Vitra Design Museum’s ‘Science Fiction Design’ explores furniture’s past, present and future visions
‘Science Fiction Design: From Space Age to Metaverse’ at Vitra Design Museum celebrates the collision between visionary science fiction and futuristic product design
Vitra’s sprawling, architecturally diverse campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany, makes an appropriate setting for this new exhibition, ‘Science Fiction Design: From Space Age to Metaverse’. Tapping into our perennial preoccupation with the shape of the future, ‘Science Fiction Design’ explores the synergy between furniture design and the environments of tomorrow created by artists and production designers.
Curated by Susanne Graner and Nina Steinmüller, the exhibition features over 100 objects, many of which will be familiar from cameo appearances in everything from Star Trek to 2001: A Space Odyssey to Blade Runner, together with contemporary furniture pieces that are setting the agenda for future visions.
‘Science Fiction Design: From Space Age to Metaverse’ at Vitra Design Museum
Argentine visual artist and designer Andrés Reisinger has created the suitably pared-back installation, presenting a host of chairs and other design objects as if they were pieces of high-tech equipment, in a minimal grey framework complete with frosted glass and mirrors that could have come straight from the set of a Kubrick film.
Shown alongside the objects are excerpts from key pieces of science fiction film and literature, placing some of these in context and showing the dialogue and tension between designers creating for the modern age and the set dresser in search of something avant-garde and potentially out of this world.
In addition to familiar screen icons like Olivier Mourgue’s ‘Djinn’ seating from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Marc Newson’s ‘Orgone’ chair from Prometheus (2012), there are also explicitly space-age creations from the usual suspects, like Luigi Colani, Joe Colombo and Verner Panton, as well as the occasional leftfield choice (Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s ‘Argyle’ chair (1897) in Blade Runner (1982), for example).
There are also pieces that pioneered new technologies like 3D-printed metal and even the dreaded NFTs, the latter exemplified by Reisinger’s own digital creations, which delve into the uncharted and thus overlooked realm of the Metaverse.
Science fiction was once treated as a temperature check on the technological issues facing society and contemporary culture, filtered through aesthetics and aspirations. The furniture on display at Vitra showcase how this relationship is increasingly two way.
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
‘Science Fiction Design: From Space Age to Metaverse’, 18 May 2024 – 11 May 2025, Vitra Schaudepot, Weil am Rhein, Germany, Design-Museum.de
A selection of our favourites pieces from the show
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
What will the future of energy look like? Vitra Design Museum seeks the answer
‘Transform! Designing the Future of Energy’ at Vitra Design Museum explores the future of energy, from solar-powered devices to smart architecture (until 1 September 2024)
By Francesca Perry Published
-
Why are gardens good for us? Vitra Design Museum’s ‘Garden Futures’ explores the potential of green spaces
‘Garden Futures: Designing with Nature’ is on view at Vitra Design Museum until 3 October 2023, with an exhibition design by Formafantasma
By Maria Cristina Didero Last updated
-
Piet Oudolf’s Vitra garden opens in Weil am Rhein
Piet Oudolf creates a garden for all seasons at the Vitra campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany: we took a sneak first peek of the garden design project, now open to the public
By Tilly Macalister-Smith Last updated