German industrial designer Dieter Rams' prolific portfolio of works and design philosophy are the subject of an upcoming exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA). Titled "Principled Design," the comprehensive exhibition opens Nov. 18 and will remain on view until April 14, 2019.
"Principled Design" is curated by the museum's project assistant curator Colin Fanning based on Rams' "Ten Principles of Good Design"—a set of ideological guidelines developed by Rams in the late 1970s that has influenced the industrial design manufacturing and mass production for decades.
Over the years, Rams, "one of the most influential industrial designers living today," has developed and designed functional and aesthetic objects, that according to the museum's press release, demonstrate his approach to "integrating form, material, and color." This exhibition features some of the designer's sketches, models, and mock-ups, as well as a selection of products he designed for German manufacturer Braun and British furniture company Vitsoe (which he co-founded in 1959), including the modular 606 Universal Shelving System (1960), the TG 60 Tape Recorder (1965), and the SK 4 Radio-Phonograph (1956). Also included in the exhibition is the T3 Pocket Transistor Radio (1958), an iconic object that influenced the design of Jonathan Ive’s Apple iPod (2001).
"Dieter Rams advocated the principles of corporate responsibility through design before there was a widespread appreciation for the idea," Fanning said in a press release. "His minimalist aesthetics were an outgrowth of his belief in a durable, rational design, attempting to make objects that could resist the habits of wastefulness—an important reminder today as we confront the mounting ecological impacts of our systems of production and consumption."
In conjunction with this exhibition, Rams will receive the PMA's 27th Collab Design Excellence Award—presented each year to a designer who has made a significant contribution to the field of industrial design with their work.
Dieter Rams: Principled Design opens Nov. 18 and will remain on view until April 14, 2019.
