It’s an exciting year for the Royal Academy, as it celebrates its 250th anniversary – with David Chipperfield’s highly-anticipated redevelopment that includes a new bridge connecting Burlington Gardens and Burlington House, an auditorium, and redesigned galleries.
Chipperfield described the redevelopment project as ‘a masterplan made of small pieces.’ Perhaps one of the smallest details in that masterplan comes courtesy of London-based graphic design studio LucienneRoberts+, who has contributed to the historic 250th anniversary redesign with a small but very significant shift inside the Academy: a new system for free displays – of which there are many more in Chipperfield’s transformation.
With the aim of ‘drawing on the past – but in contemporary ways just as the RA does’, the studio approached the brief with both function and fun in mind – reflected in the results. They have done away with unattractive and often unintelligible labels, and come up with an easy-to-install idea that looks good while not stealing the viewer’s eye.
‘We developed a modular rod system that allows RA staff to change or reconfigure labels quickly and easily.’ LucienneRoberts+ explains. Their elegant, adaptable brass rods (brass was chosen as it’s ubiquitous in and around the RA, from door knobs to light switches) have several innovative touches, from their flexible positioning – they’re able to be hung horizontally or vertically, to respond to different kinds of artwork installations – to their two-point adhesion, meaning they can cope equally well with painted walls and the buildings’ historic bricks.
The labels that the rods will hold will be printed on luxuriantly thick card, made specially by GF Smith, using one of the RA’s house fonts, the Sans-Serif typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk. ‘We thought long and hard about using paper in some of the RA’s busiest spaces, but the schools’ early emphasis on drawing made it the right choice to complement to the brass.’
No matter the amount of information, the distinctive brass system will make interpretative labels throughout the galleries more cohesive and less cluttered. At the same time, the design of the rods makes it possible for several labels and labels of varying sizes to be hung side by side. While classic white is kept for object labels, they have taken a more experimental tack with the those introducing sections and subsections, with colours alluding to elements embedded in the architecture.
As advocates for graphic design that can distill complex ideas into accessible forms, these carefully crafted free displays prove why LucienneRoberts+ is leading the way in its field – and through the new RA.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Royal Academy website and the LucienneRoberts+ website
-
Mercedes streamlines the CLA Shooting Brake to create an aerodynamic electric load luggerThe new CLA Shooting Brake is the first ever electric estate car from Mercedes-Benz, a tour-de-force of quiet technology and elegant lines
-
Willy Chavarria: ‘We’re still so stuck in fashion‘s old guard’As part of the August 2025 ‘Made in America’ issue of Wallpaper*, we invited three creative powerhouses to comment on the state of the States. Here, award-winning American fashion designer Willy Chavarria speaks on creative resilience, uniting with activist groups, and shaking up fashion’s old guard
-
Six Indian artists reframe the ladies compartment of a Mumbai local trainAn exhibition by Method (India) at Galerie Melike Bilir in Hamburg explores a gendered space
-
Design beyond humans: a new exhibition argues that the world doesn’t revolve around us‘More Than Human’ at London's Design Museum (until 5 October 2025) asks what happens when design focuses on the perspectives and needs of other species, from bees to seaweed
-
‘100 Years, 60 Designers, 1 Future’: 1882 Ltd plate auction supports ceramic craftThe ceramics brand’s founder Emily Johnson asked 60 artists, designers, musicians and architects – from John Pawson to Robbie Williams – to design plates, which will be auctioned to fund the next generation of craftspeople
-
‘Disabled people have always been here’: a new V&A show centres on disability in designCurator Natalie Kane takes us through five key exhibits from the London show, where design points the way to a more inclusive society
-
Malta’s London Design Biennale installation ‘reclaims death as a moment of reflection, not fear’Wallpaper* speaks with Andrew Borg Wirth, curator of Malta's installation, ‘URNA’, which reimagines cremation rituals
-
11 things that caught our eye at Clerkenwell Design Week 2025The Wallpaper* team bring you highlights from London’s Clerkenwell Design Week (20-22 May) – from public installations to product launches and a biscuit bar
-
‘R for Repair’ at London Design Festival displays broken objects, re-formedIn the second half of a two-part exhibition and as part of London Design Festival 2022, ‘R for Repair’ at the V&A displays broken objects, re-formed
-
‘Finding quality through the act of making’: Pearson Lloyd celebrates 25 years of designPearson Lloyd’s show ‘Change Making’ reflects on past designs from its archives, showcasing the influences on and evolution of the studio, from furniture design to the NHS
-
Tom Dixon marks his studio's 20 years with a show of design experimentsMushroom, cork, steel coral and more: Tom Dixon showcases an overview of his design experiments as he celebrates his practice's 20 years
