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      Forma is a nomadic design gallery popping up around Berlin

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      Contemporary German furniture designs are displayed alongside vintage pieces at this travelling gallery that multidisciplinary designer Vanessa Heepen has launched in Berlin.

      Rather than having a permanent home, Forma will take over different locations across the German capital.
      Forma’s first exhibition was held in a building next to the Spree riverThe gallery’s inaugural exhibition, titled The Room I Walk the Line, was recently on show on the ground floor of a mixed-use building in Friedrichshain, nestled in between fragments of the Berlin Wall on the banks of the river Spree.
      “To be honest, the area is not where I would typically choose to open a gallery,” Heepen told Dezeen. “But when I first saw a picture of it on a real estate website, I was deeply touched by its huge windows, red columns and by the water, of course.”
      It featured German designers including Nazara Lázaro (left) and Studio Kuhlmann (top right)A trained interior designer, Heepen largely left the space in its found state but worked with her team to create a simple mahogany bar counter and storage unit for the gallery.

      She also asked “soft architecture” studio Curetain to create a white latex screen for the corner of the gallery.
      As part of the exhibition, this served as the backdrop for a tall white spectator shelf by Stuttgart-based Freia Achenbach, along with a graphic white stool by local designer Nazara Lázaro.
      This wiggly coat stand was mong the vintage pieces featuredOther pieces in the exhibition included a pigmented concrete chair by Carsten in der Elst and hanging metallic stars by Studio Kuhlmann, both from Cologne, as well as a translucent shelf by Berlin’s Lotto Studio.
      Forma also sourced a number of vintage pieces from Moho – a 20th-century furniture showroom in Prenzlauer Berg – among them an embossed metal cabinet and a wriggly coat stand.

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      One of Heepen’s main motivations for founding the gallery was to carve out a space for showcasing design-led furnishings in Berlin, which she says is something of a rarity in the German capital.
      “It is a discursive topic, and people have always been unsure about the success of it,” she explained. “After Forma’s first edition, I am glad to say it was hugely successful”.
      Contemporary design pieces included a translucent shelf by Lotto StudioThe designer is currently on the hunt for Forma’s next location and will let the new setting inform her selection of furnishings.
      “I’m always open to something new that occurs within the process,” she said. “I hold on to my vision, but I am also open to taking a detour.”
      Also featured was a pigmented concrete chair by Carsten in der ElsElsewhere in Berlin, Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron is currently constructing a major new museum for modern art.
      The building’s design came under fire at the end of last year, when it was discovered its complex air conditioning system would result in the venue using four times as much energy as a nearby museum from the 1800s.
      The photography is by Matthias Leidinger. 
      The Room I Walk the Line was on show at Mühlenstrasse 63 in Berlin from 15 June to 15 July 2023. For more exhibitions, events and talk in architecture and design, visit Dezeen Events Guide.

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      “Architectural photography is dominated by empty, glossy, new buildings” says Jim Stephenson

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      Architectural photographer Jim Stephenson explains how The Architect Has Left The Building exhibition at RIBA aims to draw attention to how people use buildings, in this interview.

      Despite taking place at the Architecture Gallery at the Royal Institute of British Architects’ central London HQ, Stephenson told Dezeen that the exhibition is not focused on buildings.
      “The installation is about people watching,” he said. “Although it’s at the RIBA and in the architecture gallery, it’s not really about the buildings – they’re just the backdrop, they’re the stage set really.”
      “We wanted to create a meditative, large scale film piece that was all about how people use (and misuse) space once the architect’s work is done,” he continued.
      The Architect Has Left The Building is an exhibition at RIBAAs the exhibition’s title suggests, the exhibition focuses on how buildings are used after the architect’s work is finished.

