London Rubbish Bin, Paul Smith. Photograph: Luke Hayes

An electronic post office kiosk? Pop-up vintage-clothing stalls? Floating gardens above Trafalgar Square? These are a few of the proposed designs exhibited in ‘Super Contemporary’ held at the Design Museum. The show draws together 15 of London’s creative minds and asks them what they’d like to give back to the city that fuels their visions. Some ideas are practical, some fantastical, but all celebrate the capital’s pursuit of cutting-edge design.

Highlights include quirky designer Paul Smith’s playful, bunny-shaped rubbish bin equipped with sensors. When potential rubbish-throwers come close, the ears light up in appreciation. The idea is to remove litter from London’s streets but avoid the usual dull, public-service-announcement type methods used. Smith’s whimsical creation is already in play; bunny-bins are now at Liverpool Street and Holland Park.

‘Super Contemporary’ is filled with other playful yet functional ideas: see Thomas Heatherwick’s ‘Lamppost Chandelier’, a graceful street sculpture of intertwined lampposts; David Adjaye’s ‘Bus Shelter’ which, drawing on the British love of gardens, refashions the mundane bus-stop into a gazebo-like oasis of calm; and Wayne Hemingway’s ‘KiosKiosk’, a low-rent, pop-up stall for vintage-clothing retailers. The KiosKiosk is being tested at Southbank this summer. Hemingway hopes this will be a way to reduce the number of stalls selling touristy tat and put the spotlight back on funky, eccentric fashion.

Design firm Industrial Facility takes on a civic issue – the closure of the traditional high street post office. In the past year, over 157 post offices have closed due to financial reasons. Their proposed ‘K9 Kiosk’ is a combined pay phone and post office that boasts a large LCD screen and is solar powered. The compact, easily moveable booth would let Londoners buy their stamps without the typical 10-minute wait.

A standout was the dreamy, futuristic, ‘Horatio’s Garden’ by El Ultimo Grito with Urban Salon. Situated above Trafalgar Square, eye-level with Nelson at the top of his column, they designed a floating garden. Full of atriums, chirping birds and blooming flowers, their skyscape is a serene, vision of paradise, right above one of the city’s busiest intersections.

Another ultramodern concept was Paul Cocksedge’s ‘Rain It In’, tackling one of London’s most depressing problems - constant downpours. Using the scientific theory that static electricity can control the flow of water (proven via a short film), he blends science and architecture by a proposed electrical grid across London’s public spaces, protecting people from the rain. Imagine Wembley Stadium covered by an invisible rain-proof shield or a dry Hyde Park. Both a sky-high floating garden and a rain-free city are more utopia than utilitarian, unlikely to ever see implementation, but the diversity is what makes the exhibition so compelling.

The 15 exhibits are surrounded by an interactive timeline starting from 1960 that showcases the events, people and news that have pushed London to the forefront of the creative world. From Mary Quant’s mod dresses, to a Sex Pistol’s CD, a Habitat bag, Penguin book covers and Time Out issues, the timeline is a powerful backdrop.

Overall, the exhibits commissioned reflect the far-reaching artistic visions of London’s cutting-edge creative professionals – whether they’re artists, architects or fashion designers. ‘Super Contemporary’ is an accessible mix of visions and solutions, but most of all the exhibit firmly cements the city’s status as a design capital of the world.

Design Museum and Beefeater 24 present ‘Super Contemporary’
Exhibition: 3rd June - 4th October 2009
10:00am - 5:45pm everyday