Philippe Starck tells magazine design is deadPhilippe Starck, one of my favourite designers, has managed to wipe away all credibility with a single sweeping statement:
“I was a producer of materiality and I am ashamed of this fact. Everything I designed was unnecessary. I will definitely give up in two years’ time. I want to do something else, but I don’t know what yet. I want to find a new way of expressing myself …design is a dreadful form of expression…. In future there will be no more designers. The designers of the future will be the personal coach, the gym trainer, the diet consultant.”
According to reports, Starck has changed his entire outlook on design calling it a sorry state of affairs that luxury has begun to rule our lives and that he's sorry he's been partly to blame.
While I don't think it's ruined his career in any way, I do personally feel it's tarnished some of his work. Why would you want to own a product you know the designer holds no affecion for or pride in? Why do I want a Starck chair that he doesn't even want?
In a way, it points to how closely the designer is sometimes tied to his designs. Do Starck's designs now fall in value somewhat because he's removing himself from them and doesn't see the value in them himself? Why should we if he doesn't?
It's an odd one to ponder, and one to which my hubby says "Great, maybe we can get his Ghost chairs at discount now!"
Starck: Design Is Dead, Sorry