      It aims to show buildings in use, in contrast to the majority of architectural photography that often portrays buildings empty, at their point of completion.
      “When I used to work in architecture practices, we used to design everything around people and context,” explained Stephenson. “It felt like everything was dictated by those two things and then when we would get projects photographed we’d ask the photographer to omit those two things.”
      “The buildings were empty objects – sculptures,” he continued. “It always jarred with me, so in our work we focus on people using space as much as possible.”
      The exhibition features the work of Jim Stephenson.The exhibition include numerous photos taken by Stephenson, along with an enclosed screening room, where a film created for the exhibition was played on a dual screen.
      “This film is all about the small interactions that occur in and around buildings – between individuals, groups of people and even between people and the buildings,” said Stephenson. “It’s all about the people!”

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      The film, which was created with artist Sofia Smith and has a soundtrack created by Simon James, contains numerous contemporary buildings from the past 15 years.
      Among the buildings featured are Tintagel Castle Bridge by William Matthews Architects, Tate St Ives extension by Jamie Fobert, Sands End Arts and Community Centre by Mae Architects and London Bridge Station by Grimshaw, which were all shortlisted for the Stirling Prize.
      The exhibition features a film screened on a dual screenThe film makes aims to makes people think about the connections between buildings and how people are connected to them.
      “Watching Sofia make visual links between buildings that I hadn’t previously considered to have much in common was fascinating,” explained Stephenson.
      “There’s a point in the film where we transition from Sands End Community Centre to Tintagel footbridge and it’s seamless – from a community centre in West London to a bridge over the sea in Cornwall!”
      “And at London Bridge train station, Simon recorded not just the ambient sound that everyone can hear, but he also recorded the inner guts of the building with contact mics, as well as the sound in the electromagnetic spectrum,” he continued. “All those sounds get layered up in the show and I can’t go through that station now without thinking about them.”
      It also features photos taken by Jim StephensonStephenson hopes that the film will demonstrate how people improve architectural spaces and how they are recorded.
      “The history of architectural photography is dominated by empty, glossy, new buildings, photographed before people have come in,” said Stephenson.
      “I think there was a fear amongst architects that people ‘mess up their building’ and photographing them empty somehow showed the architecture in a more pure and distilled way,” he continued.
      “I think that’s mad. If the people you designed the building for are ‘messing it up’ then maybe there’s something wrong with the building? I’m half joking, but I’ve never documented a space that wasn’t improved by people, or at the very least a sign of life.”
      One of the UK’s best-known architectural photographers, Stephenson co-founded film production studio Stephenson& with Smith. Recent projects photographed by Stephenson include a wood-lined community space in east London, a rammed-earth yoga studio to the gardens of Somerset hotel and a rolling bridge in London.
      Recent buildings captured on film by Stephenson& include a visitor centre at the UK’s largest sawmill and a school theatre by Jonathan Tuckey Design in London.
      The photography is by Agnese Sanvito, unless stated. The film is by Jim Stephenson and Sofia Smith with soundtrack by Simon James.
      The Architect Has Left The Building is at RIBA in London until 12 August 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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      SFMOMA furniture exhibition features “conversation starters”

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      Designers including Bethan Laura Wood and Maarten Baas have contributed a range of “sometimes jarring” chairs and lighting to an exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

      Called Conversation Pieces: Contemporary Furniture in Dialogue, the exposition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) features 45 pieces of furniture and decor “that prioritise meaning and material choice over function and practicality”.
      Jay Sae Jung Oh presented an otherworldly chair”The works on view are sometimes jarring, often bold and always conversation starters,” said the museum.
      Drawn entirely from the SFMOMA collection, some of the pieces were chosen purely for their alternative appearance, such as an otherworldly leather and plastic armchair by South Korean designer Jay Sae Jung Oh.
      Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears the Crown was designed by Germane BarnesOther pieces of furniture were selected for their commentary on social issues. For example, a piece by American architect Germane Barnes is a porch chair topped with an oversized backrest shaped like a milled wood comb.

