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      Markus Benesch designs Alpine home for fabled “tuntschi” doll

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      A vengeful doll from an Alpine folk tale was the imagined occupant of this colourful cabin-style home created by German designer Markus Benesch at Milan design week.

      The maximalist Alpine Rising installation featured decorative Alpine-style furniture and multi-coloured wall coverings, all filled with references to life in the mountains.
      Benesch developed the design after becoming fascinated by the fabled character of the “tuntschi” doll.
      The exhibition featured Alpine-style furniture and multi-coloured wall coveringsAccording to the story, the tuntschi is fashioned out of wood, straw and cloth by herdsmen who spend the summer tending cattle on the mountain and crave female company.
      The doll comes to life, yet the herdsmen continue to objectify her. So when the time comes for them to return home, she takes murderous revenge on one of them.

      This got Benesch thinking about what happens after the story finishes.
      Stui dining chairs and Hockerl stools both combine ash wood with colourful resin”I wondered, what is this doll doing when she is alone in the wintertime?” he told Dezeen. “I thought, maybe she has the time of her life.”
      One of the starting points for the design was to think about the types of pastimes that the doll might enjoy.
      The Tuntschis Chapel cabinet is based on traditional Alpine architectureOne idea was that she might ski. This resulted in swirling motifs – reminiscent of snow tracks – that appeared throughout, plus a pair of bespoke skis.
      Benesch also thought the doll might take up pottery, which led him to the work of Austrian ceramicist Florian Tanzer, founder of Vienna-based studio Luma Launisch.

      Six interior designers style rooms at Artemest’s L’Appartamento in Milan

      Tanzer’s rough and enigmatic ceramics often depict unusual characters.
      For Alpine Rising, he created vases and vessels that integrate the face of the tuntschi. Some pieces had more than one face, in reference to her two-faced nature.
      The wallpaper combines images of wooden shingles with different colours and tonesBenesch and his small-production furniture, textile and wallpaper company Curious Boy created a completely custom interior for the tuntschi’s Alpine cabin.
      Divided into rooms, it was filled with farmhouse-style furniture pieces that combined traditional Alpine woodcraft with colourful motifs typical of Benesch’s designs.
      Benesch creates these patterns by inlaying wood with pigmented resin.
      The zigzag-patterned Hochzeitsschrank wardrobe was crafted from pineIn ash wood, designs on show included the cabin-style Tuntschis cabinet, the elaborate Himmibed and the playful Stui dining chairs.
      Walnut was used for the amorphous Splügen lamp, while the zigzag-patterned Hochzeitsschrank wardrobe was crafted from pine.
      Florian Tanzer created ceramics that refer to the two-faced nature of the dollFor the wallpaper and textiles, Benesch created repeating patterns using images of wooden shingles that typically clad Alpine chalets, then overlaid them with various colours and tones.
      Underlying the entire design was an idea about getting away from today’s digital world and the harmful effects it can have on mental health, and instead celebrating “an analogue lifestyle”.
      Benesch also produced hand-carved ash and walnut spoonsThis idea was emphasised by hand-carved ash and walnut spoons and a pack of custom-designed playing cards.
      “We want to disconnect from the crazy of our today’s world and reconnect more with ourselves in nature,” added Benesch.
      The exhibition formed part of the 5Vie district during Milan design week, where other exhibitions included Artemest’s L’Appartamento, a 1930s apartment redesigned by six different studios.
      Following Milan design week, we collected ten standout installations and projects on show during the week.
      Alpine Rising was on show from 15 to 21 April 2023 as part of Milan design week. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.
      Exhibition and furniture photography is courtesy of Markus Benesch Creates. Ceramic photography is by Gregor Hofbauer.

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      IKEA reflects on “the past, the present and the future” of the home at Milan design week

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      Swedish retailer IKEA marked its 80th anniversary at Milan design week with Assembling the Future Together, an immersive exhibition that charts the furniture company’s history and addresses its future.

