Lehni Permutations is a collaborative project between Ben Ganz, Lehni, and the Bachelor Program in Visual Communication at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). Taking Andreas Christen’s 1964 Aluminum Shelf as its starting point, students did not to produce new objects, but were asked rethink the system itself.
Working in groups with identical modular components, students reassembled them into distinct spatial configurations. Standard Lehni elements were transformed into provisional and speculative architectures, including seating, playgrounds, stages, and spaces for rest.
The workshop focused on how a fixed system could generate different forms of use. Each group developed a specific, usable environment while maintaining the structural logic of the original elements.
The resulting project will be presented in New York as part of the Frame in Frame exhibition during NYCxDESIGN—where the pedagogical experiment is translated into exhibition form — and featured in an accompanying editorial for PIN–UP Magazine later this year. Project Initiation
Jonas Voegeli
@infinityvoegeli
(Program Lead), Bachelor
Visual Communication, Zurich
University of the Arts (ZHdK)
Concept and Pedagogical
Framework by Ben Ganz
@officebenganz
Collaboration Partner
Lehni
@lehni_furniture
Research Associate and Lecturer
Lea Michel
@lea.n.michel
Photography Module and
Photographic Direction
Matthias Bünzli
@matthias_buenzli
(Lecturer Photography)
Students
Joelina Ackermann
Tim Birrer
Lamar Bradbury
Andri Cavegn
Noah Can
Ela Çelik
Michel Domeisen
Tea Eberle
Nico Frei
Louis Frey
Emil Horrolt
Ebba Jakobsson
Elaine Kleene
Hannah Klarer
Colin Kühnis
Benjamin Martin
Shanah Pulgar
Noe Rogger
Clara van Handel
Alice Wéry
