Sabine Marcelis Wallpaper Designer of the Year
Between fountains for Fendi, donut-shaped rugs, and a takeover of Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion, New Zealand-raised designer Sabine Marcelis has widened the spectrum of what light, glass and resin can do, according to Wallpaper magazine who have named her Designer of the Year.
“It is fitting that Rotterdam-based Marcelis’ experimental focus is the diffusion of light: few other forms of energy translate into such a wide spectrum of colour, shape and unpredictable phenomena,” Rab Messina writes for the publication.
“Take, for example, the stretch between two projects produced in quick chronological order: there was the serene and flowing elegance of Fendi’s ‘The Shapes of Water’ for 2018’s Design Miami and then the childlike abandon of the ‘Donuts’ rug conceived for Carpet Sign, presented during last year’s Milan Design Week. The former pushed the conceptual boundaries of what Marcelis does best: the 10 fountains devised for the Italian fashion house showed an intricate pas de deux between light and water, but used architectural references to transport the installations beyond the context of their glass and resin containers – for instance, one of the fountains referenced the arches of the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, Fendi’s Roman HQ.
“Since opening her studio in 2011, Marcelis’ practice has mainly been based on capturing the wide-ranging effects of light hitting curiously diverse types of mass. Her pieces have thus become an intellectually hearty and chromatically thrilling condensation of large-scale natural happenstances, such as the moment sunlight converses with the mountains and the sea, into functional objects and compact installations brought down to their essence. We understand how challenging that process can be: we’ve attempted to condense the superb creative streak and the aesthetic impact she’s had into a compact gesture: our Designer of the Year award for 2020.”
Marcelis completed a Bachelor of Industrial Design at Victoria University.
Original article by Rab Messina, Wallpaper, January 10, 2020.
Photo by Marlene Sleeuwits.