      Assembling the Future Together took place at Padiglione Visconti in Milan and explored the brand’s progression since the 1950s.
      Assembling the Future Together is on display at Milan design week”The whole exhibition is about the past, the present and the future,” said IKEA designer and chief creative officer Marcus Engman.
      “So it’s a little bit like telling the story of IKEA furniture, things we have done and things that we will do even more,” he told Dezeen in Milan.
      Furniture from IKEA’s history is on display to reflect its pastTo reflect this idea, the space was divided into three main sections. One area dedicated to the past features designs from IKEA’s 80-year history displayed on geometric white shelving.

      Among the pieces was furniture from the 1970s with bright fabrics and bold shapes, which were influenced by the increasing emergence of youth culture during this decade, according to the brand.
      Chunky children’s furniture from IKEA’s Mammut series was also included. The line was first designed in the 1990s and has remained popular ever since.
      IKEA is also debuting its new Nytillverkad collectionFor the present portion of the exhibition, the brand launched the first products in its new Nytillverkad collection.
      Characterised by “simple, functional and playful” elements, the furniture, bedding and accessories intend to pay homage to past iconic IKEA pieces in line with the current wide-spread revival of interest in vintage designs, according to the brand.
      The colourful collection takes cues from previous IKEA designsWhile the collection nods to IKEA’s roots, the brand used contemporary materials to create the pieces.
      “It’s putting old things into a new perspective,” explained Engman.
      Crowd-sourced images of people using the brand’s iconic Frakta bag are suspended in the spaceLarge-scale contemporary photographs, which showed members of the public sporting IKEA’s recognisable blue and yellow Frakta shopping bag in unexpected ways, were suspended from the ceiling throughout the venue
      One image showed a bride protecting her dress inside one of the shoppers on her wedding day, while another has been adapted to transport a dog on the subway in New York.
      “Even if we perceive our products as ‘ready design’, people see them a bit more like Lego pieces to play with,” acknowledged the designer. “People use the Frakta bag in so many ways we didn’t expect.”
      The ‘future’ section references the four elements with installationsThe future area of the exhibition features four towering installations dedicated to the elements of fire, water, earth and wind, which include an illuminated tree and smoke dispensers.
      “The future part is all about showing how we are using design and product development to nudge people’s behaviours into doing something that is good for people and the planet,” reflected Engman.
      “It’s also where we try to challenge people to be part of this – not just wait for IKEA to do stuff, but actually ask, how can we do things together?”
      “We have set out to be fully circular by 2030 so that affects everything that we do,” he continued.
      IKEA intends to urge people to think about the role they can play in shaping the future of designDesigned as an inclusive, “down-to-earth” space that is open to all, the exhibition drew together many other experiences, such as a cinema zone showing portraits taken by photographer and IKEA’s first artist-in-residence Annie Leibovitz that document the “real lives” of people in their homes.
      The project is part of IKEA’s annual Life at Home Report, where members of the brand’s team visit people in their living spaces and document their findings.
      A cinema zone is showing portraits of people at home taken by Annie LeibovitzVarious talks and music events took place in the space throughout the week alongside a dedicated “record shop” and on-site IKEA cafe serving branded food and drinks.
      The aim of incorporating music into the exhibition was to bring people together, according to Engman. Communicating the sacredness of the home is at the core of the IKEA exhibition, said the designer.

      “We have done cutting-edge things that people didn’t see coming” says IKEA’s Marcus Engman

      “This is something for us that we need to constantly work on – finding new ways of getting people to understand how important the home is,” he explained.
      “I mean, the challenges during covid and now the cost of living crisis has been where we can help out even more.”
      “Because people have had to spend more time at home – but how can we make the home also something that is really not just a functional thing, but an emotional thing?” he continued.
      “So I think that’s our biggest thing, but making sure we do that in people- and planet-positive ways. Because that’s the only way forward.”
      The exhibition was designed to be inclusivePreviously, IKEA donated its products and design services to create a series of United Nations-led refugee support centres in Eastern Europe to offer sanctuary to vulnerable groups displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The brand’s research lab, Space10, developed a concept for connecting physical furniture to an ever-evolving NFT tree.
      Assembling the Future Together is on show from 18 to 23 April 2023 at Padiglione Visconti, Via Tortona 58, Milan. See our Milan design week 2023 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.

