Designs in metal by Max Lamb, Philippe Malouin and Sabine Marcelis land at an Austrian castle

Each May, the Liechtenstein family opens the doors of its medieval Austrian castle, Schloss Hollenegg, to the public. Inside, nestled among layered period interiors – including a Renaissance courtyard and a Baroque church – visitors encounter contemporary works by established and emerging designers alongside historical objects from the castle’s own collection, all united by a shared theme.

‘This is the last of a series of exhibitions dedicated to materials,’ explains Italian-born curator and the event’s founder Alice Stori Liechtenstein. ‘After exploring glass, ceramics, wood and textiles, metal seemed the perfect choice. Metals are the building blocks of our planet and literally hold our world together.'

For ‘Element: Metal’, Stori Liechtenstein has pulled an array of metal objects from the castle’s historic collections – from silver tableware and ornamental pieces to weaponry and architectural fittings – offering insight into the material culture of past centuries. Alongside these storied objects are contemporary works by designers and artists selected for their ‘exceptional craftsmanship, original conceptual approaches, and responsible engagement with the material’. It's hard to imagine a more romantic setting.

Schloss Hollenegg: design's most poetic experimental residence

Born in Milan and raised in Bologna, Stori Liechtenstein founded Schloss Hollenegg for Design in 2015. Each May, the non-profit cultural institution transforms the 21,500 sq ft, 52-room castle – which has belonged to her husband Alfred Liechtenstein’s family for two centuries – into a space for design research, critical thinking and experimentation. Alongside the annual exhibition, the institution runs a residency programme that provides emerging designers with the opportunity to develop new work within this unique historic context.

Of the 18 designers and artists featured in the exhibition, 12 spent time at Schloss Hollenegg during the summer and autumn of 2025, developing site-specific pieces. Finnish jewellery designer Ildar Wafin, sponsored by the Finnland Institut in Germany, collaborated with historic Viennese silversmith Jarosinski & Vaugoin to produce an unusual silver table bell that pays homage to the bells in the castle’s church tower. Its sinuous shape nods to the centuries-old Canadian vine that climbs the courtyard walls.

Elsewhere, Japanese artist Junko Mori, supported by her gallery Adrian Sassoon, has been developing the concept of the frame; American fine artist Elliott Hundley, with support from Friedman Benda, has created a chandelier and mirror for Henriette’s bedroom; while Lithuanian designer Mantas Lesauskas has created a chess board.

Meanwhile, designers Hannah Kuhlmann, Anna Zimmermann and Soft Baroque, supported by Copenhagen-based art and design gallery Etage Projects, have brought recent metal works to the exhibition.

For the first time, the institution has partnered with aluminium and energy company Hydro, which is presenting three projects, by Max Lamb, Philippe Malouin and Sabine Marcelis – works developed to showcase Hydro’s Circal 100R recycled aluminium made from post-consumer scrap. At a time when designers are increasingly reconsidering how materials are sourced, reused and preserved, metal offers a particularly rich lens through which to explore ideas of permanence, repair and transformation.

‘Today we frame recycling as an environmental necessity, but in the past reuse was simply part of everyday life,’ reflects Stori Liechtenstein. ‘Materials were expensive, labour-intensive and difficult to source, so objects were rarely discarded. They were repaired, adapted, melted down or repurposed over generations. This creates a natural dialogue between the contemporary aluminium works and the historic interiors of Schloss Hollenegg. While the new projects openly address sustainability and circularity, the historical objects reveal a long tradition of material care and longevity.’

In another first, Schloss Hollenegg has also partnered with the TransArts department of the University of Applied Arts Vienna (Die Angewandte), offering seven students – Jordi Albers, Klemens Hegen, Lea Liebl, Elena Riener, Luise Lutz & Michels Strümpf, and Lorenzo Zerbini – the opportunity to develop work for the exhibition.

‘I see much more overlap and, for me, the boundaries between design, applied arts, collectible design and art have been slowly dissolving,’ says Stori Lichtenstein, reflecting on how the design landscape has shifted since the institution’s founding 11 years ago. ‘I think categorisations are useful to understand what we are talking about, but ultimately these disciplines are all part of the same cultural ecosystem.

‘I have always been interested in the narrative potential of objects and, in recent years, I have concentrated more on how to present them in engaging ways for the public,’ she continues. ‘Collectible and experimental design are, more than ever, wonderful vehicles for engaging with contemporary material culture.’

'Element: Metal' runs at Schloss Hollenegg Castle until 31 May 2026

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