The collection of the Vitra Design Museum en miniature
The miniatures collection by the Vitra Design Museum includes key objects of the international design history of 1850 until today. Each miniature accords to its original in a scale of 1:6 in its construction, material and colour. The manufacturing techniques were adapted to the size of the miniatures by means of sophisticated work. Thanks to this original faithfulness, the miniatures are not only a collector’s piece for enthusiasts but also ideal exposition items for Universities and Design schools. More than 100 models in a scale 1:6 have already been created and the collection is still growing. All models are packed in wooden boxes and are accompanied by a catalogue that explains the design.
Miniaturization means concentration
The Vitra Design Museum miniaturizes original re-constructions of classic furniture pieces in three-dimensional forms. Some of these designs, such as the Chaise Longue by Le Corbusier or the Red Blue Chair by Gerrit Rietveld ase so famous today that they are even desired by the most famous museums and collectors all over the world. These miniatures display what design really means and what a role it plays in industrial production processes. The concentrated, clear world of the miniatures shows the style variation of contemporaneous design on a fascinating way and it offers a unique access to the history of furniture design.
The manufacturing of the miniatures
The Vitra Design Museum possesses a renowned collection of industrial furniture design – from the beginning of industrial mass production, in the mid-19th century, over the designs of the functionalistic modern peropd until the post-modern furniture objects of today. With its objects, the collection offers an ideal basis for the development of furniture miniatures. Our model constructor took scale of an historic original design out of the museum’s collection, made it smaller to a sixth part and documented it. The consequent phase of the experiment with materials and manufacturing processes took a few months of work: forms are made, materials and processes chosen, artistic-historic researches took place for the objects and finally the production-process itself was decided.