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      Ai Weiwei's first design exhibition celebrates “how life goes on” after the pandemic

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      Hundreds of thousands of cannonballs, donated Lego bricks and a marble toilet roll feature in Making Sense, the first design-focussed exhibition by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei at London’s Design Museum.

      Showing a range of new and historical works spread across a single gallery, Ai Weiwei: Making Sense opens at the Design Museum this Friday and marks the artist’s first design-focussed exhibition to date.
      Still Life is an installation of thousands of found objects from the Stone Age”I had to do something after the pandemic to celebrate how life goes on,” explained Ai, who is globally recognised for using art as a tool for activism.
      Central to the space is five “field works” made from rectilinear arrangements of found objects that the artist has been collecting since the 1990s.
      Ai Weiwei also created a “field work” from porcelain cannonballsStill Life is a group of several thousand Stone Age axe heads, knives, spinning wheels and chisels sourced from flea markets and laid side-by-side. The installation intends to humble visitors and serve as a reminder that design was originally based on survival.

      Another untitled work created last year brings together over 200,000 Xing ware porcelain cannonballs made during China’s Song dynasty – seemingly delicate objects that were once war weapons.
      Left Right Studio Material collects Ai’s sculptures that were destroyed by the Chinese government”It’s a matter of intelligence,” Ai told Dezeen, discussing his long history of collecting artefacts.
      “It is to keep the memory and to try and build yourself with what has happened to other human beings in very dramatically different times through history.”
      Other pieces feature thousands of Lego bricksSpouts is an installation of thousands of ancient porcelain teapot spouts, while Left Right Studio Material collects fragments of Ai’s sculptures that were destroyed by the Chinese state when it demolished the artist’s Beijing studio without warning in 2018.
      “The remains are a form of evidence of the repression that Ai has suffered at the hands of the Chinese government, as well as a testament to his ability to turn destruction into art,” said the Design Museum.
      Among the found objects is a Han dynasty urn painted with a Coca Cola logoThe fifth “field work” features piles of Lego bricks that were donated by members of the public after the toy manufacturer stopped supplying bricks to Ai because he used the toys to create portraits of political prisoners.
      Called Lego Incident, the work is presented alongside a vast recreation of French impressionist Claude Monet’s famed Water Lillies series that is also made entirely out of Lego, as well as a dramatic wooden sculpture made of columns sourced from a Qing dynasty temple and tables from the same period.
      In 2020, the artist created a toilet roll from marble in response to the pandemicAmong the other pieces in the exhibition, the artist presented a pair of large sculptures made from life jackets and children’s school bags respectively.
      The objects were arranged in two snake-shaped formations dedicated to the victims of China’s 2009 Sichuan earthquake and the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe.
      Also on display are two life-size toilet rolls made from marble and glass, which were designed in 2020 in response to our dependency on everyday objects at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
      Photography also features in the exhibition, including the artist’s Study of Perspective series”They work as one,” said Ai, who said he does not have a favourite piece in the exhibition – rather, he feels the projects complement each other.
      “All my works work as one – the bad ones, the so-called ‘good’ ones, the random ones or the ones being neglected.”
      “It’s just like, can you choose one part of your body as the most important one?”

