“We are risking that the new replace the good”
M: I have been told that there are more chairs than actual asses! I guess this was a criticism to the figure of designers who should think about solving problems. Do you think design is also a way of expression?
C: We live in a culture of the novelty. The
current market system forces us to generate new stuff constantly. We
are risking a situation where the “new” replaces the “good”, just like the summer
hits, they sell, you listen them in every possible corner over four months
and what happens after that? Just the next year summer hit. The
challenge to only make useful things is not that easy, but it is also a way
of expression. For sure, they can tell you that there are already
enough chairs, but why don’t they ask the writers or singers if we already
have enough books or songs? Design is a way of communication. It is,
commercialized, but we have to remember that we are still part of a
system.
“But we have to remember that we are still part of a system”
M: What is a chair for you? Is it the cherry on
the cake of a designer’s career?
C: We have inherited a way of living, and the chair is definitely part of this scenography, and with the changes in this scenography, the chair adapts. I think that the chair perfectly expresses the designer’s point of view, it’s an element that can be compared in between eras, technological resources and cultural differences. It could be seen as a business card among designers. Think of the possibility to represent the history of man through a collection of chairs, starting from a nice rock or a log. In my case, I don’t think I ever had an obsession with chairs, but in the project we started with Arrels in 2010, I think we followed a path that in somehow represents my way of expression.
