Fin Noir Exhibition in Paris, France by Aino Kavantera & Federica Capitani

Article source: Aino Kavantera & Federica Capitani

Interior architect Aino Kavantera, and product and exhibition designer Federica Capitani, have designed the first Fin Noir exhibition, which took place at the “Passage du desir” gallery in Paris during SS12 Fashion Week (4-16 October).

The two designers met in 2005 whilst working at Marcel Wanders Studio in Amsterdam and have since collaborated on a number of design projects as well as worked on their own. Fin Noir is their most recent collaboration.

Exhibition overview (Image Courtesy Nicole Marnati)

• Architects: Aino Kavantera & Federica Capitani
• Project: Fin Noir Exhibition
• Location: Paris, France
• Photography: Nicole Marnati
• Software used: Didn’t use any specific software, a lot was done with models and prototypes.

Lightweight fabric structures (Image Courtesy Nicole Marnati)

Loosely translated as “Black Finland”, the Fin Noir exhibition design draws inspiration from the Finnish landscape and its wraiths of darkness during the winter, when the light disappears for months.

Fin Noir unravels the layers and undercurrents of Finnish fashion. The exhibition presents 16 artists, a multifaceted array of Finnish fashion professionals: designers, photographers and illustrators, and aims at expanding the comprehension of fashion beyond clothing to a conceptual, all-encompassing visual experience.

The 700m2 exhibition consists of two distinct areas, the main space and a lower gallery.

Entrance overview (Image Courtesy Nicole Marnati)

The main space, “forest”, is housed within a windowless gallery space. The design consists of architectonic elements made of stretched lightweight fabric that recreate the sense of depth and multi-layered density in a natural habitat, each structure framing the work of a designer.

The stretched fabric shapes, produced by Fantasiarakenne, grow toward both the ceiling and floor. Each has a light cast from its core onto the collection, which is exhibited on the platform or plinth beneath. The lighting design, by Alpo Nummelin, sees the exhibits highlighted by light beams that burst through the dark and dense forest canopy.

Exhibition overview (Image Courtesy Nicole Marnati)

The exhibition experience is choreographed to create unexpected possibilities for inspiration and an atmosphere where the viewer can surrender into the space and feel simultaneously at peace and lost. The space plays with contrasts: lightness and darkness, closeness and depth, transparency and opacity.

The lower gallery, adorned by a magnificent dome made of circular glass tiles, displays photography against a central “Himmelinna”/”Snowcastle” installation, that seemingly reaches to the sky. Produced by Stand By Me, its design draws inspiration from the geometric structure of snow, and uses traditional Finnish “himmeli” straw structure as a point of reference in construction.

Himmelina-snowcastle (Image Courtesy Nicole Marnati)

About Aino Kavantera
Finnish designer Aino Kavanter graduated from Kingston University in 2001 with a degree in Interior Design. Kavanter then went on to work for a number of international design agencies such as Marcel Wanders, Softroom and Antarchitecture, working on a range of high-profile projects including luxury hotel Mondrian in Miami and high-end fashion stores Villa Moda and Manolo Blahnik in Bahrain. Over the last few years, Kavanter has worked increasingly on her own interior, architectural and exhibition projects.
http://www.ainokavantera.com

Lightweight fabric structures (Image Courtesy Nicole Marnati)

About Federica Capitani
Italian designer Federica Capitani has a degree in Industrial Design from the University of Genova, and has previously worked in Italy, for Patrizia Urquiola and Paola Navone, and in Holland for Marcel Wanders. After spending time in Japan in 2008, Federica became responsible for contemporary design and limited edition exhibitions in Europe, among them a solo exhibition by Arne Quinze at Pierre Berge & associates in Bruxelles in 2008. She opened her own studio in London in 2009.
http://www.federicacapitani.com

Lightweight fabric structures (Image Courtesy Nicole Marnati)

About Fin Noir
Fin Noir is a not-for-profit organisation supporting Finnish artists, aiming to create networks and foster creative collaborations worldwide.
http://www.finnoir.fi

Himmelinna-snowcastle' detail (Image Courtesy Nicole Marnati)

Lightweight fabric structures and 'himmelinna' (Image Courtesy Nicole Marnati)

Tags: France, Paris

Category: Exhibition Center

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 8th, 2012 at 6:37 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.