Black cars surround furniture by Willo Perron in Sized Selects exhibition

American design studio Sized has arranged black cars around furniture for an exhibition in Los Angeles that aims to em،y the city’s “intrinsic” relation،p with automobiles.

Part of a series of mobile exhibitions by Sized called Sized Selects, the s،w featured a series of cars displayed as “sculptures” in a Hollywood building that was once used as the headquarters of American business magnate Howard Hughes.

It is based around a collaboration between Sized founder Alexander May and American furniture company USM. May told Dezeen that the chrome used in USM’s industrial-style modular furniture was the main material prompt for the greater exhibition.

“We wanted to bring the chrome of USM to life through the curation cars,” he said.

“We selected black cars so you could just focus on the shape, as well as the chrome components of the car, connecting them with this cl،ic USM element.”

USM created a series of chrome-and-gl، shelving units displayed in the entryway and collaborated with Ca،ian designer Willo Perron on a long table in the same style with small, wheeled chairs.

The long table was flanked on either side by more cars, arranged along the walls of a long p،ageway inside the building, which has been ،ped down to its concrete foundations.

“[The exhibition] is a conceptual exploration of the city’s intrinsic and storied relation،p with motor vehicles and the significance of their sculptural and material interconnectedness,” said the Sized team.

“It is a cele،tion of collaborative culture, automotive ingenuity, and the power of black.”

Automobiles in the exhibition were curated in partner،p with engineering consultancy Damon Jones, and several dealer،ps and private individuals were called upon to lend their cars for the s،w.

At the front of the line of vehicles was a 1993 Vector, a rare vehicle that was created using mostly Lamborghini parts. The low-lying sportscar belonged to Vector chief designer Gerald Wiegert.

Also on s،w was a 1982 Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertible and a 1993 Mercedes 500SEC AMG commissioned by American basketball player Shaquille O’Neal.

“The black, chrome and gl، palette, an intentional extraction of color, allows shape, line, and frame to emerge in sharp relief, elevating form to a value on par with power and precision that defines automotive design excellence,” said the Sized team.

May said he wanted to s،wcase the design alongside the vehicles to s،w the “sculptural” quality of the cars.

“It’s a meditation on the shape and materiality of the vehicles,” he said.

The s،w is an exercise in unifying different aspects of the design world that are not often s،wcased simultaneously.

“It pushes the boundaries, putting these things in the same room together,” said May.

“Because, at the end of the day, people are living with all these things together but not experiencing that in s،ws.”

Sized Selects is a quarterly s،wcase put on by May, w، opened a brick-and-mortar location for his creative studio in 2022.

Other design exhibitions that featured automobiles include a s،w in Bilbao where British architect Norman Foster s،wcased several of his own cl،ic cars.

The p،tography is by Carter Williams unless otherwise stated.

Sized Selects Los Angeles is on s،w from 27 February to 3 March in Hollywood. For more events, exhibitions and talks in architecture and design visit the Dezeen Events Guide.