      Called Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears the Crown, the piece was described by Barnes as a representation of Black hair, meant to highlight how Black hair “is often policed and frowned upon instead of celebrated as it should [be]”.
      Maarten Baas’ contribution features a bright blue clay chairDutch designer Baas and Italian architect Gaetano Pesce were also included in the exhibition.
      Baas created a bright blue chair covered with clay while Pesce contributed an organic-looking fabric and resin chair called Seaweed, which resembles clumps of tangled algae.
      A series of lighting designs accompanied the furniture. British designer Bethan Laura Wood created a spindly glass and metal chandelier called Criss Cross Kite.
      Gaetano Pesce contributed a fabric and resin chair called Seaweed”A chandelier is normally a very fancy-pantsy centre light,” said Wood, reflecting on her work.
      “I definitely want to play with this idea of fantasy within the thing.”
      Unique Girl is a playful lamp by Katie StoutAmerican designer Katie Stout’s ceramic lamp Unique Girl was also on display. The lighting piece is characterised by an abstract figure that the designer said is meant as a commentary on domesticity and femininity.
      All of the furniture in the exhibition was arranged across a deep red carpet interspersed with amorphously shaped plots of floor space to form a meandering pathway.

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      “Sparking dialogue throughout the gallery, Conversation Pieces presents chairs and lamps that surprise and garner attention unapologetically,” said SFMOMA.
      Last year, the San Francisco museum showcased an exhibition of work by architect Neri Oxman, while it recently became the first museum to acquire a module from the Japanese Nakagin Capsule Tower.
      The exhibition was curated within a winding spaceConversation Pieces: Contemporary Furniture in Dialogue was on display at the SFMOMA from 20 August 2022 to 25 June 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      The images are courtesy of SFMOMA.

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      Asteroid City exhibition immerses visitors in Wes Anderson’s Americana film sets

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      An exhibition of the 1950s sets, props, miniature models, costumes and artwork used in Wes Anderson’s latest film Asteroid City has opened at 180 The Strand in London.

      The exhibition was designed to immerse visitors in the film’s fictitious world – a desert town in 1950s America famous for its meteor crater and celestial observatory.
      The exhibition is on display at London’s 180 The StrandIts aim was to give visitors insight into the “1950s Americana world the film is set in”, said Asteroid City associate producer Ben Alder.
      Asteroid City was filmed on flat farmland in Spain, with the buildings made for the film set up to appear like a town.
      The exhibition features large sets”Everything you see in the film was physically built and laid out in a way that gave the actors and crew the sense of living in this real town,” Alder told Dezeen.

      “The exhibition is a great way for people to see how much work went into all the elements of the film, like the costumes, because you can spend more time looking at how they are made and how much care went into them.”
      Film sets used in the Asteroid City movie are on displayPieces in the exhibition are spread across three main spaces, with audio clips and parts of the film projected onto walls referencing scenes relevant to the nearby displays.
      “The idea was to use the largest open space for the sets to give people the sense of how big they were on the film, and you can imagine how massive our Asteroid City town was,” said Alder.
      Costumes and props are on display”Then there’s another space that’s a more traditional gallery-type curation where you can see smaller objects and props, going into the details of the characters,” Alder continued.
      Mimicking the exterior of the cafe featured in the film, a temporary wooden structure decorated with menu lettering and a desert scene spans the entrance of 180 The Strand.

