▲ This area presents design master Le Corbusier, the “father of functionalism” who lead the foundation and cornerstones of Swiss design and architecture.

Since 2015, the Taiwan Design Museum has cooperated with the “European Design Observer” Sasson Kung every year to host special design exhibitions of the selected countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, France, Czech Republic and Slovakia, Italy, Finland, etc.

From 28th September  2021 to 6th March 2022, the Taiwan Design Research Institute (TDRI) launches the Swiss MAX-Swiss Design Exhibition, once again jointly curated by Sasson Kung and Joe Chang. At the Taiwan Design Museum Hall 01and 02, hundreds of Swiss design exhibits are being shown, including the most important design award in Switzerland  “The most beautiful Swiss Books 2020,” thus enabling the public to appreciate the international master design works from up close without going abroad.

The exhibition is curated based on the unit of “hundred”, including 100 designers, 100 product designs, 100 posters, 100 books, etc. A large number of exhibits lead the audience to explore the 100 years of aesthetics and design history of Switzerland.

▲ The curator Joe Chang (from left to right), the Director of Trade Office of Swiss Industries Mr. Reto Renggli, the TDRI President Chi-Yi Chang and Vice-President Nina Ay attended the opening ceremony.

Sense and sensibility coexist- the unique vision of Swiss design

Switzerland, with its location at the crossroads of European cultures, is only less than 10,000 square kilometers larger than Taiwan. With three major languages -French, German, and Italian, we have no shortage of seeing the coexistence of different cultural backgrounds in the Swiss design works. For example, the Swatch combines artistry and functionality deriving from French elegance and German Bauhaus, or Swiss graphic designer Bruno Monguzzi with his posters boost with Italian passion.

In any case, the tolerance and diversification of Swiss design have created a position that is not to be underestimated in the world today, and it is therefore named as “International Typographic Style” or “Swiss Style” and has become the model of design and international influence.

▲ The Director of Trade Office of Swiss Industries Mr. Reto Renggli gave opening speech for the exhibition.

First Area [Dialogue Hall] – The Swiss design that even if you never used it, you must have heard about. 

This area consists of graphic and industrial design works from the past and present, of different materials, and diverse core concepts. Familiar Swiss designs from 1930 till now such as Swiss knives, recycled material luggage cases, and modern capsule coffee machines, all brought together in this hall to stimulate the conversation among design methods and media from different eras and thus to get an insight into the future.

▲ The space creates the atmosphere of Swiss design with content spanning diversified countries, backgrounds, cultures, forms and materials to showcase amazing designs.

Another highlight is the exhibits of the Swiss architect Le Corbusier, also named the Father of Functionalism, provided by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Le Corbusier Foundation, Saint-Etienne Métropole, France and Taiwan Design Research Institute (TDRI), introducing to the public Le Corbusier as one of the most influential design masters of the 20th century.

Second Area [Essential Hall] – One in a million, seeing the award-winning pieces from up close

This area shows posters and books of Swiss design master Armin Hofmann (1920-2020),  the most beautiful Swiss books 2020, and documentation of product design, graphic design, and fashion design by Swiss design award, etc. All the works are of unique significance, sharing the charm of Swiss design with the viewers.

The curator has invited 3 best arts and design schools in Swizterland include Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne, Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, FHNW Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Basel to show documentation of graduation works, magazines, school publications and also on.

▲ This area exhibits posters and books of Swiss master designer Armin Hofmann (1920-2020), the most beautiful Swiss books 2020, and documentation of product design, graphic design and fashion design by Swiss design award, etc.

Third Area [Pioneer Hall] – Hundreds of original posters are shipped to Taiwan especially for the occasion

After the great effort of negotiation with each Swiss designer, the curating team eventually succeeded to bring most of their original posters to the exhibition.

The most iconic Swiss graphic designers are selected by generations. Posters and books by representative designers among which Emil Ruder, Jean Wid mer, Wolfgang Weingart,  Niklaus Troxler, Ralph Schraivogel, Ludovic Balland, Jonas Vögeli, Dafi Kühne, Futur Neue, Neo Neo, Marietta Eugster Studio, Hoang Nguyen, Tancrède Ottiger … and many others, giving an overview of 100 years of Swiss graphic design evolution.