      Chinese government sees architectural discussion as “dangerous” threat, says Ai Weiwei

      Various photography was also shown, including colourful new editions of the artist’s Study of Perspective series – images of the artist pointing his middle finger at recognisable landmarks including Berlin’s Reichstag building and New York’s Trump Tower.
      Prints displaying the National Stadium, widely known as the Bird’s Nest, being constructed prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics were also mounted to the wall.
      While the artist helped to conceive the stadium in collaboration with architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron, he later distanced himself from the project in protest against the Chinese government.
      One image shows Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium in construction”I never really have a particular hope,” said Ai. “I just focus on my own practice,” he said discussing how he would like audiences to engage with the exhibition.
      “I think it’s a good idea to present to others as people may share the same kind of emotions or concepts [to you]. But I have no idea – I just don’t know.”
      Other recent projects contained in Ai’s extensive portfolio of political work include a cage-like structure in Stockholm and a Quebec City installation made of a wall of life jackets that were used by Syrian refugees while attempting to cross the Mediterranean sea.
      The images are courtesy of Ai Weiwei Studio.
      Ai Weiwei: Making Sense is on display at London’s Design Museum from 7 April to 30 July 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Chatsworth House exhibition is a “collision of past and present”

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      An exhibition at Chatsworth House including designers including Michael Anastassiades, Faye Toogood and Formafantasma, features in this video produced by Dezeen for the stately home.

      Called Mirror Mirror: Reflections on Design at Chatsworth, the exhibition brings together a collection of furniture and objects displayed throughout and responding to Chatsworth House and its gardens.
      In total, 16 international designers and artists created pieces that respond to the interiors of the building.
      The exhibition introduces new art pieces and objects into the house and gardenSome responded by sourcing materials from the property itself, while others focussed on themes and ideas taken from decorations within the interiors.
      “The designers of the exhibition have responded to Chatsworth in all sorts of fascinating ways,” said co-curator of the exhibition Glenn Adamson.

      “Throughout you really see this kind of conversation between the present and the past.”
      Jay Sae Jung Oh designed a throne using musical instrumentsThe exhibition continues Chatsworth House’s 500-year-long history of working with leading artists and designers and collecting an extensive collection of art and objects.
      “An artist’s new work can create a new way of looking at these spaces,” said Chatsworth House Trust director Jane Marriott.
      “It can capture their imaginations and hopefully inspire them to explore Chatsworth in a different light.”
      Toogood’s monolithic furniture creates a pensive space within the exhibitionBritish designer Toogood took over Chatsworth’s chapel and adjoining Oak Room. As a nod to the historical use of the space as a place of worship and gathering, she created an installation of monolithic furniture made from bronze and stone.
      The sculptural forms were designed to evoke ecclesiastical structures and to reflect the local landscape.
      “These objects give a sense of meditative calm, a sense of massiveness or monumentality that feels appropriate to the space,” Adamson said.
      Dutch designer Joris Laarman designed a series of benches for the exhibitionTwo stone benches by Dutch designer Joris Laarman made from locally sourced gritstone , which was the material used to build the house itself, were placed in Chatsworth House’s gardens.
      The surfaces of the benches were carved with undulating patterns in which moss and lichen have been planted and will continue to grow over time.
      Other objects in the exhibition include a throne-like seat wrapped in leather made from musical instruments by Jay Sae Jung Oh, a fibrous cabinet designed by Fernando Laposse, and sinuous steam-wood sculptures by Irish furniture maker Joseph Walsh.
      Laposse’s fluffy cabinet is made from agave plant fibresAnother section of the exhibition, which occupy Chatsworth’s Sculpture Gallery built in the early 19th century, features pieces by British designer Samuel Ross.
      Ross’s pieces were designed to echo the surrounding sculptures, mimicking their form to invite viewers to imagine the body that would recline on them. The designer has used a material palette of stone and marble to further reflect the sculptures within the gallery.
      Chatsworth’s collection contains art and design pieces spanning 4,000 years”It’s a kind of collision of past and present, of the artisanal with the technological, the classical with the industrial,” Adamson said.
      “It’s a great example of how the show in general tries to talk across generations, across centuries.”
      Mirror Mirror: Reflections on Design at Chatsworth is on display at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire until 1 October 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      Photography is courtesy of the Chatsworth House Trust.
      Partnership content
      This video was produced by Dezeen for Chatsworth House as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen’s partnership content here.

