Michael Anastassiades: Things that Go Together

‘Anastassiades understands that objects play a critical role in daily life, defining our interactions and understanding of the world. The tension between the juxtaposition of materials, the compositions of forms, the technical requirements, and the theoretical underpinnings of a work are the primary elements that have come to define his 25-year practice.’ —Zoë Ryan

Designer Michael Anastassiades presented his first survey exhibition at NiMAC, in Nicosia, Cyprus, titled Things that Go Together. The show exhibited carefully curated displays- things that Michael had unearthed in nature or sourced from his own collections: stones, fossils, lighting, furniture, small carved figurines—together formed a constellation of objects that, placed in careful relation to each other, were part of a syntax of ‘things that go together’. This book takes the exhibition as a starting point for exploring Anastassiades’s work and approach to design might be considered yet one more layer in this universe of objects and meaning.

Together with photos of the exhibition, a collection of essays reflects on Anastassiades’s early years in Cyprus, the influence of its natural environment and local artistic figures, his interest in exploring the psychological connection that humans share with the objects around them, and his appreciation of form and scale, but also unpredictability, in nature and design. Things that Go Together is the first-ever monograph to celebrate Anastassiades’s work and gives readers a novel awareness of designed objects—their purpose as well as their resonance.

Texts by Alessandro Rabottini, Elena Parpa, Emily King, Mario García Torres, Michael Anastassiades, Yiannis Toumazis, and Zoë Ryan. Text editor: Alessandro Rabottini. Photography by Osma Harvilahti.

Michael Anastassiades trained as a civil engineer at London’s Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine before taking a master’s degree in industrial design at the Royal College of Art.