Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website 2035: US Edition Virgil Abloh c/o Vitra
dicembre 04, 2020 - Vitra

2035: US Edition Virgil Abloh c/o Vitra

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

Starting on 3 December on Basic.Space

In 2019, #vitra and Virgil Abloh presented the installation TWENTYTHIRTYFIVE, his vision of a future home, in the Fire Station on the #vitra Campus. Three products developed by the American architect, artist and designer were launched in a limited edition as spin-offs of the exhibition. #vitra and Virgil Abloh are now presenting an edition of limited pieces available to consumers globally through the online marketplace Basic.Space. Scheduled to drop 3 December, the launch of the new edition will be celebrated with a number of activities. The collection will be unveiled during #design Miami as part of an installation hosted by Basic.Space. To mark the start of the drop, Virgil Abloh and Nora Fehlbaum, CEO of #vitra, will discuss the collaboration and related aspects in a dialogue.

Virgil Abloh is known for pushing boundaries and using creativity to communicate socio-political messages, while #vitra has a long history of undertaking experimental projects with designers, architects and artists that test the limitations of design’s predicted norms. The Virgil Abloh c/o #vitra collaboration invites people of all generations and backgrounds to have conversations about both social issues and #design topics.

‘I feel that it’s urgent, as designers, to make sure that #design doesn’t leave out the 17-year-old boy who has no clue about art or #design history,’ explains Virgil Abloh. ‘My hope for this collaboration is to further strengthen this bond with the new generation, providing them with further inspiration, as well as room for thought and a sense of inclusion. This collaboration invites the new generation into the conversation – my work is meant to open doors for them.’

‘What I find particularly inspiring about Virgil Abloh is that he comes to the table as an outsider, with a fresh look at our collection and a different pace, free of constraints,’ says Nora Fehlbaum, #vitra CEO. ‘I’m interested in the way that he structures knowledge and passes it on to a new generation in such a condensed manner. He manages to shift the topic of #design classics away from the discourse of an intellectual elite to make them accessible to a wider public.’

The spin-off collection is related to an earlier collaboration that dropped during Art Basel in 2019 on the #vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany, involving the futuristic exhibition TWENTYTHIRTYFIVE. The three pieces – a Ceramic Block, along with the Petite Potence lamp and Antony armchair originally designed by Jean Prouvé – are now reimagined in baby blue. The ‘hacked’ Prouvé pieces demonstrate how the power of #design can evolve in order to speak to a new generation.

Virgil Abloh’s artistic intervention focuses on the interaction between an adolescent and his home surroundings. On one hand, it looks at how the evolution of technology and changes in society might affect our homes, touching on such themes as sustainability by means of recycling, dematerialisation and overabundance – or as Abloh suggests: ‘It’s arguable whether we will even have a need for furniture by 2035.’ On the other hand, it addresses the degree to which our environment influences our life path, our tastes and the decisions we make over time. ‘My studio has an ambition that the world can be a better place. Aesthetics will be impacted by the events of 2020, and in my mind, things will have to mean and represent something, and the meaning of the world is now getting recalibrated,’ says Abloh.

On 3 December, a dialogue will stream between Virgil Abloh and #vitra CEO Nora Fehlbaum about the collaboration and the impact of current social and political changes followed by a special DJ performance by Pedro Cavaliere.

The collection will be unveiled during #design Miami as part of an installation hosted by Basic.Space.

The products

Ceramic Block

In the installation ‘2035: US Edition Virgil Abloh c/o #vitra, the visitor’s gaze is directed to the future with a wall of consecutively numbered bricks: the Ceramic Blocks. These glazed ceramic objects are not just a structural element but also take on a life of their own as storage objects in Virgil Abloh’s exhibition concept. The limited edition comprises 999 Ceramic Blocks, in baby blue, each with a noticeable numeral that makes it unique. They can either be purchased directly from the Basic.Space ‘gallery’, modifying the installation with every block that is acquired, or ordered from the curated online marketplace Basic.Space from 3 December.

Petite Potence

Jean Prouvé created the Potence wall lamp for his home in Nancy in 1942, and the #design was soon produced in a range of sizes. Virgil Abloh is fascinated by the industrial clarity of this concept and integrates the smaller Petite Potence in his installation. He has accentuated the industrial DNA of the #design with a baby blue lacquer finish that gives it a new visibility, while a striking LED bulb in an oblong cage further enhances the appearance. Virgil Abloh’s version of Petite Potence is available in a limited and numbered edition of 150 pieces.

Antony

The armchair Antony was developed by Jean Prouvé in the early 1950s for the university halls of residence in Antony near Paris. With its dynamically curved wooden shell and characteristic metal base, this small armchair was one of the French designer’s last furniture creations. Virgil Abloh pays tribute to the iconic #design with an updated version in his installation. He has transformed the armchair by giving it a frosted plexiglass shell, which is further accentuated by a baby blue lacquer finish. This version is available in a numbered edition limited to 150 pieces.

Ti potrebbe interessare anche

giugno 08, 2023
maggio 29, 2023
settembre 09, 2022

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. For 3daysofdesign 2023, #royalcopenhagen and #vitra are joining forces to ...

Vitra ha #Prodotto in collaborazione con l'Eames Office e Herman Miller 500 pezzi dell'Eames Fiberglass Armchair with Steinberg ca...

Le #vitra Sessions sono una serie di brevi eventi digitali, che sondano il modo in cui si stanno evolvendo gli uffici, le case e g...