2JS Brompton Cemetery Chapel, Fulham Road, London SW10 9UG