Hella Jongerius chose historical décors and animal figures from the Porcelain Manufactory Nymphenburg as motifs for her collection. In new and unusual combinations, she developed contemporary designs from previously familiar items, placed in a new context. Hella Jongerius was awarded the Design Prize of the Federal Republic of Germany 2006 for her “Nymphenburg Sketches”.“A visit to Nymphenburg feels like magic time and again. It feels so rich to enter a zone where time has chosen to stand still behind the walls of the manufactory [...].There is tranquility and order in the manufactory and as if with a jump in time, one enters the villa where the management runs the company in a contemporary way.Now that I have visited Nymphenburg more frequently, I have become familiar with the workshops, the archives, and the model attic. I prefer to wander around on my own.
I study and look at the collection and try to “get it”.The collection and the craftmanship of the people working in the manufactory is of such a high quality that it is very inspiring.Each time that I visit Nymphenburg, it feels like I’m taking part of a well kept secret, a rendez-vous.”
Catalogue
This autumn Phaidon Press is publishing the monograph ‘Hella Jongerius – Misfit’ written by Louise Schouwenberg, with contributions by the design critic Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. The publication is designed by Irma Boom and is available from the museum shop.