Wednesday, September 22, 2010

john pawson: plain space

john pawson - plain space
september 22, 2010 until january 30th, 2011


john pawson plain space exhibition at the design museum, london


opening today at the the design museum, london is a major exhibition of the work of
british designer john pawson. often described as a 'minimalist' he is known for a rigorous
process of reduction, that creates designs of simplicity, grace and visual clarity. 
at the heart of the exhibition is a site-specific 1:1, full-sized installation designed 
by pawson to offer a direct experience of his work.

plain space celebrates pawson's career to date with models, film, photographs 
and architectural elements and includes some of his most important projects including 
the cistercian monastery of our lady of nov dvr in the czech republic, the sackler
crossing at the royal botanic gardens, kew and the calvin klein store on madison 
avenue, new york.








I wanted at least one element of the show to be a direct architectural experience, so i've 
designed a 1:1 installation for the gallery. it's the first time anyone's tried to put a building
inside the design museum. i've also commissioned a series of huge photographs of finished
architecture in its setting - each picture is made up of as many as 72 separate photographs
and the finished images have been printed at a dimension of 10 feet by 6 feet. alison morris,
a writer who has been working in my office for the last ten years, has written a new book
on the work, also called john pawson plain space, which is being published by phaidon to 
coincide with the exhibition.


the 1:1 installation being constructed a few days earlier
photos by gilbert mccarragher


to coincide with the exhibition a website was set up, which follows the story of a douglas fir tree
from its selection by john pawson during a visit to the black forest in may of this year, through 
the various production stages, to its final transformation into a series of furniture pieces designed
especially for use within the london exhibition.

the lifecycle of the website is set by the life of the exhibition, beginning with events leading up to
the show's installation and ending on its final day, 30th january 2011. view more images here.


the cistercian monastery of our lady of nov dvr in the czech republic


the sackler crossing at the royal botanic gardens, kew


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