DESIGN, SET & MATCH
The renowned German designer has designed the scenography for the exhibition "Match", running from March 13 to August 11, 2024, at the Musée du Luxembourg (Paris). An encounter between design and sport with a touch of the future. Perfect timing for this sporting year.
Konstantin Grcic, some of whose creations are among the permanent collections of the Paris
Modern Art Museum and the Decorative Arts Museum, has had a very functional approach to
design throughout his career. His radical, pure, direct, simple, but never minimalist style singles
him out. An exhibition regular, he organizes them to present his own works; or, like here, to put across a certain point of view without actually showing any of his creations.
Today, he shares his vision with us.
You are the curator and scenographer of the exhibition MATCH, on the ties forged and the future of sport and design, at the Musée du Luxembourg (Paris). Tell us about the exhibition.
Konstantin Grcic: The French National Museums wanted an exhibition on sport as part of the Cultural Olympiad program. The exhibition that I put together examines the relationship between
the two fields and looks to the future. Sports design helps to improve athletes’ sporting performances. They're better, faster and safer, but also more inclusive. It expedites reinvention. Sport is a very dynamic industry, always progressing and focused on improvement. Design participates in this. That seems paradoxical, because in other sectors, design can be almost conservative; it reassures us with the well-known codes that we're seeking. Especially in furnishings. So, the same person might look for the avant-garde in the design of their sporting equipment and then seek reassurance in the lines of their furniture.
Does sport have a place in your design creation?
K. G.: Sport was my first design teacher! As a kid, I was obsessed by sports gear. I studied sporting catalogs. I learned a lot, and that unconsciously became part of my creative process. Sports
design is very functional; it needs to be performance-driven and logical; both in its form and structure, and in how it's made. It creates a very rational but very dynamic language. Of course,
it's not the same in furniture; even though a chair needs to be high-performance and functional in its own way. You have to be able to move around on it and feel comfortable. That gives us a psychological key to understanding the impact of design on our feelings. And that's true of sport, too. If I put on shoes designed in a certain way, I'll have the feeling I can run faster.
Numerous seats, but also lunch boxes, flushes, bags, watches, clothes... Integrating design into the everyday and making it accessible seems to be important in your choice of projects and partnerships.
K. G.: That's why I became a designer. I love it when design is part of people's everyday life. Design is for people. Design is part of our culture. How do we live? With what? How does it represent our life? Addressing these questions is one of my big driving forces.
Your career as a designer is long-lasting. How do you look back
at your early years?
K. G.: My first projects seem so far away; and I don't just mean in numbers of years. There were no computers when I started! Lots of tools didn't exist back then. Society has completely changed. Digitization has changed life; its speed, its complexity, the amount of data we're drowning in, our habits... Before, I used to go to work, to an office, and sit at my desk. Today, all you need to work is an internet connection. It's a great opportunity, a great freedom; but that also creates problems, which we're all familiar with.
What room is there for teaching in your life as a designer today?
K. G.: For long time, I didn't teach. That was by choice; I wanted to focus on practice. But it wasn't a refusal to share. In my studio, I still believe my job is to pass on my knowledge to my staff. It's a form of knowledge and experience sharing. In 2020, I accepted a teaching post in Hamburg, because I wanted to behave responsibly; I wanted to give back what I had been given when I was younger. But that wasn't my only motivation. As the years go by – I'll soon be 59 – I need to stay in touch with young people; to listen to, learn from and be inspired by the younger generations.
Photo credits: Konstantin Grcic, Plank, Myto, Flos, Mayday, Tom Vack, Didier Plowy for the GrandPalaisRmn 2024
