Serpentine Gallery stages first contemporary design show

(Raphael Hefti)

After building a name for its pavilion architecture series, the prominent London gallery opens its first contemporary design display Real Design November 26, curated by German industrial designer Konstantin Grcic.

Organizers say of the exhibition that "Grcic's selection for the exhibition focuses on ‘real' items: mass-produced items that have a practical function in everyday life," while the selection is truly contemporary: none of the items are older than ten years.

They include plastic shoes by Zaha Hadid or a Jasper Morrison chair, but also objects made by lesser known or even anonymous designers, spanning interior design as well as technological innovations.

Grcic comments: "Some objects are very technically-driven; the function really determines the object. Other objects have much more of a signature or an authorship; you see the handwriting of the designer who made it and that's what makes it so special."

A specially designated website, design-real.com, which will launch upon the opening, discussing the exhibits in detail.

Grcic's first US retrospective Konstantin Grcic: Decisive Design is currently on show at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Sites: design-real.com / artic.edu