Tuesday, February 5, 2019

A Seismic Shift in the 1990s: Democratic vs. Conceptual Design

  • suggestion that average consumer could access design (democratic design)
IKEA poang chair, 1990s: $29
campana brothers, vermelha chair 1990s: $12,370
maskros lamp, assemble yourself
aeron chair by don chadwick & bill stumpf, 1994
easily adjusted for variety of users
unprecedented ergonomic research
was very expensive when it came out
"dotcom throne"
  • 1990s: fall of Berlin wall, Tiananmen square (crackdown on democracy), Nelson Mandela released, disillusion of USSR, exponential use of internet, etc.


  • widespread democratization; target, ikea, crate & barrel became more ubiquitous
  • making things more accessible to a wider spectrum of people
michael graves, architect designer
contributed line of work to Target
domestic products
wheelchair bound--> more aware of ergonomics
could create works that would be easier for those who needed
  • 1990s, target approached michael graves (starchitects- star architects- generally stayed away)
  • Graves became household name in democratic design

  • designers seen as fun & creating nice things, accessible; not unknowable, wild
  • rise of star designers
  • James Dyson:

target being inclusive & democractic

mcqueen = avantgarde & wild yet still worked w target
design trickling down to you & i


advertisement, not elite
fun industrial design products for all
logo has become their identity, don't need their name
inclusive, societal change
anna sui billboard in times square
took it down & created limited edition handbag ($29.99) as to not contribute plastic to environment
target is major sponsor of exhibitions at cooper hewitt, national design museum
origins: 1943
major expansion
cultivated notion of you as the consumer participating in design process
ease of construction, affordability, ease of replacing
"democratic design" exhibition in Germany
bright, egalitarian
(scandinavia w socialist government)
around the time obama was president
conflates image w the campaign
backlash on the notion of disposable,
throwing away furniture bc easily replaceable, thrown into environment



design research, cambridge massachusetts --> crate & barrel, michigan
added american flair & color in Scandinavian design
crate & barrel in houston
  • products available at crate & barrel
-famous designer Karim Rashid worked w them to create affordable, modern, casual design
garbo- karim rashid, 1990s
plastic garbage can
sold it via italian manufacturing firm Umbra
instant hit, allowing consumers to buy design on the cheap
Oh! chair by karim rashid, 1990s
low cost, $39.99
simple shell & snap on legs
didn't cost a lot to ship, lightweight
  • consumption- threatening or liberating? 
-accumulating things
-putting things into environment
-what does the rise in distribution & availability really do?
  • gijs baaker & renny ramakers: droog design
-criteria was flexible, some works were mass produced, some were statements
-got rid of tyranny of 1980s black & chrome, corporate design
marcel wanders, knotted chair, 1996
familiar, purity, hand craftsmanship
combination of high (tech- epoxy resin) & low (references macrame)
rage chair- tejo remy, 1990s
acquired chair of what we discard
simple, readily available materials 
you can't lay down your memories- tejo remy 1990s
statement on excess consumption
critique of the glut of objects at the market place
"each drawer carries its own memories...
you have to remember what you put into each drawer"
milk bottle lamp- tejo remy
milk crates references to dutch national identity
85 lamps- rody graumans
power out of inferiority
soft urn- hella jongerius
traditional in form
vases (associate w tangible & firm objects) made of squishy material
subverts expectations via materials
vase hides nothing, the traces of its making is still there
scratches, bubbles, molding joints still visible
shows inferiority & imperfection
  • ikea approached her about vases, she reproduced them in ceramic & sold at affordable price 
drawing table
lace table- marcel wanders
 1997
epoxy resin
  • 1990s rise in phenomena of star architect & designer
-names used as marketing tools, added value
  • Philippe Stark
child's toy
  • Jasper Morrison

  • Alberto M.

  • Campana Brothers
favela (slum) chair
doesn't look comfortable, not comfortable to live in a favela
  • Karim Rashid


worldly designer artist
  • "the strength of designer culture... the popular idea that designers wield magic wands... reached a peak in the 1990s" --> retreat, some designers became more quiet & lowkey
muji design
becomes widespread in late 80s/90s
produce design that counters western world consumption
wants to be more simple, lowkey, humble, subtly of traditional japanese design
ego-less products w/o association w famous designer names
designers design anonymously, w/o name associated
out of packaging, you won't even know that the design is muji
exquisite & understated packaging design
white, simple, quiet

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