enzo mari and MUJI table with glass top
image courtesy MUJI

‘in the past, design played a role to invent an outstanding standard in the name of equality. however, following a period of drastic economic growth, it has now been degraded to a simple means to sell merchandise. at present I feel rather ashamed to be a designer. (here) I would like to propose a long-term project to go forward towards the future: it isn’t for financial gain in the short term, but is more like planting chestnut trees to nourish people with their fruit, and to let them relax under their shade. I believe that companies should have this kind of viewpoint’ — introduction by the artist in ‘to change: enzo mari and the chestnut tree project‘, with pieces from the keiji nagai collection.

MUJI agreed, and with this exhibition in tokyo the company introduces the basics of enzo mari’s works to a japanese audience, in order to plant the first chestnut tree. it is his messianic quality that gets people involved in his work. the simplicity of so many of his messages (which are constantly recast into terms that are clear and immediate in their impact) blur the borders between art and design.

enzo mari’s rectangular table with plywood top for MUJI, detail of ‘capitello’/ capital
the capital, in architecture, is the crowning member of a column, and provides a structural support for the horizontal plane, in this case — the table top. only a few of them were made, in form of preproduction prototypes, three of them I acquired for designboom’s studio.

editor’s note:
I have collaborated with enzo mari for over 20 years, and was given by him somehow the responsibility to at least try to document his knowledge he shared with me. ‘birgit, in sympathy, I pass the baton (underlined)’, wrote mari (to me) in may 1987. he told me a lot of times, ‘as a designer (to now come to the point you’re asking me about) – I’m forced to come up with projects that satisfy the needs of an idiot-level man-GOD, a negative man-GOD who has no knowledge of himself or of the real need to affirm himself as what he truly is. I am usually asked to dedicate myself to satisfying the most abject level of needs that people have. I don’t have any way of responding to other levels of needs, which would be needs that neither I nor anyone else could clearly define in the absence of some dialogue. as I look at it, neither I nor anyone else finds himself faced with a group of even ten people who believe in some value that they’d like to see expressed. that’s a conflictual situation.‘

‘what is design?’
‘I don’t know’, he would often say.
not only mari, but other italians who had driven industrial design after the war, have called ‘design’ as ‘progetto’, and ‘designer’ as ‘progettista’. progetto implies to the entire process that leads to a physical form which is the best answer possible for a question. progetto on the other hand, involves many people in different positions, from entrepreneurs and their employees, factories, to craftspeople and even sellers. since other aspects such as materials, technology, machine tools and so on are also complexly intertwined into this process, as a result each situation becomes unique and impossible to repeat. mari didn’t deal with progetto referencing any of his prior knowledge or experience, but tended to work from scratch every single time.’ stated curator keiji nagai.

he has never ceased to direct himself towards a single goal – refusing centerless subjectivity and the promotion of a dignity of work. mari’s work has a consistent philosophy. his idea is to strive for utopia, an ideal which we are to find ‘nowhere.’ enzo mari once said, ‘if we cannot bring about change, it is not a good progetto.’

left: enzo mari demonstrates the ‘capitello’ concept, right: the MUJI beech table, here shown in square size version
image courtesy MUJI

his wife, the art critic lea vergine, summarizes — ‘the central intention of mari’s experiment is to arouse the viewer’s faculties for reflection and critical reaction with respect to his own modes of being and behavior’.

not much of the 19 piece furniture collection has been documented (and designboom has ‘lost’ the related article published in 2002, due to a radical change of our publishing platform. unfortunately, when we switched to work on wordpress, most of our historic archive material got ‘dismantled’). these are chairs enzo mari proposed to MUJI to be included in the collection.

a few notions of mari’s project criteria were addressed in the exhibition, such as standard / the utopia of everyday things; joints / how are the parts assembled; archetype / branches and leaves growing from the roots; beauty / thoughts hidden behind the form and play / the origin of a project.

‘to change: enzo mari and the chestnut tree project’ – exhibition organized by MUJI, curated by keiji nagai, 2019
image courtesy MUJI

standard / the utopia of everyday things
‘standard’ can be understood as ‘criteria’ mari says. ‘the etymology of ‘standard’ is ‘étendard’, the french word for ‘flag’, and the origin of the word ‘standard’ does in fact have the meaning of ‘flag’ or ‘banner.’ the word ‘étendard’ appears in the lyrics of la marseillaise, a revolutionary song of the french revolution which later became the french national anthem.’

‘what he wants to change is not the ‘form’ of things, but rather the society, economy and the system of production system in order to get closer to this utopia. to do that, mari has talked to people with sincerity and sometimes even raising his voice in doing so. it was from one of these dialogues that he told us the story of the ‘chestnut tree.’ keiji nagai.

one of the flags raised for the french revolution actually symbolises ‘equality’. it is mari’s theory that the revolution, which aroused from the thirst for equality, was one of the historical events that would lead to modern design. there used to be a time when very few people could possess things, but suddenly people could experience ownership thanks to mass production. but the people who hold the ‘flags’ high must make sure that standards do not get compromised.

‘while mari probably has the awareness that the utopia of equality would never exist anywhere, he has nonetheless raised the ‘flag’ of a utopia that would come true through ‘things’. by working on projects, mari would continue to voice out this theory to people. good designs can make a change. it may be worthwhile to return to the origin of design once more and think about the potential of ‘things.’ keiji nagai.
‘to change: enzo mari and the chestnut tree project’ – exhibition organized by MUJI, curated by keiji nagai, 2019
image courtesy MUJI

I was a student of enzo mari and back in the 80s he underlined the importance of the french revolution for our design education. ‘I’m trying to work towards collective values. by destroying the idea of the king, the french revolution also destroyed the idea of GOD. the bourgeois had faith in the new, free and productive city is itself, a denial of the old religious forms of sacrality. as soon as the idea of GOD had been destroyed, the first phase of need for the liberated slaves was to take possessions of the material goods that had belonged to the king. but once this phase, which is entirely understandable, had been surpassed, at least psychologically, for many, the intent became to take the place of the king. we have to find the ways and the mechanisms to re-establish the sacrality of the other, otherwise the world will destroy itself.
it is still a discourse that has to find a voice.‘ enzo mari

joints / how are the parts assembled
changing parts also changes its entirety. relating everyone involved to every part of the project, mari has been passionate about creating joints, focusing on simplicity. his joints were developed with the intention save time for the factory and for people who would have had to struggle with the repetitive work of screwing. the progettista (designer) is in a position to understand the overall flow of manufacturing and the work of all the people involved. in this sense, he also possess the potential to change the movement of the hands of these working people as well as their working style. the joint is a symbol of how small changes can build towards an ideal where everyone actively participates in the work. it also raises the question, how do you engage in your work?

