ron arad: no discipline august 2 - october 19, 2009
at the MoMA, new york


rendering of the installation of ron arad: no discipline
at the MoMA featuring cage sans frontières (cage without frontiers).
ron arad and associates © 2009

the museum of modern art presents 'ron arad: no discipline', the first major u.s. retrospective
of arad's work. among the most influential designers of our time, arad (british, b. israel 1951)
stands out for his daredevil curiosity about form, structure, technology, and materials and for
the versatile nature of his work, which spans industrial design, hand-crafted studio pieces,
sculpture, architecture, and mixed media installations.
arad's relentless experimentation with the use of materials of all kinds—from steel, aluminum, and
bronze, to thermoplastics, crystals, fiberoptics, and leds—as well as his radical reinterpretation of
some of the most established archetypes in furniture—from armchairs and rocking chairs to desk
lamps and chandeliers—has put him at the forefront of contemporary design. the exhibition will
feature approximately 140 works, including design objects, architectural models, and videos.

most of the objects featured in the exhibition will be displayed in a monumental structure
specially designed by arad and developed with michael castellana from ron arad associates.
cage sans frontières (cage without frontiers) is a corten steel structure—126.5 feet (38.5 meters)
long, spanning the whole length of the museum's international council gallery, and over 16 feet
(5 meters) tall—in the shape of a figure eight. the structure consists of 240 cells that are each
lined with stainless steel. the dramatic installation will rely on its scale and on the reflectivity
of the inner walls of the cells to create a ricocheting effect that will be tamed and contained
by the regular rhythm of the cage sans frontières's geometry.


well tempered chair. Prototype. 1986
sprung stainless steel and wing nuts
31 1/2 x 39 3/8 x 31 1/2" (80 x 100 x 80 cm)
prototype by vitra gmbh, germany
photo courtesy of vitra design museum, weil am rhein, germany


southern hemisphere. 2007
patinated aluminum
51 x 52 x 52" (129.5 x 132.1 x 132.1 cm)
edition by the gallery mourmans, the netherlands
photo by eric and petra hesmerg. courtesy of private collection, maastricht


new orleans. 1999
fiberglass, polyester, and gelcoat
35 7/8 x 42 x 29 1/8" (91 x 122 x 74 cm)
edition by ron arad for the gallery mourmans, the netherlands
photo by eric and petra hesmerg. courtesy of private collection, maastricht


narrow pappardelle. 1992
woven stainless steel mesh and steel
40 3/16" x 6' 9 5/16" x 23 5/8" (102 x 206.5 x 60 cm)
edition by one off/ron arad associates, london
photo by bruno scott. courtesy of fonds national d'art contemporain, ministère de la culture et de la communication, paris


FPE (fantastic, plastic, elastic). 1997
aluminum and injection-molded polypropylene plastic sheet
31 ¼ x 17 x 22" (79.4 x 43.2 x 55.9 cm)
manufactured by kartell, italy
photo courtesy of ron arad associates, london


lolita. 2004
crystals and leds
h. 59" (150 cm), top-plate diam. 43 1/4" (110 cm)
edition by swarovski
photo courtesy of ron arad associates, london


d-sofa. prototype. 1994
patinated, painted, oxidized stainless steel and mild steel
38 3/16" x 7' 1 13/16" x 35 7/16" (97 x 218 x 90 cm)
prototype by one off, london
photo by eric and petra hesmerg. courtesy of private collection, usa

the exhibition will feature arad's most celebrated historical pieces, including the rover
chair (1981), the concrete stereo (1983), and the bookworm bookshelves (1993), along with
more recent experiments such as the lamp pizzakobra (2008) and the latest reincarnation of the
volumes series, the armchair duo even the odd balls? (2009).