This September the first ever London Design Biennale will take place at Somerset House with featured projects from over thirty countries. The inaugural show is themed 'Utopia by Design' and celebrates the 500th anniversary of the publication of Sir Thomas More's classic, Utopia (1516).

Turkey's contribution to the biennale is 'The Wish Machine' designed by Istanbul-based multidisciplinary design studio, Autoban. The installation is inspired by the cultural tradition of threading a note or memento to the branch of a tree as an act of hope born out of hopelessness.

' The installation located in West Wing G1A at Somerset House appears as an interactive pneumatic system operating in a mirrored space. Visitors will be invited to walk through a tunnel that is made of transparent hexagonal tubes. They will share their hopes and wishes, vision of utopias, and aspiration for the future, by writing them on paper, and feeding them to the Wish Machine through a lid at the dead end. Notes will then travel back through the tubes to a place out of visitors’ sight, as if their destination is a place unknown. Just like throwing coins to the depths of a lake or lighting a candle to make a wish come true, the final destination being addressed will remain a mystery. '

London Design Biennale takes place from the 7 to 27 September 2016

Read more about UK pavilion and installation projects:

• Nex-Architecture get approval for new restaurant on Cadogan Estate in West London
• Endless Stair by dRMM
• Ventricle by SOFTlab
• Affordable spaces for London's creative industry by Urban Acupuncture
• The Hive pavilion moves to Kew Gardens