art december in london . part 3

David Chipperfield - Form Matters

21.10.2009-31.01.2010

Design Museum

Sir David Chipperfield's show is ending tomorrow. If you have not visited yet and enjoy contemporary architecture with a minimal poetic vocabulary, you should not missed the chance to have a look at the English master's impressive display of drawings, photos and models of his works.

Americas Cup Building at Valencia

This video is not part of the exhibits in the show, but it could show how the real building looks -

David Chipperfield: Veles e Vents, Valencia by atelieritalia

Model of Anchorage Museum at Alaska

Model display combined with John Morgan's illustration form the main focus in the show

The most impressive project is the Neues Museum in Berlin. Chipperfield has paid due respect to the historic significance of the building, and at the same time create a spatial departure from the past to enable visitors to have a renewed experience of the building. There is an area dedicated to the project -

Drawings are displayed which has documented every detail of the building, new & old construction

Facade language

Site photo

Scaled model

Internal view of the scaled model

Photo of realisation

Scaled model showing the brick construction

And in case you do not know, he is a londoner :)

Full photo set here

*****

Less & More - the Design Ethos of Dieter Rams

18.11.2009-07.03.2010

Design Museum

'Timeless' seems to be a cliché for design appreciation. Take a look at Dieter Rams's selection of products exhibited in the show, I see nothing more than a dedication to the essence of function and simplicity in the design. Everything he has made for Braun or selected for the show, they look so 'relevant' still even they are produced some 50 years ago.

Dieter Ram's residence

Dieter Ram's workshop

I think the reason why they look so 'relevant' is that the design has made it so intuitive you know what the product is for and how it works in your first look. There is no need to figure out where the operating buttons are or which button is for what function. And I guess this is what 'timeless design' means.

Apart from the products, the exhibition also celebrates the propaganda of them. These posters strip out every possible graphical distraction such as slogans or logos, and give you the product itself as the only focus to appreciate its inner beauty.

This is the toaster in real featured in the poster above

A range of camcorders

Exhibition set

A radio

Full photo set here

*****

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Independent London art tweets & bites since 2009

art december in london . part 3