Interior Landscapes

RSA Lower Galleries

Free entry, booking required.

Booking at the door is possible provided space is available. COVID-19 safety restrictions will be in place.

Exhibitors: Sam Ainsley RSA | Mary Arnold-Forster RSA | Philip Clissett | Doug Cocker RSA | Victoria Crowe RSA | Paul Furneaux RSA | Oisín Gallagher | Nicholas Harrington | Jessica Harrison RSA | Graeme Hutton RSA | Jim Lambie RSA (Elect) | The Marchmont Workshop | Adrian McCurdy | Moxon Architects | Richard Murphy RSA | Gavin Mutch | Glen Onwin RSA | Barbara Rae RSA | Keith Rand RSA | Ben Scrimgeour | Stallan-Brand | Robert Steedman RSA | Sutherland Hussey Harris | Arthur Watson PPRSA | Emma Jo Webster | Robin Webster RSA

Interior Landscapes, curated by Robin Webster RSA, explores domestic objects and furniture designed by Royal Scottish Academicians and invited architects and artists. The exhibition considers the direct relationship between ideas, materials and manufacture, whether through handmade craft or state-of-the-art machining.

The idea for this exhibition was originally motivated by wanting to highlight some of the work done by architects which goes beyond the design of a building and includes the detailed conception of more intimate and sometimes transitory objects that relate to and may be an integral part of the whole design. The idea of a 'gesamtkunstwerk' (literally 'total work of art') covers the entire designed environment in an integrated concept, from the building, including the furnishings, down to the ironmongery and teaspoons.

Many famous architects, like Alvar Aalto, Arne Jacobsen, Sir Robert Lorimer and Charles Rennie Mackintosh have famously done this, although today it is much less common. Possibly this is because there is such a wide range of well-designed furnishings that are readily available, along with the desire of clients to choose their own items, and perhaps also because of an increasing specialisation of designers and craftsmen.

The components of this exhibition range from practical chairs and tables to more abstract items designed by architects and artists that might form attractive or more ambiguous ingredients of an interior. Some pieces are made up of recycled materials, as developing the circular economy to help moderate climate change is something that needs to be addressed. The exhibition is intended to be different from the seductive stage sets of a shop window or an IKEA showroom, and to provoke questions about what may be new possibilities.

 - Professor Robin Webster OBE, RSA, RIBA, PRIAS

We would like to thank Dovecot Studios, Marchmont House and Annette Ratuszniak and family for kindly loaning works for this exhibition.