ESTONIAN MODERN

Marseille, France

 

 

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As Estonia celebrates the centenary of its independence, Kolektiv 318 will host from December 15th 2018 to January 13th 2019 the event “Estonian Modern” organized with the Estonian Design House at Le Corbusier’s Housing Unit in Marseille.

 

This event will take place in different spaces of this UNESCO-listed landmark of modernist architecture, reflecting the dynamism and diversity of Estonian design. It will comprise of two exhibitions : “Luther & Isokon” will explore the unexpected and far reaching connections between Estonia, Britain and the Bauhaus, while “Size doesn’t Matter” will focus on contemporary design. A pop-up store will offer a selection of contemporary designers and brands.

 

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EXHIBITION LUTHER & ISOKON // ESTONIAN MODERN

 

The exhibition “Luther & Isokon” has been shown for the first time in Tallinn in September 2018 and organized in collaboration with the Isokon Gallery.

 

The Isokon Gallery was created in 2014 to tell the remarkable story of the Isokon building, also known as Lawn Road Flats, inaugurated in 1934 as a progressive experiment in new ways of urban living.

 

From December 15th 2018 to January 15th 2019, the Estonian Design House and Gallery Kolektiv 318 will present the “Luther and Isokon” exhibition celebrating the pioneering collaboration between Estonia and Britain and exploring the key role played by Luther, Venesta and plywood in this architectural project.

 

The exhibition introduces the owners Jack and Molly Pritchard and the architect Wells Coates, who conceived and designed the building, some of the many distinguished residents who lived there during its prime years in the 1930s (Gropius, Agatha Christie, Breuer…) and also presents some of the purpose-made furniture that formed part of the new vision of an elegant and affordable modern lifestyle.

 

It also relates the story of the building’s recent and dramatic rescue after years of post-war decline.

 

Central to the Isokon story is Estonian plywood manufacturer A. M. Luther (Luterma) whose materials provided the inspiration for some of the most radical furniture designs of the 20th century.

 

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EXHIBITION – SIZE DOESN’T MATTER // ESTONIAN MODERN

 

In collaboration with the curator of the exhibition “Size does not matter” Ilona Gurjanova (President of the Estonian Association of designers), Kolektiv 318 has selected some iconic estonian contemporary lamps and furniture.

 

Modular shelves, indoor swings, modernist lines furniture, brutalist ceramics … will be staged in the duplex appartment number 556. This flat which conserved all the genuine elements by Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé, will highlight the functionality and inventiveness of the design made in Estonia : an intelligent aesthetic playing with light and polychromy, as well as purity of lines and natural materials.

 

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ESTONIAN DESIGN HOUSE POP UP STORE // ESTONIAN MODERN

 

In parallel, an Estonian pop-up store will be hosted at Gallery 318, located in the heart of the winter garden on 3rd floor, offering a selection of gifts and decorative objects: posters, ceramics, plaids, wooden toys, felt accessories … evoking the winter in Estonia and the Christmas traditions in the Baltics.

 

 

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Unit d’habitation – Hotel Le Corbusier

280 Boulevard Michelet, 13008

Marseille, France

 

15/12/2018 – 13/01/2019