An exhibition of industrial design curated by Munich designer Konstantin Grcic opens at the Serpentine Gallery in London this week.
Called Design Real, the show will feature mass-produced items designed for everyday life, which have all been released in the last ten years.
It includes work by designers including Jasper Morrison, Ross Lovegrove and Zaha Hadid alongside anonymous designs, and encompasses furniutre, household objects, technical tools and industrial inventions.
The exhibition opens on Thursday 26 November and continues until 7 February.
Look out for our podcast with Grcic on Dezeen soon.
Here's some more information from the Serpentine Gallery:
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Design Real
Konstantin Grcic curates Serpentine’s first-ever contemporary design exhibition
26 November 2009 – 7 February 2010
Across the globe, there is a growing awareness of design and its impact on the world we inhabit. Like contemporary art, design both shapes and reflects our constantly changing society. Good design understands human behaviour, offers pragmatic solutions to problems and enhances our everyday experience.
Above: Heaven, Swedese Möbler designed by Thomas Bernstrand
Design Real, curated by the renowned industrial designer Konstantin Grcic, is the Serpentine Gallery’s first exhibition devoted to contemporary design. Grcic’s selection for the exhibition focuses on ‘real’ items: mass-produced items that have a practical function in everyday life.
Above: Hand Grip Megaphone ER-1206W, TOA designed by Shin Azumi
The exhibition presents a wide range of products with different styles and functions, from furniture and household products to technical and industrial innovations.
Above: Elements for Blind People designed by Pictoform
With objects from well-known designers, such as a chair by Jasper Morrison, luggage by Ross Lovegrove and waterproof shoes by Zaha Hadid, as well as products by anonymous designers, including a wheel-shaped water container, a municipal recycling bin and aVolvo tail light, the exhibition provides new perspectives from which to look at the material world around us, encouraging new insights into design.
Above: Melissa + Zaha Hadid, Melissa Plastic Dreams designed by Zaha Hadid
Grcic says of the exhibition: ‘What interests me about industrial design is how these things are made, in what material, and how this has affected their language and their quality.
Above: Speedglas 9100 Welding Shield designed by 3M
Some objects are very technically-driven; the function really determines the object. Other objects have much more of a signature or an authorship; you see the handwriting of the designer who made it and that’s what makes it so special. There is only one common denominator for the objects selected for Design Real: they came on to the market not more than ten years ago.’
Above: Bina, Santa & Cole designed by Gonzalo Milá and Martina Zink
The Serpentine’s central gallery features a research space expanding on themes developed in Design Real, designed by Grcic especially for the exhibition. A dedicated internet site, www.design-real.com, designed by Field Trip, is the exhibition’s central resource and an integral part of its concept.
Above: Gregory, Ligne Roset designed by Gregory Lacoua
The site investigates the objects in the exhibition in detail, exploring aspects of their development, production and use.Visitors to Design Real can access the site in the exhibition’s research space. The space is also the setting for a series of free public Saturday Seminars at 3pm.
Above: KR 5 arc designed by KUKA Automation + Robotics
Design Real is curated by Konstantin Grcic, in association with Julia Peyton-Jones, Director, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-director, and Kathryn Rattee, Curator, Serpentine Gallery. Exhibition design in collaboration with Alex Rich and Jürg Lehni.
Above: Yang, Artemide designed by Carlotta de Bevilacqua
Konstantin Grcic
One of the most influential figures in 21st-century design, Konstantin Grcic, born in Munich in 1965, founded Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design (KGID) in 1991. KGID specialises in various fields of design ranging from industrial products to exhibition design. Grcic’s products have received prestigious international design awards and form part of the permanent collections of institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, NewYork, and the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris.
Above: Babybjörn Baby Carrier Synergy, Babybjörn designed by Ergonomidesign
Serpentine Gallery
Since 2000, the Serpentine Gallery has presented its annual Pavilion commission, the only architecture project of its ambition worldwide. Following the international success of the Pavilion programme, the Serpentine is developing its commitment to design by inviting German product designer Konstantin Grcic to curate Design Real, the Gallery’s first-ever exhibition of contemporary design.
Above: Volvo XC60 designed by Volvo Car Corporation
Serpentine Gallery
Kensington Gardens
London W2 3XA