MAK Design Lab

The “MAK Design Lab”, opened on the occasion of the MAK’s 150th birthday, provides insights into the multifaceted universe of the applied arts.

In a 1900-square-meter exhibition space, nearly 2,000 objects are presented to the public in a new constellation, arranged according to relevant themes of our society.

A new, participative approach provides interactive encounters that illuminate the importance of artistically conceived everyday objects and the key role of design as a central driving force for a new quality of life.

With the “MAK Design Lab”, the museum has undertaken a radical new positioning of the former “MAK Study collection”, and the design concept of the LAB has been consciously chosen as a contrast to the MAK Permanent Collection. Andy Warhol once said: “When you think about it, department stores are kind of like museums.” Taking this idea the other way round, the “MAK Design Lab” is oriented on the dramaturgy of a supermarket. In cooperation with the renowned Austrian design team EOOS and under the curatorial supervision of the IDRV – Institute of Design Research Vienna, a dynamic concept emerged in which collection objects can be contrasted or placed in relation to each other, making it possible to directly experience art historical and inter-disciplinary interconnections.

Whereas the “MAK Study collection” was arranged in a material-specific manner for more than 20 years, the “MAK Design Lab” has been so designed that themes and spaces converge. Newly created connecting passages and the conversion of parts of the former hallways result in a new spatial experience.

Left: Dirk Vander Kooij, Endless Pulse Low Chair (Green Gradient), 2010 © Courtesy of Studio Dirk Vander Kooij. Right: mischer'traxler, bench and lamp from the series The idea of a tree, 2009/2010 © mischer'traxler

Ernst Beranek, Toastgrill Producer: Dr. Konrad Burg, Vienna, Austrian State Prize for Good Design 1967 © Daniela Beranek

Left: Hans Hollein, Stool for the Boutique CM, 1966 © MAK/Georg Mayer. Right: Studio Formafantasma, Vase Botanica (Winter Garden Collection), 2013 © MAK/Katrin Wißkirchen

MAK Sammlungsobjekt

Ettore Sottsass, Jr., double module stove/oven and sink/dishwasher from the environment for the exhibition Italy: The New Domestic Landscape at the Museum of Modern Art New York (1972), Italy, 1971 © MAK/Georg Mayer

MAK Design Lab
MAK
Stubenring 5
Vienna

MAK Design Lab

The “MAK Design Lab”, opened on the occasion of the MAK’s 150th birthday, provides insights into the multifaceted universe of the applied arts.

MAK Sammlungsobjekt

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