Gran Turismo: the Greek collection of Adorno

However, the design production of the country, slow but steady, is much more than this. In an attempt to map out the distinct characteristics of Greek design, Adorno, in an online exhibition, showcased selected objects by Greek and international designers.

Adorno’s vision

With hundreds of designers and curators in its roster, from more than 60 countries, Adorno is an online platform that promotes unique specimens of design from all over the world. For this, special collections are created, constituted of objects by established designers or new artists, like furniture, fabrics, ceramics and sculpture. Moreover, through the platform it is possible to purchase the objects, making accessible to the public a vast range of designs. Maintaining a very critical stance and a local identity, the collection leaves its mark on the course of design. One of the most recent actions of Adorno took place at the London Design Week 2021, where the spectators had the chance to see from up close different collections for each country and to note their distinct identity.

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Gran Turismo: a Greek collection

That was the idea also behind Gran Turismo. Curators and founders of Greece Is for Lovers, Thanos Karampatsos and Christina Kotsilelou, organised the exhibition that lasted from November 25 until December 2 of 2021. In the setting of the abandoned airport of Elliniko, the spectators encountered twelve objects, all sharing common principles relative to our country’s identity. These are the aforementioned objects:

Théros – Aristotelis Barakos

Combining marble with handmade wicker, this lamp evokes a human figure enjoying the Greek summer under the hot sun. All its parts are crafted from small manufacturers within the country.

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T - 0001 – Yiannis Vogdanis

To craft the vases of the Tornado series, a 3D printer is used to create successive porcelain layers. This results in a sculpture of fluid form, in no way similar to the traditional bulky porcelain vases.

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Organ – Tom von Kaenel

Made with only one material, Naxian marble, this sculpture is distinguished by its imperfection, having undergone no polishing or any other process that would hide the traces of the craft.

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Ermis Chair – Limited Edition – the New Raw

The uniform chair that intrigues with its combination of unexpected colours and its simple design, is in reality made from recycled plastic made by the studio of New Raw.

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Arcadia ’21 – Greece is for Lovers

The curators of Gran Turismo are presenting their own object in the exhibition, which has incorporated a very greek element of the countryside -a goat’s bell- transformed into an elegant home object.

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Revolver Deluxe – Yiannis Ghikas

During his artistic activities in Japan, the renowned product designer Yiannis Ghikas created this vase from local porcelain and adorned it with a special ink that turns blue once it has dried out.

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Glazescape IV and Glazescape X – Melina Xenaki

The Glazescape series consists of ceramic discs, resulting from the chemical reactions caused by their baking, rendering each object unique and unrepeatable.

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Frieze – Point Supreme

This is a series of ceramics, plaques and handles collected from dumping grounds, objects of different origins and times that coexist in this fragmentary sculpture that resembles a frieze.

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Prickless Pear – On Entropy

Circular pieces of green marble are meant to be assembled by the user, forming, in the end, a figure resembling a characteristic plant of the greek countryside: the prickly pear.

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Lyre Chair – AKA Architects

Whether used for interior or exterior spaces, this chair is distinguished by its clever use of bamboo wood, which results in an elegant object with curves as the prevailing element.

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Conduit – Hoi Kaloi

Even though it’s meant to evoke an archetypal form, the aqueduct, this lamp connects marble design with contemporary manufacturing techniques as it is carved with a CNC milling machine and bathed in light.

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According to Greece is for Lovers the Gran Turismo exhibition aims to showcase the concept of “Greekness”. It is investigated whether that is to be found enclosed in classical forms, which reference history, or in abstract forms gazing towards the future. In the absence of some founding principles regarding greek design, the objects representing it don’t have to be dependent upon manufacturing processes or strictly classic materials like marble and wood. For Thanos Karampatsos and Christina Kotsilelou “Greekness” can be found in a simple yet elegant object representing a classical aesthetic without combining many materials.

The coexistence of Greek and foreign designers, living and working in Greece, with Greeks of the diaspora aims to demonstrate the different facets of the sought-out “Greekness”, undoubtedly influenced by location. Thus, objects characterised by different compositional principles coexist through their accord or opposition to the Greek archetype, completing a multiform puzzle that points to the material and immaterial elements of our country.

Image: adorno.design