bafalw and Red Collective
We’re thrilled to announce the winning team of the City Views design competition: Bamidele, Farouk & Livia (bafalw) in collaboration with Red Collective. Their imaginative and dynamic proposal will bring a series of public realm interventions to the Eastern City Cluster this summer, reimagining the way people navigate and experience the area.
Launched in early 2025 by the London Festival of Architecture, in partnership with the Eastern City Business Improvement District (BID) and the City of London Corporation, the City Views competition invited proposals that enhance wayfinding and visibility of four key public viewing galleries—The Garden at 120, Horizon 22, The Lookout, and Sky Garden—while also encouraging people to discover lesser-known sites at street level.
Set to launch during LFA in June 2025 and remain in place for around two years, the winning design will introduce a family of installations that connect visitors to the area’s iconic skyline through imaginative interventions grounded at street level.
Ground to Sky: A Story in Pieces
Multidisciplinary collective bafalw—made up of Bamidele Awoyemi, Farouk Agoro and Livia Wang—join forces with Red Collective, a London-based fabrication studio specialising in large-scale public artworks and architectural installations. Together, they’ll deliver a project that draws on storytelling, materiality, and playfulness.
“We see the project as an exciting opportunity to treat each site as part of a series of unique experiences of intervention—sharing the same thread and language, but differing in the way they connect, interact, and form,” said the winning team. “Our ambition is to explore how playful details and connections can be experienced materially via these pieces acting as bridges between the ground and the sky.”
Their concept explores the verticality of the Eastern City through site-specific sculptures that foster a sense of connection, reflection, and movement—mirroring the ebb and flow of people through this fast-paced district.
Amplifying Voices Through Design
Aligning with the 2025 LFA theme Voices, the project celebrates creative expression in the public realm and explores how design can encourage inclusive urban experiences.
“City Views reimagines movement through the Eastern City Cluster, enhancing wayfinding and encouraging discovery,” said Rosa Rogina, Director of the London Festival of Architecture. “We’re excited to see bafalw with Red Collective bring this vision to life, crafting interventions that celebrate the City’s architecture while fostering deeper connections. Their standout approach to vertical storytelling—wayfinding through ground-level interventions—goes beyond aesthetics, and their youthful energy and interdisciplinary expertise make them a team to watch.”
Kate Hart, Chief Executive at Eastern City BID, added: “We share the vision of improving the Square Mile’s navigability and making it an even more appealing destination for visitors. Projects like this play a crucial role in highlighting all that the Eastern City has to offer, and what better place to host an urban design competition than a district with one of the world’s most iconic skylines?”
The installation will be unveiled in June 2025—keep an eye out for more details soon.
