This project was undertaken with the Design School at Finis Terrae University as part of the Final Year Workshop. It consisted of an exercise in which the projects designed and then produced by students would be exhibited in the Design Gallery at La Moneda Palace Cultural Center.

“Cabinets of Personalities” was inspired by the old Cabinets of Curiosities, also known as wonder-rooms — spaces in which 16th and 17th Century European nobility and bourgeoisie exhibited exotic objects from different corners of the world. They were true living encyclopedias, and the direct ancestors of modern natural history museums.

For this project, we prioritized the fact that these spaces revealed the personalities of their owners building an aesthetic around their prized objects. Six characters from cultural areas, such as theater, visual arts, architecture, and botanical investigation, were each reflected in a “cabinet” that exhibited intimate details of their lives.

Students got to know these personalities intimately through in-depth interviews and an investigative process, guided by Gristanti & Cussen, in order to design six attractive designs that communicate concepts and elements that had left a mark on the subjects’ lives.