{"id":10021321,"date":"2025-08-29T13:17:46","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T12:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/future-but-classic\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T13:43:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T12:43:20","slug":"future-but-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/future-but-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"Futuristic, yet Classic \u2013 Design Icons in Science Fiction movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

In science fiction films, design classics such as Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair act as links between the future and the present. However, design history also shows that designers have always been inspired by new technologies. The Vitra Design Museum<\/a> is dedicating a special exhibition to the dialogue between science fiction and design.<\/p>\n

When directors of science fiction films envision the future, they create worlds that no one has ever seen in this form before. However, to draw viewers into these unknown environments, the connection to the real world must not be entirely lost. Often, it is familiar objects, including design classics, that serve as links between the new and the familiar. Because even the most absurd world remains connected to reality to some extent if it features an armchair on which one might have already sat.<\/p>\n

\"Eero<\/p>\n

Eero Aarnio, Pallo \/ Ball Chair, 1963, \u00a9 Vitra Design Museum, Photo: Andreas Su\u0308tterlin<\/p>\n

For example, in the 2010 film \u00bbTron: Legacy\u00ab, it is the Barcelona Chair<\/em><\/a>\u00a0 by Mies van der Rohe<\/a> and the Eames Lounge Chair<\/em><\/a>\u00a0 that subtly establish a connection between past and future. In short: film directors and set designers are aware that design classics can act as gateways to previously unknown worlds. Conversely, many designers are also inspired by the environments and technologies depicted in science fiction films. After all, it is also their job to imagine the future \u2013 to give it a form that is forward-looking, yet simultaneously anchored in the present.<\/p>\n

\"Eero<\/p>\n

Eero Aarnio, Tomato Chair, 1971, \u00a9 Vitra Design Museum, Photo: Roland Engerisser<\/p>\n

Thus, it was primarily the so-called Space Age<\/em>, which began with the launch of Sputnik 1<\/em>\u00a0 in October 1957, that brought forth a surge of furniture in which the intense engagement with space travel was clearly reflected. Designers such as Gae Aulenti<\/a>, Eero Aarnio, Luigi Colani, Joe Colombo, or Verner Panton designed furniture and living landscapes that looked futuristic with their organic forms and shiny plastic surfaces, while fundamentally rethinking living and housing habits of that time.<\/p>\n

\"Vitra<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Still image from the film set of Star Trek, 1968, \u00a9 CBS Photo Archive, via Vitra Design Museum<\/p>\n

Influenced by the rapid developments in space travel, designers in turn began to create furniture that seamlessly integrated into the science fiction films of that era. In Stanley Kubrick’s \u00bb2001: A Space Odyssey\u00ab, Olivier Mourgue’s Djinn Chair<\/em>\u00a0 became a screen star, while Eero Aarnio’s Tomato Chair<\/em>\u00a0 perfectly fit into the world of \u00bbMen in Black\u00ab. In the 1960s series \u00bbStar Trek\u00ab, Eero Saarinen’s Tulip Chair<\/em>\u00a0 can be seen.<\/p>\n

\"Marc<\/p>\n

Marc Newson Orgone Chair, 1993, \u00a9 Vitra Design Museum, Photo: Ju\u0308rgen Hans<\/p>\n

However, the dialogue between science fiction and design continued in the following decades. Again and again, design icons conquered the cinema screens, including Orgone Chair<\/em>‘s Marc Newson<\/a> in the 2012 film \u00bbPrometheus\u00ab, but also unexpected design objects like Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Argyle Chair<\/em>\u00a0 in the 1982 blockbuster \u00bbBlade Runner\u00ab. The extraordinary form of Nemo Chair<\/em>\u00a0 Fabio Novembre’s, which resembles a classic Venetian theater mask, has also fascinated directors and set designers for many years.<\/p>\n

\"Andr\u00e9s<\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9s Reisinger, Hortensia, 2021, \u00a9 Vitra Design Museum, Photo: Andreas Su\u0308tterlin<\/p>\n

At the Vitra Design Museum<\/a> (Schaudepot), the exhibition \u00bbScience Fiction Design. From the Space Age to the Metaverse\u00ab can be seen until May 10, 2026. The Argentine artist and designer Andr\u00e9s Reisinger<\/a>, who himself designs furniture for the Metaverse, has collected 100 collection objects, which he presents on a futuristic stage. The scope ranges from the Space Age<\/em>\u00a0 to the question of how suitable the Metaverse is as a new space for projections and experiments. Reisinger’s digital dreamscapes, which show clear references to the visual worlds of earlier science fiction films, are also part of the exhibition. [SW]<\/i><\/p>\n

Header Photo: Andr\u00e9s Reisinger, The Shipping, Tangled, 2021, \u00a9 Reisinger Studio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In science fiction films, design classics such as Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair act as links between the future and the present. However, design history also shows that designers have always been inspired by new technologies. The Vitra Design Museum is dedicating a special exhibition to the dialogue between science fiction and design. When directors of science fiction films envision the future, they create worlds that no one has ever seen in this form before. However, to draw viewers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10021313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[336,409,348],"tags":[393,358],"class_list":["post-10021321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-design","category-latest","tag-design-en","tag-kunst-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10021321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10021321"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10021321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10021322,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10021321\/revisions\/10021322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10021313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10021321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10021321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10021321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}