a view into the MUJI exhibition
image courtesy MUJI

archetype / branches and leaves growing from the roots
somewhere in the world today, ‘new’ chairs are being designed. however, mari mentioned that ‘there are few chairs in history which are truly innovative and new.’ he would refer to them as ‘archetypes’. one representative example is the bentwood thonet chair, invented by Michael thonet in the 19th century. the bentwood technology enabled mass production and compact transportation with ready-to-assemble kits. ‘we don’t need to design something just so to make it look different! it may be more meaningful to ‘grow’ such archetypes, their derivatives and useful variations, just as healthy branches and leaves can grow from the roots. it is perhaps time that we ought to get to know this tree.’ enzo mari

a view into the MUJI exhibition
image courtesy MUJI

beauty / thoughts hidden behind the form
‘there are many processes in the background of any design and there is much know about the thoughts behind the form. mari disliked how the success of industrial products are evaluated based on the idea of ‘beauty’. he would explode in anger when the viewer stops thinking as soon as they are captivated by ‘beauty’. his experimental projects introduced the essence of art into design by utilising the functions of machine tools. he considered the design and operation of such machinery as craft technologies and often observed factories and the machineries before he started on new projects.’ keiji nagai.

a view into the MUJI exhibition
image courtesy MUJI

play / the origin of a project
many of mari’s early projects were toys for children. children learn every day at an astonishing speed, and feel great joy when they discover and understand something by themselves through play. however, the best-selling children’s toys have the fastest cycle of consumption. in opposition, mari tried to encourage children’s independence by introducing play without a manual. play would be different all the time and would not become so quickly obsolete. he invested time in his picture books (in collaboration with iela mari, his first wife) where every single illustration was a result of an enormous amount of studies and research. ’16 animali’ is a puzzle where 16 animals fit perfectly in a rectangular box. I was gifted a set and my children played all sorts of games with them, in their different ages. this project has been something that appeals to both children and adults. ‘enzo mari shows us that one of the most important things in life is the ability to sustain a project and maintaining it with passion.’ keiji nagai.

The post enzo mari on the french revolution and his design for MUJI appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

‘it was the thing, the internet.
20 years ago, during the early, idealistic days when we started the world’s first online magazine, when rules didn’t apply, anonymity and privacy were guaranteed, you could always find a community to accept you the way you were.

the way we type is a little flirtatious.
it reflects where we are from, where we grew up and how we envision ideas around the collective. we are not writers or journalists, but makers. designboom is not writing for or to you, we are rather talking to each other.

media is still the connective tissue of society, and compared to 1999, the internet has come a long way. during this time, creating a digital publication was still primarily the business of tech-savvy nerds but online publishing has gone from something abstract to being a central element in how many of us live and work.

yahoo in 1999

amazon in 1999

for those interested in delving into the internet’s past, check out the internet archive or the web design museum.

The post this is how the all-lowercase designboom used to look in 1999 appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

the video conversation with enzo mari that you see in this article (here we are in 2015) probably was the last time I photographed him.

enzo mari: those who start producing today actually make shit.
to make shit you have to eat shit.

birgit lohmann: why is the situation like this?
EM: because, what I thought in my life and I dedicated 50% of my life working on was a plan to ensure that the world would not arrive at what it is today. I imagined the most extraordinary situations, I projected them a thousand years ahead. I knew the world was degrading. I knew the mechanisms of money very well.

I did things that some know, like you, and not because I wanted to do design. when I was young, I did not even know the word ‘design’. I remember that I went on for ten or twenty years, I called it a ‘project’ and then I realized, twenty or thirty years ago, that this system must be accepted.

BL: is there no more hope for radical design?
EM: NO!

BL: can you give advice to young people – what to do?
EM: it is very difficult. it is very difficult to TALK.
my wife, who is an intelligent woman, totally despises all design. even what I did.

you and me, we speak as if we had met by chance on a train. I don’t know, because I’ve known you for many years… we speak as if for the first time. my wife always tells me – don’t TALK to people – and advises me to adapt. earlier, I imposed it to myself, I disagreed, but then I realized and I comforted myself that she is completely right. it is not possible to TALK. the problem is that being able to question the general system means a very tiring job and – ten or twenty years ago, I had calculated… I was talking to someone. sometimes there was someone who seemed to understand a little more and I calculated again… based on the experiences, seeing what they did. some of the young people that I met in my studio, in some form, behave very dignified. dignified, but like an eight-year-old child.

20 years, earlier,
in 1994, in one of our monthly travels to and from berlin, endlessly waiting at tegel airport for departure, I proposed enzo mari this fashionable parlor game with a formulaic set of queries: stupid questions for ingenious answers.

every FAZ reader knows what I’m talking about when it comes to the questionnaire which the french essayist and novelist marcel proust filled out three times in his life. he believed that, in answering these questions, an individual reveals his or her true nature. since the 1980s, for decades, a slightly adapted list was an integral part of the weekly frankfurter allgemeine magazin.

enzo mari

video and photos by birgit lohmann, 2015

enzo mari was born on april 27, 1932.
here are mari’s answers to the proust questionnaire (1994) I proposed to him.
enjoy!

1) your biggest disappointment?

non mi viene in mente nessun evento negativo in particolare.

I can’t think of any negative event in particular.

2) where would you like to live?

in una città grande sul mare con clima temperato.

in a large city on the sea with a temperate climate.

3) what is your idea of perfect happiness?

in un mondo circondato dall’acqua essere delegato a costruire le barche.

in a world surrounded by water being delegated to build boats.

4) what faults are you most likely to excuse?

quelli in buona fede.

acts in good faith.

5) your favorite novel heroes?

robinson crusoe.

6) who is your favorite historical character?

socrate.

socrates.

7) your heroines in real life?

birgit (lohmann).

8) your favorite heroines in fiction?

non mi viene in mente nessuna.

no one comes to mind.

9) your favorite painters?

piero della francesca.

10) your favorite composers?

(johann sebastian) bach.

11) the quality you most value in a man?

alta sopportazione del dolore.

high tolerance for pain.

12) the quality you most value in a woman?

intuizione.

intuition.

13) your favorite virtue?

generosità.

generosity.

14) your favorite occupation?

fare l’amore con la persona che amo.

make love to the person I love.

15) who or what would you have liked to be?

jacque cousteau.

16) what is your most marked characteristic?

forza d’animo.

fortitude.

17) what do you most value in your friends?

sincerità e allegria.

sincerity and cheerfulness.

18) your idea of misery?

vivere in un mondo di sogni, di bugie.

to live in a world of dreams, living a lie.

