For the first time in the United States, Frame in Frame – Swiss Design in Motion presents rediscovered experimental films from the 1960s–90s. Shown during NYCxDesign at WSA, the exhibition unfolds within a spatial installation by a new generation of designers. Curated by Christian Herren, the project is presented by the Consulate General of Switzerland.

Rather than presenting film from a fixed position, the exhibition takes shape as an environment structured by furniture, projection, light, and sound. Designer Ben Ganz transforms the iconic Lehni aluminum shelving system into a sculptural projection structure. Design studio Panter&Tourron introduces a flexible cinema landscape with their modular «Anagram» sofa system for Vitra, a reconfigurable platform shifting from focused viewing to informal settings. A bar built from USM Haller elements extends the setting into a place of exchange, while a rug by Trix and Robert Haussmann, produced by Ruckstuhl, introduces a more expressive register.

Within this environment, artist Daan Couzijn activates more than 200 films through a multi-channel video and audio installation, orchestrating their interplay across freestanding screens. The result is a fluid composition where visuals and rhythms form a dynamic interplay of image and sound. More than an archival display, Frame in Frame turns film into a spatial experience that invites movement and interaction.

The films originate from the influential Film + Design course at the Basel School of Design, founded by Armin Hofmann, a central figure of the Swiss Style. Known for its clarity and grid-based organization, this approach also informed Swiss product design through its focus on construction and modular thinking. In Basel, these principles were applied as early as in the 1960s to moving images in response to a visual culture shaped by television and emerging electronic media. Rather than narrative, the structural films focus on the frame and its organization in time—simple rules generate a rich visual language. American art- and design icons such as Marlene McCarty and Philip Burton were drawn to study in Basel and are represented in the exhibition.

In an age where computational tools increasingly automate the creation of moving images, Frame in Frame refocuses attention on the foundational principles behind how films are made. Rooted in the Swiss Design approach, this lineage extends into the present, where a new generation of product designers develops these principles in response to contemporary conditions, opening a view onto the structures that shape what we see.