Nature has been a constant source of inspiration in the ... - eMuseum

Guided tours of the exhibition
Every Wednesday, 18.30
Every first Sunday of the month, 14.00
You can find further information on the tours at:
www.museum-gestaltung.ch
Special guided tours (also in English) on request: Tel +41 (0)43 446 67 10
or marilena.cipriano@hgkz.ch
Workshops for secondary and vocational school classes: Please contact the
Betriebsbüro schule&kultur, Kim Bänteli, Tel. +41 (0)43 322 24 46 or
kim.baenteli@schuleundkultur.ch
PASSAGE 1
DIE ENTDECKUNG DER NATUR
DISCOVERING NATURE
PASSAGE 2
JUGENDSTIL
ART NOUVEAU
PASSAGE 3
1930-1970
1930s to 1970s
ZOOMORPH
ZOOMORPHE
PASSAGE 4
GEGENWART
CONTEMPORARY
Opening times
Tuesday–Thursday, 10.00–20.00, Friday–Sunday, 10.00–17.00
Saturday/Sunday, 1/2 September 2007, Zurich museums’ night 19.00–02.00
Sunday, 4 November 2007, Open House, free entrance
Monday closed
MEER
SEA
ANTHROPOMORPH
ANTHROPOMORPHE
TOPOGRAPHIE
TOPOGRAPHY
KLIMA
CLIMATE
The publication on the exhibition
Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (Ed.)
Nature Design. From Inspiration to Innovation
With essays by Barry Bergdoll, Dario Gamboni, Angeli Sachs and Philip Ursprung
Softbound, 16.5 x 24 cm, 320 pages, approx. 350 illustrations
ISBN 978-3-03778-100-5 German, ISBN 978-03778-098-5 English
Lars Müller Publishers, CHF 45
To order: verlag@museum-gestaltung.ch or by fax: +41 (0)43 446 45 67
Museum für Gestaltung Zürich
Ausstellungsstrasse 60, CH-8005 Zürich
Tram 4 and 13, tram stop Museum für Gestaltung
Tel +41 (0)43 446 67 67, www.museum-gestaltung.ch
We thank our partners and sponsors
WALD
FOREST
Nature has been a constant source of inspiration in the design of the human environment,
but one cannot help notice that the relationship between nature and the various
design disciplines has in recent years intensified. The «model of nature», with its
forms, structures, and laws of construction, does not only flow into the widest range
of concepts and design processes, but also can be expressed in a broad spectrum of
forms and functions. Nature Design refers to this phenomenon and presents an international
selection of objects and projects from the fields of design, architecture,
landscape architecture, art, photography, and scientific research, works that do not
simply depict or imitate nature, but use it as a starting point and reservoir of inspiration
for eclectic and innovative responses to the relationship between man and his
environment.
The exhibition is divided into different sections: the historical and theoretical backgrounds
of culminating moments in the relationship between nature and design from
the eighteenth century until the present are exemplified in four «passages.» They
appear alternately with seven «thematic landscapes» in which the whole spectrum of
the inspiration of nature and the concern with its processes can be seen. The thematic
landscapes are: the sea with its flora and fauna, topographic concepts, the forms and
materials of forests and of plants, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic approaches, the
sense of scent, and climate.
GERUCH
SCENT
ARCTIC PAPER SCHWEIZ AG
With the support of the French Embassy and CulturesFrance

In the first passage, «The Discovery of Nature», the basic principles for the overall
project are laid out, and the history of our understanding of nature and its artistic interpretation
since the eighteenth century up to the 1920s is illustrated. Three further
passages focus on culminating periods of nature’s influence on modern design: Art
Nouveau, in which the model of nature, especially the plant world and the dynamics
of its growth, played a more influential role than in almost any other art movement;
the 1930s to the 1970s, with its tendency towards organic design and technoid visions
of the future; and contemporary design, inspired by various concepts of nature.
Primarily represented here is a series of pioneering architecture projects that show
distinctive contemporary interactions between nature and design.
In the thematic landscapes, the objects and projects from the history of twentiethcentury
design up to the present–culled from architecture, landscape architecture,
and art–can be experienced as individual exhibits on the one hand, and, on the other,
taken together they form a scenery in which the respective theme is presented in its
various aspects.
Zurich designer Frédéric Dedelley is responsible for the «Nature Design» exhibition
architecture. The exhibition is divided into two interconnecting areas. In the theoretically
oriented sections the exhibits are presented in oversized but classical table cabinets
– like objects in a natural history museum. At the centre of the hall, large islands
spread out which are reminiscent of rocky landscapes. These artificial rocks are used
for the presentation of exhibits that are allocated to the various thematic landscapes
according to analogies of form.
A number of artists, designers, architects, and landscape architects have developed
works that respond to this concept and make complex contributions to the exhibition.
Nature Design is intended to show the multiple possibilities in the rediscovery and
reinvention of Nature, and to open up new perspectives.
Programme accompanying the exhibition
Design and Innovation
Wednesday, 17 October 2007, 20.00, Halle
With Günter Horntrich (Designer and Professor of Ecology and Design, Köln International
School of Design, KISD, Cologne), Steffen Köhl (Head of Automobile
Design, DaimlerChrysler AG, Sindelfingen), Jürgen Mayer H. (Architect, Berlin
and Guest Professor, Columbia University, New York), Yusuke Obuchi (Co-Director,
Design Research Lab, Architectural Association, London), François Roche (R&Sie(n)
architects and Guest Professor, Columbia University, Paris/New York)
Chair: Gerrit Terstiege (Editor Form, Basel)
In English and German
Die ideale Landschaft
Wednesday, 7 November 2007, 20.00, Halle
With Ines Schaber (Artist, Berlin), Jörg Stollmann (Architect, Zürich), Günther Vogt
(Landscape architect, Zürich), Christian Waldvogel (Artist, Zürich)
Chair: Angeli Sachs (Curator «Nature Design» and Head of Exhibitions,
Museum für Gestaltung Zürich)
In German
Im Reich der Düfte. Eine olfaktorische Weltreise
Wednesday, 28 November 2007, 20.00, Halle
Talk by Roman Kaiser (Director Natural Scents, Givaudan Schweiz AG)
In German
Symposia
Inspiration Nature
Friday 21 / Saturday 22 September 2007
A symposium of the exhibitions «Jugendstil» at Museum Bellerive and «Nature
Design» at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich in cooperation with the Design
Department of the Zurich University of the Arts
21 September, 18.30, Museum Bellerive, Höschgasse 3, 8008 Zürich
22 September, 9.00 – 17.00, Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Lecture Hall
In German and English
Programme at
www.museum-gestaltung.ch
Tickets: Advance sales and box office at the museum shops
Vorwärts zur Natur Design zwischen Innovation und Evolution
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
A symposium of the Design Department of the Zurich University of the Arts in
cooperation with the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich
21 November, 9.30 – 17.00, Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Lecture Hall
Limited number of places, please register for participation from 17.9.2007 with
nicole.abler@zhdk.ch
Detailed programme from 17.9.2007
at www.zhdk.ch