100 objects, 100 designers, 25 years, 25 categories, 1 country: The MAK exhibition AUT NOW: 100 × Austrian Design for the 21st Century provides a varied overview of the diversity and innovation in Austrian product design in the new millennium on the basis of 100 design objects. Each of the 25 thematic categories—from A for “Alpine” to Z for “Zeitgeist”—contains four objects that are representative of the wide range of things designed and produced in Austria from the year 2000 to the present day. They are all particularly remarkable examples of Austrian product design—role models for the 21st century. AUT NOW extends an invitation to admire and appreciate the functional, conceptual, and poetic qualities of contemporary design and discover surprising details in familiar things.

“Ideally, contemporary product design should represent a dynamic and holistic approach that revolves around the needs of contemporary society and the environment,” according to MAK Curators Sebastian Hackenschmidt and Marlies Wirth, who developed the exhibition together with Georg Schnitzer and Peter Umgeher, founders of the design studio Vandasye. With their exhibition series Design Everyday held during VIENNA DESIGN WEEK since 2017, Vandasye has regularly turned its attention to Austrian product design, identifying ideas that propose ambitious and inspiring but also sensible solutions to improve everyday life.

The 25 categories define the route through the exhibition, while allowing an indepth response to the question of what characterizes product design today. “Good design” must take into account social challenges and innovative ways of organizing work, as well as new production techniques, distribution channels, and marketing opportunities. Formal, material, typological, and technological criteria play just as much of a role as ergonomics, social and environmental considerations, and the preservation of resources. The emotional content of objects, characterized by “maximum rizz”—wit, creativity, and charisma—is also essential.

Using these categories AUT NOW creates a “school of seeing” on key aspects of product development and the design process that mostly remain invisible to users. The full spectrum of contemporary products is represented in the exhibition—from furniture, domestic appliances, tools, and lighting to accessories and consumer electronics to design for personal care, health, work, mobility, and much more.

From A for “Alpine” to Z for “Zeitgeist”

The categories should be understood as general characteristics of the chosen objects. For instance, “Alpine” subsumes the canon of forms and types that is widespread in the Alps and unmistakable in a wide range of practical objects: a chair, avalanche equipment, and even a bong.

“Material Opportunities” explores the role played by the choice of material and the unexpected possibilities that can arise with the right material—such as unbreakable eyeglass lenses or an edible dog bowl. “Re-Typification” reveals the surprising designs of supposedly unchangeable everyday objects like a ladder or a coat hanger, whereas “Empowerment” contains projects that give their users agency, such as cutlery for children with an age-appropriate design. And the “Invisible” category presents material or functional qualities that remain unseen for the user, in objects like a water bottle or an acoustic panel. Unexpected juxtapositions can be found in almost every category— when it comes to using existing pre-products or intentional Lo-Tek, or when reviewing circular design strategies that make systemic change possible.

With the chosen objects, designers, and manufacturers, the curatorial team sought to represent a range of different approaches, generations, and branches. Self-initiated experiments are presented alongside the production lines of major companies, technological innovations alongside traditional handicraft, and serial products alongside limited editions or pieces that have long been discontinued. Design from the early 2000s is part of the exhibition, as are prototypes that are currently in development, products by established designers and manufacturers, as well as projects by the next generation of designers. Almost a quarter of the exhibits in the show are from the MAK’s own collection; most pieces on display are loans, with the intention to add some of them to the collection on the occasion of the exhibition.