19) your dream of contentedness?

non annoiarsi.

to not be bored.

20) what would be your biggest misfortune?

avere a che fare tutto il giorno con le persone stupide.

dealing with stupid people all day.

21) if not yourself, what would you have liked to be?

un’astronomo.

an astronomer.

22) your favorite color?

blu.

blue.

23) your favorite flower?

papavero.

poppy.

24) your favorite bird?

colombo in salmì.

pigeon in salmi’.

25) your favorite prose authors?

(gustave) flaubert.

26) your favorite poets?

(jacques) prévert.

27) your favorite heroes in real life?

non mi viene in mente nessuno.

no one comes to mind.

28) who are your heroines in history?

non mi viene in mente nessuna.

no one comes to mind.

29) what are your favorite names?

tutti, quando sono appropriati.

all of them, when appropriate.

30) what is it that you most dislike?

ipocrisia.

hypocrisy.

31) what characters in history do you most dislike?

(benito) mussolini.

32) what military performance do you admire the most?

gli indiani contro generale custer.

the indians against general custer.

33) which reform do you admire the most?

alle donne fu concesso il diritto di voto.

women were granted the right to vote.

34) the natural gift you would like to have?

leggerezza.

lightness.

35) how would you like to die?

mentre faccio l’amore.

while I make love.

36) what is your present state of mind?

chiarezza.

clarity.

37) your favorite motto?

meglio fare poche cose bene.

better to do a few things well.

in 1999, when we started designboom we remembered this questionnaire, and made up our own set of questions that we adopted over 10 years. there were NO other online magazines yet (there was no money to make :-), very few people had a computer at home) and no publishing software available. google search engine also just started. 

in fact we had to learn coding. unfortunately, when we, much later, switched to work on wordpress, most of our historic archive material got ‘dismantled’. we also celebrate a birthday, 20 years of designboom, and are still in lockdown in milan. there is a bit of extra time now and I will try to recover some of them.

—

about the proust questionnaire

in 2018, at the ‘salon du livre’, the antiquarian book fair in the grand palais in paris, a square-format booklet entitled ‘mes confidences’ has been presented, in which on june 25, 1887, marcel proust filled out by hand a list of thirty pre-printed personal questions. fifteen days before his sixteenth birthday.

a few months later, on september 4, 1887, antoinette faure, the daughter of the future french president félix faure, asked her childhood friend to fill out an album to record thoughts, feelings… in a book titled ‘confessions’. the original manuscript – the so far earliest known questionnaire – was uncovered in 1924, two years after the writer’s death.

proust completed another such questionnaire, during or shortly after his military service in 1889/90. proust’s questionnaires have had a far-reaching influence that their young author could scarcely have foreseen, becoming, over time, the template for one of the most widely administered personality quizzes in history. by the 1950s, versions of the questionnaire began to appear regularly in upmarket european and american magazines.

The post happy birthday enzo mari! a video conversation and proust questionnaire appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

see the chronologically ordered list below, published by forbes’ felicity carter, which includes projects by bjarke ingels, zaha hadid, and frank gehry. see forbes’ story here.

eden project (2001) by grimshaw architects

image © hufton + crow  — see designboom’s coverage of the project here

set inside a former china clay pit in southwest england, the eden project is a visitor attraction defined by its transparent ‘biomes’. these domes allow plants that have been collected from many diverse climates and environments to thrive in conditions they are accustomed to. designed by sir nicholas grimshaw’s london-based firm, the enormous yet lightweight, clear-span structures are as impressive as they are unique.

walt disney concert hall (2003) by frank gehry

boasting frank gehry’s signature sails that glint and gleam in the los angeles sunshine, gehry submitted his first design for the walt disney concert hall in 1991 — 12 years before it opened to the public in late 2003. at once eye-catching and elegant, the project simply couldn’t have been designed by anyone else.

seattle central library (2004) by OMA/rem koolhaas

image by nicola delfino | CC BY 2.0

built at a time when libraries were seemingly on the way out, the seattle central library created a new kind of civic space with programs intuitively arranged across five platforms and four flowing ‘in between’ planes — a layout that dictated the building’s distinctive faceted shape. with this project, OMA and rem koolhaas wanted to redefine the library as an ‘information store’ housing all forms of media — a particularly prescient ambition, considering how the world looks 16 years later.

mountain dwellings (2008) by bjarke ingels and julien de smedt

image by naotake murayama | CC BY 2.0

by stacking a housing block on top of a parking lot, bjarke ingels and julien de smedt sought to bring a man-made mountain to a country with a relatively flat terrain. the revolutionary design takes the form of a concrete hillside, with a thin layer of cascading housing ensuring all residents have fresh air, privacy, and roof gardens facing the sun. with this project, bjarke ingels gave the world a preview of the ‘promiscuous hybrids’ that would define the danish architect’s career to date.

neues museum (2009) by david chipperfield architects

image by jean-pierre dalbéra | CC BY 2.0

in 1997, david chipperfield’s firm, in collaboration with restoration architect julian harrap, won an international competition to rebuild berlin’s famous neues museum. extensive bombing during the second world war had left the structure in ruins, meaning that much of the building had to be surgically restored piece by piece. chipperfield sought to replace the severely damaged elements with pared-back interventions identical in scale, but without the historical ornamentation or decoration.

the high line (2009) by james corner field operations, DS+R, and piet oudolf

image © liz ligon — see designboom’s coverage of the project here

very few projects have changed the urban fabric of a city the way that the high line has for new york, an incredible feat considering that the entire structure was once destined for demolition. now one of the city’s most popular visitor attractions, the 1.45-mile-long (2.3km) elevated park has drawn crowds and commerce to a part of manhattan that was once undesirable, resulting in a host of luxury buildings and developments. the project has proved so popular it has since been imitated countless times across the globe.

