Over 10 days in this September, hundreds of events will be taking place across London looking to celebrate design, in an occasion aptly called London Design Festival, marking the 10th edition. One such event will be the Casa Reale installation by renowned English author, architect and designer Nigel Coates, who will be exhibiting at White Post Gallery, replicating the production shown at Milan, in Salone del Mobile earlier in the year.

The majesty of Coates’ Casa Reale lies in his demonstration of the ambiguous meaning of the word Reale, Italian for both Royal and Real. He does this by creating an atmosphere which capitalises on flaking paint and caved ceilings, evoking games of light, refraction and scale which distort perceptions.

A chimerical residence for a King without a Kingdom, but a King with a throne.

Holding the star position in the room is an “anthropomorphic leather cushion atop a rigid stainless steel cuboid base”, the throne-like Picaro chair.

Carrying the inherent duality of the installation even farther, this dynamic bead filled cushion lying on a stable steel base represents “the struggle between social constraint and the inherent rebelliousness of human nature”.

The London Design Festival 2012 will take place from 15th to 23rd September. For more information, visit Nigel Coates’ website.