It has been nearly 30 years since the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein started making miniature replicas of milestones in furniture design. As a kind of compendium of the history of industrial furniture design, from historicism and art nouveau to the new objectivity of the Bauhaus and radical design, and from post modernism to the present day, the collection includes more than 60 miniatures.

In 1998, an exhibition of more than 60 of these miniatures was organized in collaboration with Mozaik and Dolmabahçe Cultural Center. These miniatures on display are one-sixth the size of the historical originals. They are all made to the exact dimensions of the originals, down to the smallest details in terms of construction, material and color. Thus, not only were the key points of the design translated into miniature versions, but also details such as the material, the natural texture of the wood, the reproduction of the screws and the detailed craftsmanship were taken into account. All of this makes the pieces in the Miniature Collection popular collector’s items, providing people interested in culture and design with insights into the history of the environments we create.