EPFL rolex learning center (2010) by SANAA

image by ricardo martins | CC BY-SA 3.0

open to both students of the swiss federal institute of technology in lausanne and the public, the rolex learning center functions as a laboratory for education, a library, and an international cultural hub. SANAA’s groundbreaking design spans a single, uninterrupted space that comprises gentle slopes and terraces that undulate around a series of internal patios. as far as educational architecture goes, the building is at the top of its class.

heydar aliyev center (2012) by zaha hadid

image © hufton + crow — see designboom’s coverage of the project here

the jaw-dropping heydar aliyev center has become one of zaha hadid’s defining projects. the design is a contemporary reinterpretation of historic islamic architecture, with advanced computing used to realize the design’s complex geometry. completed in 2012, four years before the architect passed away, the cultural center is now a symbol of the azerbaijani capital where it expresses the optimism of nation looking to the future.

harbin opera house (2015) by MAD architects/ma yansong

image © adam mørk — see designboom’s coverage of the project here

located in china’s northernmost province, the harbin opera house emerges above the terrain as a sculptural extension of the landscape. in winter, this effect is magnified thanks to the snowfall that occurs in the region. inside, however, the spaces are warm and inviting. clad with manchurian ash, the wooden walls gently wrap around the interior, protecting visitors and emphasizing public interaction.

louvre abu dhabi (2018) by jean nouvel

image by mohamed somji © louvre abu dhabi — see designboom’s coverage of the project here

referencing traditional emirati architecture, the louvre abu dhabi appears as a series of 55 white structures that mimic the low-lying settlements common to the region. these spaces are united by jean nouvel’s crowning feature, a huge dome, 590 foot (180 meter) in diameter, that appears to float above the entire museum. as the hot sun passes above, light filters through the perforations to create a captivating effect referred to as the ‘rain of light’.

The post designboom picks 10 favorite architecture projects for forbes to celebrate our 20th birthday appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

‘I try to develop devices for everyday use that work well, that don’t hurt the eyes (or other senses); and I try to make sure they are made (and sold accordingly) at an acceptable price that ordinary consumers can afford. that is almost all.’ dieter rams says cautiously… and adds: ‘the power of the designers lies in constant demands, optimism and patience. it is expressed in the visualized example and can thus make a major contribution to clarifying and solving the problems.’  

in his more than 40 years at braun, rams established himself as one of the most influential designers of the twentieth century. although they were meant to mutate with time, his philosophy comprises timeless points: 

good design is innovative. good design must be useful. good design is aesthetic design. good design makes a product understandable. good design is honest. good design is unobtrusive. good design is long-lasting. good design is consistent in every detail. good design is environmentally friendly. and last but not least, good design is as little design as possible. ‘indeed, indifference to people and their real life is the only sin in my eyes that a designer can commit.’

in this interview, we talked about many things, and he often referred to shared experiences. I collaborated with dieter rams to technically transform his 606 universal shelving system, which was designed in the 60s and produced by vitsœ, to create a new edition – all in aluminium – for depadova. together with the technicians, we had to alter as little of the original steel structure as possible to ensure it could carry heavy loads of books on the new aluminum shelves. it was during this time that I gained a true appreciation of rams’ work. see a video of the artisan/industrial production of the 606 shelving system here.

when I met dieter rams again in 2012, after 13 years of magazine activity, he celebrated designboom’s teenage-age with us by wearing our festive pin.

‘the form has to follow the function – I can’t think of it any other way.’

‘form without function is pointless. and all the more senseless from today’s ecological point of view. I have always said that there is not only the simple function… that the thing works, but there are also psychological functions. a whole series of very important functions can be found on the psychological side.’  ‘it’s an art, if you want to speak of art at all (it is also an art to sell something), art is a broad term … it is an art to find the balance between the aesthetic content and the utility content, the emotional- and the functional side.’

an example of this balance achieved?

‘it’s a radio and a vinyl record player, put together in such an aluminum container, the record docked on here. the plastics are a bit yellowed now. later there was also a radio with more wavebands … that also fit.’

the object dieter rams is showing in our video is the portable transistor radio and phonograph (braun /model TP1) of 1959 / cover of ‘less but better’ book published by gestalten, released in 20140 new and revised edition

during our interview he gifted me with a book, ‘die leise ordnung der dinge’ (the quiet order of things), german edition, steidl verlag, 1990 (out of print), where he started to elaborate on a series of design principles.

the book also contains statements of many international designers, ettore sottsass wrote: ‘if I ask myself what I think of dieter rams’ efforts: although I am different, although I am more for the metaphysics of the senses, although I prefer the romanesque way of life over the lutheran, I appreciate his work without a doubt – how only that of very few others – so few that you could count them on one hand.’

‘a bookcase should be neutral, its life comes from the books it contains’, said dieter rams. the 606 universal shelving system, originally designed in 1960 (steel and wood), had to undergo several design modifications (on the containers and shelves) for a production in aluminium. the depadova re-edition of 1984 (entirely in aluminium) of the bookcase foresaw two different layouts, placed against a wall or used as a room divider (r: steel and wood original, l: the updated version in aluminium).

watch our other unreleased videos with enzo mari, vico magistretti, ettore sottsass, milton glaser, and achille castiglioni and stay tuned as we continue to deliver you a host of treasures on tape: from the designboom archives.

—

as we celebrate this landmark anniversary marking 20 years of designboom, we present to you: treasures on tape, from the designboom archives — a series of ‘retro’ videos filmed by designboom in its first years. with japanese mini-dvd technique we conducted video interviews and filmed live discussions with the world’s leading protagonists in the creative fields, where they reflect on the state of contemporary society, the evolution of their work over the years, and their forecast for the future.

for twenty years designboom has united and promoted creatives from around the world, excited by the ideas of small practices, independent makers, enthusiastic students, and the biggest names in business. driven by curiosity, passion, research, expertise and hard work, designboom embraces a broad definition of art, architecture, technology, publishing the latest and most relevant projects in these fields to a global audience of 3.5 million readers. online since 1999, designboom is the first and most popular digital architecture, art and technology magazine (english and mandarin), with offices in milan, new york, beijing, and tokyo. 

readers are an active and essential part of our editorial calendar, through designboom’s reader submissions, creatives and makers — regardless of place, position or prestige; religion, nationality, or gender — are invited to communicate their work to a huge, international audience (180,000 active contributors). this horizontal distribution of information means that cultural conversations are developed directly by our readers, and do not follow any fixed hierarchical systems or chains of command. 490k newsletter subscriptions – see also instagram (2.6 M followers), facebook (1.2M) and twitter (1.2 M).

The post dieter rams in unreleased video interview from 2000, treasures on tape appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

video interview before enzo mari opens the exhibition l’arte del design at GAM turin.
all images are taken by designboom at the exhibition ‘enzo mari: l’arte del design’, in the gallery of modern and contemporary art (GAM) in turin, italy. birgit lohmann, designboom’s editor-in-chief, collaborated with enzo mari on several design projects (for over 20 years), and in these pictures helped mari build up the show — which was on from october 29, 2008 to january 6, 2009.

running after mari, a day before his exhibition opened, in the front his art works of the early fifties

enzo mari represents an almost unique case of constructive criticism within the design system. he has always paid particular attention to the lesser-known mechanisms of the market and of production, to the rediscovery of craftsmanship, believed to be lost and instead reborn in different ways in industrial production, even the most sophisticated.

when asked, how he chose the title for his exhibition (l’arte del design – the art of design), he said: ‘today it is very difficult for a ‘design object’ to be produced in large quantities for a broad market demand. objects of this type almost always fail the commercial objective because the marketing is similar to that of an art gallery. today entrepreneurs ask for objects that have the total characteristics of an art object. therefore to be produced in a few specimens. this also involves the ignorance of the designers, not knowing what art is.’

