The exhibition Fuori catalogo, organized by Fondazione studio museo Vico Magistretti in co-production with ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, looks at five Vico Magistretti designs, all of which are out of production, through the lenses of five young photographers.
The selected objects are: a light, a table, a bookshelf and two chairs. All are iconic, with distinct stories to tell, and all five designs are remarkable for their contemporaneity. Even if (currently) not available on the market, each object is an important reference for contemporary design, today. Magistretti’s designs continue to be sources of inspiration for future projects; others offer a critical comment from the past.

The photographers are Maxime Guyon, Quentin Lacombe, Calypso Mahieu, Nicolas Polli and Jean-Vincent Simonet, all graduates of the Bachelor or Master Photography programmes at ECAL. With their distinct styles, each photographer offers a personal interpretation of the objects. In the process, they generate new desires for the objects that, nonetheless, remain just out of reach.
In a separate reading room, the vast collection of original material for each of the five selected objects is available. This documentation is drawn from the foundation’s historical archive. In the exhibit, the material is displayed in the form of a comprehensive anthology, that invites viewers to further investigate the “fuori catalogo” works of Vico Magistretti.

As part of the exhibition, Fondazione Magistretti offers two workshops conducted by Marta Ferina, consultant for educational activities for museums, to tell the story of the objects through photographs.