YAA Projects was commissioned by the Design Museum to design its annual Platform Gallery exhibition, presenting the work of artist and designer Simone Brewster. Located within the first-floor atrium, the project reconfigures an existing balcony condition into a legible spatial sequence that mediates between object, viewer and institution.
The exhibition design is organised as a series of discrete yet interconnected ‘landings’ that structure Brewster’s work across the gallery. Rather than a linear arrangement, the design establishes a distributed plan that allows multiple routes and readings, responding to the circumambulatory nature of the atrium. Each section is calibrated in relation to scale, sightlines and proximity, enabling shifts between large, seminal works and more intimate drawings and process studies.
Responding to the multidisciplinary nature of Brewster’s practice, the exhibition carefully balances the display of large-scale works with smaller, jewel-like objects. The presentation of her jewellery, crafted from materials including brass, sapele, limewood and ebony, draws on the language of the jewellery box, reinforcing Brewster’s practice of elevating timber to a precious material. Plinths and case interiors are lined with textile fabric– made from 100% recycled material– like an ornate jewellery box.
Material strategy is central to the exhibition’s architectural language. Timber operates as both structure and surface, used across plinths, panels and freestanding elements to produce a cohesive yet articulated spatial system. Display elements are conceived as architectural components, with section and subsection panels constructed as framed elements that sit between wall, object and text. Colour is applied as a material process, enhancing the grain and texture of the timber, with text applied directly onto stained surfaces.
Reuse and circularity underpin the project. Existing plinths are reconfigured and reused throughout, aligning with the Design Museum’s commitment to sustainability and reducing the environmental impact of temporary exhibitions.
Alongside the spatial design, YAA Projects developed the exhibition’s 2D graphic identity, presenting deconstructed forms derived from Brewster’s work, reimagined as elemental geometries recomposed into new bodily arrangements that emphasise balance and sculptural presence. A series of public posters, installed across the city, including the Southbank, extends the exhibition into the urban realm.
Through adaptation and reuse, the exhibition establishes a spatial framework for Brewster’s “intimate architectures”—a system of relationships between body, object and space.
Photography: © Matthew Blunderfield