Moma announces life cycles: the materials of contemporary design, an exhibition exploring designers' innovative, sustainable, and responsible use of materials

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

The Museum of Modern Art announces Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design, an exhibition that examines how #design can be elegant and innovative while also responsible and respectful of other ecosystems. On view in the Museum’s street-level gallery from September 2, 2023, through July 7, 2024, this exhibition of approximately 80 contemporary #design works from MoMA’s collection looks at how some 40 designers are considering the full life-cycles of materials—from extraction all the way to recycling, upcycling, or disposal. The exhibition investigates the fundamental role #design can play in translating current environmental considerations into sophisticated and informed responses. Life Cycles: #thematerialsofcontemporarydesign is organized by Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, and Maya Ellerkmann, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and #design.

The exhibition showcases the unconventional ways in which designers have rethought and deployed materials to embrace restorative attitudes and facilitate the preservation and protection of the environment. The featured works highlight new approaches and include examples of ingenious reuse, upcycling, and use of waste as a new material, such as Nendo’s Cabbage Chair (2007). Other methods, including co-creation with other species, are seen in works such as Tomáš Gabzdil Libertíny’s Honeycomb Vase (2006), which is made in collaboration with hundreds of bees. Mae-ling Lokko’s commission of a wall panel made of coconut shells and mycelium is an example of an approach that utilizes manufacturing practices with naturally available forms of energy or materials. These and many more works on view exemplify this next era of progress in sustainable #design.