Floating Porcelain
Zsolnay – A Brilliant Family was an exhibition presenting porcelain, ceramics and architectural elements from the Zsolnay factory. Planbureau designed a restrained display system to complement the colourful collection and historic interior.
With very little time for design and construction, the installation needed to be simple to manufacture and structurally efficient. Large glass panels and meandering shelves form self-supporting showcases that accommodate objects of different sizes. The resulting system combines display, organisation and structural support.
Client
Industry
Product
Location
Timeline
Services
Zsolnay
Museum / Culture
Temporary Exhibition
Hungary
n/a
Concept Development
Exhibition Design
Space Design
Technical Development
Design Engineering
Diverse Objects, Limited Time
The exhibition brought together Zsolnay porcelain, ceramics and architectural elements with very different dimensions, forms and colours. Their rich visual character also had to coexist with a strongly defined historic interior.
The available time for design and construction was exceptionally short. A conventional showcase system with numerous custom components would have added complexity. The exhibition needed a coherent display solution that could accommodate the diverse collection while remaining visually restrained and practical to manufacture.
Display as Structure
The challenge was to create large, self-supporting showcases using as few different components as possible. The system needed to remain stable without a separate internal supporting frame. It also had to accommodate exhibits of different heights and proportions.
Planbureau developed a mutually supporting arrangement of glass panels and meandering shelves. The shelves hold the glass in position, while the glass panels brace the shelving structure. Their geometry determines both the structural behaviour and the placement of the exhibited objects.
Meandering, Self-Supporting Cases
The exhibition uses large glass panels and continuous, meandering shelves to create self-supporting showcases. Each component performs more than one function: the shelves support and organise the objects while stabilising the glass, and the glass panels reinforce the shelving system.
Varying shelf heights accommodate the collection's different scales. Smaller ceramics are displayed higher, while larger objects occupy lower positions. The restrained installation provides a consistent visual framework, allowing the colourful Zsolnay pieces to remain the focus.
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