Vitra Design Museum

Energy is the main driving force of our society; energy is political, energy is invisible, energy is omnipresent. All of the buildings, infrastructure and products related to the generation, distribution and utilization of energy are created by human beings. Consequently, design plays a key role in the current transition to renewable energy. The exhibition »Transform! Designing the Future of Energy« shines a light on the transformation of the energy sector from the perspective of design: from everyday products that use renewable energy to the design of solar houses and wind power stations; from smart mobility systems to futuristic visions of self-sufficient cities. What are the criteria for designing an energy-efficient product? How can design contribute to an increase in the use of renewable energy sources? How can industry, government policies and every one of us help to achieve the transition to a sustainable future?

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Image: XTU architectes, X_Land, Rendering, 2020 © XTU architectes

Vitra Schaudepot

Luis Barragán (1902–1988) is widely regarded as the most important Mexican architect of the twentieth century. Since 1996, the architect’s professional estate has been in the care of the Barragan Foundation, located in Birsfelden, near Basel in Switzerland. Over the past two decades, a small team of researchers under the leadership of architectural historian Federica Zanco has systematically evaluated and catalogued the archival documents. As part of a newly established partnership between the Barragan Foundation and the Vitra Design Museum, this material has moved to new premises on the Vitra Campus. The Barragán Archive is now located in close proximity to the Vitra Schaudepot. This includes a state-of-the-art repository for the documents, a study room for visiting researchers, and the Barragán Gallery, a thematic exhibition space. The gallery show presents drawings, photographs and other material from the Barragán Archive, together with biographical details and an illustrated chronology of modern architecture in Mexico. This ensemble of documents and supplementary information illuminates Barragán’s life and work in a larger context.

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Image: Rooftop terrace of Luis Barragán’s residence at 14 Calle Francisco Ramírez (Mexico City, 1948), photograph taken by Armando Salas Portugal in the 1960s. © Barragan Foundation / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2022

Visitors can experience the Wunderkammer exclusively as part of a public guided tour. Registration here.

Another attraction on the Vitra Campus, the »Wunderkammer« presents spellbinding mise-en-scènes featuring more than one thousand action figures from the collection of Rolf Fehlbaum, Chairman Emeritus of Vitra. This  includes robots, space toys, comic book characters, folk art, and advertising, often created by anonymous artists and designers. The majority of these objects were made after the Second World War and bear all the marks of their  period’s optimistic faith in the future. All of them are products of a pop culture that still fascinates millions of children and grown-ups today.

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Image: Objects from the Rolf Fehlbaum collection at the Wunderkammer,
photo: Bettina Matthiessen