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Here’s to many more: Apartment Zero turns twenty-five

A catalyst and advocate for contemporary designers and creative expression, Apartment Zero has been developing its collaboration-centric ethos with passion and purpose.

Originally conceptualized as a design gallery-meets-visual retreat, when Douglas Burton and Christopher Ralston founded Apartment Zero back in 1999 in Washington D.C., they acted as reliable yet outside-the-box thinking curators. Their hand-picked selection of creations allowed access to experimental contemporary design, new materials, and developing technologies and captured the hearts and minds of a clientele hungry for daring concepts and abstract ideas.

A chance encounter with the cultural counselor from the Embassy of the Netherlands soon after laid the groundwork for a captivating, ever-expanding series of partnerships and collaborations with museums and cultural institutions all around the world. A quarter of a century later, Apartment Zero continues to be a leading voice and champion of industrial design innovation through cultural diplomacy. 

The first edition of Apartment Zero's Washington D.C. International Design Festival took place in 2013. It featured an appearance by renowned industrial designer Roberto Palomba and was the result of partnerships with The Embassy of Spain and The Embassy of Italy, as well as the IDSA and Surface Magazine. - © Apartment Zero
The first edition of the Washington D.C. International Design Festival took place in 2013. It featured an appearance by renowned industrial designer Roberto Palomba and was the result of partnerships with The Embassy of Spain and The Embassy of Italy, as well as the IDSA and Surface Magazine. – © Apartment Zero

Apartment Zero seeks to, above all else, democratize design through the creation of clear pathways that lead to and inevitably expose underrepresented artisans and creative thinkers around the globe. Every corner of the world has its own, one-of-a-kind view and understanding of industrial design, of its meaning and scope. Intentionally or not, each distinct style is indicative of the region’s past, present, and future–an embodiment of the collective heartbeat we share through design in all its manifestations. Invested into the concept of cultural diplomacy and the building of a burgeoning design community, the establishment has grown into a multifaceted hub and incubator that informs and enchants through expansive exhibitions and immersive, memorable events

In 2010, Apartment Zero joined forces with the Embassy of Latvia and glass artist Artis Nimanis to showcase Nimanis's hand-blown glass sculptures. Apartment Zero also decorated the Embassy of Latvia for its special Christmas holiday market which promoted unusual design objects. - © Apartment Zero
In 2010, Apartment Zero joined forces with the Embassy of Latvia and glass artist Artis Nimanis to showcase Nimanis’s hand-blown glass sculptures. – © Apartment Zero

But in what way exactly did that fateful run-in with the cultural counselor from the Embassy of the Netherlands set in motion Apartment Zero’s agenda? Well, when the attaché noticed Burton and Ralston’s showroom filled with avant-garde objects, he was intrigued just as much as he was impressed by the whole concept. Detecting an unmissable opportunity to join forces, the subsequent, three-month-long DC Dutch Design Festival (with visits from Marcel Wanders and Jurgen Bey) was born. The festival morphed into a fruitful collaboration with the Corcoran Gallery of Art and ten other institutions with all corresponding exhibitions emerging from the findings Burton and Ralston made traveling across the Netherlands. 

In 2010, Apartment Zero collaborated with Civilian Art Projects to launch the work of Japanese-born, US-based celebrated industrial designer Jonah Takagi. Atelier Takagi is a multi-disciplinary design studio and workshop that crafts objects that inspire, inform, and recontextualize our surroundings. - © Apartment Zero
In 2010, Apartment Zero collaborated with Civilian Art Projects to launch the work of Japanese-born, US-based celebrated industrial designer Jonah Takagi. Atelier Takagi is a multidisciplinary design studio and workshop that crafts objects that inspire, inform, and recontextualize our surroundings. – © Apartment Zero

And so, more than two decades later, Apartment Zero’s wildly popular formula has evolved whilst conquering the world. Their program has slowly but surely spread to the embassies of Spain, Italy, Norway, Finland, Latvia, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Canada. It has become internationally recognized, celebrated, and awarded on multiple occasions. In 2013, it founded the Washington D.C. International Design Festival. Its first rendition showcased The Next Wave Industrial Design Exhibition, a 4,000-square-foot curated space of over 200 objects from around the world. The first of its kind in the nation’s capital, the festival included 8 public educational programs that featured 25 curators, journalists and design critics. 

In 2010, Apartment Zero dedicated an exhibition to Karim Rashid. The prolific and award-winning New York-based industrial designer, best known for his work with Issey Miyake, Nike, Foscarini, Magis, Prada, and more, discussed his inspiration at the event. It featured more than 50 of his international
product-designed objects. - © Apartment Zero
In 2002, Apartment Zero dedicated an exhibition to Karim Rashid. The prolific and award-winning New York-based industrial designer, best known for his work with Issey Miyake, Nike, Foscarini, Magis, Prada, and more, discussed his inspiration at the event where more than 50 of his product-designed objects were on display. – © Apartment Zero

The creative collective also began hosting live symposiums with industrial design powerhouses such as Sir James Dyson, Karim Rashid, and Roberto Palomba, as well as partnering with renowned cultural institutions including The National Museum of Women in the Arts, The National Building Museum, The Phillips Collection, and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Burton and Ralston’s brainchild now represents the crème de la crème of multicategory furniture, lighting, and floor textile design. The organization has showcased and introduced collectible designs, limited editions, and one-offs from some of the world’s most noteworthy talents. As it celebrates a monumental milestone, Apartment Zero will undoubtedly continue to shine a light on artistic prowess in unparalleled ways.

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