Martin Meier: In Loving Memory

(adam štěch) At the DMY Berlin, designer Martin Meier presented a very unconventionally conceived exhibition in the Appel Design Gallery. He re-designed famous seating furniture in the style of Lamborghinis.

The Appel Design Gallery is located among fashion boutiques and art galleries in the Mitte quarter of Berlin. Even though the German capital boasts a very dense concentration of private galleries, it is one of the few private galleries in Berlin that focus on conceptual and contemporary experimental design. Martin Meier prepared a collection of several seating furniture pieces that he transformed using morphology from the Lamborghini Countach sports car (produced by the iconic car manufacturer from 1974 to 1989). Its design, created by the cult Bertone studio led by designer Marcello Gandini, is now currently revived through furniture design. The title In Loving Memory symbolizes Meier’s fascination with this car. The designer admits it is a memory from his youth. “When I was very young, I was so enchanted by the Lamborghini Countach that there was nothing I could create without its formal influence.” The exhibition brings this influence back as Meier applies it to several other classical pieces of world design. For instance, he has used it to reformulate famous seating furniture pieces from the past: the Pantone chair designed by Verner Panton in 1959, the sculptural La Chaise chair designed by the Eames (1948), the Standard Chair designed by Jean Prouvé in 1934, and the Zig Zag chair designed by Gerrit Rietveld in the same year. The original look of the furniture has been transformed by means of a sharp formal speech, which is typical of the Lamborghini Countach. The lithe organic design of the Eames has been enriched with sharp crystalline styling. The Zig Zag chair has been enriched with an exact aerodynamic groove that represents a classical component of Italian car design from the 1970s. A life-size Lamborghini Countach with shining doors became a monumental artistic installation at the exhibition.

The In Loving Memory exhibition is a personal profession of designer Martin Meier, who updates the legendary Italian designer movement thanks to his interest in timeless car design.

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