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Typologies in design. An exhibition in Weil am Rhein

Anonymously designed products and archetypal objects are a point of interest for virtually every designer. Because after all, not all objects are the work of designers. Many come into being as creatorless everyday objects, their form, function and materiality evolving over time – sometimes over the course of centuries. In some cases, it is merely the details of the objects which change. In other cases, radical shifts in society, politics and technology bring about fundamental transformations. These items – think, for example, of the clothes peg, the paper clip and the cork – form a long list. With the exhibition Typology: An Ongoing Study of Everyday Items, the Vitra Design Museum is once again venturing into this exciting terrain, as it did with the 2010 exhibition “The Essence of Things”. This time, the central focus is on the research work of French design collective “Collections Typologie”. The exhibition presents not only the results of the collective’s research, but also its ongoing work on fruit and vegetable crates. Collections Typologie is composed of four French product designers: Raphaël Daufresne, Thélonious Goupil, Guillaume Bloget and Guillaume Jandin. With the goal of drawing closer attention to everyday objects, the four have been researching individual object types in meticulous detail since 2016, and presenting their results in tastefully designed publications and exhibitions. Why redesign the paper clip when the original is already perfect? The exhibition will be on display at the Vitra Design Museum Gallery until 3 May 2020.