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Atmoism
Designed Atmospheres. An Exhibition by Hermann August Weizenegger

12.09.2020 to 15.08.2021
Kunstgewerbemuseum

With „Atmoism - Designed Atmospheres“, the Kunstgewerbemuseum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin is dedicating a major solo exhibition to the designer Hermann August Weizenegger (HAW). The concept is tailored to the house: Inspired by the 'soft brutalist' spatial atmosphere of the architecture of the Kunstgewerbemuseum designed by Rolf Gutbrod in 1967, the designer developed 24 stage set-like interventions. These unfold as sculptures, material compositions and object stagings like a net in the museum's permanent exhibition. The result is an atmospheric tour that opens a dialogue with the museum and its objects. In their entirety, the stations reflect a creative vision of future product(ion) scenarios – somewhere between man, craft and medium-sized industry.

Design works and story

All objects stand in relation to the space surrounding them and it is precisely at this interface that HAW comes into play: It is not the product to be designed that is in the foreground for him, but rather entirety or ensembles, which he calls design works. The feeling of creative unity runs through the exhibition by means of recurring motifs, colours and forms, which the designer subjects to a constant transformation process. During the tour, visitors wander through various design atmospheres. Distributed throughout the various sections of the museum's permanent exhibition, they invite visitors to engage in an aesthetic dialogue with the exhibits.

Locality, longevity and sustainability

The future improvement of the world of goods and consumption is the starting point for HAWs design works. He understands the life of a product as a cycle in which each component contributes to the aesthetic, social and ecological expression of the whole. This includes the selection of materials, the manufacturers involved and the afterlife of a product. Considerations of regionality and longevity are central to the designer. Thus HAW works primarily with cooperation partners from Germany, or more precisely, from the Berlin-Brandenburg region. His claim to locality regularly allows the designer to discover new innovative potential in previously unknown manufacturers, craftsmen and companies.

Innovations with tradition

The cooperative work on design works creates in a special way a symbiosis of design, traditional craftsmanship and high-tech processes. For the exhibition, HAW designed not only classic industrial design products for serial fabrication, but also numerous objects for the production of which he cooperated with traditional craftsmen's workshops. For the designer, these are both a source of inspiration and a store of knowledge. He deliberately gives the traditional materials and manufacturing methods in the exhibition a stage to draw attention to the exemplary function of the centuries-old traditions. In addition to craftsmanship, the designer sees great potential in medium-sized production facilities, which today possess undreamt-of technical know-how.

Design for cultural and social added value

With the design works HAW wants to open a cultural space that goes beyond the pure function and form of things. For consumer goods structure spaces for action. HAW says: "As a designer I design these spaces of action. The user, in turn, is given the chance to establish a cognitive, emotional and personal connection to the object, he learns something about the manufacturing context and beyond. With him, an awareness of the existing production conditions is created, perhaps even responsibility. In this way, design creates cultural and social added value."

On the occasion of the exhibition a catalogue of the same name is published.

A special exhibition of the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

Matthäikirchplatz
10785 Berlin

wheelchair accessible

U-Bahn: Potsdamer Platz
S-Bahn: Potsdamer Platz
Bus: Potsdamer Brücke, Potsdamer Platz Bhf / Voßstraße, Kulturforum, Philharmonie

Sun 11:00 - 18:00
Mon closed
Tue 10:00 - 18:00
Wed 10:00 - 18:00
Thu 10:00 - 18:00
Fri 10:00 - 18:00
Sat 11:00 - 18:00

Opening times on public holidays Opening Hours

Initially, the special exhibition will only be accessible on Saturdays and Sundays as part of public tours. Starting from September Tickets can only be booked online.

Tel 030 - 266 42 42 42 (Mon - Fri, 9 am - 4 pm)
Questions | Bookings | Feedback

Related Links

Tour through the exhibition "Atmoism. Designed Atmospheres." in the Kunstgewerbemuseum (German)

Leseprobe: Ausstellungskatalog „Atmoism – Gestaltete Atmosphären“ (PDF, 3 MB)

Booklet zur Ausstellung „Atmoism – Gestaltete Atmosphären“ (PDF, 2,6 MB)

Exhibition catalogue (German) in the webshop of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Museum and the City: “Atmoism im Kunstgewerbemuseum: Tanz mir den Brutalismus!” on the blog of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (German only)