Daniel Weil: Time Machines

Design Museum hosts in London “Time Machines”, an exhibition devoted to Daniel Weil’s work that spans his thirty years at the forefront of design practice.

The first museum exhibition devoted to Daniel Weil’s work spans his thirty years at the forefront of design practice – from young Royal College of Art student, newly arrived from Argentina, to longstanding Partner at Pentagram who has taught and inspired the next generation.

Witty and thought-provoking, “Time Machines: Daniel Weil and the Art of Design” features a series of specially created pieces, as well opening up Weil’s sketchbooks and personal archive for the first time. The exhibition includes some of his earliest work, such as 1981’s influential Bag Radio, as well as commissions for Swatch, United Airlines, Krug, Mothercare and the Pet Shop Boys.

Clocks, cutlery, a chess set – nearly all of Weil’s designs evolve from simple pencil drawings in one of the hundreds of identical hardback sketchbooks that he has always used as the starting point for designing. On display for the first time, these sketchbooks are shown alongside the mass of ephemera that activates his imagination.

Daniel Weril: Time Machine — Architect clock © Daniel Weil

The exhibition focuses on the process of design, about how a designer thinks and works. Weil, former RCA Professor of Industrial Design and Memphis participant, presents his experience and philosophy of design practice as a manifesto of ‘actions for designers’. Continuously inventive, Weil plays with fundamental elements of time, light, space and sound – always seeking a new connection, a fresh approach.

The pieces on display, from found objects to finished products, tell a story not of design, but of designing.