John Pawson's Plain Space at the DESIGN MUSEUM

published in: Exhibitions By PR, 13 December 2010

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John Pawson - Plain Space
John Pawson, London.
Photo Orla Connolly

On 22nd September 2010 a major exhibition of the work of John Pawson opened at the Design Museum in London.  Often labelled a ‘minimalist’, he is known for his rigorous process of design. By reducing and editing he creates architecture and product designs of visual clarity, simplicity and grace.  Plain Space celebrates Pawson’s career from the early 1980s to date and includes a selection of landmark commissions including the Sackler Crossing at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the new Cistercian Monastery of Our Lady of Novy Dvur in the Czech Republic and Calvin Klein’s iconic flagship store in New York, as well as current and future projects.

John Pawson - Plain Space
Installation image, Design Museum.
Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

John Pawson - Plain Space
Monastery of Our Lady of Novy Dvur, Czech Republic.
Photo Hisao Suzuki

At the heart of the exhibition is a site-specific, full-sized space designed by Pawson to offer a direct and immersive experience of his work. This is the first time the Design Museum has realised a 1:1 scale architectural installation inside the museum.

Using a rich range of media the exhibition will explore projects from Pawson’s career. Specially commissioned, large-scale photography will look at his architecture in the landscape. Actual architectural elements in stone, bronze, wood and metal taken from a range of buildings including the Baron House in Sweden and Pawson’s own house in London will explore his sensitive use of materials. The process of design and construction will also be shown through photography, film, sketches, study models, prototypes and interviews relating to a number of projects including a private home in Treviso, Italy currently under construction. Personal items from the Pawson archive will also be on display including letters from Karl Lagerfeld and the writer Bruce Chatwin.

On the opening day of the Plain Space exhibition John Pawson was interviewed by Crane TV.

John Pawson - Plain Space
Installation image, Design Museum.
Photo © Luke Hayes

The Design Museum shop will stock a selection of exclusive exhibition merchandise, including a limited edition print, postcards and tote bag. The entire collection of Pawson items designed for the Belgian company ‘When Objects Work’ will be available exclusively in the UK at the Design Museum shop.  A new book, John Pawson Plain Space, written by Alison Morris, is published by PHAIDON Press to coincide with the opening of the exhibition and will be available at designmusuemshop.com

John Pawson - Plain Space
Baron House exterior, Sweden.
Photo Åke E-son Lindman

PlainSpace.co.uk is a new blog which charts the run up to the opening of John Pawson - Plain Space and will continue through the life of the exhibition concluding on its final day on 30 January 2011. Regularly updated with behind the scenes information and comments, the blog offers a unique insight into the exhibition process and journey.

John Pawson - Plain Space
Private House, Germany.
Photo Todd Eberle

John Pawson - Plain Space
Sackler Crossing. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London.
Photo Richard Davies

sources:

DESIGN MUSEUM
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About John Pawson

John Pawson was born in 1949 in Halifax, Yorkshire. After a period in the family textile business he left for Japan, spending several years teaching English at the business University of Nagoya. Towards the end of his time there he moved to Tokyo, where he visited the studio of Japanese architect and designer Shiro Kuramata. Following his return to England, he enrolled at the Architecture Association in London, leaving to establish his own practice in 1981.
From the outset the work has focused on ways of approaching fundamental problems of space, proportion, light and materials - themes explored in his book Minimum, first published in 1996, which examines the notion of simplicity in art, architecture and design across a variety of historical and cultural contexts.
Early commissions included homes for the writer Bruce Chatwin, opera director Pierre Audi and collector Doris Lockhart Saatchi, together with art galleries in London, Dublin and New York. Whilst private houses have remained a consistent strand of the work, subsequent projects have spanned a wide range of scales and building typologies, ranging from Calvin Klein’s flagship store in Manhattan and airport lounges for Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong, to a condominium for Ian Schrager on New York’s Gramercy Park, a set for a new ballet at London’s Royal Opera House and the interior of a 50-metre yacht
Recognition includes RIBA awards for the Sackler Crossing at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the Frate Sole International Prize for Sacred Architecture for the new Cistercian monastery of Our Lady of Novy Dvur in Bohemia.

[official website]
  • friend
    miguel | 2010-12-21 20:45:13

    Nice arquitecture, very clean but warm and welcoming at the same time. Great!!
    Thanks for posting Yatzer

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