Design between Human and Machine
February 11–May 14, 2017
Whether in the form of delivery drones, smart sensors, or Industry 4.0—in recent years, robotics has been changing our everyday lives in fundamental ways. Design has a central role in this process, for it is designers who shape the interfaces between humans and machines. The Vitra Design Museum will present a major exhibition that examines the current boom in robotics in detail for the first time. Entitled Hello, Robot. Design between Human and Machine, the exhibition will showcase more than 200 exhibits from the fields of design and art—including robots used in the home, in nursing care, and in industry, as well as computer games, media installations, and countless references from film and literature. It will show the wide range of forms that robotics takes today and at the same time broaden our awareness of the associated ethical, social, and political issues.
The Elytra Filament Pavilion will complement the exhibition on the Vitra Campus. The project was developed by a team from the University of Stuttgart, including the experimental architect Achim Menges, and highlights the growing influence of robotics on architecture.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue which highlights our often ambivalent attitude to new technologies and examines questions that robotics raises—both for us as individuals and for society as a whole.
International cooperation partners
The exhibition is a cooperation between the Vitra Design Museum, the MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art, Vienna, and the Design museum Gent. Curators: Amelie Klein (Vitra Design Museum), Thomas Geisler and Marlies Wirth (MAK Vienna), Fredo De Smet (Design museum Gent, advising curator)
Contributors (selection)
Woody Allen, Archigram, Asmbld, automato.farm, Hanna Barbera, Philip Beesley, Wafaa Bilal, Francis Bitonti, Björk, Rosi Braidotti, Julius Breitenstein, Bureau d'études, Sander Burger, Edward Burtynsky, Dan Chen, Jan De Coster, Douglas Coupland, Disney/Pixar Animation Studios, Dunne & Raby, ECAL, Tal Erez, Flower Robotics, Paul Feigelfeld, Vincent Fournier, Yves Gellie, Gramazio & Kohler Research/ETH Zurich, Kevin Grennan, Vicente Guallart, Susanna Hertrich, Höweler + Yoon Architecture, Zan-Lun Huang, Ted Hunt/Luke Sturgeon/Hiroki Yokoyama, ICD University of Stuttgart, Interactive Architecture Lab, Alfredo Jaar, Spike Jonze, Joris Laarman Lab, Floris Kaayk, Friedrich Kiesler, Elizabeth King/Richard Kizu-Blair, Dirk Vander Kooij, Kraftwerk, KRAM/WEISSHAAR, Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas, Greg Lynn, Keiichi Matsuda, MIT Senseable City Lab, Shawn Maximo, Moth Collective, NASA, Next Nature Network, Christoph Niemann, Tatsuya Matsui, Ruben Pater/Gonçalo F Cardoso, Johanna Pichlbauer/Mia Meusburger, Eric Pickersgill, Joseph Popper, Gerard Ralló, Carlo Ratti, RC4/UCL the Bartlett/CurVoxels, Alexander Reben, robotlab, Rafaël Rozendaal, Philipp Schmitt/Stephan Bogner/Jonas Voigt, Takanori Shibata, Masamune Shirow, Hajime Sorayama, Ismael Soto, Bruce Sterling/Sheldon Brown, Superflux, Jacques Tati, Kibwe Tavares, Osamu Tezuka, Anouk Wipprecht, and many others
Press
BUREAU N, Stefanie Lockwood: T +49 30 62736 104 / stefanie.lockwood [at] bureau-n.de
Vitra Design Museum, Iris Mickein: T +49 7621 702 3153 / communications [at] design-museum.de