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      Printed textiles are “not just an accessory but something that can create a space” says Marimekko creative director

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      Bold colours and prints can enhance interiors in the same way as architectural details, argues Rebekka Bay of lifestyle brand Marimekko in this interview.

      Bay was appointed creative director of the Finnish design firm in 2020 having previously held top roles at fashion brands including Everlane, Cos and Uniqlo.
      Founded in 1951, Marimekko is known for its bright and bold prints that are applied to clothing, ceramics and homeware.
      Bay talked to Dezeen about how printed textiles can add spatial design to interiors. Photo courtesy of MarimekkoMore than just decorative pieces, Bay believes Marimekko’s patterned surfaces can be used as features to define and create interior spaces.
      “Often printed textiles are confused with this idea of just being like a drape or a tablecloth, but really when we develop printed textiles at Marimekko we see them as architectural elements, something that can also add spatial design or architectural elements to your home,” she told Dezeen.

      “They are not just an accessory, but actually something that can create a space.”
      Marimekko collaborated with IKEA on a homeware collection informed by wellbeingIn the wake of coronavirus lockdowns, the ability of colourful prints to improve wellbeing and happiness in the home has become increasingly valuable, Bay added.
      “The role of the home is increasingly important because we have all been forced to relate to what our home environment is and how it supports our wellbeing,” she said.
      “There is a renewed understanding of the importance of creating a home environment that will allow you to both rest and re-energise.”
      “Being surrounded by bold beauty is something that evokes happiness or optimism,” Bay continued.
      References to Marimekko’s and IKEA’s Nordic heritage are seen throughout their collaborationPicking up on this trend, Marimekko recently collaborated with Swedish furniture retailer IKEA to create a homeware collection named Bastua, which includes furniture, glassware and textiles informed by nature and the self-care rituals of the Nordic sauna.
      Drawing on the brands’ Nordic heritage, the Bastua collection features practical home objects made from wood and glass.
      Bay said the collaboration aimed to focus on circularity and longevity.

      “I don’t end up with beautiful objects right away” says Jorge Penadés

      “What we share both at Marimekko and IKEA is that in the design process, we are concerned with how to design for circularity, how to design for longevity, how to design objects of timeless value and also multi-use objects,” she said.
      “Our intent in this collaboration was to design objects that will have this timeless value, both in terms of the design but also in terms of material.”
      “We have worked in very honest natural materials with glass and wood and other materials that improve over time and also focused on how the materials can be either recycled or upcycled.”
      The rhubarb leaf is a repeated motif in the Bastua collectionMarimekko developed brand new prints for the Bastua collection, including a large rhubarb-leaf design that references the plants often found growing beside sauna buildings in Finland.
      This print was applied to bath robes, seat cushions, shower curtains, trays and the iconic IKEA carrier bag.
      “Functionalism and pragmatism joins this idea of celebrating everyday objects, which is very much a product of Marimekko’s mission – to bring joy to people’s everyday lives,” said Bay.
      “I think for Nordic designers, we have strong design traditions in creating very beautiful but very functional, democratic design.”
      Bay believes bold, colourful prints can add happiness to the homeIn addition, she emphasised a desire to inject an element of humour into the designs.
      “At times it’s very subtle and very serious, but I think what is unique to both Marimekko and IKEA is this intent also to bring a smile or a wink,” she continued.
      “There’s something outside of the seriousness, wanting to develop truly high-quality, timeless design but also wanting to bring this little wink.”
      Bay enjoys creating collections that “bring a smile or a wink”Marimekko has accrued a large portfolio of prints over its seven decades of production and still reproduces archive designs.
      The brand’s historic prints are used to inform new print designs that it hopes will resonate with modern consumers.
      “I think there’s always this danger if you only look back that you end up being self-referential, or you end up being an archive or a museum piece,” said Bay.

