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From Space Age to Metaverse: Vitra’s New Sci-Fi Design Exhibition

07.16.24 | By
From Space Age to Metaverse: Vitra’s New Sci-Fi Design Exhibition

Science fiction has had an immense influence on the arts, including literature, cinema, graphic arts, and design. This impact is so significant that Swiss furniture company Vitra has dedicated a year-long exhibition titled Science Fiction Design: From Space Age to Metaverse to explore this intersection of design and science fiction.

A modern, well-lit gallery features futuristic designs displayed on shelves and pedestals.

To understand the relationship between these two realms means revisiting the history books. In short, design and science fiction have had an ongoing relationship since the 1950s following the technological boom of the Industrial Age. Science fiction began to come into its own as a genre when creatives of the time started imagining a futuristic world made possible by new technologies.

Two people in a modern, well-lit gallery featuring futuristic designs displayed on shelves and pedestals.

First, the world watched the space race unfold between the United States and the Soviet Union and witnessed the first satellite launches, inspiring iconic designers like Gae Aulenti, Eero Aarnio, Luigi Colani, Joe Colombo, and Verner Panton to trail blaze a new expression of design based on space travel technology. These designs, distinct for their organic shapes and shiny plastic surfaces, were made famous on the big screen, like Olivier Mourgue’s Djinn seating series in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Eero Aarnio’s Tomato Chair in Barry Sonnenfeld’s Men in Black (1997). Comics, pulp magazines, and books also began to explore the theme of sci-fi, creating a new fan base for the genre. Years later, computer-aided design and 3D printing led to Joris Laarman’s Aluminum Gradient Chair (2013), the first 3D-printed metal chair. In more recent years, the metaverse has opened the doors to what seems like infinite possibilities for emerging designers to create and experiment.

Display of various modern design objects set on metal shelving, including a blue chair, orange giraffe figure, small model of an atom-like structure, and a spherical lamp

A modern display room with various art and design pieces on metal shelves, featuring colorful and uniquely shaped items including chairs, screens, and abstract sculptures

All of this, and so much of what visitors will see at the Vitra Schaudepot, used to seem impossible until designers made their ideas a reality. Over 100 objects documenting the dialogue between design and science fiction are on display in the exhibition, staged by Argentine visual artist Andrés Reisinger. A designer himself, he included his Shipping Series (2021) and his Hortensia Chair (2018), the latter initially an NFT and then a physical piece of furniture. As the exhibition’s creative director, Reisinger explains his vision: “As soon as I was invited by the Vitra Design Museum to work on this exhibition, I knew I wanted to incorporate the themes of Argentine fantasy writer Jorge Luis Borges, whom I’ve long admired. A central motif in his work is mirrors, symbolic of portals to alternate realities. With this in mind, I resolved to honor Borges by making mirrors focal points of the exhibition, utilizing them to reflect and evoke multiple realities and timelines intertwining, creating a new dimension within our contemporary world. I am thrilled with what we have achieved with this exhibition, which speaks of a time and a space that truly knows no time and space.”

Shelves displaying various modern and colorful chairs in a well-lit exhibition space with a minimalist design

Below is a small selection of objects found in the exhibition:

A futuristic room with curved ceiling beams, abstract wall art, and three people interacting – one seated on the left, one standing center-right, and one seated at a transparent desk in the center

Still image from the film set of Things To Come, 1936 © Vitra Design Museum Archive

Futuristic cityscape with high-rise buildings and flying vehicles. Elevated roads and a large, unique structure resembling a hovering platform dominate the scene. Dense urban environment in grayscale

Erich Kettelhut, Drawing for Metropolis, 2nd Edition, 1925 © Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen, Erich Kettelhut Archive

A modern, spherical orange chair with a cushioned interior and a swiveling base. The design resembles a partial globe with an open front

Eero Aarnio, Pallo / Ball Chair, 1963 © Vitra Design Museum \\\ Photo: Andreas Sütterlin

A modern chair featuring a white circular base and a curved seat with blue upholstery and a large circular cutout in the backrest

