india mahdavi sets centre pompidou's design collections in a striped, beach-like exhibition

on the occasion of the 2019 design parade at the villa noailles in hyères and the third edition of the toulon interior architecture festival, the centre pompidou presents nouvelles vagues, an exhibition of its design collections staged by india mahdavi. the paris-based architect has used the stripe as a tribute to the round forms of the works on display, distorting it to create a curved, wavy background reminiscent of a beach, and punctuated by iconic pieces of design.images © luc bertrand, unless stated otherwise

drawing from the art deco architecture of the cercle navale de toulon, a building for the reception and restoration of the navy where nouvelles vagues takes place, the exhibition explores the history of design through the evolution of forms, under the curation of marie-ange brayer. tracing the birth of modernity, the industrialization and standardization of the early twentieth century, and how it went hand in hand with the emergence of leisure and new forms of emancipation, the show explores the way structures abandoned their verticality to stretch, lengthen, and unfold in new spatial dynamics.

image © india mahdavi

with more than sixty exceptional pieces from the centre pompidou collections, the exhibition explores the transatlantic and lounge chairs in its first part, from robert mallet-stevens’ lounge chair (1923) to martin székely’s chaise longue pi (1983), while its second part traces the undulating shapes and new forms of the pop years, echoed by the inflatable, playful section. as a tribute to the latter non-strict forms, india mahdavi has used the stripe, an eternal symbol of the beach, distorting it into wavy, at times aquatic, patterns. initiated in the heart of the cercle navale de toulon, the exhibition guides visitors through iconic design pieces like a stroll along the mediterranean.

image © india mahdavi