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Ideal Living reinvents the home with a new perspective on design showrooms. The Glasgow-based exhibition invites attendees to ‘live’ in the space, using the objects on display like their own homes.
New Glasgow Society, 9 - 14th Nov, 2024.
“As young designers, we believe authentic, meaningful objects deserve more recognition. Our exhibition, Ideal Living, is a small step towards achieving that.”
Ideal Living
Ideal Living
Ideal Living displays the work of craftspeople in a showroom setting. Visitors can immerse themselves in the space, touch, and interact with the objects. The show features a variety of handmade pieces including furniture, lighting, publications, and more.
Curated by a young designer-architect duo, the Ideal Living exhibition is inspired by the resurgence of craft, reminiscent of the old Japanese tradition of Mingei. We aim to bring these makers together to celebrate the importance of their work and craft.
We feel that mass-produced showrooms such as the Ideal Home Show often prioritise standardisation and convenience over quality. This overlooks the beauty of craftsmanship that is all around us. We want to tap into the growing movement of slow design in the fight against mass production. By showcasing selected works in a home-like environment, our show aims to help people understand how these crafted pieces can enhance their everyday lives through beauty and quality.
FURTHER READING
“True beauty can be found in the everyday, in the practical objects we use, made by unknown craftsmen, with simplicity and honesty.”
Yanagi Sōetsu
Founder of the Mingei movement.
Yanagi Sōetsu
Founder of the Mingei movement.
Rule of 3
We split the exhibition space into three key areas: the living room, kitchen, and bedroom, representing the essential spaces of a home.
This division creates an immersive environment, allowing visitors to experience how everyday objects transform a simple room into a living home. The idea behind this design reflects our two influences; the Mingei movement, and the Ideal Home Show, which come together to shape our own theme, Ideal Living.
Mingei, with its focus on the beauty of everyday, handcrafted objects, informs our selection of functional pieces that are both simple and meaningful, with a sense of warmth and familiarity. While the Ideal Home Show, explores themes of consumerism and showroom aesthetics. By merging these two, our exhibition highlights how thoughtful craftsmanship and design can elevate everyday life.
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Behind the Name ‘Ideal Living’
The concept of our exhibition and its title, are inspired by the Ideal Home Show, which has been running since 1908. This was originally designed to showcase the latest innovations in home design and technology. The show brought together everything one might need to create the ‘ideal’ home. The first event, held in London, took over one week to construct, with more than 3,000 men working to build the exhibition spaces.
The Ideal Home Show presented a vision of domestic life centred on convenience, mass production, and the latest household trends. It reflected the desires of a rapidly industrialising world, where craft and personal connection to objects were not a priority.
The focus was on offering a model of the ‘perfect home’ that often seemed desirable, yet out of reach for many. Mass-produced goods gradually became the basis of the Ideal Home Show, promoting an ideal that was less about personal expression and more about keeping up with consumerist trends. Influencers ranging from royalty to celebrities endorsed this mass-market ideal, reinforcing a polished image of the ‘ideal home’.
Our exhibition, Ideal Living, critiques the capitalist ideals that dominate the Ideal Home Show. Rather than pursuing unattainable perfection, Ideal Living celebrates the beauty found in daily life - appreciating how an object's craftsmanship and practical use create character through functionality.
By creating a space filled with items that resonate with care and purpose, our exhibition invites people to rethink what an ‘ideal’ home truly means in today’s world. One that is personal, sustainable, realistic, and more importantly, human.
As the Ideal Home Show enters 2024, it continues to showcase the latest innovations, yet we feel it’s become truly distant from the realities of true domestic life.
While the exhibition promotes immaculate model homes and high-tech gadgets, it can lack the human warmth and personal connection that make a space feel genuinely lived-in. We feel that showrooms with sleek, mass-produced products on display cater to modern convenience but can feel impersonal and lacking the craftsmanship and soul that comes with handmade, functional objects.
Mingei
The Mingei movement, founded in Japan in the 1920s by Sōetsu Yanagi, celebrates the beauty of everyday, handcrafted objects made by anonymous artisans. It values simplicity, functionality, and craftsmanship, emphasising items created for practical, daily use.
The Mingei movement emerged in Japan in the late 1920s, founded by philosopher Sōetsu Yanagi. Yanagi, concerned about the rise of industrialisation and its impact on traditional craftsmanship, sought to preserve the beauty and integrity of everyday objects made by anonymous artisans. The term Mingei translates to “art of the people”. The movement celebrated handcrafted, functional objects that were accessible to everyone, such as pottery, textiles, and wooden crafts. Inspired by traditional Japanese aesthetics, Mingei aimed to elevate ordinary objects to the level of fine art by emphasising simplicity, natural materials, and the skill of the artisan. Collaborating with craftsmen like Shoji Hamada and Kawai Kanjiro, Yanagi promoted the idea that beauty lies in functional, everyday items, not just in decorative art. The movement encouraged a deeper appreciation for the connection between craftsmanship and human experience, a philosophy that continues to inspire designers and makers today.
The principles of the Mingei movement are still practiced today, not just within Japan but globally. The movement has inspired a resurgence of interest in handmade goods and the importance of surrounding your everyday life with beauty through utilitarian design and
WHERE TO FIND US
9th Nov -> 7 - 9pm
10 - 14th Nov -> 10am - 5pm
@i.ideal_living