Matti Suuronen, Untitled, 1969 © Vitra Design Museum \\\ Photo: Andreas Sütterlin

A white modern chair with a sleek, curved design and a dark blue cushioned seat. The chair features a unique, cantilevered base on a white stand

Joe Colombo, Sella, 1964/65 © Vitra Design Museum \\\ Photo: Jürgen Hans

A unique white spherical chair with purple cushioning and built-in trays attached to the sides. The chair has a padded headrest and armrests

Günter Ferdinand Ris, Herbert Selldorf, Sunball, 1969-71 © Vitra Design Museum \\\ Photo: Jürgen Hans

A modern, sculptural chair with a shiny blue finish featuring a continuous, fluid design with no distinct legs or backrests

Louis Durot, Aspirale, approx. 1970 © Vitra Design Museum \\\ Photo: Andreas Sütterlin

Two people in white outfits are sitting and talking in a futuristic, colorful, and abstractly designed room with vibrant lighting

Verner Panton, Fantasy Landscape at the exhibition Visiona 2, Cologne, Germany, 1970 © Verner Panton Design AG, Basel

A silver robotic dog with a sleek design, featuring a large dark visor for a face and articulated limbs, posed on a white background

AIBO ERS-110, Sony, 1999 © Sony © Vitra Design Museum \\\ Photo: Andreas Sütterlin

Geometric white chair with an open lattice design and a four-legged base

Konstantin Grcic, Chair One, 2008 © Vitra Design Museum \\\ Photo: Andreas Sütterlin

Three adults and a child interact with modular black furniture arranged in various configurations on a plain backdrop

Joe Colombo, Living Center, 1970/71 © Ignazia Favata/Studio Joe Colombo \\\ Photo: Rosenthal Einrichtung

A sculptural table with a round top and three legs, appearing to be made from a dark, glossy material that has a melting or stretching texture

Jólan van der Wiel, Gravity Stool, 2011 © Vitra Design Museum \\\ Photo: Andreas Sütterlin

High-tech, black scorpion-inspired workstation with an adjustable ergonomic chair, multiple monitor mounts, and a retractable desk surface

Scorpion Computer Cockpit, 2020 © Vitra Design Museum \\\ Photo: Andreas Sütterlin

A surreal, abstract sofa sits in a barren, rocky landscape under a pale purple sky with a faint shooting star visible above

Andrés Reisinger, The Shipping, Deep Space, 2021 © Reisinger Studio

A metallic, inflated sofa lies on a rocky terrain with large boulders in the background under a gray sky

Complicated Sofa, The Shipping, 2021, Artwork by Andrés Reisinger © Reisinger Studio

A uniquely designed, plush armchair with intertwined curves sits on a rocky, barren landscape by a calm body of water. The sky is overcast

Andrés Reisinger, The Shipping, Tangled, 2021 © Reisinger Studio

A soft and fluffy pink armchair with a textured, petal-like fabric covering

Andrés Reisinger, Hortensia, 2021 © Vitra Design Museum \\\ Photo: Andreas Sütterlin

A pair of high-heeled shoes with intricate, pixelated textures and a gradient color scheme from green to purple

Francis Bitonti, Molecule Shoes, 2015 © Vitra Design Museum \\\ Photo: Andreas Sütterlin

Illustration of a futuristic red vehicle with a sleek design and a transparent canopy, shown with a detailed side view and an outline of a person seated inside against a black background

Luigi Colani, Vehicle Study, 1970/71 © Vitra Design Museum Archive

A white pod-shaped desk with an integrated black chair, featuring a built-in control panel and storage compartments

Maurice Calka, P.-D.G. Desk, 1969 © Vitra Design Museum \\\ Photo: Jürgen Hans, © VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2024

Running through May 11, 2025, Science Fiction Design: From Space Age to Metaverse is a must-see exhibition for anyone fascinated by the interplay of design and futuristic vision. To learn more, visit vitra.com.

Exhibition photos by Mark Niedermann.

As the Senior Contributing Editor, Vy Yang is obsessed with discovering ways to live well + with intention through design. She's probably sharing what she finds over on Instagram stories. You can also find her at vytranyang.com.