Selected examples of new German furniture and object designs will be exhibited at the Millî Reasürans Art Gallery from May 15th to June 15th, 2008.

The exhibition, a collaboration between the Goethe Institut Istanbul and the İFA Institute for International Relations, will be opened with the participation of the exhibition curator, Prof. Volker Albus.

In Germany, since the 1980s, while fundamentally different movements have developed in furniture and object design with vastly different creative concepts, a common theme can be found in these movements: simplicity in design, production, and use.

The exhibition, featuring many different objects from 35 designers and design groups, along with 3 video films, aims to discuss the possibility of a different design culture based on individual concepts that aim for simplicity, starting from strategies and concrete solutions.

Most of the objects selected for the exhibition are furniture, lighting elements, and items intended for seating areas. What distinguishes the exhibited objects is not the use of precious materials or their high cost due to a long production process. Their defining characteristic is the durability of their materials, the simplicity of their forms, and their ease and practicality of use.

The dominant trend in the designs is the reflection of a typical home culture tradition, with some works referencing the functional furniture of modernity. However, even in the early stages of New German Design, the concept of function was expanded, and narrative emotional moments, the principles of "objets trouvés" (trouvés), and the recycling of materials and additional parts constitute crucial elements. The simplicity of materials and production, their potential harmony with the environment, and their ecological quality, though not initially intended, have brought a new dimension. In fact, the designers' aim was to create a design that could also reflect sensuality.

The exhibition catalog includes essays by Prof. Volker Albus ("Three Times Simple"), Rolf Kreibich ("Products of the Future"), Axel Kufus ("Simply Complex"), and Dagmar Steffen ("A Simple Life in a Complex World?").