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      Sets displayed in the exhibition include white wooden residential shacks, a train carriage and a bathroom scene.
      Other life-sized scenery props include telephone booths, billboard posters and humourous vending machines that dispense martinis and bullets in the film.
      The exhibition provides a close-up view of the Asteroid City film props”There are moments where visitors are invited to be in the sets and interact with them,” said Alder.
      “Not only can visitors see all the pieces from the film really closely but they can go inside some of the sets – they can sit inside the train compartment, recreate the scene with [actor] Scarlett [Johansson] in the window, or go into the telephone booth – which is something really special that not a lot of exhibitions have.”
      Visitors can explore a desert setSome of the character costumes are arranged together with set pieces to recreate scenes from the film.
      Also on display are puppets made by Andy Gent, who previously created puppets for Anderson’s films Isle of Dogs and Fantastic Mr Fox, and a series of glass flowers used in a stop-motion animation sequence where they transition from blooming to wilting.
      The Asteroid City exhibition showcases many details from the filmThe exhibition ends with a recreation of a luncheonette featured in the movie, where visitors can order food and drink.
      It has a 1950s-style decor, with stools lined up along the service bar, pastel-coloured blinds and the image of a desert landscape framed inside fake windows.
      A 1950s-style cafe is at the end of the exhibitionAsteroid City is out in cinemas now.
      Anderson is known for his distinctive film aesthetic, typified by retro influences and pastel colours. Interiors that have been informed by the director’s style include a pastel-yellow breakfast cafe in Sweden and a bottle shop in Los Angeles with mid-century influences.
      The photography is courtesy of Universal Pictures and 180 Studios.
      The Asteroid City exhibition is on display at 180 The Strand in London from 17 June to 8 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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      Collaborative Kinship exhibition showcases oak-and-terrazzo furniture

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      Designer Birgitte Due Madsen, architect Anne Dorthe Vester and curator Henriette Noermark have launched an exhibition of marble, resin and wood furniture designed to explore collaboration.

      Kinship, which opened at the Alice Folker gallery in Copenhagen during the 3 Days of Design festival, showcases 18 designs that utilise terrazzo, wood, metal, resin, marble and glass.
      The exhibition was informed by existing works by Madsen and Vester, including the Lucid resin chair by Madsen and the Vitrine ash-and-steel wall hanging artworks by Vester, which are also on display in the space.
      Kinship showcased 18 furniture and design objects”As a group of three individuals who thrive in collaborative environments, it was natural for us to come together for this collaboration,” the collective told Dezeen.
      “We wanted to explore collaboration while focusing on our individual strengths, existing work, and experiences. Each of us brings different skill sets, backgrounds and practices, which we wanted to showcase in this exhibition,” the trio added.

      “The exhibition delves into the exploration of collaboration by placing a spotlight on the individuals involved.”
      Three terrazzo chairs were made in collaboration by Madsen, Vester and NoermarkIn the spirit of collaboration, the exhibitors designed three terrazzo and oak chairs together especially for the Kinship exhibition.
      These were made using wood supplied by Danish flooring company Dinesen.

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      Located in the centre of the gallery’s second room, the terrazzo bases of the chairs mimic each other in shape, with the wooden slats placed on different angles of the base.
      The terrazzo used was made from glass waste, recycled bricks and concrete to reduce the CO2 emissions generated when creating the material, the gallery said.
      The exhibition is on display at the Alice Folker gallery in Copenhagen, Denmark”The design process for the terrazzo chairs stemmed from the idea of experimenting with direct collaboration. We used Birgitte and Anne Dorthe’s previous works as a foundation to create a new collective collection,” the trio explained.
      “The chairs were designed with a consistent aesthetic and visual language that is reflected in our shared terrazzo furniture,” it added.
      “The intertwining of practices creates a cohesive display that showcases direct references to the slats found in Anne Dorthe’s pieces and the semicircular strokes seen in Birgitte’s works.”
      The exhibition was on display during Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design festivalSurrounding the chairs, Madsen’s series of circular Neon Cast lights are displayed on her Breton marble cubes. The gypsum and glass lights come in shades of green, blue, pink, red and purple.
      Two additional neon lights hang on the walls of the gallery, each designed with a horizontal or vertical stripe of neon running through the similarly designed circular light.
      The exhibition uses materials such as terrazzo, resin, marble, wood, metal and glassThe four Breton cubes, named after sailors’ shirts originally designed to be functional, explore both form and function. The cubes feature uniform horizontal, vertical or diagonal stripes of marble, each with its own veiny pattern in green, pink and brown.
      Also at this year’s 3 Days of Design, Christian + Jade partnered with Dinesen to present the Weight of Wood exhibition and Tableau showed sculptural wooden furniture by Vaarnii.
      The photography is courtesy of Birgitte Due Madsen.
      Kinship is on show from 2 June to 29 July 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for information about the event, plus a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Yoonede exhibition brings together emerging and established designers

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      Chair-shaped sculptures and a doughnut-shaped paper lantern were among objects displayed inside a Copenhagen apartment during 3 Days of Design.