      Sabine Marcelis and Marimekko product launches and talks feature today at IKEA Festival

      “I would hate to create something of only museum value and not create a proposal for the future,” she added.
      “There is this always looking back in order to look forward, always understanding what has resonated, what has broad relevance and then see if we can reposition or refocus that.”
      Other projects recognisable for their bold textile designs that have been featured on Dezeen include a collection of upholstery fabrics informed by Iranian culture and an exhibition that celebrates a 1940s print by using it to cover walls and seating.
      The photography is courtesy of Inter IKEA Systems BV unless otherwise stated.

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      Five key projects by Italian architect and Dezeen Awards judge Paola Navone

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      Italian architect Paola Navone has joined Dezeen Awards 2023 as a judge. Here she selects five projects that best reflect her studio’s work.

      Navone says she has “a free and nomadic nature”, which informs her practice, ranging from interior, furniture, graphic and accessory design to creative direction.
      “I’m a dreamer, instinctive and always curious about the world,” she told Dezeen. “Somehow all of these things spontaneously flow in my way of being a designer.”
      Navone is founder of Milan-based multi-disciplinary design office OTTO Studio, which is currently working on a project for Como Hotels in Burgundy as well as an interiors project in Athens, amongst others.
      Paola Navone among Dezeen Awards 2023 judges

      Dezeen Awards 2023 launched on 15 February in partnership with Bentley Motors. On Tuesday we announced five more Dezeen Awards judges including interiors stylist Colin King and design gallerist Rossana Orlandi, who will be joining architect Navone on the judging panel.
      Submit your entry before Wednesday 29 March to save 20 per cent on entry fees. Click here to log in or create an account.
      Read on to find Navone’s views on the five projects that best represent the work of her studio.
      Photo by Dario GarofaloHotel 25hours Piazza San Paolino, Florence, Italy
      “We enjoy interiors projects because it’s a bit like writing a new movie script – we are always the same authors but each new movie is unique.
      “25hours Hotel Piazza San Paolino in Florence takes cues from Dante’s symbolism of hell and paradise.
      “The theme has allowed us to set a sequence of amazing scenography that involves the guests in an immersive and imaginative experience.”
      Photo by Delfino Sisto LegnaniBiMstrò, Milan, Italy
      “BiMstrò communicates our passion for ephemeral design, upcycling and reuse.
      “The concept behind this temporary bar in Milan is upcycling. We used existing, raw and poor materials, hand-made finishes as well as recycled objects and furniture in an unexpected way.”

      Azul Sofa by Turri
      “All our projects are born from unexpected alchemies that always make them a little special.
      “Azul Sofa by Turri is a blue velvet sofa characterised by macro weaving. The fabric allows you to discover a unique handmade weaving technique which gives the sofa a special softness.”

      Baxter
      “At OTTO Studio we enjoy mixing the perfection of the industrial process with something imperfect like craft.
      “The singular Baxter leather furniture works the leather as a fabric. The extensive research on colours and touch makes these sofas particularly comfortable and cocooning.”

      Hybrid
      “Hybrid is an eclectic collection of indoor and outdoor fabrics with strong graphics and patterns.
      “The collection was designed for the extraordinary manufacturing excellence of the brand Mariaflora.”
      All images courtesy of Paola Navone.
      Dezeen Awards 2023
      Dezeen Awards celebrates the world’s best architecture, interiors and design. Now in its sixth year, it has become the ultimate accolade for architects and designers across the globe. The annual awards are in partnership with Bentley Motors, as part of a wider collaboration that will see the brand work with Dezeen to support and inspire the next generation of design talent. More

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      Designmuseum Denmark exhibition asks visitors to “think about what kind of future we want”

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      Designmuseum Denmark has looked at how design can shape the future through its The Future is Present exhibition, which features projects including a tubular chandelier made from cow intestines.

