Science fiction has always been a testing ground for design — a place where imagination meets material culture. From the sleek modernism of Star Trek to the neon dystopia of Blade Runner, cinema has long provided the stage on which our visions of the future are built, furnished and lit – making furniture in sci-fi a fascinating reflection of each era’s hopes and fears.

This November, Film and Furniture’s founder and editor Paula Benson will be exploring that relationship in a special talk at the Vitra Design Museum, as part of the exhibition Science Fiction Design: From the Space Age to the Metaverse.

The talk Design and Furniture in Sci-Fi Interiors will trace the fascinating dialogue between production design and real-world furniture design — how visionary film sets have shaped our idea of modernity, and how designers, in turn, have looked to science fiction for cues to the future.

Across decades of cinematic imagination, science fiction has offered a unique laboratory for design. The controlled minimalism of Gattaca, the seductive precision of Ex Machina, and the retro-futurist sensuality of Barbarella each reveal how interiors become extensions of the human psyche. In Tron and The Matrix, light itself becomes a design material, while Inception and Severance explore architecture as a mirror of memory, power and perception. And at the centre of this visual lineage stands 2001: A Space Odyssey — a film that redefined cinematic design, blending real-world furniture with Kubrick’s singular vision of the future.

Expect a journey through a century of speculative worlds — from the utopian optimism of Metropolis to the desert dreamscapes of Dune — as Paula reveals how furniture, lighting and architecture migrate from the designer’s studio to the film set, and ultimately into our homes.

“Science fiction has given us some of the most extraordinary interior worlds ever created,” says Paula. “These sets don’t just imagine the future — they influence how we design and live in the present.”

The event forms part of the Vitra Design Museum’s themed presentation Science Fiction Design: From the Space Age to the Metaverse, which examines how futuristic ideas have continually shaped both film and design history.

Date: Thursday 20 November 2025, 6.30pm

Location: Vitra Schaudepot, Weil am Rhein – located in the border triangle where Germany, France and Switzerland meet

Admission is free (talk held in English) – please register via [email protected]

Can’t make it to Germany? We’ll be sharing highlights from Paula’s talk and the exhibition on Film and Furniture and across our social channels — stay tuned.