Beyond Nostalgia vignette with Ruckstuhl Feltro color

Unveiling the first of in a series of collaborative relationships with educational institutions, Vitra teamed with Parsons the New School for Design on a student design competition, which was the talk of ICFF when it debuted at the company’s New York showroom during the fair.

The eminent Swiss furniture manufacturer and legendary New York design school challenged four teams of architecture and design students to create innovative vignettes displaying Vitra furniture, Ruckstuhl carpets, and Artemide lighting. The students represented the four disciplines taught within Parsons School of Constructed Environments: architecture, interior design, lighting design, and product design.

Winning vignette Parabox with Ruckstuhl Feltro color

Interior design students Anya Keyser and Jerry Mejia, and architectural design student Emily Mak designed the winning vignette, Parabox. It incorporates Verner Panton’s classic Heart Cone chair, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullecs’ Alcove sofa, as well as an effusion of books, magazine, and personal mementos that lend a familiar sense of domesticity. For their efforts, the winning trio was awarded a trip to Vitra’s Domaine de Boisbuchet, a summer educational workshop developed in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou in Lessac, France.

Off The Wall vignette with Ruckstuhl Zand

A second vignette renders a dining space constructed almost entirely of corrugated cardboard, including Frank Gehry’s groundbreaking Easy Edges furniture series. A third utilizes video cameras and monitors that allow visitors to simultaneously view and experience the space, filled with Vitra classics arranged under Artemide’s hanging lamp. A fourth features cozy groupings of Hella Jongerius designs. All four spaces are on view through June 5.

“This group of designers brilliantly captured the purpose of this project, as well as the mission and character of Vitra furniture design,” says Vitra USA interior designer Jens Ahlemeyer, who was one of three primary judges for the competition. In addition, visitors to Vitra’s Meatpacking District showroom were invited to vote for their favorite vignette.

Vitra USA / Ruckstuhl USA Showroom
On view through June 5, 2009
29 Ninth Ave/13th Street
New York, NY 10014
Call 212-741-1180

Text: INTERIOR DESIGN MAGAZINE
Images: Courtesy of Vitra