SMAK Projects is a design partnership specializing in exhibition design and interior architecture, uniquely accompanied by rigorous attention to art history and cultural sensitivity. We provide concept and content development, space planning and design, graphics, CAD and 3D rendering, technical and material resourcing, project management and other support services for partner firms. Founded in 2000, SMAK Projects consults with museums, galleries, architects, governments and businesses on temporary exhibitions, retail environments, renovations, and the development of new structures. Prior to founding SMAK Projects, our partners were senior design staff members of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museums, where we oversaw the design and installation of numerous major exhibitions and international building site developments. We have executed literally hundreds of exhibition projects within the past 25 years. We uniquely draw upon a collaborative network of international professionals to execute our projects throughout the world, keeping our office small and selective. This policy keeps our services at the forefront of technology and academic rigor, whilst continuing to apply in-depth attention and an exceptionally wide range of expertise.
SELECTED CLIENTS / PROJECTS SMAK PROJECTS Atelier Jean Nouvel / Samsung Museum, Seoul Berlage Institute, Rotterdam / Venice Biennale 2006 Brookfield Properties, New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Toronto Change Performing Arts / COSMIT, Milan City College Of New York Dia Center / Gae Aulenti Giorgio Armani, Milan Gwangju Design Biennale, Korea Kawerak, Inc. / Beringia Museum of Art & Culture, Nome, Alaska KN Gallery, Chicago Marayah Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE McNay Museum of Art, San Antonio / French Embassy of New York Musée du Quai Branly, Paris Museum of the City of New York Nam June Paik Studio / Rockefeller Center, New York NYU Grey Art Gallery, New York Park51 Community Center, New York Pasadena Museum of California Art Procter & Gamble / 2010 Winter Olympics Vancouver PS1 / Museum of Modern Art Qatar Museum Authority, Doha, Qatar Ralph Appelbaum Associates / Clinton Presidential Library Ralph Appelbaum Associates / Discovery Science Center, Nashville Rubin Museum of Art, New York Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York/Bilbao/Berlin Sotheby s North America Swatch Group, USA The Menil Collection, Houston
The Hierarchy of Being, a public artwork by Wafaa Bilal, Al-Majaz Sculpture Park, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2013. For this project we constructed the world s largest camera obsura.
Giorge Steinmetz, Desert Air, Winter Garden, World Financial Center, New York, 2013, installation view
The Sweet LIFE, Winter Garden, World Financial Center, New York, 2012, photographs from classic Italian cinema by LIFE Magazine photographers, 1940-1965
The Sweet LIFE, Brookfield Place, Toronto, Canada, 2012, photographs from classic Italian cinema by LIFE Magazine photographers, 1940-1965
NYChildren, photographs by Danny Goldfield, Park 51 Community Center, New York, 2011, installation view
Hunter Gatherers, Sotheby s North America, New York, 2011, with curator Lisa Dennison, installation view
Upside Down: Arctic Realities, The Menil Collection, Houston, 2011, film still from Edmund Carpenter s 1959 film project, used in exhibition installation.
Upside Down: Les Arctiques, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, 2008, installation view
Sajjil, inaugural exhibition of MATHAF / Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar, 2010, installation view
Told-Untold-Retold, inaugural exhibition of Al Riwaq Exhibition Hall / Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar, 2010, installation view of sculpture by Buthayna Ali.
The Clue, Gwangju Design Biennale, Korea, 2009, with designer CJ Bae, installation view
Jean-Paul Viguier, French Cultural Embassy, New York, 2008, in collaboration with the McNay Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX, installation view
Beyond Mapping, The Berlage Institute, Venice Biennale, Italian Pavilion, September 2006, installation view
KN Gallery, Hancock Tower, Chicago, inaugural exhibition, December 2006, installation view
Mapping-Sitting: On Portraiture and Photography, NYU Grey Art Gallery, New York, 2005, installation view
Discovery Science Center, Nashville, TN, 2004-5 (under development), Designer Ralph Appelbaum Associates, artist s rendering
Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock, AK, 2004, Designer Ralph Appelbaum Associates, installation view
Rubin Museum of Art, New York, inaugural exhibition, September 2004, installation view
Theater of Italian Creativity 1950-2000, Dia Center Gallery, New York, May 2003, Designer Gae Aulenti, installation view
Harlem Lost and Found, Museum of the City of New York, 2003, installation view
Transmissions, Nam June Paik, Rockefeller Center, New York, 2003, installation view
Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, CA, 2002, inaugural exhibition On-Ramps, installation view
Absolut Expressions, Roseland Ballroom, New York, 2002, installation view
Absolut Exhibition: 20th Anniversary, Vanderbilt Hall, Grand Central Terminal, New York, 2000, installation view
Brazil: Body and Soul, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2001, with designer Jean Nouvel, installation view
Frank Gehry Architect, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain, 2001, installation view
Frank Gehry Architect, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2001, installation view
Manhattan Project, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2000, installation view
Worlds of Nam June Paik, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2000, installation view
Giorgio Armani, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2000, with designer Robert Wilson, installation view
1900, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2000, with curator Robert Rosenblum, installation view
Art of the Motorcycle, Guggenheim Museum, Las Vegas, 2001, with designer Frank Gehry, new building by Rem Koolhaas, installation view
Art of the Motorcycle, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1998, with designer Frank Gehry, installation view
Premises, Installation by Claude LeVecque, Storefront for Art & Architecture, New York, 1998 A collborative project between the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, installation view
Peggy Guggenheim Centennial, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1998, installation view