LDF 2012: Nendo's chairs ghost through the V&A

Date
17 September 2012

As ever the V&A is taking centre stage at this year’s London Design Festival with the usual mix of ambitious and well-conceived projects. Nendo’ s Mimicry Chairs is one of the exhibits on show at the flagship venue and as with many of the V&A’s offerings over the years, the project references and reacts to the space, or rather spaces, in which it sits.

Suspended in the entrance hall there is a simple, white pressed-metal chair which is the starting point for the work. Walking through the museum the same basic chair reappears – in galleries, down corridors, up walls and next to windows – but in a way adapted to work with its new setting.

The most striking manifestation occurs in the long tapestry gallery (above) but I also liked the set of different-sized seats echoing the higgledy-piggledy paintings in the room around it.

It’s a simple idea but one which exerts a powerful pull and reflects the design continuum the V & A does so much to chart and champion.

As well as the images our friends at Crane.tv made this nice short film looking at the install and the studio’s design approach.

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Nendo: Mimicry Chairs at The V&A

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Nendo: Mimicry Chairs at The V&A

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Nendo: Mimicry Chairs at The V&A

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Nendo: Mimicry Chairs at The V&A

Above

Nendo: Mimicry Chairs at The V&A

Above

Nendo: Mimicry Chairs at The V&A

Above

Nendo: Mimicry Chairs at The V&A

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

Rob joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in July 2011 before becoming Editor-in-Chief and working across all editorial projects including itsnicethat.com, Printed Pages, Here and Nicer Tuesdays. Rob left It’s Nice That in June 2015.

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