Ron Arad: No Discipline Preview

Israeli-born British designer and architect Ron Arad has made a name for himself pushing the boundaries of forms and materials, so it comes at no surprise that the installation devised for Arad’s upcoming retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York is a shape-shifting work of its own.

Text by

Miyoko Ohtake

View 28 Photos

Rover Chair (1981)Photo by Erik and Petra Hesmerg and courtesy of Private Collection, Maastricht, and the Museum of Modern Art — Rover Chair (1981)

Photo by Erik and Petra Hesmerg and courtesy of Private Collection, Maastricht, and the

Museum of Modern Art

Sketch for Southern Hemisphere (2007)Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Named the Cage sans Frontières (Cage without Borders), Arad’s creation for the exhibition, titled Ron Arad: No Discipline, is a 126-foot-long, 16-feet-tall corten-and-stainless-steel structure that holds the majority of the 140 works to be exhibited in its 240 square cutouts. The stainless steel-lined cubes that hold the works reflect and ricochet the objects' shapes along the inside of one side of the Cage, which spans the entire length of the museum’s International Council gallery, while the other side is covered in a gray gauze fabric and only reveals silhouettes of the displayed pieces.

The first major retrospective in the United States of Arad’s work, the exhibition spans Arad’s career from his early Rover Chair and Concrete Stereo of the 1980s through his more recent works, like the text message-displaying Lolita chandelier and Southern Hemisphere chair. The exhibition opens August 2 for a brief two and a half months. To view an in-depth slideshow of renderings of Cage sans Frontières, sketches of Arad's iconic pieces, and objects that will be on display, click the yellow "Slideshow" button at the top right-hand corner of this post.

Rendering of the Ron Arad: No Discipline exhibition, featuring Lolita chandelier and Even the Odd Balls? chairsPhoto courtesy of Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — Rendering of the Ron Arad: No Discipline exhibition, featuring Lolita chandelier and Even the Odd Balls? chairs

Photo courtesy of

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Rendering of the Ron Arad: No Discipline exhibition, featuring Cage sans Frontières (Cage without Borders)Photo courtesy of Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — Rendering of the Ron Arad: No Discipline exhibition, featuring Cage sans Frontières (Cage without Borders)

Photo courtesy of

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Concrete Stereo (1983)Photo courtesy of Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — Concrete Stereo (1983)

Photo courtesy of

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Blown Out of Proportion (B.O.O.P.) vase (1998)Photo byThibault Jeanson and courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art — Blown Out of Proportion (B.O.O.P.) vase (1998)

Photo by

Thibault Jeanson and courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art

Chalk Farm Road Studio (1981-91)Photo courtesy of Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — Chalk Farm Road Studio (1981-91)

Photo courtesy of

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Bookworm 8008 (1993)Photo courtesy of Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — Bookworm 8008 (1993)

Photo courtesy of

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Sketchy for Large Bookworm (1993)Photo courtesy of Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — Sketchy for Large Bookworm (1993)

Photo courtesy of

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Large Bookworm (1993)Photo courtesy of Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — Large Bookworm (1993)

Photo courtesy of

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Panoramic Restaurant at Les Diablerets, GstaadPhoto courtesy of Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — Panoramic Restaurant at Les Diablerets, Gstaad

Photo courtesy of

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Sketch for FPE (Fantastic, Plastic, Elastic, 1997)Photo courtesy of Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — Sketch for FPE (Fantastic, Plastic, Elastic, 1997)

Photo courtesy of

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

FPE (Fantastic, Plastic, Elastic, 1997)Photo courtesy of Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — FPE (Fantastic, Plastic, Elastic, 1997)

Photo courtesy of

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Narrow Pappardelle (1992)Photo by Bruno Scott and courtesy of the Fonds National d’Art Contemporain and the Museum of Modern Art — Narrow Pappardelle (1992)

Photo by Bruno Scott and courtesy of the

Fonds National d’Art Contemporain and the Museum of Modern Art

Big Easy Volume 2 (1998)Photo courtesy of Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — Big Easy Volume 2 (1998)

Photo courtesy of

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Lolita (2004)Photo courtesy of Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — Lolita (2004)

Photo courtesy of

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Sketch for Well Tempered Chair (1986)Photo courtesy of Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — Sketch for Well Tempered Chair (1986)

Photo courtesy of

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Well Tempered Chair prototype (1986)Photo courtesy of the Vitra Design Museum and the Museum of Modern Art — Well Tempered Chair prototype (1986)

Photo courtesy of the

Vitra Design Museum and the Museum of Modern Art

Looming Lloyd (1989)Photo courtesy of the Vitra Design Museum and the Museum of Modern Art — Looming Lloyd (1989)

Photo courtesy of the

Vitra Design Museum and the Museum of Modern Art

MT Rocker Chair (2005)Photo by Erik and Petra Hesmerg and courtesy of Private Collection, Maastricht, and the Museum of Modern Art — MT Rocker Chair (2005)

Photo by Erik and Petra Hesmerg and courtesy of Private Collection, Maastricht, and the

Museum of Modern Art

PizzaKobra (2007)Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — PizzaKobra (2007)

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Ripple Chair (2006)PizzaKobra (2007)Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — Ripple Chair (2006)PizzaKobra (2007)

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Ripple Chair dressed with A-POC (A Piece of Cloth) with Issey Miyake and Dai Fujiwara of Miyake Design Studio (2006)Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art — Ripple Chair dressed with A-POC (A Piece of Cloth) with Issey Miyake and Dai Fujiwara of Miyake Design Studio (2006)

Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Oh-Void 2 (2006)Photo by Erik and Petra Hesmerg and courtesy of Private Collection, USA, and the Museum of Modern Art — Oh-Void 2 (2006)

Photo by Erik and Petra Hesmerg and courtesy of Private Collection, USA, and the

Museum of Modern Art

Southern Hemisphere (2007)Photo by Erik and Petra Hesmerg and courtesy of Private Collection, Maastricht, and the Museum of Modern Art — Southern Hemisphere (2007)

Photo by Erik and Petra Hesmerg and courtesy of Private Collection, Maastricht, and the

Museum of Modern Art

Y's Store (2003)Ron Arad Associates and the Museum of Modern Art

Pic Chair (1997)Photo by Erik and Petra Hesmerg and courtesy of Private Collection, Maastricht, and the Museum of Modern Art — Pic Chair (1997)

Photo by Erik and Petra Hesmerg and courtesy of Private Collection, Maastricht, and the

Museum of Modern Art

Miyoko Ohtake

When not writing, Miyoko Ohtake can be found cooking, training for her next marathon, and enjoying all that the City by the Bay and the great outdoors have to offer.

Published

July 25, 2009

Last Updated

May 4, 2016

Get the Dwell Newsletter

Be the first to see our latest home tours, design news, and more.