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.
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."
"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.
