What to expect at the Vitra Design Museum in 2021

Vitra has revealed the previews of the Vitra Design Museum exhibitions that - COVID-19 permitting - are planned for 2021, a year of great uncertainty but on which the entire world of design, culture and art will be working to restart. 



'German Design 1949 - 1989: Two Countries, One History', in collaboration with Kunstgewerbemuseum, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, and the Wüstenrot Foundation, is scheduled to run from 20 March to 5 September 2021. The exhibition will be the first overview exploring the origins of German design, driven by the Bauhaus and Werkbund movements and characterised by opposing political influences in East and West Germany after 1949. 


Interior view of Palace of the Republic in Berlin – Mitte district, 1977 © ddrbildarchiv.de/Manfred Uhlenhut


Peter Ghyczy, Gartenei / Senftenberger Ei, 1968 © Vitra Design Museum, photo: Jürgen HANS

From 25 September 2021 to 6 March 2022, it will stage 'The Bigger Picture: Women in Design 1920 - Today', a view on design through the eyes and hands of heroic female figures. While the history of design has often been defined by objects and products created by male figures, this exhibition will offer a critical survey of the achievements, working conditions and social context in which female designers have worked over the last century. The exhibition highlights the contribution of female protagonists in modern and contemporary design, as well as investigating structural issues such as the writing of design history or the role and value of collaborative practice. 'The Bigger Picture' will include pieces by Charlotte Perriand, Nanda Vigo, Lilly Reich and Eileen Gray. There will also be space for the work of contemporary designers such as Marian van Aubel, Bless and Julia Lohmann.


Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Kiss), Stool 60, 2019 Design Alvar Aalto © ICA, Photo: Todd White Photography

'Memphis: 40 Years of Kitsch and Elegance' will open on 6 February 2021 and will be visible until 23 January 2022. Forty years after the foundation of the Memphis group, one of the most unusual and powerful phenomena of recent decades, the exhibition will present objects, drawings and archive material. The main protagonists of the group will be presented, from its mentor Ettore Sottsass to Michele de Lucchi, Martine Bedin, Michael Graves, Barbara Radice, Peter Shire and Shiro Kuramata.


George Sowden, Drawing for Interior 2, 1983 © Vitra Design Museum


Michele de Lucchi, Kristall, 1980/81 © Vitra Design Museum, photo: Jürgen HANS

The exhibitions 'Home Stories: 100 Years, 20 Visionary Interiors' until 28 February and 'Gae Aulenti: A Creative Universe' will continue until 18 April 2021, compatibly, even in this case, with possible closures due to the pandemic emergency. The suggestion is to always check the local situation by consulting the Vitra Campus website.


Installation view »Gae Aulenti. A Creative Universe« © Vitra Design Museum, photo: Bettina Matthiessen