London Design Week

When the legendary German architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe coined the now famous phrase “God is in the details” he was encouraging us to take note of the little things. While detail matters, much of it we barely notice – even in the context of a museum where objects are intended to be observed at length and up close.

The London Design Festival therefore collaborated with Swarovski to set a group of influential designers a challenge on the theme of detail. Each designer selected an object from the V&A’s extensive collections, forming a multi-site exhibition within the V&A’s galleries. Positioned next to each chosen object is a viewing point constructed from Swarovski specialist lenses, which has been installed to magnify the highlights or curiosities within each piece’s design. The detail might be hidden; it may be in a combination of objects, an uncovered texture, or it may reveal or redefine a gallery view.

“Magnifying inspiring details is a simple yet extraordinary concept, because really looking at something means seeing it in an entirely different way. God Is in the Details invites us to look at some of the V&A’s greatest treasures as if for the first time, taking us on a fascinating and enlightening journey of discovery.”
- Nadja Swarovski, Member of Swarovski’s Executive Board

The designers come from a number of different fields including jewellery, architecture and industrial design and include the likes of Paul Cocksedge, Tom Dixon, Amanda Levete, Faye Toogood, Stephen Webster and Osman Yousefzada. The project invites visitors to embark on a more intense experience of the Museum’s collections; a ‘journey of detail’ to discover features that they may have otherwise overlooked.

For more details on this event and others in the festival, go to London Design