During my work as Collection Manager & Content Creator at Mass Modern Design, I designed the exhibition and creation of a limited edition book about the legacy of Designer and Architect Jorge Zalszupin and his firm l’Atelier from the 1950’s to the 1970’s.
The plan
The visitor had to be taken to another place upon entering the space, something that is reminiscent of the environment of Brazil’s bygone days, but also minimalistic in order to make the furniture stand out and speak for itself. This resulted into the process of sourcing the right materials and colors, and combine them whilst keeping things like routing and light plan in mind. I choose to give the 360 square meter concrete floor a beige color, and apply large 6 meter long off white linen curtains draped from the ceiling. A single large wooden wall was created, and also a couple of walls were plastered in a concrete finish to create a brutalist look.
To create that typical tropical atmosphere, five tall Strelitzia Nicolai plants were put in vintage brutalist concrete planters by Willy Guhl and were placed in various positions.
51 LED spots were installed on rails with bulbs 3000k (Kelvin) light, which gave the exhibition a very warm atmosphere, and at the same time highlight the pieces and settings one by one.
Click below to visit virtual tour
During my work as Collection Manager & Content Creator at Mass Modern Design, I designed the exhibition and creation of a limited edition book about the legacy of Designer and Architect Jorge Zalszupin and his firm l’Atelier from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. This felt like a honour to me since Zalszupin is one of my favourite designers.
As preparations were made, the decision was made to name the exhibition: Jorge Zalszupin; precious wood, a reference to the Rosewood veneer he worked with the most. To be surrounded by, and work with his legacy is a very rare occurrence, and could not be found anywhere else in the world on this scale. The exhibition, which was an invitation only event, took place from September 24 and lasted one month until October 24, 2022. To make the complete exhibition accessible for people from all over the world, the space was 3D scanned so a virtual environment could be visited, for which people could apply for in an online presale.
As preparations were made, the decision was made to name the exhibition: Jorge Zalszupin; precious wood, a reference to the Rosewood veneer he worked with the most. To be surrounded by, and work with his legacy is a very rare occurrence, and could not be found anywhere else in the world on this scale. The exhibition, which was an invitation only event, took place from September 24 and lasted one month until October 24, 2022. To make the complete exhibition accessible for people from all over the world, the space was 3D scanned so a virtual environment could be visited, for which people could apply for in an online presale.
Book release
To celebrate this exhibition, and the 100th birthday of Jorge Zalszupin (1922-2020), a limited edition book of 500 pieces about his works and this exhibition was created. This book became available for sale at the exhibition, and selected resellers. What struck me was that there is a lot of world wide attention for the work of Zalszupin but there was very few information to be found, or books available. The majority of information available on the internet is often paraphrased text from from the same source that can be found on gallery websites and seemed to have gotten a life of its own that mutated from the actual facts about the actual course of Zalszupin’s career. This made me spend a lot of time diving really deep into the subject and before I knew I found myself digging around in Brazil’s old state records, finding true gems of information to put in the book. By reconstructing a timeline from scratch, this book is a valuable contribution and forms a reference of information for every collector, and a benchmark to determine from which period furniture dates, or even to verify their authenticity.
Work Fields Creative direction, Spatial design, Graphic design, Copywriting
Type of work Personal
Year 2022
Photography Jasper van Bladel