News

Vitra's London showroom in the Tramshed

Vitra opened the doors to its new showroom in the heart of Shoreditch, with works from Wrong Shop.

To coincide with the London Design Festival 2022 (17 – 25 September), Vitra unveiled its new flagship UK showroom in Shoreditch, London. A renovation of the grade II-listed Tramshed building, which was originally designed in 1905 by Emmanuel Vincent Harris, and served as an electricity transformer station for the Eastern London Tramway.

Vitra Showroom London
Image credit: Taran Wilkhu

True to the Vitra brand's signature style, the London showroom is an assortment of their iconic collections and guest designs. Similar to the VitraHaus in Weil am Rhein, the idea is to build a home and a community, as much as a showroom. Comprising a gallery, offices and meeting rooms, event spaces, as well as an expansive furniture collection, Vitra’s new outpost invites visitors to experience the furniture in an natural, in-situ manner.

The Swiss firm, founded in 1950, is famous for its ground-breaking furniture. Wrong Shop was approached by Till Weber, Vitra’s creative director of interiors and scenography, to provide wall hangings for the space.

Following the launch of Erwan Bouroullec’s The Impossible, a paper limited edition from 2022, we were pleased to present the artworks reimagined as aluminium backed wall hangings. Nature has a strong influence on Erwan’s exploratory and creative practice. This multifaceted series is an exploration into how we experience and understand our surrounding environments. Photographs of the countryside are overlaid with abstract geometric patterns, using specifically developed software. The artwork is then printed on textile with an aluminium foil backing, giving the object sturdiness while offering the opportunity for crumpling and manipulation.

The artworks by Erwan Bouroullec for the Wrong Shop sit behind the new Abalon sofas by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra, launched in Spring 2023 and also previewed at the space for the first time. Plants, accessories and artworks including this new body of work completed the installation. The result? An exquisite contemporary interior.