Courtesy of Sam Jacob Studio
The inaugural show at the new London Design Museum, Fear and Love, presents a collection of “reactions to a complex world.” Featuring eleven specially-commissioned installations designed by the likes of OMA/AMO, Hussein Chalayan, Andrés Jaque and Metahaven, the spatial context which frames them is the work of Sam Jacob Studio.
© Max Creasy
According to the architect, the design “plays on the ambiguity at the heart of the exhibition, creating a curving ‘soft baroque’ plan.” A single 190 meter-long curtain winds its way through the gallery to create “a variety of opposing spatial sensations […] with a controlled consistency.”
It forms rooms, loose enclosures and alcoves that shift between open and closed, inside and outside, small and large, dark and light.
“Materially, the design uses a simple palette of curtains to create a visual language that is not easily placed. A dark grey translucent PVC gives a futuristic and industrial feel, while its sharp and sinuous folds suggest a sense of luxury. This is contrasted with a Kvadrat felt curtain that gives sensations of warmth and texture. The combination of these materials creates rich and varying effects of translucency and enclosure.”
© Max Creasy
“At the entrance to the gallery a striking neon and two way mirror totem advertises the exhibition to the foyer of the museum while acting as an atmospheric introduction. The totem appears at first as a blank mirrored box, then as the neon sequence lights up, appears as a deep infinity reflection.”
Signage and communication was developed with graphic designers OK-RM. Fear and Love runs from 24th November 2016 to 23rd April 2017.
Courtesy of Sam Jacob Studio
Sig Nordal 