Symphony of Colors and Maximalist Dreams: Last Days for Bethan Laura Wood at the Design Museum

We are approaching the end of a vibrant, joyful, and profoundly layered adventure in London’s design world. Bethan Laura Wood, the inaugural guest of the Design Museum’s new series PLATFORM—dedicated to contemporary design practices—has transformed the museum’s first floor into an explosion of color since 14 February 2025. The exhibition closes on 25 January, meaning you have only four days left to immerse yourself in this enchanting world.

PLATFORM: The New Voice of Contemporary Design

Launched in 2025, the PLATFORM project aims to host one influential designer or studio each year within the four walls of the museum’s first-floor gallery. Bethan Laura Wood’s selection as the first edition is no coincidence. This multidisciplinary artist is renowned for blending traditional craftsmanship with modern design, and for liberating ornamentation from its status as a taboo, turning it instead into a tool for celebration.

The exhibition goes beyond displaying Wood’s finished products: it opens up her working methods, her experimental relationship with materials, and her design processes to the public, with the goal of inspiring the next generation of designers.

Maximalism, Craftsmanship, and Digital Reality

Bethan Laura Wood’s world offers a glorious maximalism where colors, patterns, and textures dance together. Yet beneath this visual exuberance lies a deep layer of meaning. Wood’s practice encompasses:

• Collaboration: Working with specialist artisans and craftspeople to translate traditional techniques into contemporary forms.
• Thematic Depth: Challenging entrenched ideas about femininity and ornamentation while questioning our perception of reality in a digitalizing world and the emotional bonds we form with objects.

The exhibition features more than 70 objects, including the most iconic pieces from Wood’s career as well as new works created especially for this show. Her creations powerfully demonstrate that a design can be simultaneously decorative and playful, yet profoundly functional.

Hurry—only a few days remain to experience this symphony of colors and maximalist dreams at the Design Museum before it closes on 25 January.