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Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

2015

  • Work on this object began.

2017

2025

  • You found it!

The evolution of Super Mario

It was designed by Joris Laarman Lab. It is dated 2015. Its medium is digital print on vinyl.

Super Mario Brothers was a popular video game that debuted in 1985. Mario was its protagonist, his blocky features limited by the large pixel size of early computer graphics. Over time, Mario's resolution became higher as pixel sizes became smaller, until Mario looked less blocky and more realistic, just like the tables behind you.

  • Chair, Adaptation
  • copper, thermoplastic polyurethane (tpu).
  • Courtesy of Joris Laarman Lab.
  • 84.2016.4

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This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Joris Laarman Lab: Design in the Digital Age.

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/1108748937/ |title=The evolution of Super Mario |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=10 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>