▲ This area contains more than 100 posters between 1928 to 2021, representing 100 years of Swiss poster design. There are 25 posters from Weltformat Graphic Design Festival by Swiss young designers and one of the founders Josh Schaub exhibits screening moving posters.

Last but not least, 25 original posters by Swiss Young designers selected by Weltformat Graphic Design Festival between 2009-2020 are on show paralleled with one of the festival’s founders Josh Schaub’s moving posters shown on screen, giving the audience both dynamic and static visual experience.

Special Show [Artistic Hall] – ‘Not just library’ of Taiwan Design Museum responds to the exhibition and jointly opens the dialogue between Swiss design and Taiwan.

‘Not just library’ features 16 film posters by students from the Visual Communication department of Zurich University of the Arts in cooperation with the local theater. The new poster design including three famous films in Taiwanese film history, “The Sandwich Man,” “A Brighter Summer Day,” and “A City of Sadness” reinterpret important Taiwanese cultural assets from the western perspective, allowing multicultural thinking to complement each other. At the same time, the Zines (artist books) exhibition by Swiss bookstore and publisher Nieves is taking place in the library from the beginning of Oct.

▲ This area combines artist books (Zines) and film posters together. Showcasing 16 films posters by students of Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland and more than 100 Zines by Nieves bookstore and publisher for visitors to enjoy reading and exploring artistic works.

During the exhibition, a series of 6 lectures and 2 workshops will take place at the Taiwan Design Museum. For registration and the latest information, please refer to the official website of “SongYan Court” and the Facebook page of the Taiwan Design Museum.

In addition, the design shop “DesignPin” is hosting three Swiss brands making Swiss design classics available to the public. For more details, please refer to: https://bit.ly/3iSdTA0

Information

SWISS MAX – Swiss Design Exhibition | Main Hall

– Location: Taiwan Design Museum Hall 1 and Hall 2
– Date: 2021.09.28（Tue.）- 2022.03.06（Sun.）
– Opening hours: 10:00~17:30
– Ticket: NT 150（Full ticket）／NT100（Student ticket, group ticket, SongYanCourt member ticket）

SWISS MAX – Swiss Design Exhibition | Special Show

– Date: 2021.09.14（Mon）- 2021.11.07（Sun），Closed on Monday ( Nieves Zines starts 10/05)
– Opening hours: 10:00～18:00
– Location: Not Just Library
– Ticket: NT 80（Full ticket）／NT60（Student ticket, group ticket, SongYanCourt member ticket）/ NT50  (holders of Swiss design exhibition ticket)

Exhibition Detail

Organizer｜Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs
Implementer | Taiwan Design Research Institute
Curators | Tien Tien Circle Creative Sasson Kung 、Eyes on Type Joe Chang
Consultant | Jonas Vögeli / Head of BA visual communication design, Zürcher Hochschule der Künste
Co-organisers｜Presence Switzerland、Trade Office of Swiss Industries、Museum für Gestaltung Zürich

Exhibitors｜Weltformat Graphic Design Festival / Zürcher Hochschule der Künste / Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Basel / Hochschule Luzern Kunst & Design / Haute Ecole d’Art et Design de Genève / Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne / Ecole de design et haute école d’art du Valais / Filmpodium Zürich / Fondation Le Corbusier / Site Le Corbusier à Firminy / World Heritage The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement / Vitra / Freitag / Swatch / Nespresso / CARAN d’ACHE / SIGG / Victorinox / Mondaine / Vetica group / Edition Patrick Frey / Scheidegger & Spiess / Wolfgang Weingart / Ralph Schraivogel / Hubertus Design / Ludovic Balland Typography Cabinet / Neo Neo / Niklaus Troxler / Futur Neue / Dafi Kühne / Josh Schaub / Marietta Eugster Studio / t-o.studio / Nguyen Gobber / Engraft / Circle / MOT SELECT / Fujin Tree Group / Monon Light Color Products Corp / Company LTD / Taioz Corp / Faces Publishing LTD / Group.G