’44 evaluations’ / 44 evaluations (that ricompose would create the sickle and hammer motif), 1977

‘art is desperation, it means a life totally dedicated to developing hypotheses, tests, attempts, which cannot be resolved in terms of project making,‘ is one of the statements enzo mari often uses.

‘l’art pompier… when all ideologies and passions collapse (which collapse due to fascism and nazism) a sort of object of applied art appears. today, the objects that are proposed as ‘artistic objects’ are often only re-workings of the decorative objects of the art deco’ — enzo mari.

a view into the show

‘I have chosen the title ’the art of design’  because design certainly belongs to the minor arts, but some masterpieces have characteristics, comparable – not formally but ideologically – to those of art. what is design? perhaps there is an art of design? one that is his own and not a mere imitation of the plastic and pictorial arts, of music …?’ — enzo mari.

’44 evaluations’ sculptures

‘I do not look at the work of some masters as something to be imitated formally but to understand how someone manages to open a window on infinity.’  — enzo mari.

’44 evaluations’ / 44 sculptures recomposed into the sickle and hammer motif, 1977

with this work, mari wanted to show that while every artist works according to his ideal, the resulting works often are silent fragments and appreciated perhaps for this very reason. they are actually pieces of a puzzle — when reassembled, they have a certain meaning. the single object is sellable if the ideology does not show through…

a view into the exhibition

‘allegoria della dignità’ / allegory of dignity, 1988

‘all I do is reject everything that I don’t like,’ mari often told me. in his installation ‘allegory of dignity’, we see a long mirror with a single prie-dieu in front. the message implies the harsh statement of a call to dignity, urging a practice of answering first and foremost to oneself — which confirms the rejection of delegation. ‘the dignity of work is at the center of what I do,’ mari said.

a view into the exhibition

‘proposta per un’autoprogettazione’, 1973

understanding through experiment: mari made 19 small models and an instruction booklet so that everyone could have the essential construction data. with ‘proposta per un’autoprogettazione’ he proposed an anti-industrial design by using only rough planks and nails. it is not easy to translate the italian word ‘autoprogettazione’ into english. literally it means auto = self and progettazione = design. but the term ‘self-design’ is misleading, since the word ‘design’ to the general public now signifies a series of superficially decorative objects. this project did not refer to the ‘do-it-yourself’ leisure time, but was intended to stimulate everybody to practice a ‘thinking with your hands’ method. it is only important because of its educational value. an elementary technique to teach anyone to look at present production with a critical eye. all later ‘produced’ 1:1 scale furniture items (by artek etc) — built ready to be bought 0- lacked the sincerity behind the original project.

they have always been my favorites: ‘sof-sof’ chair, 1971, ‘box’ chair, of the same year and ‘delfina’ chair , 1986

‘the duration of the form’ is enzo mari’s basic claim, and the case of the chair is of interest because it represents one of the most persistent market demands. ever new, ever different, suited to new trends in taste… but mari stubbornly responds with basically the same project. the final form is the result of testing and comparison of hundreds of models.

‘my goal has always been to rasp away (‘repeatedly removing’ is the principle, to paraphrase michelangelo) and to not let the object grow old.’ — enzo mari.

‘allegoria della morte’ / allegory of death, 1987

in the ‘allegory of death’, three tombs bear witness to the death of ideologies. a triptych, three symbols for religious culture/lay devotion/emptiness. two neat lines of toy automobiles found a parking spot. today everyone knows the mechanisms of the destruction of the planet, nonetheless, totally imperturbably, they are jointly responsible.

installation ‘quale cultura’/which culture, 1997-98

an allegory indicating mari’s cultural references (wood structure, sand, 15 photographic reproductions on aluminium)

‘la flagellazione’ / the flagellation by piero della francesca, william morris, brancusi studio, edison’s light bulb, the tower of babel, stonehenge,…

‘arbeiten in berlin’/ working in berlin — for over 6 years, enzo mari and I were involved in the art direction of the königliche porzellan manufaktur KPM in berlin. in the exhibition, several works by mari for KPM were shown. in the background the slender vases (from 1994) and the ‘berlin’ table service (1996). 

the exhibition catalogue with one of enzo mari’s vases for KPM, ‘per forza di levare’ /by force of removing, also known as ‘broken vase’

enzo mari was born in novara in 1932. he attended the brera academy of fine arts and dedicated himself to exploring the psychology of vision and design methods. he is an impassioned humanist with an unusual ability to combine idea and form, with particular attention to social and political problems. mari is radical in his ideas and subtle in his designs. a non-conformist that tries to introduce a certain amount of utopia in every of his projects.

from the catalogue: ‘studio per l’anniversario’***, 1954 and the making of the KPM vase, obtained by the blow of the hammer on the china cylinder, 1993-94 

***’l’anniversario’ is a reference to a cross painted in a fresco by giotto; its structure in the foreground had profoundly struck him.

enzo mari with grandchild, photo that was part of the exhibition

‘one day – 27,740 days’, 2008
(enzo mari with grandchild)

the chronological exhibition with 250 pieces has been curated by mari’s office itself, which deliberately did not create separate sections to distinguish the artistic production from the creation of design objects for companies. no clear distinction has been made between the works created ‘by implicit request’ (which follow a personal and interior call and to which mari responds through works that have become part of the history of contemporary art), and the works carried out ‘on explicit request’ (of companies that have entrusted mari with design projects that have introduced a revolutionary approach to the field).

inside ‘modulo n. 856,’ 1967

a machine for provocation, the ‘modulo n. 856,’ staged towards the end of the exhibition, stimulates the visitor to enter, but he will find an empty box with a mirror — to only see his own tired image. an experience of void and absence!

The post enzo mari opens the exhibition l’arte del design at GAM turin, video from 2008 appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

‘I believe that ultimately, the two great geniuses of this century were frank lloyd wright and le corbusier. the others are extraordinarily good, but they are not the two of them! (corbusier, by the way, built very badly. except for ronchamp, which was built by someone else and is a prodigy of beauty.)’