      Presented at Copenhagen’s recently renovated Designmuseum, the exhibition showcases a range of “speculative and suggestive” works that examine four themes titled Human, Society, Planet+ and Imagining the Future.
      The MYX Chair is a mycelium and hemp chair that has “grown” itself”Design is very much a forward-looking profession,” said exhibition curator Pernille Stockmarr. “It’s about changing the existing into something better – and what we do in the present creates the future.”
      “Living in a time with major global challenges, this exhibition wants to invite people to see and reflect on the different potentials of design in this transformation and encourage them to think about what kind of future we want,” she told Dezeen.
      100 metres of cow intestines were used to make the Inside Out chandelierAmong the pieces on show is Inside Out, a chandelier-style lamp made from 100 metres of knotted cow intestines extracted from eight cows. Designer Kathrine Barbro Bendixen aimed to explore how byproducts can be used to rethink patterns of material consumption.

      Faroe Islands-based fashion brand Guðrun & Guðrun created Vindur, a ruffled dress with exaggerated bell sleeves made of woven silk and machine-knitted milk yarn sourced from dairy production waste.
      The brand worked with textile designers Amalie Ege and Charlotte Christensen and Lifestyle & Design Clusters to create the garment, which was made using a “traditional technique used during the inter-war period when resources were in short supply and waste was transformed into value,” according to the Designmuseum.
      A group of designers created a dress made from dairy wasteMore conceptual works include Beyond Life, a collection of biodegradable paper foam urns by designer Pia Galschiødt Bentzen with detachable pendants containing seeds that can be grown.
      “Beyond Life unites death, loss, and remembrance with the awareness that we humans are part of nature’s endless circle of life,” said Stockmarr.
      Also on show is Library of Change, a “map” of dangling acrylic foil cards charting current trends and technologies, inscribed with questions for visitors such as “would you leave the city for better connection?”
      Beyond Life is a collection of biodegradable paper foam urnsStockmarr explained that the exhibition aims to communicate “the breadth of design” by including works that vary in scale, purpose and medium.
      “Their ability to inspire, start conversations and make visitors reflect was a priority,” she said.
      “I didn’t want the works to be too-defined solutions for the future, extreme sci-fi visions, utopias or dystopias, but exploratory works. Some are collaborative research projects and others provide foresight into design methods, handicrafts and creative experiments.”
      Library of Change is a project that encourages visitors to question the future of designAlongside the various projects in the exhibition, artefacts from the Designmuseum’s own archive that highlight past ideas for the future are also on display.
      One of these designs is the three-wheeled vehicle Ellert, Denmark’s first electric car developed in the 1980s by engineer Steen Volmer Jensen.
      Ellert was Denmark’s first electric carLocal studio Spacon & X created the exhibition design for The Future is Present with the aim of reflecting its themes.
      The studio delineated the show’s various zones using modular bioplastic dividers that snake through the exhibition space and worked with natural materials including eelgrass, which was used to create acoustic mats to manage noise in the museum.
      Objects are arranged on custom tables and plinths made in collaboration with sustainable material manufacturer Søuld, while Natural Material Studio created a mycelium daybed for the show.

      OEO Studio uses materials in a “playful way” for Designmuseum Denmark cafe and shop

      Stockmarr explained that the show is meant to be a call to action and empower people to reflect on their individual roles in determining the future of design.
      “By asking more questions than giving answers the exhibition wants to inspire visitors,” reflected the curator.
      “The show acknowledges that it is not only designers, architects, craftspeople and experts, but all of us who are participating in shaping and designing the future by the questions we ask and the choices and actions we take today.”
      The Future is Present was designed by Spacon & X to be an immersive experienceSimilar recent exhibitions that explored the climate impact of materials include a show at Stockholm Furniture Fair that visualised the carbon emissions of common materials such as concrete and The Waste Age – a London exhibition that addressed how design has contributed to the rise of throwaway culture.
      The Future is Present is on display at Designmuseum Denmark from 19 June 2022 to 1 June 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Natural Connections exhibition aims to “help people rediscover nature”

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      Designers Inma Bermúdez, Moritz Krefter, Jorge Penadés and Alvaro Catalán de Ocón have created three playful wooden furniture pieces on show at Madrid Design Festival.

