exhibition
from 25.07.2008 to 05.10.2008

Design Deutschland

Case Study 08

On the one hand snapshots of cutting edge designs – on the other icons of German modernist design: the risk of presenting the two together marks this first special exhibition since the return of the design section and its new presentation in cooperation with Die Neue Sammlung München.

From graphic and interior design to the development of industrial products – that is the spectrum of this thematically arranged cross-section of contemporary and classic designs by German designers and companies from past till present. The themes cover such aspects as material, position, function, system and tools – which have not only been formative for German design but also retained their validity to this day. They lend structure to the exhibition and determine the choice and the layout of the exhibits: from Max Bill's famous wall clock to the sixties plastic wall tidy unit Uten.silo designed by Dorothee Becker, to the latest bar stool Miura by Konstantin Grcic.

The English word case with its several meanings points here both to a particular installation featuring cases used for the exhibits, as well as to the case in point: "Design Deutschland". Through this experimental approach, light is shed on the essence of German design by taking select items by way of example. At the same time a tradition can be observed in the values cherished by German modernist design: design is there to solve problems.

This maxim was devised in the early 20th century by for instance the German Werkbund and in the 1920s by the Bauhaus, and continued to be pursued in the 1950s and '60s by the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm. And a great many current designs also subscribe to this ethos.

Case Study 08 sees its task as collecting and collating data amid the wide diversity and rich history of German design – giving a stimulating overview and an exciting snapshot of 2008.

An exhibition in cooperation with Die Neue Sammlung München as well as German Design Council and imm cologne.