hella jongerius & louise schouwenberg add automated, animated shadows to la rinascente in milan

hella jongerius & louise schouwenberg add automated, animated shadows to la rinascente in milan

for the third time, serpentine galleries has collaborated with la rinascente on a special installation for the department store’s storefront windows during milan design week 2016. ‘a search behind appearances’ presents a unique collaboration between designer hella jongerius and theorist louise schouwenberg, which reflects on what lies behind-the-scenes of the complex world of design. with a sophisticated interplay between shadow and light, the eight displays feature ingeniously animated and automated small-scale machines that assemble and disassemble iconic design objects — each evoking questions and offering alternate means for reading the true value of a design piece.

¿has the full potential of design been exploited?

while the first and last windows explain the premise of the project in more depth, the six central vetrines host a collection of fabrics bearing complex woven patterns. on these textiles, shadows generated by the continuous movement of small letters and scale models of designer items are projected. the animated mechanism that produces the shadows is not hidden — instead, viewers are invited to read the fictional realities hidden behind the images, and make connections between them and the wider context of design.

the six central vetrines host a collection of fabrics

‘hella jongerius and louise schouwenberg encourage us to meditate on the world of design in all its forms; dismantling and leaving them bare for all to see, showing us the complex world that lies beneath the surface of every object that will invade our city during the design week,’ alberto baldan, CEO of la rinascente, describes.

a sequence of letters creates the word ‘POSSIBILITIES’