Sabine Marcelis: When Light Becomes Architecture

125 IKEA lamps reflected into infinity, giant lava lamps that seem to dissolve the boundaries of a room, reflections of light following the movement of water. In Zurich, Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis brings her creative universe to life in Light and Color, an exhibition at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, on view until 4 April 2027. Born in 1985, raised in New Zealand and a graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven, Marcelis has developed an instantly recognisable visual language over the past fifteen years, defined by pared-back forms, glossy surfaces, transparency and saturated colours. From her studio in the port of Rotterdam, she explores the expressive potential of materials such as glass and resin, working at the intersection of design, art and architecture. The result is a body of work in which objects seem to capture light, hold it within their surfaces and release it in ever-changing ways.



Curated by Damian Fopp, the exhibition - the first museum show devoted to her work - brings together some of Marcelis’s most significant projects since she established her studio in 2011, alongside new installations conceived specifically for the museum. Yet this is not intended as a conventional retrospective. As the designer herself explains, the aim is not to create an archive of past projects, but to offer an insight into how her studio experiments with light, materials and colour. The exhibition moves between individual objects and immersive environments, inviting visitors to become part of the experience. One of the most striking installations stems from her collaboration with IKEA: 125 lamps from the VARMBLIXT collection, designed by Marcelis for the Swedish brand, form an eleven-metre-long illuminated tunnel that visitors can walk through. Thanks to a mirrored wall with subtle colour gradients, the circular forms appear to repeat endlessly. An object originally designed for domestic interiors shifts in scale and becomes architecture. Another installation, Mathmos Lava Columns, takes an icon of pop design to monumental proportions. Eight lava lamps standing over two and a half metres tall, developed with British manufacturer Mathmos, animate a mirror-lined space. The continuous movement of the lava, multiplied by reflections, creates an ever-changing luminous landscape in which the physical boundaries of the room become difficult to discern.



The relationship between light and movement is also central to Sunbeam Captured, created in collaboration with artist Boris Acket. A thin layer of water is mechanically rippled, while a moving light source traces the path of the sun. The coloured reflections, amplified by a mirror that shifts from blue to orange, evoke the changing qualities of natural light. Alongside the installations are works such as Tall Stripe and Candy Cube, together with lighting, furniture and mirrors that chart the evolution of Marcelis's practice. Material samples and preparatory studies also offer a glimpse into the design process, revealing what lies behind surfaces that appear deceptively simple and flawless. The exhibition design, conceived by Studio Sabine Marcelis, follows the same approach: a restrained geometric vocabulary, carefully calibrated lighting and a particular sensitivity to the qualities of each material. More than a celebration of her signature aesthetic, Light and Color invites us to look at design from a different perspective. For Marcelis, colour is not merely a finish, light does more than illuminate, and materials are not simply the means of making objects. They are elements capable of transforming our perception of space. And, sometimes, of making us question what we are actually seeing.