Furniture generated by smart algorithms, the world’s first fully functional 3-D printed steel bridge and a 3-D printable Makerchair that can be downloaded from the internet. These are but a few examples of the ingenious oeuvre of designer/inventor Joris Laarman, who works at the intersection of design, art and engineering. From September 27 through January 15, 2018, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum will present “Joris Laarman Lab: Design in the Digital Age.” Organized by the Groninger Museum, the Netherlands, the exhibition will make its U.S. debut at Cooper Hewitt and travel to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
“Since Cooper Hewitt first acquired Joris’ design school thesis project, the Heat Wave Radiator, we have keenly watched him build a body of work that abolished traditional distinctions between the natural and machine-made, decorative and functional, and points towards an exciting new furutre for design,” said Cooper Hewitt Director Caroline Baumann. “This exhibition will be a stimulating journey of discovery that will delve deeply into Joris’ conceptual thinking and collaborative approach to design, as well as his embrace of experimentation to fuel his creative process.”
Joris Laarman Lab, founded in 2004 with filmmaker and partner Anita Star, employs a team of engineers, programmers and craftspeople to conduct cutting-edge experiments, using manufacturing processes that are often as innovative as the end results.
Organized by the Groninger Museum’s Chief Curator Mark Wilson and Curator of Contemporary Art, Design and Fashion Sue-an van der Zijpp, the exhibition features early, recent and new work by Laarman, alongside videos, sketches, renderings and experimental objects. The exhibition at Cooper Hewitt is overseen by Assistant Curator of Contemporary Design Andrea Lipps.
VISIT MUSEUM’S WEBSITE: Groninger Museum, Groningen, Netherlands; Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; High Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Groninger Museum, Groningen, Netherlands. November 22, 2015 – April 10, 2016.
Installation Views:
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, NY, September 27, 2017 – January 15, 2018.
Installation Views:
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA. February 17 – May 13, 2018
Installation Views:
About Joris Laarman
Joris Laarman was born in Borculo, Netherlands. He graduated Cum Laude from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2003. Laarman first received international recognition for his “Heatwave radiator” produced by the Dutch design brand Droog and later manufactured by Jaga Climate Systems.
In 2004, Laarman together with his partner Anita Star, founded Joris Laarman Lab in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The lab collaborates with craftsmen, scientists and engineers and the possibilities of emerging technologies as CNC systems, 3D printing, robotics or simulation software.
Laarman’s designs are in the permanent collections and exhibitions in such institutions as the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Victoria & Albert Museum, London ; Centre Pompidou, Paris.
He has contributed to articles and seminars for Domus Magazine and has lectured at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London, the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam and the Design Academy Eindhoven.