‘I dislike certain project titles – for example the school of ‘A House for a Pianist on Lake Garda’. it’s unparalleled silliness. I believe that architecture is always conditioned by reality. if it’s is not conditioned it is no longer that work – it is fine but it’s another job. that is to say that there is no excuse – no excuse at all – to make bad (not beautiful) things. our work is born to be conditioned. so a hypothetical work seems to me a thing of absolute stupidity…’

simplicity and essentialism are the main characteristics of magistretti’s oeuvre:

‘what I try to do, as far as I can, is to find the simplest solutions possible. and ‘I’ve never loved going back to the projects I did. never. it is basically the process of: ‘the culprit never goes to the scene of the crime.’ I’ve always struggled, … I regret some things I did, but overall I have always made a lot of efforts.’ vico magistretti

vico magistretti’s working desk

vico magistretti and franco montella
images courtesy fondazione studio museo vico magistretti

about vico magistretti (06.10.1920 – 19.09.2006)

ludovico magistretti was born in milan on october 6, 1920. he comes from a family of architects for many generations: from his great-grandfather gaetano besia, to his father, pier giulio magistretti. during the second world war, to avoid deportation to germany, he moved away from italy to switzerland where he was able to take some academic courses at the champ universitaire italien in lausanne. during his stay in the swiss city he met an architect from trieste, also a refugee in switzerland: ernesto nathan rogers, founder of the BBPR group, from whom he received intellectual and professional training. in 1945 he returned to milan. at that time it was a poor city but full of desire to be rebuild. he graduated in architecture at the polytechnic university the same year.

on the architecture front, I remember early projects he carried out:

‘casa arosio’ in arenzano (1956-59), the towers of piazzale aquileia (1961-64), the ‘bassetti house’ in azzate (1959-62), the ‘cassina house’ in carimate (1964-65), the house in via conservatorio in milan [(1963-66) where also his small studio was based, in which he worked throughout his life with the collaboration of a single extraordinary character, the surveyor franco montella.] followed by ‘milan san felice’ district in segrate (1966-69, with luigi caccia dominioni), and a residential building in piazza san marco (1970-73).

in the 1980s: there was the department of biology in milan (1978-81), the tanimoto house in tokyo (1985-86), and the cavagnari centre of the savings bank in parma (1982-85). in the 1990s: the famagosta depot for the milanese metro ATM (1989-2000) and the supermarket esselunga (1997-2001).

magistretti diversified his work in relation to the different companies with which he established a life-long collaboration that went beyond the design of a single object: from art director to principal designer. his first chair design dates back to 1960 — ‘carimate’, designed to furnish the golf club (also planned by him in the same year) and put into production by cassina (out of production now).

his ‘selene’ chair (for artemide, 1969) competes with the ‘panton’ chair by verner panton and the ‘universal’ chair by joe colombo for the world’s first monobloc plastic chair.

his most significant design projects (in my opinion) were:

the lamp ‘eclisse’ (artemide, 1966) 

the ‘maralunga’ sofa (for cassina, 1973)

the ‘nuvola rossa’ book shelf (for cassina, 1977)

the ‘atollo’ lamp (for oluce 1977),

the bed ‘nathalie’ (for flou, 1978)

and for the collection ‘è de padova’ he designed the ‘marocca’ chair (1987), the ‘vidun’ table (1987), the ‘raffles’ sofa (1988)…I have collaborated with magistretti from 1988 to 2004, as personal design assistant, art direction and product development (for de padova). I started with the development and drawings (not on computer, but drawing board) of the first chair using polipropilene (for seat and back) — the very successful ’silver’ series (1989), the ‘uragano’ wicker chair (1992), ’shine’ (1991) and ’blossom’ tables (2002 – out of production now), and many more products.

magistretti held lectures and conferences in various faculties of architecture and design schools in italy and abroad, from new york to paris to london, a city which he was particularly attached to. in the late 1970s, magistretti began teaching at the RCA royal college of art.

his design works are on display at the permanent collection of MoMA, the victoria & albert museum in london, die neue sammlung in munich and at numerous other museum institutions worldwide. following his death in september 2006, the studio, home to the vico magistretti foundation, was converted into a museum, dedicated to the study and dissemination of his work.

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watch our unreleased videos with ettore sottsass, milton glaser and achille castiglioni from 2000 and stay tuned as we continue to deliver you a host of treasures on tape: from the designboom archives.

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as we celebrate this landmark anniversary marking 20 years of designboom, we present to you: treasures on tape, from the designboom archives — a series of ‘retro’ videos filmed by designboom in its first years. with japanese mini-dvd technique we conducted video interviews and filmed live discussions with the world’s leading protagonists in the creative fields, where they reflect on the state of contemporary society, the evolution of their work over the years, and their forecast for the future.

for twenty years designboom has united and promoted creatives from around the world, excited by the ideas of small practices, independent makers, enthusiastic students, and the biggest names in business. driven by curiosity, passion, research, expertise and hard work, designboom embraces a broad definition of art, architecture, technology, publishing the latest and most relevant projects in these fields to a global audience of 3.5 million readers. online since 1999, designboom is the first and most popular digital architecture, art and technology magazine (english and mandarin), with offices in milan, new york, beijing, and tokyo. 

readers are an active and essential part of our editorial calendar, through designboom’s reader submissions, creatives and makers — regardless of place, position or prestige; religion, nationality, or gender — are invited to communicate their work to a huge, international audience (180,000 active contributors). this horizontal distribution of information means that cultural conversations are developed directly by our readers, and do not follow any fixed hierarchical systems or chains of command. 490k newsletter subscriptions – see also instagram (2.6 M followers), facebook (1.2M) and twitter (1.2 M).

The post ‘there is no excuse for bad design!’ vico magistretti in unreleased footage from 2000 appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

from his experiments as the artistic director of poltronova in the 1950s, to the lexicon of ideas realized for office equipment manufacturer olivetti in the 1960s, to the founding of the memphis group in the 1980s, sottsass enduringly designed ‘things for life states’, as he described them, ‘the scene for domestic drama or comedy has always been the same (as in greek theatre), the scene can now change easily according to each transformation of situation. this possibility of changing the scene could modify or allow to modify even the very material of the drama or comedy or domestic ritual.‘
ettore sottsass, 1971

non-compliant with the rigidity of modernity, sottsass imbued his designs and objects with expression, humor and humanity. ‘memphis’ was a sort of exercise in design, so was ‘olivetti’, sottsass told designboom in an interview in 2000. ‘they asked me to set up the design of the electronics division. at that time, electronics meant big closets. it was impossible to understand. besides the functionality — which I am still interested in — there was this mystery around electronics. I wanted to show that electronics were mysterious. that is the relationship between design and functionality — a more extensive functionality; a description of a certain conception of existence. this relationship has been, and still is, central in my work.

in our video footage from 2000, sottsass tells the audience about his reluctance to accept contemporaneity, and the ‘culture of competition’. ‘I find it very difficult to talk about contemporaneity,’ he said. ‘the fate of contemporaneity does not stop anyone, but I cannot — with the tiny cells of my brain — adhere completely. I have a vision of it that is not as happy, optimistic, or as hopeful as the industry and tech propaganda want to assert it as being. I have a basic intention, which is to preach calmness. one of the things that scares me the most is this culture of competition. we talk about success, selling, not selling… life is an act of competition. I wonder where this begins and where it ends…’

ettore sottsass and shiva vase, 2005
image courtesy B.D. ediciones de diseño

‘can we preach a culture where relationships are always carefully studied and — if anything — dulled, rather than accelerated and sharpened?

in contemporary industry, there is a large distribution of competitive culture… through advertising. for example, the impact of multinational corporations are the result of competitive aggression against underdeveloped countries. we’re making agreements to rip them off. these aspects of contemporary culture don’t calm people, but make them nervous. there is a great state of general neurosis. and a designer, at this point, what can he do? increase these general neuroses, or try to create objects that calm people.

