Ulm: Method and design I Ulm school of design 1953–1968

15. May - 21. July 2013

Exhibition

Location: Regional gallery of fine art in Zlín, 14|15 Baťa institute, Building 14 in the former Baťa´s fabric zone
When: 15. May - 21. July 2013, opening on Tuesday 14th May at 5 p.m.

Commented walkthrough with co-author of the exhibition Mr. Martin Mäntel: on Wednesday 15th May at 5 p. m. (in the German language with the Czech translation)

Organised by: Regional gallery of fine arts in Zlín, in cooperation with Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa), Stuttgart

Curators: Václav Mílek, Martin Beníček

The expositions are opened daily (except Monday) from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m., on Thursday from 10 a.m. till 8 p.m.

The exhibition was assembled by the Hochschule für Gestaltung Archive, a department of the Ulm Museum, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Ulm School of Designl. It opened in the Stadthaus Ulm in 2003. The Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen e.V. (ifa), Stuttgart (Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations) in cooperation with the exhibition's curators, Marcela Quijano and Dagmar Rinker, has now developed a smaller version of 400 square meters for a world tour starting in 2007. Now you can see the exposition in Zlín, in a stylish atmosphere of the reconstructed Baťa´s fabric building Nr. 14. 

The Ulm: method and design / Ulm school of design exhibition focuses on research into, and visualization of, the “Ulm Model,” exploring its effects up to the present day. Using large-format photos, text panels, an illustrated synopsis, models, graphic works, draft designs, products, a ”tower of books,” and videos, it shows the great variety of intellectual approaches, procedures, and results of the school’s work. The exhibition is divided into clearly delineated sections: background and contemporary history, details of the building and biographies of founding members, theoretical principles and results, visual communication, industrial design, building, developmental groups, film, and interviews with former teachers and students. The school’s influence on students around the world will be shown through examples of design study programs in Latin America and Asia.

For the period it existed from 1953 through 1968, the Ulm School of Design was one of the most important contemporary design academies. It saw itself as an international institution for teaching, research, and development in the field of design. Students from many different countries were drawn to Ulm, attracted not only by the interdisciplinary aspects of the training program, but also by the names of founders and teachers such as Otl Aicher, Inge Aicher-Scholl, Max Bill, Max Bense, Hans Gugelot, Tomás Maldonado, and Gui Bonsiepe. The special methodology used in Ulm is still internationally influential today in design teaching. Known as the ”Ulm Model,” it has helped define what it means to be a professional industrial designer. Systematic thinking and logically-argued design processes offered rational, technically-oriented solutions to a modern mass society, made possible by scientific and technological progress in new materials, media, and techniques. By the late 1950s close cooperation with business had already been established. The Ulm School of Design, beset by political and financial problems, began to decline from 1966 on. In 1968 its members decided to close the institution.

Czech version and photogallery of the project.

More info: Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa), Stuttgart