For the first time in the United States, Frame in Frame – Swiss Design in Motion presents rediscovered experimental films from the 1960s–90s. Shown during NYCxDesign at WSA, the exhibition unfolds within a spatial installation by a new generation of designers. Curated by Christian Herren, the project is presented by the Consulate General of Switzerland.
Rather than presenting film from a fixed position, the exhibition takes shape as an environment structured by furniture, projection, light, and sound. Designer Ben Ganz transforms the iconic Lehni aluminum shelving system into a sculptural projection structure. Design studio Panter&Tourron introduces a flexible cinema landscape with their modular «Anagram» sofa system for Vitra, a reconfigurable platform shifting from focused viewing to informal settings. A bar built from USM Haller elements extends the setting into a place of exchange, while a rug by Trix and Robert Haussmann, produced by Ruckstuhl, introduces a more expressive register.
Within this environment, artist Daan Couzijn activates more than 200 films through a multi-channel video and audio installation, orchestrating their interplay across freestanding screens. The result is a fluid composition where visuals and rhythms form a dynamic interplay of image and sound. More than an archival display, Frame in Frame turns film into a spatial experience that invites movement and interaction.
The films originate from the influential Film + Design course at the Basel School of Design, founded by Armin Hofmann, a central figure of the Swiss Style. Known for its clarity and grid-based organization, this approach also informed Swiss product design through its focus on construction and modular thinking. In Basel, these principles were applied as early as in the 1960s to moving images in response to a visual culture shaped by television and emerging electronic media. Rather than narrative, the structural films focus on the frame and its organization in time—simple rules generate a rich visual language. American art- and design icons such as Marlene McCarty and Philip Burton were drawn to study in Basel and are represented in the exhibition.
In an age where computational tools increasingly automate the creation of moving images, Frame in Frame refocuses attention on the foundational principles behind how films are made. Rooted in the Swiss Design approach, this lineage extends into the present, where a new generation of product designers develops these principles in response to contemporary conditions, opening a view onto the structures that shape what we see.

Office of Tangible Space and VERSO present a cross-generational exploration of the enduring nature of creative influence. The exhibition pairs work by leading contemporary designers with historic design pieces to reflect on the continuity of ideas across time and propose that innovation is never created in isolation, but shaped by precedent, process, and lived experience.

The proverb “ex nihilo nihil fit” – which translates to “nothing comes from nothing” asserts that all outcomes require an input, whether effort, material, or the seed of an idea – the exhibition frames design as a continuum. Nothing Comes from Nothing unfolds pairings of contemporary and historic works, each connecting a designer to the precedents that inform their practice.

Together, these juxtapositions foreground a central premise: that creative production is cumulative, not instantaneous. Rather than presenting design as a series of isolated breakthroughs, the exhibition positions it as an ongoing conversation across generations.

Contemporary works by:
François Chambard, Kiki Goti, Madeline Isakson, Minjae Kim, Liam Lee, Nifemi Marcus-Bello, Muller van Severen, Kim Mupangilai, Objects of Common Interest, Office of Tangible Space, Natalie Shook

Historic works by:
Alvar and Aino Aalto, Carl Auböck, Lina Bo Bardi, Andrea Branzi, Achille Castiglione, Charles and Ray Eames, Ghana’s Ashanti People, Josef Hoffmann, Pierre Jeanneret, Charlotte Perriand, Jens Quistgaard, Robert Rauschenberg, Superstudio, Michael Thonet, Frank Lloyd Wright

Work from the collections of:
Patrick Parrish, Lanoba, Amauri Aguiar, Office of Tangible Space Curated by Office of Tangible Space and VERSO