The Essence of Things. Design and the Art of Reduction

20.03. - 19.09.2010

It is in the nature of human beings to seek the simplest solution. In fact, the idealism of "edle Einfalt” (noble simplicity) and "stille Größe” (quiet grandeur) pre-dates classicism, and the "less is more” principle of modern design has remained a guiding notion through the postmodernist era up to the present.


The exhibition "The Essence of things” illuminates the influences and motifs of a principle whose impact on design transcends time and place. The diversity of this phenomenon is documented in such examples as the legendary Thonet chair No. 14, furniture and product design by Gerrit Rietveld, Le Corbusier, Charles and Ray Eames, Max Bill, Dieter Rams, Shiro Kuramata and Jasper Morrison up to the iPod. In the exhibition, these objects will be complemented by photos from the fields of architecture, fashion and art. Despite all the rationalisation of method and material, concentration on functional essentials and abstraction of shape up to the very disappearance of things, the principle of simplicity demonstrates its great complexity.

Vernissage: 19.03.2010 20.00h


worldwide sponsor: Hi-Cone




Rudolf Steiner – Alchemy of the Everyday


An exhibition of the Vitra Design Museum in coopertation with Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg and Kunstmuseum Stuttgart

Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg from May, 13 until Oct. 3 2010 

Rudolf Steiner is regarded as one of the most influential – and also one of the most controversial – reformers of the twentieth century. He founded the Waldorf schools and advocated a holistic view of humanity which shows its influence in many areas of our lives today – including bio-cosmetics, a heightened environmental consciousness and biodynamic agricultural products, to name a few examples. Steiner inspired artists such as Piet Mondrian, Wassily Kandinsky and Joseph Beuys. He was one of the founders of “organic architecture” and also developed a unique stylistic idiom in the area of furniture design. The Vitra Design Museum exhibition “Rudolf Steiner – Alchemy of the Everyday” is the first major retrospective on this universal thinker and artist.

The exhibition is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation
and Wala, Mahle Foundation, Iona Stichting

The majority of loaned objects comes from the Rudolf Steiner Archive and the art collection of the Goetheanum, which provided essential research assistance in preparations for the exhibition.



At the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein the exhibition will be on display from Nov. 2011 onwards

Opening hours in Wolfsburg:
Wed – Sun: 11 – 18h/ Tue: 11 – 20h/ closed on Mondays

Parallel to this retrospective, the Wolfsburg museum will show the exhibition