Public Luxury

Exhibition and marketing design for ArcDes, Stockholm.

Public Luxury is an exhibition about the conflicts and paradoxes of design in the public realm in Sweden today.
Why are people so passionate about ice cream kiosks and hot dog stands? Can we make better streets out of our paranoia about crime and terrorism? And what happens when the public simply says no to something a designer or artist has worked on for years?

The title sounds like a contradiction, but recognises that everything in the public realm exists for more than merely functional reasons. Every kerbstone, bench, bollard, station sign, public toilet and street is part of the character of a place. All the works here, many of which were made for this exhibition, share the ambition to tell a story about public life today, and we should listen. Architects and designers may not be able to change society, but nothing reveals how society is changing as clearly as architecture and design.

• https://arkdes.se/en/?s=public+luxury