I hate the word ‘creativity’, because it is a word invented on madison avenue by advertisers. it’s clear that the industry needs to renew itself continuously, because otherwise it does not sell. people get bored, generations change and you have to change everything.

but this is about industry, it’s not about society. industry needs advertising, and advertising needs creativity because the market needs to renew itself continuously. it’s a game; it’s a destiny. since there has been industry, it has gradually been subjected to its own destiny — which is what it is.

I don’t think that leonardo considered himself a creative person, and I don’t even think he considered himself an artist. he considered himself a technician who was capable of doing these things — capable of making a horse so powerful to please his lord, or the warrior placed on it, and to express this situation.

I believe that all antiquity was made more by craftsmen than of artists. much less talk about creativity or foolishness or surprises. it may be that contemporary society, precisely because of these mechanisms of accelerated communication, is accelerating on all sides towards a consumption of existence that is conditioned by the necessity of industry, and may continually need spectacle, and therefore creativity.

everything must be spectacular. fashion is always new. cars are always new, even medicines are always new. the way of walking is always new. the ways of going on vacation. the ways to know the world — everything is accelerated and always new.

it may well be that a humanity will be born for which life, existence, is permanently a spectacle. I do not know this, and I don’t criticise it either. I know that creativity — that is, invention — is strictly conditioned from market needs. and the needs of the market are strictly conditioned by the production itself. it’s a closed circle. so, I would like to end here. I’ve thrown a stone in the pond, let’s see what happens.’

ettore sottsass, 2000

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as we celebrate this landmark anniversary marking 20 years of designboom, we present to you: treasures on tape, from the designboom archives — a series of ‘retro’ videos filmed by designboom in its first years. with japanese mini-dvd technique we conducted video interviews and filmed live discussions with the world’s leading protagonists in the creative fields, where they reflect on the state of contemporary society, the evolution of their work over the years, and their forecast for the future.

watch the video at the top of the page, and stay tuned as we deliver you a host of treasures on tape: from the designboom archives.

for twenty years designboom has united and promoted creatives from around the world, excited by the ideas of small practices, independent makers, enthusiastic students, and the biggest names in business. driven by curiosity, passion, research, expertise and hard work, designboom embraces a broad definition of art, architecture, technology, publishing the latest and most relevant projects in these fields to a global audience of 3.5 million readers. online since 1999, designboom is the first and most popular digital architecture, art and technology magazine (english and mandarin), with offices in milan, new york, beijing, and tokyo. 

readers are an active and essential part of our editorial calendar, through designboom’s reader submissions, creatives and makers — regardless of place, position or prestige; religion, nationality, or gender — are invited to communicate their work to a huge, international audience (180,000 active contributors). this horizontal distribution of information means that cultural conversations are developed directly by our readers, and do not follow any fixed hierarchical systems or chains of command. 490k newsletter subscriptions – see also instagram (2.6 M followers), facebook (1.2M) and twitter (1.2 M).

The post ettore sottsass on calmness in unreleased video footage from 2000 appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

before founding milton glaser, inc. in 1974, glaser co-founded new york magazine, where he served as president and design director. earlier still, in the mid 1950s, he co-initiated pushpin studios, a design and illustration firm that exerted a powerful influence on the direction of the graphic design world.

to this day, the 90 year old milton glaser continues to produce a prolific amount of work in many fields of design — from identity programs for corporate and institutional marketing, to environmental and interior projects. he recently forayed into the design of a pair of sunglasses for a brooklyn-based eyewear company and worked on a series of portraits for an exhibition about william shakespeare.

designboom met milton glaser at his studio in new york in may 2000, where we filmed our video interview. he spoke with a cool, casual candor about the range of his career, his musical tastes, his working process, … ‘as a graphic designer my work is characterized more by drawings — more than many of my contemporaries. I love to draw, love to illustrate, make pictures. for us who came out of the history of modernism, it might not be the appropriate way to work. perhaps it is just not a comfortable way to work. it would be hard for somebody looking at the range of things that I do to see a persistent pattern in them, except in the realm of drawing and illustration, where the choice of colors and forms are more obviously personal.’ glaser told designboom during our visit.

this range, and self-professed inconsistent pattern with which glaser worked yielded an incredibly diverse career that has — so far — spanned more than six decades. the evolution since his early days a designer is difficult, even for glaser himself, to delineate. ‘if I would try to be positive,’ he told us, ‘the earlier work has perhaps more virtuosity in it, and an attempt to display that virtuosity, which is a characteristic of youth. it was developed in the sixties, so the early work — like the poster for dylan — has an almost psychedelic sense of post-or proto-art nouveau look. over the last twenty years it becomes more simple, more direct; I think stronger, more reductive…even though I love the decorative.’

tourism-campaign symbol for new york, 1973

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as we celebrate this landmark anniversary marking 20 years of designboom, we present to you: treasures on tape, from the designboom archives — a series of ‘retro’ videos filmed by designboom in its first years. with japanese mini-dvd technique we conducted video interviews and filmed live discussions with the world’s leading protagonists in the creative fields, where they reflect on the state of contemporary society, the evolution of their work over the years, and their forecast for the future.

watch the video at the top of the page, and stay tuned as we deliver you a host of treasures on tape: from the designboom archives.

