Studio Makgill is hosting an exhibition to celebrate the decennial of the studio. The exhibition, Beautifully Simple, will feature ten extraordinary designs that embody the studio's philosophy: the art of the beautifully simple.
Not to be confused with minimalism or with notions of pure beauty, this exhibition looks at designs that articulate the most stringent of briefs - designs that are stripped of the unnecessary and could not be any other way.
Some are designs born in the most exacting circumstances, like the Bantam Jeep designed in 1940 by Karl Probst, or the Ishinomaki stool created by Keiji Ashizawa in the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami in Japan. Others, like the Red Cross emblem and Shigeo Fukuda's poster Victory 1945, use their iconic simplicity to communicate a single, powerful message. The show also includes examples from music, food and engineering, including Radiohead's No Surprises video and a mushroom dish by chef Doug McMaster, made with just one ingredient.
"The idea of simplicity is often associated with minimalism and pure lines. But the art of the beautifully simple comes in many forms," said Hamish Makgill, founder of Studio Makgill. "The Pocket Operator is a synthesiser. The Bantam Jeep is a machine built for war. Radiohead's No Surprises is a music video. Shrooms on Shrooms is a dish of mushrooms. Whatever the context, each design goes against type, eschews what's expected and surprises us. It answers a need, and does so perfectly.
"At Studio Makgill, the art of the beautifully simple is a design philosophy that governs everything we think, believe and do. For our tenth birthday, we wanted to indulge in what inspires us, and invite others to do the same."
Beautifully Simple will be on display at the Ground Floor Space from October 12 through 19.
Photo: Courtesy of Studio Makgill