The First French Industrial Design Show in Croatia

Until 2 February, the Glyptotheque - sculpture museum of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, will be the venue of an interesting French design show. The exhibition was opened in mid-November as a joint venture between the officials of the French Institute in Zagreb and the Glyptotheque staff.

The title of the exhibition is Observeur du design (Observer of Design). Objects on display are the award winning products used in everyday life. In addition to the main body of the exhibition, which is made up of the recipients of this year’s industrial design awards bestowed by the Agency for Promotion of Industrial Design, the show will be enhanced by the best of French design already present in the Croatian marketplace, such as Renault cars, Forticar, Estetic Uvema, i.e. Jacques Dessanges products, Alcatel mobile phones and others. 

Obviously, the exhibition makes quite a departure from the conventional artistic perspective as it shows objects that are used in everyday life, such as gas bottles, kitchen dishes and utensils, sports gear, tools, jewelry, etc. 

They may not be proper ‘objects d’art’ but they are all characterized by the innovative and expressive approach to design, high quality of execution, and last but not least, special promotional prices valid during the exhibition. 

For seven years now, the Agency for Promotion of Industrial Design has rewarded the best design and presented the selected products to the entire world. The underlying goal is to raise public awareness of the best design solutions and put beautiful, yet highly applicable products on the market. 

The exhibition presents a number of such products. Perhaps the most impressive example of industrial design shown in Zagreb is the Marseille tram which is fashioned after a ship’s prow whose interior is specially geared for sightseeing.