With a project and research activity that spans design, craft and technology, the Dutch designer Hella Jongerius (born in 1963 in De Meern) has become one of the most innovatory resources of contemporary design. London’s Design Museum is devoting a major retrospective exhibition to her figure and work – superlative comparisons having already been made with other female-designers of the past, ranging from Eileen Gray to Charlotte Perriand.

Curated in collaboration with the designer herself, the exhibition has unearthed pieces from her personal archives and follows a career rooted in the Droog Design collective. It includes prized one-offs produced in limited numbers, such as the ‘embroidered’ ceramic vases and the crystal chandelier (a sumptuous ball-gown) designed for Swarovsky, as well as the visionary ‘My Soft Office’ project focusing on the office of the future.

Her products are born out of the encounter-clash between old and new, hi-tech and low-tech (the boundaries of which are increasingly blurred) and are ironical metaphors of the contradictions of contemporary culture, capable of transforming even imperfections in a precious resource.

5.7.2003 – 26.10.2003
Hella Jongerius
Design Museum
Shad Thames, London
T +44-08708339955
https://www.designmuseum.org
https://www.jongeriuslab.com