Bathtubs, tiles and displaced objects in a Zurich washroom

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place was a group exhibition held in the former Waschraum of the historic SBB Railway Workshops in Zurich, from 17 to 27 September 2026, as part of Zurich Design Weeks. Curated by Natascha Madeiski and Paulina Reséndiz, it brought together Swiss and international artists, designers and makers.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Photo: Lorenz Cugini — Photo: Lorenz Cugini

The exhibition spread through the former communal washroom without altering its architecture. Tiled walls, bathtubs, technical infrastructure and traces of earlier use stayed in place and became part of the curatorial narrative. A room once shaped by everyday routine held contemporary design in conversation with its own history.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – The former SBB Waschraum — The former SBB Waschraum. Photo: Alicia Olmos

Function out of context

Newly commissioned works sat alongside existing pieces chosen for the way they answer the site’s architecture and social history. Dislocated Utility made no distinction between functional object, sculpture and installation. Its question was how the meaning of an object shifts once it is taken out of the context it was made for and met in a new spatial and cultural setting.

The curators approached the exhibition as a spatial composition rather than a set of works against a neutral backdrop. Existing surfaces, structures and signs of occupation remained visible, and utility was read not only as function but as something shaped by memory, ritual, perception and transformation.

The participants

The exhibition included work by Alejandra Perini, Ana Drucker, Anna Zimmermann, Andrea Roman, Arché Studio, Arjan Van Dal, Attua Aparicio, Confectdissect, Celia Längle, Charles O. Job, Dimitri Bähler, Frédéric Dedelley, Gabi Deutsch, Georg Foster, Gini Moynier, Hanya Leo, Iris Schwarz, Jochen Holz, Laurin Schaub, Monika Schori, Pierre Boegli, Rita Zurbrügg, Robert Wettstein, and Thea Kuta & GRRRR.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Anna Zimmermann — Anna Zimmermann.

The catalogue lists a wide range of materials: terracotta pieces by Arché Studio, Attua Aparicio’s reclaimed industrial porcelain plates and waste borosilicate glass, bronze and tombac objects by Frédéric Dedelley, Georg Foster’s Fractions lamps in pine, aluminium and cotton blend, and Laurin Schaub’s Landscape vases in glazed porcelain and unglazed earthenware.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Arché Studio, Fescoggia — Arché Studio, *Fescoggia*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Arché Studio, Goldbrunnenstrasse — Arché Studio, *Goldbrunnenstrasse*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Arché Studio, Uetlibergstrasse — Arché Studio, *Uetlibergstrasse*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Attua Aparicio — Attua Aparicio.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Charles O. Job, Raumgitter — Charles O. Job, *Raumgitter*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Confectdissect, Spina — Confectdissect, *Spina*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Dimitri Bähler, Mittel Structure N°1 — Dimitri Bähler, *Mittel Structure N°1*. Photo: Sabine Hess

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Dimitri Bähler, Pergola Bench Small — Dimitri Bähler, *Pergola Bench Small*. Photo: Sabine Hess

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Dimitri Bähler, Mittel Structure N°4 — Dimitri Bähler, *Mittel Structure N°4*. Photo: Sabine Hess

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Dimitri Bähler, Pergola Side Table 2 — Dimitri Bähler, *Pergola Side Table 2*. Photo: Sabine Hess

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Dimitri Bähler — Dimitri Bähler.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Frédéric Dedelley, Objet Trouvé — Frédéric Dedelley, *Objet Trouvé*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Frédéric Dedelley, Objet Mélancolique N° 5 — Frédéric Dedelley, *Objet Mélancolique N° 5*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Frédéric Dedelley, Objet Mélancolique N° 6 — Frédéric Dedelley, *Objet Mélancolique N° 6*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Frédéric Dedelley, Cylindre Amorphe N°1 — Frédéric Dedelley, *Cylindre Amorphe N°1*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Frédéric Dedelley, Cylindre Amorphe N°7 — Frédéric Dedelley, *Cylindre Amorphe N°7*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Gabi Deutsch — Gabi Deutsch.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Gabi Deutsch, Take a Bow, 2026 — Gabi Deutsch, *Take a Bow*, 2026.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Gabi Deutsch, Funnel, 2026 — Gabi Deutsch, *Funnel*, 2026.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Georg Foster, Fractions — Georg Foster, *Fractions*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Gini Moynier — Gini Moynier.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Hanya Leo, L04 Floor Lamp — Hanya Leo, *L04 Floor Lamp*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Hanya Leo, L04 Pendant — Hanya Leo, *L04 Pendant*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Iris Schwarz — Iris Schwarz.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Laurin Schaub, Landscape Vase I — Laurin Schaub, *Landscape Vase I*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Laurin Schaub, Landscape Vase II — Laurin Schaub, *Landscape Vase II*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Laurin Schaub, Landscape Vase II and III — Laurin Schaub, *Landscape Vase II* and *III*.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Pierre Bögli — Pierre Bögli.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Robert Wettstein — Robert Wettstein.

Public programme

A programme of conversations, guided tours and events ran alongside the exhibition. On 26 September, designers Dimitri Bähler and Frédéric Dedelley and artists Gabi Deutsch and Celia Längle took part in a German-language talk moderated by Mario Pellin, curator at Gewerbemuseum Winterthur.

Dislocated Utility: Objects out of Place, Zurich Design Weeks 2026 – Paulina Reséndiz and Natascha Madeiski — Paulina Reséndiz and Natascha Madeiski.

Exhibition: Objects out of Place / @objectsoutofplace.ch
Photography: Lorenz Cugini / @lorenzcugini, Alicia Olmos / @aliciaolmosochoa, Sabine Hess / @sabine_hess
Location: Former SBB Waschraum, Zurich, Switzerland

Bathtubs, tiles and displaced objects in a Zurich washroom

Function out of context

The participants

Public programme

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