MAK DESIGN LAB
From art to the everyday world and a new quality of life
MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art
Stubenring 5
1010 Vienna
Austria
Hours: Tuesday 10am–10pm (free admission 6–10pm),
Wednesday–Sunday 10am–6pm
On May 12, the MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art, Vienna, celebrated its 150th anniversary by opening the MAK DESIGN LAB, which replaces the Study Collection in a 1,900-square-meter exhibition space. With the MAK DESIGN LAB, the museum has undertaken a radical repositioning that focuses the world-famous MAK Collection more clearly on everyday life and provides new insights into the multifaceted universe of design. In cooperation with the renowned Austrian design firm EOOS and with curatorial advice from the IDRV – Institute of Design Research Vienna, the MAK has launched a dynamic concept dedicated to positive change with an emphasis on the responsibility of design toward the betterment of society.
The MAK DESIGN LAB aims to contribute to a better understanding of contemporary design as a globally connected open laboratory committed to sustainability, social inclusion, and lifelong learning. At the core of the MAK DESIGN LAB is the MAK FORUM, a flexible, multifunctional space that will be used to explore current design topics in cooperation with the University of Applied Arts Vienna and other research partners, as well as with companies dedicated to positive change. The MAK FORUM will allow the museum to test new exhibitions, presentations, and learning formats.
By expanding the notion of design—traditionally restricted to the 20th and 21st centuries—to encompass applied art objects and processes of earlier centuries, the MAK DESIGN LAB provides a basic orientation for nonspecialists and opens up new perspectives on the current role of design. Nearly 2,000 objects are presented to the public in new constellations, arranged according to themes relevant to our society. Visitors will find thematic islands devoted to specific topics including cooking, eating and drinking, sitting, artistic production, industrial design, alternative production methods, communicating, and ornamentation, as well as to outstanding designers such as Josef Hoffmann and Helmut Lang. A new, participatory approach provides interactive encounters that illuminate the importance of art and human creativity as central driving forces for enhancing quality of life.
“With the MAK DESIGN LAB,” explains MAK Director Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, “we hope to reach out to new audiences and contribute to a better understanding of design as a key discipline for improving our lives and creating a better society—what it meant in the past, the role it plays today and how it can shape the future.”
