serien.lighting was a guest at the Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt am Main with a comprehensive exhibition and retrospective of 40 years of luminaire design.

This was our exhibition
IN SERIEN
Licht. Form. Material.
40 Jahre serien.lighting

[3.03. – 21.04.2024]
Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt

Opening of the exhibition a great success

The opening of the exhibition on 2 March 2024 was a great success for the brand and the people behind serien.lighting. More than 500 friends, fans and interested parties gathered at the museum, exceeding the expectations of the organisers. As hoped, the evening turned into a get-together for the international design and architecture scene. The carefully chosen date on the eve of the opening of the Light + Building trade fair meant that, in addition to many business partners, employees and fans of the brand from Frankfurt and the region, numerous visitors from all over Germany and international guests were also welcomed.

What was there to see?

The creators designed an exhibition concept that reflects the design, development and history of the company in its straightforwardness. The motif of filigree objects in space, which forms the basis of serien.lighting’s product design, was translated to a large scale with the exhibition concept and allows interested visitors to immerse themselves in the world of serien.lighting.

The designers Wolf and da Costa follow the strict geometry of Richard Meier’s museum architecture and present the anniversary show as a modular grid in the room, in which all designs are presented on an equal footing. As in individual shop windows, the early luminaires are shown to their best advantage, as are current models. Special developments, e.g. for synagogues and libraries, are also presented, as well as books, catalogues and posters from 40 years of company history.

In addition, projections offer a look back at the company’s history and insights into outstanding projects in which serien.lighting luminaires provide good light.

Experience the two founders live in conversation

The evening got off to an entertaining start with a discussion moderated by Prof Markus Frenzl (Professor of Design and Media Theory, Munich University of Applied Sciences) with the two designers and founders Jean-Marc da Costa and Manfred Wolf. The visitors were given a lively and very personal look behind the scenes of serien.lighting; how the company came to be founded and what challenges had to be overcome, particularly in the first few years, as well as anecdotal background knowledge on individual designs. From today’s perspective, the insights into the reactions of the protagonists of design education in the 1980s to the founding ambitions of da Costa and Wolf were interesting and surprising. At the time, it was by no means accepted as a matter of course that designers also wanted to have an entrepreneurial impact. In this respect, the founders of serien.lighting were true pioneers of the design scene, not only in terms of design but also as entrepreneurs.

You can find the original recording – German, 54 minutes – on → Youtube.

How the evening continued?

→ Click here for the report on the 40 YEARS PARTY in cooperation with STYLEPARK at Emma Metzler