Vitra Design Museum

With the exhibition »Balkrishna Doshi: Architecture for the People«, the Vitra Design Museum presents the first international retrospective about the 2018 Pritzker Prize laureate Balkrishna Doshi (born 1927, Pune, India) outside of Asia. The renowned architect and urban planner is seen as the most important pioneer of modern architecture of his home country. During over 60 years of practice, Doshi has realized around 100 projects, including pioneering buildings like the Indian »Institute of Management« (1977–92), his own architectural studio »Sangath« (1980), and the low-cost housing project »Aranya« (1989). Inspired by working with masters like Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, Doshi adopted elements of modern architecture and adapted them to local culture, traditions, resources, and nature itself. The exhibition will present numerous key projects realized between 1958 and 2014, ranging from entire cities and town planning projects to large public buildings, from private residences to interiors. Exhibits will include a wealth of original works such as drawings, models, and art works from Doshi’s archive and studio, but also photography, film footage, and several full-scale installations. An extensive timeline will give an overview of the architect’s career from 1947 until today, attesting to his close relationships with other influential architects and visionaries such as Le Corbusier and Christopher Alexander.

Opening: 29 March 2019, 6 pm

More

Image:
Balkrishna Doshi, Architect’s studio »Sangath«, Ahmedabad, 1980
© Iwan Baan 2018

Vitra Schaudepot

Since their inception in the early 20th century, comics and cartoons have become an inherent part of global visual culture. The exhibition »Living in a Box« demonstrates the close relationship of comics and cartoons to design. Design items or interiors depicted in these genres can reflect the personalities of certain characters: they may be subject to acerbic irony or used to create futuristic visions, often combined with references to political and social issues. The exhibition will present both well-known and less familiar comics that made design history, and objects that have been featured in or influenced by comics and cartoons.

Opening: 23 May 2019, 6:30 pm

Image:
Diabolik-Comic »Scommessa fatale«, 1974,
Credit: Diabolik, © Astorina srl

Vitra Design Museum Gallery

British designer and artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg explores our relationship with nature and technology through what we design. For the past decade, she has researched possibilities for the design of living matter, also referred to as »synthetic biology«. For projects like »Designing for the Sixth Extinction« (2013), she transcended the traditional boundaries of the design discipline, actively pursuing collaborations with scientists, engineers, artists, historians, and social scientists. Her exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum Gallery gives insight into how humans seek to shift, bend, and change natural matter, addressing synergies between design and biotechnologies that might shape our future ways of living.

Opening: 19 July 2019, 6 pm

Image:
Daisy Ginsberg, »Mobile Bioremediation Unit«, 2013
© Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg

Vitra Design Museum

Surrealism was one of the most influential art movements of the twentieth century. Many works of Surrealists like Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Meret Oppenheim, and Man Ray were inspired by everyday objects and explored the world of dreams, emotions, and the unconscious embedded in our material culture. Since the 1930s, Surrealism has had a strong impact on design, from furniture, interiors, and fashion to film and graphic design. In fall 2019 the Vitra Design Museum will devote the first major exhibition to the fascinating creative dialogue between Surrealism and design that continues to this day. »Objects of Desire« will juxtapose surrealist art works with design icons by some of the most prominent artists and designers of the past one hundred years to reveal fascinating parallels and cross-pollination. With works by Gae Aulenti, Björk, Claude Cahun, Achille Castiglioni, Giorgio de Chirico, Le Corbusier, Salvador Dalí, Marcel Duchamp, Ray Eames, Front Design, Frederick Kiesler, Shiro Kuramata, René Magritte, Carlo Mollino, Isamu Noguchi, Meret Oppenheim, Man Ray, Jerszy Seymour, and many others.

Opening: 27 September 2019, 6 pm

Image:
Studio65, Sofa »Marilyn« (Bocca), 1970, (Gufram)
© Vitra Design Museum, photo: Jürgen HANS, objektfotograf.ch