The countdown for the new Design Museum in Kensington is well under way: on November 24 the institution is scheduled to open in its new home in the former Commonwealth Institute on High Street Kensington. The historical building designed by Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall & Partners, and listed in 1988 after its completion in 1962, has undergone a through makeover under the helm of Rem Koolhaas’s practice OMA, in collaboration with Allies and Morrison, who have been working on the surrounding structures, and John Pawson who has remodeled the interiors.While construction is busily finishing up last touches, the museum’s directorship has publicized first details of its opening exhibition “Fear and Love”, announcing 11 newly commissioned contributions by “some of the most innovative and thought-provoking designers and architects working today.”The exhibition promises both thought-provoking and eclectic insights, starting with a “Pan-European Living Room” by OMA furnished with design components from each of the 28 EU member states—as a response to the UK’s Brexit vote. “Room Tone”, a series of wearable devices that detect and visualize their wearers’ emotions by British fashion designer Hussein Chalayan, the only UK-based artist in the exhibition, will “address the idea of repressed emotions, exploring the everyday anxieties connected to city-living, from fear of terrorism to sexual desire.”Tokyo-based graphic designer and Muji director Kenya Hara will examine common staple foods around the world and their cultural impact throughout history; whereas Israel born architect, designer, and MIT professor Neri Oxman plans to present “Vespers”, death masks created with ultra-high definition 3D printing technology, to “speculate how wearable accessories might help to transform us at the end of our lives” (the project also recently lead to a creation of a mask for Icelandic singer Björk).Further installations include Madeline Gannon’s “Mimus”, a 1200kg industrial robot capable of sensing and responding to human presence; “Intimate Strangers “, an audio-visual installation by architect Andrés Jaque about sex and love through social media and their impact on our perception of “the city, our bodies and our identity;” a replica of a school that Colombian collective Arquitectura Expandida built in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Bogota; a film about the marine wildlife conservation group Sea Shepherd by Amsterdam based graphic designers Metahaven; an investigation on the city life of real Nomads (rather than metaphorical ones) by Hong Kong-based Rural Urban Framework; a piece on recycling textiles by Dutch product designer Christien Meindertsma, as well as Wuyong, or ‘Useless’ clothes by Chinese clothing designer Ma Ke.To Justin McGuirk, Chief Curator at the Design Museum, the theme of “Fear and Love” is a continuation of sorts to the inaugural show “Commerce and Culture” at the first opening in 1989. “‘Commerce and Culture’ was about the value of industrial products. Three decades later, we now take that value for granted. ‘Fear and Love’ goes further, and proposes that design is implicated in wider issues that reflect the state of the world,” McGuirk explained in a statement.In his eyes, the new show will highlight “how design is deeply connected not just to commerce and culture but to urgent underlying issues—issues that inspire fear and love.”“Fear and Love – Reactions to a Complex World” will run from November 24, 2016 to April 23, 2017, at the Design Museum in Kensington. Click here for more information.See a sneak preview in the slideshow.
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