retrotopia at berlin’s kunstgewerbemuseum touches on the role of design in socialist spaces

Retrotopia. Design for Socialist Spaces

‘Retrotopia. Design for Socialist Spaces’ brings the work of numerous significant designers from post-socialist countries under one roof. The exhibition touches on the role and impact of design in the countries of the former Eastern Bloc and former Yugoslavia between the 1950s and the 1980s. On view at Kunstgewerbemuseum from 25 March to 16 July 2023, the exhibition is a retrospective of realized and imaginative design concepts, including public and private spaces. The projects present a vast scope of works, from futurist interiors for hotels, and presidential lounges to visual communication for festivals in public urban spaces, as well as from opulent textiles or artistic glass installations for trade fairs to cybernetic living spaces.

Curated and directed by Claudia Banz, ‘Retrotopia’ hosts a second section that engages the audience in a multisensorial journey. This part includes extensive archive material, photos, posters, magazines, books, films, and other design objects, that form a three-dimensional mind map on thematic clusters.

the passion of planning

Initiated by an innovative team of curators and institutions, ‘Retrotopia. Design for Socialist Spaces’ spotlights the ‘complex facets of the design landscape of a region that remains unknown to the broader Western public.’

Through extensive pursuit, they ‘make a decisive contribution to a long-overdue re-evaluation of the global and decolonial history of design.’

Through the ‘Iron Curtain’, the political boundary that divided Europe into two separate areas, a lively dialogue emerged, creating a powerful artistic network that sought solutions for cultural, environmental, and economic topics. Planning became the keyword in an attempt to shape the future through systematized innovations.

‘During the Cold War, design and architecture came to reflect the geopolitical tug-of-war between the two superpowers of the USA and the USSR. But beyond any political differences, designers and architects from both systems had one thing in common: they were faced with the same social challenges, worked to solve similar design problems and to find sustainable solutions for the environment, developed comparable ideas, and proposed visionary project,’ as stated in the press release (see more here). 

City planning, architecture, and design contribute to the practices that seek to design a better tomorrow. The advance of technology, artificial intelligence, cybernetics, and computerization entail social prosperity, a term translated as ‘happiness for all’. ‘An enthusiastic belief in the power of technology and a passion for planning were the driving forces behind ‘system design’ and the design of private and public spaces, reaching all the way to outer space.’

VNIITE Designteam: Dmitrij Azrikan, Igor Lysenko, Marina Micheewa, Alexej Kolotuschkin, Maria Kolotuschkina, Elena Ruzowa, SPHINX – ‘Superfunktionale Informations- und Kommunikationseinheit’ (Detail), 3D-Druck, Verbundwerkstoffe, Acrylmalerei, Tinte, Foliendruck, Sowjetunion, 1986–87, Modell in Originalgröße, Rekonstruktion von Igor Lysenko, Marina Micheewa, Sergej Petrow, Alyona Sokolnikowa, Pawel Menyailow, Yurij Naumkin, Dmitrij Protopopow, 2021, © Privatsammlung

1/19

project info:

name of the exhibition: Retrotopia. Design for Socialist Spaces

curated and directed by: Claudia Banz

venue: Kunstgewerbemuseum – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin  | @staatlichemuseenzuberlin

dates: 25 March – 16 July 2023