      Yoonede – derived from the word “unity” – was a group exhibition featuring the work of 20 artists, designers and brands.
      Yoonede took place in an apartment on Gammel MøntThe idea behind the show was to promote collaboration, with everyone’s work displayed together. Some designers also teamed up with other participants on their exhibits.
      Objects were displayed in the rooms and courtyard of an apartment on Gammel Mønt, a street in the heart of the Danish capital.
      Works included a chair-like sculpture by Maria Brunn and Anne Dorthe VesyterLine Øhlenschlæger, one of the three founders of Yoonede, told Dezeen: “The only stipulation we made to the artists, designers and brands involved was that they should be willing to combine with others who may or may not be on the same level.”

      “Normally when you do a group exhibition, you have one designer in one corner and one designer in another corner, but the idea here was to lift everyone together,” she said.
      Tables by Line Øhlenschlæger displayed objects by other participating designersØhlenschlæger, who works as an art director, put together the exhibition in partnership with product designer Sofie Østerby and interior architect Maaria Repo.
      The trio, who are former colleagues, had long wanted to work together on an exhibition and decided to invite other creatives that they admired to join.
      They only expected a few of them to say yes, so were shocked to see the list reach 20 participants.
      Øhlenschlæger’s contribution to the exhibition is a series of circular tables, supported by three-pronged volumes made from either steel or aluminium.
      Anne Brandhøj and Signe Fensholt created totems that combine skills in wood and ceramicØsterby created a sculptural coffee table using wenge, an African hardwood, while Repo exhibited a bowl with a distinctive streaky glaze finish.
      MBADV – an ongoing collaboration between designers Maria Brunn and Anne Dorthe Vesyter – was behind the chair-shaped sculptures, one made from oak and the other from stone.
      Atelier Madirazza presented a grand marble-framed mirrorThe paper lantern, by lighting designer Laura Fiig, was suspended above a bench made by Studio Oro using both epoxy resin and travertine.
      Designers Anne Brandhøj and Signe Fensholt combined skills in wood and ceramic to create a series of totem-like sculptures, while Atelier Madirazza presented a grand marble-framed mirror.
      A woven textile by Bettina Nelson hung from the wallCabinet-maker Antrei Hartikainen contributed a slender, curved shelving unit as well as mouth-blown glass vases.
      Other key pieces included a minimal chandelier by Kasper Kjeldgaard and a woven textile by Bettina Nelson.
      Sofie Østerby created a sculptural coffee table using an African hardwoodBrands on show included Kusiner, which presented wool carpets, and Danish audio brand Iril, which showed its minimal speakers.
      The exhibition continued outside, where terracotta plant pots by heritage brand Bergs Potter sat alongside sculptures by artist Josefine Winding.
      Objects by Bergs Potter and Josefine Winding were shown in the courtyardThe founders plan to run Yoonede as an exhibition platform, so that it can continue beyond this 3 Days of Design debut.
      “The exhibition is built around the wish of bringing creatives together, learning from each other’s differences and sharing a passion for design, art, and objects,” said Østerby.
      The name, Yoonede, is derived from the word “unity””We’re showcasing inspiring individualism while letting a strong and curated cohesiveness stand out,” added Repo.
      The photography is courtesy of Yoonede.
      Yoonede was on show from 7 to 9 June 2023 as part of 3 Days of Design. See Dezeen Events Guide for information, plus a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Oltre Terra exhibition calls for “constructive relationship” between humans and sheep

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      Design duo Formafantasma has unveiled an exhibition at Oslo’s National Museum of Norway about the history and future of wool production, featuring a 1,700-year-old tunic and a carpet made from waste fibres.

      Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of Formafantasma created the Oltre Terra exhibition, curated by Hannah Eide, to unravel humanity’s past and present relationship with sheep and, by extension, the production of wool.
      Oltre Terra includes a carpet made from discarded wool fibresThe exhibition features archival and contemporary objects, including life-size replicas of seven different breeds of sheep and tools for shearing, arranged across a diorama-style set within a single gallery at Norway’s national museum.
      Among the first animals to be domesticated by humans, sheep were first culled by hunter-gatherers around 11,000 years ago.
      Tools for shearing also feature in the exhibitionThis marked the start of a complex relationship, according to Formafantasma.

      “The National Museum of Norway [which commissioned Oltre Terra] was interested in us developing a body of work that relates to the local community in Oslo, because wool was an extremely important material in Norwegian culture before the development of the industry connected to oil and farming,” Trimarchi and Farresin told Dezeen.
      The exhibition design nods to dioramasOltre Terra aimed to combine artefacts typically seen in natural history museums with ones more commonly exhibited at art and design galleries, in order to highlight the interdependency between biological evolution and production processes.
      Among the pieces on show are a cream carpet by CC-Tapis made of four different wool fibres extracted from 12 Italian sheep breeds.
      This wool was left over from production and would usually be discarded for its coarseness, but the carpet intends to illustrate how these rougher fibres can still be used to make products that are not in direct contact with skin.
      The exhibition shows artifacts typically seen in natural history museums and art galleriesAlso on display is a 1,700-year-old woollen tunic, which was found preserved under a mountain ice patch 200 miles northwest of Oslo in 2011, and woollen sails that were used for Viking Age boats.
      At the centre of the installation sits a video that Formafantasma created with artist Joanna Piotrowska. Called Tactile Afferents, the film focusses on the sense of touch and explores the ways in which humans have interacted with sheep over time.
      Pieces range from contemporary to historical artefactsThe exhibition also features replicas of notable examples of the species, such as Shrek, the Merino sheep from New Zealand who – like many others – was discovered in the wild with an overgrown coat in 2004 after he escaped his domestic flock six years prior.
      This is an example of when sheep need humans, according to Formafantasma.
      “Many people are against animal farming, which, when it is intensive farming, we also think is extremely problematic,” said the designers.
      “But sheep at the moment are not like their wild ancestors, Mouflons – they do not naturally lose hair. They need humans to shear them.”
      A 1,700-year-old woollen tunic features in the exhibitionThe show’s exhibition design nods to the concept of the diorama – miniature or largescale models found in museums that are encased in glass and typically display three-dimensional figures.
      For Oltre Terra, the diorama was “exploded” into sections and left open, rather than covered in glass, to allow visitors to feel more connected to the pieces and to question the boundary between art and science.

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      “For us, it’s about unifying narratives and showing how these are complex ecologies that should be displayed together,” said Trimarchi and Farresin of the installation.
      “The scope of the exhibition is to explore this very intimate yet intricate relationship between humans and animals, in which the boundaries between tamer and domesticated fade,” continued the designers.
      Tactile Afferents is a film presented in the centre of the dioramaTrimarchi and Farresin explained that one of the exhibition’s overarching aims was to promote mutual dependence and respect between humans and sheep, especially when it comes to farming practices.
      “The relationship between humans and sheep is much more complicated and complex,” they added.
      “As with human relationships, there are abusive relationships, and there are just relationships and constructive relationships. What we’re doing now [with livestock] is, in some cases, extremely abusive, but this does not mean that sheep and animals and humans cannot live in a process of symbiosis.”
      Formafantasma created numerous sheep replicas for the exhibitionThe show took its name from the etymology of the word “transhumance”, which is formed by the combination of the Latin words trans (across, ‘oltre’ in Italian) and humus (grounds, ‘terra’) and refers to the practice of migrating livestock from one grazing ground to another.
      Founded by Trimarchi and Farresin in 2009, Formafantasma has previously presented other shows that investigate materials, including an exhibition on timber with furniture brand Artek that was held at Helsinki’s Design Museum last year. The studio also redesigned its website to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
      The photography is by Ina Wesenberg. 
      Project credits:
      Formafantasma team: Sara Barilli, Alessandro Celli and Gregorio GonellaCurator: Hannah Eide
      Oltre Terra is on display at the National Museum of Norway from 26 May to 1 October 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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      India Mahdavi creates colourful scenography for Pierre Bonnard exhibition in Melbourne

