Firm： COORDINATION ASIA

Type： Cultural › Gallery Museum

STATUS： Built

YEAR： 2015

SIZE： 10,000 sqft - 25,000 sqft

BUDGET： Undisclosed

Following the success of its first edition, a second edition of the design exhibition Keep it Glassy was created in close collaboration with the Shanghai Museum of Glass. Keep it Glassy, a concept developed and co-curated by COORDINATION ASIA, focuses on glass design. It brings international talent to Shanghai and explores the many ways in which glass inspires designers. The second edition of Keep it Glassy zooms in on how design studios such as Nendo, MVRDV, Dominic Wilcox, Kacper Hamilton and Studio Formafantasma express their hopes and dreams for a better future, using this versatile material.

For Keep it Glassy 2, the conscious choice was made to focus on displaying concepts or projects, instead of mere objects in glass. The intriguing stories and smart strategies that hide beyond the surface of the design pieces show that designers make use of the specific traits of glass to shape their ideas for a better future. In the exhibition, four rooms highlight four different angles that can be taken when envisioning the future, through glass: Adornment, Sustainability, Innovation and Preservation.

For the occasion, the 1000 sqm former workshop of Keep it Glassy was turned into a sleek backdrop for bright design visions. Visitors are led through a dimly lit showcase of future thoughts and concepts. Lines of light frame ideas, and guide the visitor through a space that can be considered a vortex between now and tomorrow. Dark grey walls and floors enhance the feeling of timelessness, and offer a stage for ideas and objects in glass to stand out.

In total, Keep it Glassy 2 shows more than 30 views on how we can build a better future through glass. The exhibition does not take a stand point on which solutions are best or most promising. On the contrary: it intentionally aims to show the vast pallet of ways glass can be applied to move forward in time. This fits seamlessly to the vision of the Shanghai Museum of Glass that, now in her fourth year of operation, still manages to find fresh and new perspectives to explore and share the infinite possibilities of glass.