This year’s Pride in London parade saw a joyful collision of design and solidarity, as Jelly Haven — the winning installation from Architecture LGBT+ and the London Festival of Architecture’s annual Pride float competition — took to the streets on 4 July. Created by Studio OleO and architect-designer Gareth Volka, the piece reimagined Pride’s spirit of belonging through a series of iridescent, jellyfish-inspired “umbrella floats,” carried aloft and personalised by participants as they marched.
The new photos capture exactly what made the day special: LFA, RIBA and Architecture LGBT+ volunteers marching side by side, the floats catching the light as they drifted through central London, and the installation’s protective, canopy-like form taking shape as more people joined in along the route. Marking the tenth anniversary of Architecture LGBT+ and the group’s seventh Pride activation, Jelly Haven was designed around this year’s LFA theme of “Belonging” — celebrating the feelings good design can inspire: safety, visibility and connection.
As Tom Guy, founder of Architecture LGBT+, put it, the piece is “a beautiful reminder of the humanity at the heart of design” — and the images from the parade show that spirit in full colour.
Jelly Haven by Studio OleO and Gareth Volka at Pride in London (c) Nathan Piccio
Jelly Haven by Studio OleO and Gareth Volka at Pride in London (c) Nathan Piccio
Jelly Haven by Studio OleO and Gareth Volka at Pride in London (c) Nathan Piccio
Jelly Haven by Studio OleO and Gareth Volka at Pride in London (c) Nathan Piccio
Jelly Haven by Studio OleO and Gareth Volka at Pride in London (c) Nathan Piccio
Jelly Haven by Studio OleO and Gareth Volka at Pride in London (c) Nathan Piccio
Jelly Haven by Studio OleO and Gareth Volka at Pride in London (c) Nathan Piccio
Jelly Haven by Studio OleO and Gareth Volka at Pride in London (c) Nathan Piccio
Jelly Haven by Studio OleO and Gareth Volka at Pride in London (c) Nathan Piccio
Jelly Haven by Studio OleO and Gareth Volka at Pride in London (c) Nathan Piccio
Jelly Haven by Studio OleO and Gareth Volka at Pride in London (c) Nathan Piccio