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      Iranian-French architect India Mahdavi has designed an exhibition to present works by French painter Pierre Bonnard at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.

      Pierre Bonnard: Designed by India Mahdavi presents more than 100 works by the famed 20th-century artist who is celebrated for applying an iridescent palette.
      India Mahdavi has offered her take on Pierre Bonnard’s paintings through the exhibition scenographyThe scenography design by Mahdavi, also known for her use of colour, is intended to create “an impression of his world, through my own eyes” according to the architect.
      Instead of typical white gallery walls, the spaces are awash with bold hues and patterns that she has chosen to complement the artworks.
      The architect chose colors and patterns to complement the artworksMany of the shades of yellow, pink, orange and green that adorn the walls and floors are lifted directly from the canvases, while floral-inspired repeated patterns offer a contrasting backdrop.

      Large carpets continue these motifs at different scales across the floors.
      Many of the colours were lifted from the artworksMahdavi has also placed some of her own furniture designs in the gallery spaces, offering visitors the opportunity to pause and appreciate the paintings and their surroundings.
      “Mahdavi envelopes Pierre Bonnard’s works in an environment that complements Bonnard’s distinct use of colour and texture, and evokes the wistful domestic intimacy for which his paintings are renowned,” said the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).
      Several of Mahdavi’s furniture designs are placed in the galleriesBonnard was born in 1867, and his artistic career took off in the 1890s in Paris, where he began capturing street life.
      The artist’s focus then moved to domesticity, followed by landscapes thanks to the influence of his friend and neighbour in Normandy, Claude Monet.
      The exhibition is divided into 11 themes based on the subject matter of Bonnard’s paintingsBonnard later relocated to the south of France and created a large body of work there before his death in 1947.
      “The paintings of Pierre Bonnard depict intimate domestic interiors, natural landscapes and urban scenes with subtlety, wit and a sensuous approach to colour and light,” said the gallery.
      Some of the spaces are decorated entirely in one colourThe exhibition features loans from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, which holds the world’s largest collection of Bonnard’s work, along with significant loans from other museums and private collections from around the world.
      It is organised around 11 themes, which include landscapes, interiors, still life, early nudes, and large decorations.

      India Mahdavi’s striped scenography provides backdrop for furniture exhibition

      There are also sections dedicated to his depictions of music and theatre, views from his 1920s studio in Le Cannet, and scenes of nature and daily life around the town.
      “For Bonnard, landscape painting was a hybrid genre and often included glimpses of interiors and still lifes,” said the gallery.
      Mahdavi is renowned for her use of colourThe gallery has hosted many immersive exhibitions and installations in recent years, including a scaled-down version of Greece’s famous Parthenon temple, a mist-filled chasm in its sculpture garden, and Nendo’s take on the drawings of MC Escher.
      Mahdavi’s best-known projects include the Gallery dining room at London restaurant Sketch, which she originally created in pale pink, then transformed with golden tones in 2022.
      Pierre Bonnard: Designed by India Mahdavi runs until 8 October 2023She recently updated six rooms within Rome’s 16th-century Villa Medici to feature an array of contemporary and colourful furniture.
      Pierre Bonnard: Designed by India Mahdavi forms part of NGV’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series, and runs from 9 June to 8 October 2023. For more exhibitions, events and talks in architecture and design visit Dezeen’s Events Guide. 
      The photography is by Lillie Thompson.

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