Ah, non! Renowned architect, industrial and furniture designer Philippe Starck is turning his back on design, and will retire in the next couple of years. "I was a producer of materiality and I am ashamed of this fact," he told the German newspaper Die Zeit. "Everything I have made is absolutely unnecessary." In the future, he says, "There will be no more designers. The designer of the future is the personal coach, the trainer in the gym, the diet consultant. That is all."I wonder if his ambitious condo projects in Manhattan spurred his revelations. Or was he just having a bad day? (Thanks Bill.)
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Maybe he should take a tip from Michael Reynolds and start using his talent to build totally self-sustaining Earthships.
This will (re)inspire anyone.
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Aw c'mon that's just stupid. There will always be a need for people who think things through. That's what a good designer does anyway - appropriately defines a need and finds an innovative solution to that need - whatever format that may be in. It's not all just "making things pretty." Defining it as such just demeans the entire design process.
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JimK said it best. Rock on
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Tu nous fais chier Philippe! Casse toi enfin bordel!... Déjà en 2002 il nous avait le coup du "je me retire" avec son exposition à Beaubourg... Il sera encore là pendant des années...
Les designers aimeraient bien faire de l'humanitaire mais c'est pas suffisamment bien payé...
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If he is so ashamed, why wait a few years to retire. It must not really be weighing on his conscience that much. That's not shame, that's ego. Instead of wasting the next few years, do something fulfilling for yourself.
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Bob the dinosaur says that designers would like to do humanitarian work, but there's no money in it. That's not a problem Starck will ever have. Those "materialities" he has designed will continue to sell, and he will continue to earn royalties. He can easily afford to devote himself to saving the world through design.
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Oh Boo Hoo- "I made tens of MILLIONS on trendy "materiality" and boy do I feel...smug? Falsely regretful? Bored of my success?" It's tough being you, Philippe.
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Yeah, because designers never made anything useful or beautiful. Like the, er, wheel. Or [insert any invention ever made here].
Methinks he's just bloviating.
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Who pissed on Philippe's cheerios THAT morning?
Design is communication, function, inspiration. It will ALWAYS be. Especially now, as the challenges get tougher and the world gets greener.
I hope every design student goes out there & works even harder to prove him wrong.
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Go to Le Corbusier's tomb and apologize to him...
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Oh, boo-hoo. "I am a producer of materiality and I am ashamed of this fact." So use the talent that made you famous and work for the common good.
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