Vitra's new exhibition ? Science Fiction Design: From Space Age to Metaverse ? showcases over 100 objects that explore the intersection between design and science fiction.

Science fiction has had an immense influence on the arts, including literature, cinema, graphic arts, and design. This impact is so significant that Swiss furniture company Vitra has dedicated a year-long exhibition titled Science Fiction Design: From Space Age to Metaverse to explore this intersection of design and science fiction.

To understand the relationship between these two realms means revisiting the history books. In short, design and science fiction have had an ongoing relationship since the 1950s following the technological boom of the Industrial Age. Science fiction began to come into its own as a genre when creatives of the time started imagining a futuristic world made possible by new technologies.
First, the world watched the space race unfold between the United States and the Soviet Union and witnessed the first satellite launches, inspiring iconic designers like Gae Aulenti, Eero Aarnio, Luigi Colani, Joe Colombo, and Verner Panton to trail blaze a new expression of design based on space travel technology. These designs, distinct for their organic shapes and shiny plastic surfaces, were made famous on the big screen, like Olivier Mourgue?s Djinn seating series in Stanley Kubrick?s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Eero Aarnio?s Tomato Chair in Barry Sonnenfeld?s Men in Black (19...