Exhibition

Serres Séparées at Dutch Design Week

We are nominated for the Dutch Design Awards!

17 Oct 2021
24 Oct 2021

The Serres Séparées project is nominated for a Dutch Design Award. During Dutch Design Week 2021 we will join in an exhibition together with all nominees at Microlab in Eindhoven. 

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- We offer a really nice plant-based dinner in our greenhouses on the Amsterdam water side of the Oosterdok. Because of Covid-19, these chambres séparées are recommended only for people that are already living together. Photo was taken at Mediamatic ETEN in Biotoop Dijkspark during our testing on April 28, 2020. Reproduction permitted with credit: Willem Velthoven for Mediamatic Amsterdam. #corona #covid19 #1,5meter #6feet  Willem Velthoven

Every year during DDW, DDA awards the best Dutch design of the past year, divided into 8 categories. In addition, the DDA Exhibition displays all winning and nominated designs. Our project has been nominated in the category habitat. 

About the Serres Séparées

Serres Séparées is a covid-19-inspired extension of the restaurant of art centre Mediamatic. Greenhouses on the waterfront have been transformed into private dining rooms. The name is inspired by the French chambre séparée; a room in a bar or restaurant that suggests a sexy kind of intimacy. The vegetarian food (‘guaranteed zoonosis-free’) is served on specially designed boards, so that the waiting staff can keep their distance. The contrast between private and public turns the dining experience into a reinterpretation of the sense of security and togetherness. Mediamatic claims a pioneering role with this concept, in part by sharing the project’s knowledge online. Have a look at the manual here. 

Comments of the jury

Good timing, fast acting: the ingenuity of Mediamatic shines out with this project. With Serres Séparées they have responded in an accessible way to a complex topicality, with a focus on what is possible, not what isn’t. The transparent cell placed within a public space is a solid concept, with a highly symbolic value for this covid-era. The design itself could have been stronger, but the implementation and knowledge sharing have served as a guide that led to a great deal of international attention and imitation, making it an easily accessible life hack. Mediamatic shows how you can use design to tell a story about isolation versus connection, and does it tongue-in-cheek.

Information

Serres Séparées at the DDA exhibition
Dutch Design Week 2021
16 till 24 October in Microlab, Eindhoven