Designing Life at The Natural History Museum: Regeneration: Osmosis by Arik Levy

Arik Levy creates an exhibition of work inspired by the unique concept of crystal, commissioned by Swarovski Crystal Palace.  Osmosis is the movement from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration until the concentration on both sides is equal. Visual and emotional perception is transformed through a membrane, as we experience the transition from real to virtual, from solid to a metaphor. The osmosis from the urban landscape into the environment of the installation opens up a journey into the micro versus macro expression of architecture, the ensuing architectural products, together revealing the techno-craft element of the work.

"In my own personal journey I travel between art and technology, design and engineering, reflection and light.Swarovski's masterly approach offers this alchemy, this magic as I search for the platform to experiment, explore and revile boundaries of stone cutting. At the same time it offers a semipermeable bridge to my other work. Moving from sculpture to space, through the environmental landscape and seeing the more tangible products, clarifies that this body of work mimics osmosis”, explains Levy.

Arik Levy, founding partner of Paris-based LDesign, is an established multi-disciplined global designer. Respected for his furniture and lighting designs, Levy had an unconventional entry into the world of design. Born in Israel, he first ran a design studio and surf shop before leaving to study industrial design in Switzerland at Art Centre Europe. A stint in Japan followed where Levy consolidated his ideas leading him to design and produce unique pieces for exhibitions and the industry. Amongst others, Levy’s work has been exhibited at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, V&A in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Today he continues to be a major contributor to the world of design. 

For the first time the London Design Festival takes root at the Natural History Museum, neighbouring the V&A, with Designing Life, in which creatives interpret man’s involvement in and disruption of the natural selection process. Curator Suzanne Trocmé says: ‘It is not just the regeneration of man-made objects that has become relevant to our lives from an ecological standpoint, but the designing and regeneration of ourselves and nature.’ The Darwin Centre itself, inaugurated in 2009 and designed by Danish Architect C F Moller, is one of London’s finest contemporary builds.

Osmosis is a Swarovski Crystal Palace commission