The ceramic sculptures of artist Pauliina Pöllänen are the result of an intuitive interplay between hands and clay - like a spontaneous architect, she designs through building. Characterized by this process of making, her works bring to life spaces of myriad shapes and sizes.
Inside the underground gallery at the Design Museum is a series of invisible halls, divided by massive brick pillars and arches. In the spirit of Pöllänen’s work, the exhibition architecture seeks to materialize from the existing qualities of the gallery, bringing about a new spatial experience in the familiar place. Brick by brick, the walls and pillars expand and reorganize to form new podiums, window sills and a water fountain, niches that are then occupied by Pöllänen’s sculptures. The machine-produced brick as a structural and material element highlights the dichotomy between its standardized form and that of the unique handmade ceramic art works.
Client: Design Museum, Helsinki
Collaborator: Weber Saint-Gobain
Photo credit: Design Museum & Jussi Tiainen
Photo credit: Design Museum & Jussi Tiainen