Small people need small chairs. Children’s furniture and design has always been an area of interest for the greats, as well as their storied or private clients; but the world of diminutive design isn’t just taking adult-size thinking and shrinking it down.
'Great child design is inspired by the needs of children; there is [a] way in which children use their bodies with furniture that adults do not even think of,' says Lora Appleton of Kinder Modern. The expertly curated gallery of 20th and 21st century children’s design has paired up with Miami’s Gallery Diet for 'Wrap Your Arms Around Me', a new exhibition running until 1 September. Children are 'physically smaller than us, playful but also in need of parameters or guidance', Appleton explains. 'The show is specifically a reference to this duality.'
Both historical and contemporary designers are represented. 'It's always important to contextualise contemporary production with the history it comes out of,' Appleton says. That means juxtaposing Hans Brockhage and Erwin Andra's 'Schaukelwagen (Rocking car)' from 1950 – included in the famous MoMA exhibition 'Century of the Child 1900–2000' – with recent star Lucas Maassen's new 'Le Chaise' chairs, famously painted by his three adolescent sons. There are also German designer Henner Kuckuck’s rubber/steel/Formica chairs from the 1990s alongside newcomer and Yale MFA sculptor, Nate Heiges, whose 'Born From Widows' piece is 'a very elegant, simple and abstracted representation of text,' suited for the child’s mind, says Appleton.
Overall, the exhibition confronts 'the biggest changes in child design now as compared to the past', says Appleton. The show looks to reveal 'the high level of craftsmanship that went into production in the past, as well as the playfulness and experimentation with materials that occurred', and how 'things are beginning to change'.
The expertly curated gallery of 20th and 21st century children’s design has paired up with Miami’s Gallery Diet for 'Wrap Your Arms Around Me', a new exhibition running until 1 September. Pictured: 'Walkee', by William B Fageol, Fageol Motor Company, c.1945
Hans Brockhage and Erwin Andra's 'Schaukelwagen (Rocking car)' from 1950 was included in the famous MoMA exhibition 'Century of the Child 1900–2000'
The exhibition confronts 'the biggest changes in child design now as compared to the past', says Appleton. Pictured: 'Mini Ant', by Philippe Nacson, 2016
The show looks to reveal 'the high level of craftsmanship that went into production in the past, as well as the playfulness and experimentation with materials that occurred', and how 'things are beginning to change'. Pictured: 'Mod Chair', attributed to Eero Aarnio, 1970
Recent star Lucas Maassen's new 'Le Chaise' chairs, 2016, were famously painted by his three adolescent sons
INFORMATION
’Wrap Your Arms Around Me’ is on view until 1 September. For more information, visit the Gallery Diet website
Photography courtesy Gallery Diet
ADDRESS
Gallery Diet
6315 NW 2nd Avenue
Miami, Florida 33150
-
After the floods, Valencia’s design community unitesValencia's design community launches ‘Auction for Action’ and 'Interioristas en Acción' (IED), initiatives to raise money for those effected by the floods in Spain
-
In Helsinki, Pauline Curnier Jardin has created the grotesque amusement park of her dreamsFrench artist Pauline Curnier Jardin celebrates otherness at Kiasma, Helsinki’s Museum of Contemporary Art
-
A celestial New York exhibition showcases Roman and Williams’ mastery of lightingLauded design studio Roman and Williams is exhibiting 100 variations of its lighting ‘family tree’ inside a historic Tribeca space
-
Children’s furniture by House of RoRo is practical and playfulDesigner Anne-Sophie Rosseel launches House of RoRo, a children’s furniture brand whose inaugural collection, ‘Interlockables’, features multifunctional, scalable designs
-
Brooklyn furniture studio Stillmade unveils its first collaborative design seriesStillmade brings to life the designs of four New Yorkers – Pat Kim, Danny Kaplan, Michele Quan and Mignogna Studio
-
Blue Green Works's lighting champions a new aesthetic in American designManhattan-based design studio Blue Green Works fuses sensuality and masculinity to create mellow, mood-enhancing lighting with visual impact
-
Blue Green Works introduces alluring new lighting collectionInspired by iconography, American design studio Blue Green Works introduces five new lighting ranges
-
Exclusive peek at artfully curated home in Jean Nouvel’s 53 West 53RR Interiors' latest furnishing project – 61A at 53 West 53 – highlights art, architecture and city views inside Jean Nouvel's monumental New York skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan
-
Industrial elements are imbued with elegance in Holly Hunt’s new Los Angeles showroomHolly Hunt and architects Johnston Marklee have created a warm and tactile space in a 1940s building
-
Sculptural ceramic lamps from Brooklyn’s In Common With and Danny Kaplan‘Terra’, a new collection of ceramic lamps featuring tactile glazes, puts Brooklyn studio In Common With and ceramicist Danny Kaplan in the spotlight
-
Sight Unseen launches furniture line with BestcaseEditorial platform Sight Unseen worked with sheet metal specialist Bestcase to launch a collection of 1970s-inspired furniture in collaboration with Home Studios, Studio Anansi and Thévoz-Choquet
