Trix & Robert Haussmann
26 Apr - 15 Jun 2014
TRIX & ROBERT HAUSSMANN
Collection Röthlisberger | Miroirs – Spiegel
26 April - 15 June 2014
Curatoring : Balthazar Lovay
Since 1967 the critical and ironic approach of designers and architects Trix and Robert Haussmann (CH, *1933 and *1931) has continuously challenged aesthetic, architectural and design conventions. In the 1960s they began to develop a unique artistic language in Switzerland, which was akin to the language of two nascent art and design movements – postmodernism and Italian Radical Design.
Given the role of an art centre as laboratory and that of the Haussmanns as architects, it seemed only natural for Fri Art to “commission” the couple to re-design the first floor of the centre. The result was an optical disturbance of the space through the use of mirrors. Alongside this giant mirrored installation a number of earlier works by the design team will also be on display, such as the famous Neon Chair (1967) – a seminal piece of anti-design – and selected items of furniture they created between 1978 and 1992 for the Röthlisberger collection. By weaving together the old and the new, the exhibition provides the public with an opportunity to gain a real understanding of the formal and theoretical preoccupations that have framed the work of Trix and Robert Haussmann.
In 2013 they were awarded with the Swiss Grand Prix of Design in recognition of their exceptional career and outstanding contribution to architecture and design in Switzerland.
Collection Röthlisberger | Miroirs – Spiegel
26 April - 15 June 2014
Curatoring : Balthazar Lovay
Since 1967 the critical and ironic approach of designers and architects Trix and Robert Haussmann (CH, *1933 and *1931) has continuously challenged aesthetic, architectural and design conventions. In the 1960s they began to develop a unique artistic language in Switzerland, which was akin to the language of two nascent art and design movements – postmodernism and Italian Radical Design.
Given the role of an art centre as laboratory and that of the Haussmanns as architects, it seemed only natural for Fri Art to “commission” the couple to re-design the first floor of the centre. The result was an optical disturbance of the space through the use of mirrors. Alongside this giant mirrored installation a number of earlier works by the design team will also be on display, such as the famous Neon Chair (1967) – a seminal piece of anti-design – and selected items of furniture they created between 1978 and 1992 for the Röthlisberger collection. By weaving together the old and the new, the exhibition provides the public with an opportunity to gain a real understanding of the formal and theoretical preoccupations that have framed the work of Trix and Robert Haussmann.
In 2013 they were awarded with the Swiss Grand Prix of Design in recognition of their exceptional career and outstanding contribution to architecture and design in Switzerland.