It Stays Cozy

2023 Author : Hannah Pearcy | [email protected] . Last modified: 2023-08-25 03:36

The ideas of living are constantly changing - and ultimately remain very similar. The Vitra Design Museum shows why with a look back at 16 home exhibitions from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. Armin Scharf What has gathered in Weil am Rhein under the title "Destruction of Coziness" offers a formidable excursion into the history of living visions. With 140 pieces of furniture and luminaires, it is shown as an example of the changes in the ideal of living since the beginning of the 20th century. And thus indirectly what half-life these visions had. But a closer look also reveals that fragments of these programmatic exhibitions continue to resonate and have had a lasting impact on living. The exhibition review starts at the beginning of the 20thCentury with Art Nouveau in Darmstadt and Vienna and ranges from the activities of the German Werkbund on New Living in the 1920s, organic design and good shape in the 1950s, the living worlds of the late 1960s and early 1970s to German punk -Design from the 1980s, Memphis from Italy and the designer group Droog from the Netherlands. On display are drawings and large-format photos of the home furnishings and exhibition installations at the time, as well as posters, catalogs and other historical documents from international museum archives. In addition, furniture and lights from the Vitra Design Museum collection can be seen, which were presented in the respective exhibitions and show apartments. Interesting is, for example, the show "Visiona 2", which was shown at the Cologne furniture fair in 1970, the futuristic ambience of which still causes irritation, but also enthusiasm against the background of diverse, cult science fiction films. And: Intense red and violet, round lozenges and deep-pile puddle carpets are once again socially acceptable. Many an exhibit becomes a déjà vu experience par excellence: Suddenly memories emerge from the swamp of forgetting, you discover Aunt Erna's Saarinen chair, which you never appreciated as a child and are now recognized as an incunabula of modern living want. In view of all this, the question mark behind the title "Destruction of Coziness?" Is probably set. It was never possible to overcome this intimate desire of manIt had to fail to give functional home machines a blessing. “Because living is ultimately something very conservative”, exhibition organizer Jochen Eisenbrand also put it on record in the Stuttgarter Zeitung. But: "The facilities have become lighter, the floor plans more open, the apartments are no longer so crowded." Well then.

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The exhibition “Destruction of Coziness?” Can be seen until May 28th in the Vitra Design Museum. This is located in Weil am Rhein, in the very south of the republic. Opening times: Mon-Sun 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Wed 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Guided tours: Saturday and Sunday 11:00 a.m. www.design-museum.de