Curated by Dan Thawley, India Mahdavi presents the design and art exhibition Foreign Flowers, investigating the unexpected relationships of flowers and plants with the disciplines of furniture-making, fine art, craft and collectible design.

ft. Grace Atkinson, Thomas Barger, Shannon Clegg, Julian Farade, Elise Gettliffe, Lukas Heerich, Josef Hoffmann, Jochen Holz, Katerina Jebb, Ben Mazey, Kate MccGwire, Suzannah Pettigrew, RAWORKSHOP, Lilla Tabasso, Orfeo Taguiri, Conie Vallese, Nico Vascellari, Flaminia Veronesi, Aurece Vettier

February 29 until March 16 from 10—7pm, Monday—Saturday

29 rue de Bellechasse, Paris, 75007

Join MATTER and SHAPE director Matthieu Pinet and artistic director Dan Thawley to discover the inaugural edition of the salon in the presence of our exhibitors and partners.

Please email matterandshape@p-s.it for press enquiries and visuals

Does matter matter?

For humans, it is something of an obsession. Since the dawn of time, we have manipulated substance to survive and to find beauty. Later, we started asking questions.

What actually is it? Empedocles, two and a half thousand years ago, was the first to take a stab at an answer, suggesting that all material was composed of four fundamental elements: earth, air, fire, and water.

In today’s design landscape, where material innovation represents a form of design in itself, advancements in science, technology, and biology are crafting new materials that redefine our environments and aesthetics, marking a new era where design and material innovation converge.

This panel will examine the way designers approach the question of matter today, in an era in which limitless abundance and disposability can no longer be taken for granted.

Most importantly, it will ask - are these conditions a constraint, or an opportunity for the definition and affirmation of a new material culture?

Speakers:
Sabine Marcelis, designer (NZ)
David Mahyari, founder, SolidNature (NL)
Jayden Ali, architect, JA Projects (UK)
Annika Visser, Unspun (USA)


Moderated by Space Caviar

Flos presents a design conversation with Erwan Bouroullec, Philippe Malouin and Anja Aronowsky Cronberg, moderated by PIN-UP creator Felix Burrichter.

Talk commences at 5pm, drinks from 6pm

Flos Professional Showroom, 20-22 Passage Dauphine, 75006, Paris

In 1952, Ernesto Nathan Rogers wrote that by carefully examining an object as simple as a spoon, one could understand the kind of city and society that produced it. But some objects are more utopian than others - by looking at certain designs, we can catch glimpses of realities which do not yet exist. Just as fashion holds up a mirror not to who we are but who we wish to be, design is more of a projection than a representation.

Which are the worlds implied by the forms we design today? How do they look, feel, and smell? This panel will investigate the evolving nature of domestic space, venturing into the zones of ambiguity where design meets fashion, art converges with industry, and tradition intertwines with the avant-garde. We will unpack our deepest individual and collective aspirations, fears, and dreams, offering insight into the new domestic landscapes taking form in the mind of today’s designers.

Dan Thawley – MATTER and SHAPE (FR)
Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, Formafantasma (IT)
Giulio Margheri, OMA (NL)
Letizia Caramia, OLDER (IT)

Moderated by Space Caviar

Le design, semble-t-il, prend un tournant pour le local. De plus en plus, les designers redécouvrent des pratiques autrefois considérées comme dépassées afin de transformer ce qui est disponible autour d'eux en sources de matériaux - souvent de manière très contemporaine.

Cette conversation explore l'équilibre délicat entre le maintien des traditions artisanales et l'acceptation inévitable du changement, en se questionnant sur la façon dont la coutume, l'innovation et la technologie peuvent converger pour incarner à la fois la créativité et la responsabilité environnementale.

Nous examinerons l'acte de « curation » des matériaux comme une forme de pratique qui est au cœur du design aujourd'hui, en considérant également le rôle de la technologie et de la recherche afin de permettre la transition vers une nouvelle éthique dans la pratique du design.

Design, it would seem, is taking a turn for the local. Increasingly, designers are rediscovering practices once considered outdated in order to transform whatever is available around them into sources of material - often with a highly contemporary twist. This conversation explores the delicate balance between sustaining craft traditions and embracing the inevitable tide of change, speculating on how custom, innovation and technology can converge to embody both creativity and environmental responsibility. We will examine the act of “curating” materials as a form of practice that is central to design today, while also considering the role of technology and research in making the transition to a new ethics of design practice possible.

Octave Perrault, Zeroth Systems (FR)
Denis Montel - RDAI – material curator (FR)
Julia Daka, Sadaka (FR)

Moderated by Andrew Ayers

Join us at the designer's space to celebrate Landstrich, a publication documenting Umberto Bellardi Ricci’s sculpture practice as seen in landscapes photographed by Adrianna Glavianno in New York’s easternmost point.

In conversation with Daniel Ayat, curated and edited by Lauren Shooster.