      Devised by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), Natural Connections was on show in the entrance hall of the cultural building Matadero Madrid.
      Top: Natural Connections features playful furniture pieces. Above: the exhibition took place in the Matadero MadridEach of the three furniture pieces was designed to encourage interaction with wood – with one acting as a bench, the other a climbing frame and the third a hanging light installation.
      The designs were created in response to a brief provided by AHEC, which sought pieces made by Spanish designers out of maple, cherry, and red oak hardwoods sourced from American forests in an effort to encourage the use of the material.
      Catalán de Ocón designed Nube, a hanging light installation”We challenged the design studios to present these chambers in a public space – in a public context – so that visitors get to experience a connection,” AHEC European director David Venables told Dezeen.

      “The design teams worked with maple, cherry, and red oak to create playful, original, and highly innovative installations that we hope will provide engagement, excitement and a connection for visitors to these wonderful natural materials,” said Venables.
      Inma Bermúdez and Moritz Krefter created several “bovine-shaped” seatsDesigner Catalán de Ocón created a six-metre-long hanging light called Nube  – which translates to cloud in English – made of 4,000 interconnected spherical and cylindrical individual pieces of wood.
      Nube is lit by several LED lights that were placed in the middle of the hollow structure. A brass cable runs from the bass into the mesh structure, branching into positive and negative electric currents.
      Positive poles run through the cherry wood while negative poles run through the maple pieces, which form a complete circuit when they touch and illuminate the bulbs.
      Visitors can perch on the benches and touch the woodsIts design was informed by Catalán de Ocón’s fascination with the manufacturing process for small utilitarian wooden objects such as pegs, matches and blinds.
      “I was inspired by the little match or the pencil, or the wooden pin for hanging the clothes – those kinds of manufacturing techniques, where you get an object which is repeated over and over and over again,” Catalán de Ocón told Dezeen.
      Jorge Penadés produced a bleacher-style structureMeanwhile, La Manada Perdida, or The Lost Herd, by Inma Bermúdez and Moritz Krefter was influenced by the Matadero’s former function as a slaughterhouse and cattle market.
      The Spanish design duo produced a series of red oak, maple and cherry benches for Natural Connections that reference equine and bovine animals such as horses and cows. The pieces were given minimal finishing to mimic the texture of the tree they came from.
      “They appear as benches or seats, but their design goes beyond furniture to incorporate aspects of imagination and play to help people encounter and rediscover nature,” said AHEC.

      Students create sustainable furniture from hardwoods at Madrid Design Festival

      Madrid-based designer Penadés responded to the natural connections theme by producing a tiered seating piece called Wrap that is connected by ball joints.
      The designer, who is known for his interior projects with Spanish footwear brand Camper, glued and rolled 0.7-millimetres-thick pieces of cherry veneer into tubes to create tubular hollow components, which form a bleacher-style seat when joined together.
      Wrap is made from thin rolls of cherry veneerNatural Connections is one of several exhibitions at Madrid Design Festival, a month-long event that sees a design programme take over the Spanish city. After the exhibition ends, the furniture will remain in the cultural centre for a year.
      Also at this year’s edition is Slow Spain, an exhibition by university students that aims to explore American hardwoods and mindful furniture consumption.
      Last year saw lighting designer Antoni Arola and Spanish light manufacturer Simon use a smoke machine, lasers and a small tree to create Fiat Lux 3 Architectures of Light.
      Natural Connections is on show at Matadero Madrid as part of Madrid Design Festival 2023, which takes place from 14 February to 12 March. See Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the month.
      The photography is courtesy of AHEC.
      Project credits:
      Designers: Inma Bermúdez and Moritz Krefter, Alvaro Catalán de Ocón, Jorge PenadésPartners: American Hardwood Export Council, Matadero Madrid, Madrid Design Festival, Tamalsa

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