In visual representations or films that imagine the future, one often encounters scenes of diverse vehicles moving through or even hovering over the urban landscape. Buildings, on the other hand, cannot be subject to such profound transformation as they are necessarily rooted to the ground on which we walk, even if their appearance changes dramatically. What if we were to spatialize the means of transportation within a living space? The development and distribution of autonomous driving vehicles make it feasible to engage in activities other than driving while on the road.
This is why the ‘Home Stories’ exhibition, which is now on display at the Hyundai Motorstudio Busan until Oct. 1, has expanded upon its theme of ‘shelter’ to explore mobility. This exhibition not only offers an overview of our modern and contemporary dwelling culture and how it has evolved over time, but also presents a new definition of ‘home’ by expanding to mobility through the vision of Hyundai Motor Company. It is also the second project on which Hyundai Motor Company and Vitra Design Museum have collaborated, again characterised by their joint vision rather than simply proceeding as an existing traveling exhibition.
The exhibition unfolds in reverse order from the near future to the present and the past. Hyundai IONIQ’s SEVEN concept which opens the exhibition, offers an interpretation of mobility that suggests the spaces of our cars will become living spaces in the near future. It is a large electric SUV with a lounge-like interior. Previously, the car seats were fixed, but the seats for the SEVEN concept are rotatable, allowing any layout the users desire, and the back seats are laid out along the shape of the car, similar to a sofa. Thanks to autonomous driving technology, there is no steering wheel, so the usable space is increased, which is a part where you can feel the clear difference between the general car and the SEVEN concept. In addition, it has been equipped with a vision roof display that allows you to watch movies on the sunroof, traversing the boundary between a living space and a vehicle.
Next, through 20 innovative interior design cases introduced by the Vitra Design Museum, it retraces developments made to dwellings over the course of history in reverse order, from today to the 1920s. According to Jochen Eisenbrand (chief curator, Vitra Design Museum), ‘it aimed to deviate from the conventional logical direction, in order to express the difference per era more distinctly.’ The timespan of the show has been divided into four sections, each with its own significant points of change based on social conditions of the period. For instance, if the 2000s were offering design solutions in response to high housing expenses or sustainability, the period from the 1960s – 1980s shifts in tone to something more playful, with various furniture pieces designed by the Memphis Group. From the 1940s – 1960s, modernist architecture settled in line with the developments in structural engineering and technology, and an interest in nature was at an all-time high. Casa de Vidro (1951) designed by Lina Bo Bardi, in which part of the building floats suspended by the pilotis, and the three sides, which are designed in glass, capture its vast open scenery. The aftermath of the First World War had a visible impact on design from the 1920s – 1940s. Neues Frankfurt (New Frankfurt, 1926 – 1931), the largest public housing project in Europe at the time, was developed to address the drastic rise in the number of war refugees and the troubling extent of the housing shortage.
The journey of this exhibition concludes with the immersive installation work Under a Flowing Field (2023). Studio Swine (Alexander Groves, Azusa Murakami), a designer duo based in England and Japan, created this artwork in collaboration with Hyundai Motor Company’s future mobility vision, and it symbolizes the earth, ‘our sole shelter in the universe’. The space expands to an infinite degree through the mirror that has been mounted on the wall, heightening sensory apprehension as though one were suspended in the vastness of the universe. The long stool in the middle is made of the same eco-friendly material used in the SEVEN concept, which suggests that the space in which we live is one of ‘mobility’.
In the archive lounge, sketches from the exhibition planning stage and films documenting the installation process can be viewed.
In this way, ‘Home Stories’ opens up the discourse around atypical living spaces of the future by expanding the concept of ‘home’ to that of a space with far greater potential for dynamic movement. Taking the long view by capturing distinctive moments in the past 100 years, this show also celebrates a fast approaching future through the eyes of its artists.
