As part of the exhibition “Nomadic Furniture, New Liberated Living” at the Austrian Museum for Contemporary Design (MAK) in Vienna, the coffee tables CALVERT and CHARLOTTE by Ferdinand Kramer will be exhibited next to pieces by other artists and designers. The coffee table CALVERT will additionally become part of the permanent collection of the MAK.
The exhibition takes the current increasing demand for do-it-yourself instructions for furniture and furnishings as an occasion to trace the origins of this movement and pursue them to the present day. The coffee tables CALVERT and CHARLOTTE, designed in 1951 by Ferdinand Kramer, are especially apt examples. The publications Nomadic Furniture 1 and 2 by Victor Papanek and James Hennessey (1973/74) and Enzo Mari’s Autoprogettazione project (1974) are important references and starting points for depicting the DIY movement as a contemporary phenomenon. Not only have the developmental and production processes in design changed fundamentally since the 1970s, but also the needs and awareness of consumers. At the interface of design, manufacture, and use these alternative design strategies are examined as solutions for socially and ecologically committed design. Partially recreatable furniture and designs by both anonymous and renowned designers will be shown.
Nomadic Furniture 3.0
New liberated living
12 June – 6 October 2013
MAK-Ausstellungshalle
Stubenring 5
1010 Vienna
www.mak.at
