Design and Architecture

Since its establishment in the late 1980s, the policy of the department is to sharpen the awareness and appreciation of high modernism, alongside thematic, one-man and inter-disciplinary contemporary exhibitions which expose the public to different aspects of design and architecture.

Historical and current exhibitions with exciting cultural connections are thanks to close collaboration with museums worldwide, such as the Vitra Design Museum. The department aims to develop a more conceptual, wide-ranging approach, reaching beyond a pure stylistic treatment of the object or series of objects to focus on the changing nature of design and architecture in society. The selection of exhibitions aims at opening discourse on the different ways design can express a vision of social typologies: how objects are modified, how we use them and what we expect of them. The exhibitions expose the public to objects that represent a breakthrough in the use of new material applications and new technologies. Alessi: For the Sake of Use Design Exhibitions, Installation view Charles and Evelin Kramer Galleries May 1994

Ron Arad Rietveld The Museum Collection 1991