1999 was the year the world came face to face with a technological future; the Y2K phenomenon fueled humanity’s curiosity; the world wide web found a place in people’s homes (before most consulted it from work); google adopted the idea of selling search terms (in 1998) and went live…around 2000, the search engine rose to prominence.

in the midst of this culturally tectonic period, among mostly ‘forums’ or scientific publications, designboom has been the first REAL online magazine (no publishing software was available, we had to learn coding. readers went online via a modem -slow connection- and even for articles with the tiniest images, consultation was rather expensive). we were practitioners in the fields of architecture and design and initially were devoted mostly to these communities, but our constantly-evolving cultural project included very soon art and technology news. 

for twenty years designboom has united and promoted creatives from around the world, excited by the ideas of small practices, independent makers, enthusiastic students, and and the biggest names in business. driven by curiosity, passion, research, expertise and hard work, designboom embraces a broad definition of art, architecture, technology, publishing the latest and most relevant projects in these fields to a global audience of 3.5 million readers. online since 1999, designboom is the first and most popular digital architecture, art and technology magazine (english and mandarin), with offices in milan, new york, beijing, and tokyo. 

readers are an active and essential part of our editorial calendar, through designboom’s reader submissions, creatives and makers — regardless of place, position or prestige; religion, nationality, or gender — are invited to communicate their work to a huge, international audience (180,000 active contributors). this horizontal distribution of information means that cultural conversations are developed directly by our readers, and do not follow any fixed hierarchical systems or chains of command. 490k newsletter subscriptions – see also instagram (2.6 M followers), facebook (1.2M) and twitter (1.2 M).

The post milton glaser: rare unreleased video interview with the graphic designer (2000) appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

in front of an eager crowd, that included familiar faces giorgio armani, enzo mari, vico magistretti (and many others), presenting a book that talks about himself and his projects embarrassed him slightly, he never wanted to be pretentious. 

castiglioni gave everyone a tiny moka spoon that he ideated for alessi in its golden years and, with amused eyes, explained how the main design component is a critical observation on the rationality of the object, and the key to understanding the project itself. the items he designed are the outcome of curiosity, humanist culture, intelligent experimentation, technical expertise, and aesthetic sensibility. above all, they always accomplished their practical purpose. how to ‘serve’ people with useful objects was something that in 2000 still sounded ‘modern’ to everyone — meanwhile in today’s proliferative ‘lifestyle storytelling’, the grandeur of a teaspoon no longer attracts an audience.

‘dry’ moka spoon (for expresso) by achille castiglioni for alessi, 1981

the tone of voice detaches itself from the pedantic chorus of many, and with this unedited video from the past, designboom aims to preserve the innate elegance and poetry of achille castiglioni’s gestures and words.

background

over 15 years, as a young designer, I collaborated with the 4 ‘project maker masters’: castiglioni was an intimate friend of bruno munari, enzo mari, and vico magistretti. I remember that they all collected found objects — a bit of everything — mostly anonymous objects (whenever they happened to have an intelligent main design component).

they often met and discussed the most critical issues of their time. in their small studios — that actually were ‘experiment rooms’ (computers entered much later) — we were asked to contribute hypotheses, questions, and doubts. that generation of designers played with ideas and enjoyed stimulating each other, but then knew how to pull the strings individually.

many of achille castiglioni’s projects utilized already existing components. in particular, he collected pieces that he believed had a singular mechanism. sometimes he even took them to university, and invited his students to reflect on its ingenious solutions. there were entire lessons on a japanese soda bottle with a built-in glass ball closure…

I filmed achille castiglioni in 2000 at the armani book store in milan, where he presented a monograph that documented his long career. edited by paola antonelli, who had curated a widely acclaimed retrospective of the italian architect and industrial designer’s work at MoMA, the book published by corraini editore offers the highlights of castiglioni’s designs alongside playful illustrations by steven guarnaccia.

a couple of days ago, upon previewing the footage, paola antonelli reflected on encountering designboom for the first time. ‘it feels like yesterday when I met birgit in my parents’ apartment in milan, for an interview, and instead it was 20 years ago!’, she says. ‘designboom was the first online design publication I ever encountered and it has maintained the curiosity, energy, and passion that propelled it then.
happy birthday, designboom!’

achille castiglioni
was born on february 16 in 1918 in milan. son of a sculptor he studied architecture at the polytechnic in milan (where he later taught design classes). just after world war II he joined the studio run by his two older brothers, livio and pier giacomo, also architects. after livio left the practice in 1952, achille and pier giacomo collaborated until the latter’s premature death in 1968. working alone since then, achille has continued to innovate in the field of design, and has received countless awards for his work from organizations all over the world. in 1997, he was the subject of a retrospective at the museum of modern art in new york.

achille castiglioni is an excellent case study. the critical mass that he has built from his early years to maturity was nothing short of massive. he died at age of 84 on december 2, 2002. the studio in piazza castello in milan has become a museum, the achille castiglioni foundation is led by his daughter giovanna and wife irma. today, people can still admire his microcosm, with his object collection displayed in wunderkammer windows.

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1999 was the year the world came face to face with a technological future; the Y2K phenomenon fueled humanity’s curiosity; the world wide web found a place in people’s homes (before most consulted it from work); google adopted the idea of selling search terms (in 1998) and went live… around 2000, the search engine rose to prominence.

in the midst of this culturally tectonic period, among mostly ‘forums’ or scientific publications, designboom has been the first REAL online magazine (no publishing software was available, we had to learn coding. readers went online via a modem -slow connection- and even for articles with the tiniest images, consultation was rather expensive). we were practitioners in the fields of architecture and design and initially were devoted mostly to these communities, but our constantly-evolving cultural project included very soon art and technology news.

for twenty years designboom has united and promoted creatives from around the world, excited by the ideas of small practices, independent makers, enthusiastic students, and and the biggest names in business. driven by curiosity, passion, research, expertise and hard work, designboom embraces a broad definition of art, architecture, technology, publishing the latest and most relevant projects in these fields to a global audience of 3.5 million readers. online since 1999, designboom is the first and most popular digital architecture, art and technology magazine (english and mandarin), with offices in milan, new york, beijing, and tokyo.

readers are an active and essential part of our editorial calendar, through designboom’s reader submissions, creatives and makers — regardless of place, position or prestige; religion, nationality, or gender — are invited to communicate their work to a huge, international audience (180,000 active contributors). this horizontal distribution of information means that cultural conversations are developed directly by our readers, and do not follow any fixed hierarchical systems or chains of command. 490k newsletter subscriptions, see also instagram (2.6 M followers), facebook (1.2M) and twitter (1.2 M).

as we celebrate this landmark anniversary marking 20 years of designboom, we present to you: treasures on tape, from the designboom archives — a series of ‘retro’ videos filmed by designboom in its first years. with japanese mini-dvd technique we conducted video interviews and filmed live discussions with the world’s leading protagonists in the creative fields, where they reflect on the state of contemporary society, the evolution of their work over the years, and their forecast for the future.

watch the video at the top of the page, and stay tuned as we deliver you a host of treasures on tape: from the designboom archives.

The post achille castiglioni: rare unedited video footage from the designboom archives appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.