Today I went to the Shiro Kuramata exhibition in the Design Museum in Ghent
When we entered, there was a motorcycle in front of us designed and signed by Philippe Starck, the famous french designer.
Shiro Kuramata is known for preferring form over function, resulting in beautiful objects that aren't comfortable to use.
These cabinets are clearly influenced by De Stijl. More particularly Piet Mondriaan.
He is also known for the use of odd materials you wouldn't associate with furniture, for example acrylic glass and steel wires.
Self portrait.
At first sight it looks like an umbrella in an umbrella holder, but in fact it is plate on the ground and a metal ring held together with a bar with a curled end that looks like an umbrella's body.
This chair was not only exhibited but was also used as a functional chair in front of a television.
Yes, that is a chair.
After visiting the floor hosting the works of Kuramata, I proceeded upstairs,
to see the permanent collection. There you are greeted by a prototype of the first rocking chair made by Thonet.
I then stumbled upon a school chairs, put together like they have less value than the other furniture.
I found this a pity because 3 chairs of them were designed by famous designers/architects, such as:
Gerrit Rietveld,
Marcel Breuer,
... and last but not least, the Barcelona chair by Mies Van der Rohe.
Also two beautiful posters of Mies Van der Rohe and the Bauhaus.
After you go upstairs again, there are shelves made of glass on the wall, holding up chairs, each made of different materials.
Here we see, pretty obvious, a paper/carton chair...
... a rebar and concrete chair,...
and a chair made of compressed carton.
The exhibit ended with seeing a closet with objects from electronic brands (i.e Philips, Bosch, Siemens,...) related to industrial design. I was disapointed that there wasn't a product of Braun in it, since they are clearly know for its design in the post-war era and had this reputation thanks to one of the most well-know industrial designers, Dieter Rams.
