Now in its fourth year, Size + Matter is an annual cornerstone project of the London Design Festival at Southbank Centre, which explores the dynamic between materials, manufacturing and a leading designer or architect. Last year 763,000 people saw the installations by Marc Newson and Shigeru Ban and in this year will see commissioned installations from international architect David Chipperfield as well as U.K. designer Paul Cocksedge. The installations will be on display from September 18 until October 17. After which they will be sold through the design auction house, Phillips de Pury & Company.

Paul Cocksedge Studio has designed Drop, a series of 3-metre high, polished, stainless steel discs situated on Festival Terrace that will reflect the buildings and landscape around the Royal Festival Hall. Cocksedge conceived Drop as “huge coins that have fallen to earth from a giant’s palm and buckled on impact.” In fact, the giant coins are magnetized to encourage human interaction, enabling passers-by to place spare pennies on the reflective surface, as a result altering the appearance of the installation. As more pennies are added, the work will evolve in front of the public’s eye as Drop’s surface becomes plated in copper. The ultimate aim is for each penny given, a pound will be donated to charity. Drop is being produced by FORMTEXX using its new process for creating double curvature facades.

In addition, architect David Chipperfield has created The Space in Between, a cityscape of nine modular blocks ranging from 2.8 metres to 5.8 metres high and covering 175 square metres. The Space in Between seamlessly transforms from shimmering towers in the sunlight to glowing, jewel-like beacons at night.

Chipperfiedls is working with Sefar®, a manufacturer of architectural textiles and glass manufacturer Bischoff Glastechink (BGT). With a light source hidden in the base of each block, as day turns to night each will begin to glow and the towers’ solidity, apparent in the day, will fall away, encouraging a new relationship between the cityscape and the audience. The installation, on Southbank Centre Square, is overlooked by the various elevated walkways at Southbank Centre as well as the street and surrounding plazas. The total composition oscillates between a large still life and a small cityscape where the space in between becomes the protagonist in the balancing of mass and space.