design: BIRO
project team: saša košuta, mario kralj, dora lončarić
associates: Tatjana Bartaković, Iva Hrvatin - visual identity
photography: Marija Gašparović
client: Design District Zagreb
location: Old Military Hospital, Vlaška Street, Zagreb
status: executed
project year: 2018
The exhibition ‘Reboot: Backstage of Progress’ noted a shift in regional design development, highlighting in its selection products or collections of brands that mark their technological, manufacturing and business advancements driven by design. The shortlist of 11 design brands from the furniture manufacturing and interior design industries, which did not exist until 10 years ago, testifies to the high degree of the involvement of design in product research and development, manufacturing and the transformation of the manufacturing culture and traditional craft skills into a culture of the creation of a greater added value.
The narrative of the exhibition design takes place on two levels: the presentation of the final product and a snippet from the process of its development or production, pointing to the significance of manufacturing processes as a premise for design development. The exhibition was originally conceived for the Design District Zagreb Festival, held in the Old Military Hospital in Vlaška Street. In this sense, the exhibits can be viewed through counterpoint: a contrast between the space of the former military hospital and the time it represents on the one hand and the new values and worldviews of the future represented by the exhibition; the juxtaposition between superb product design and natural materials, and the derelict interiors in which they are shown. The polishedness of the finished products is accentuated by placing them on soft red carpets –the fundamental element of the exhibition’s visual identity. The details of the product development process, as well as additional verbal and visual contents of the exhibition, are shown through white vibrating screens of various formats.