From the very beginning of our design careers, MUJI has had a special place in our hearts. Their honest approach to material, function, and lifestyle has always been an inspiring reference point for us.
This year's NY Design Week afforded us the ultimate honor of working with MUJI to create a special installation celebrating their 10 year anniversary in the US.
For the
Taking the form of a landscaped garden, MUJI Materials Garden featured a series of vignettes curating selections of MUJI’s products composed with their raw source materials.
Evoking the curiosity of a garden stroll, the landscape explored the genuine origins of the products while conjuring our Visual Stories series, our on-going photo journal of compelling material compositions found in our travels and everyday life. We imagined an experience that shares our fascination with materials - a passion we share with MUJI.
A haptic stone pathway connected each garden vignette, encouraging visitors to ponder MUJI products in a new context by wandering, exploring, and discovering the inherent beauty of the materials they originate from.
While diverse and broad MUJI's range of products is connected by their materiality and thoughtfulness. We aimed to reflect this in the landscape by carefully juxtaposing the materials with minimal styling or finishing - letting the spirit of each material qualities speak for themselves.
While researching the installation, we studied the material origins of MUJI’s most popular products, finding moments of natural beauty in each ingredient. The process was marked by binge watching 'How it's Made' videos, exciting field trips, and hands-on ideation.
We were overjoyed to see visitors expressing similar curiosity...
Every year, we take NY Design Week as an opportunity to push the boundaries that define our studio. Our ongoing exploration of materiality is at the heart of everything we do at Ladies & Gentlemen Studio be it products, sculpture, environments or design experiences.
Big thanks to MUJI for an unforgettable experience!
