Design in recession: Starck, Conran and Bayley

Nick | 12 Jan 2009, 13:38

Will good design be compromised as a result of the economic downturn? This question was addressed by leading designers Philippe Starck, Terence Conran and Stephen Bayley at Guardian.co.uk this weekend.

Conran believes that “we’ve had enough of frivolity for a while”.  This is echoed by Starck – commenting that too much focus on “the beauty of a chair or lamp… [today] seems a bit obscene”. Meanwhile, Stephen Bayley argues that recession is “making companies think anew about design”:

All three agree that recession stimulates more intelligent design, with Conran citing Japanese firm Muji as an example of a world-class company that evolved as a response to a demand for affordable design. Starck says:

“Design has always been political, and now more than ever we focus on new goals, which I call democratic ecology. Everyone talks about ecology, but we need to make it happen, not speak about it… Longevity is something we really to need to think about. We must bring back the idea of heritage and “transfer” things, not just put them in the garbage. The garbage was a trend of the past 30 or 40 years. Now – no more garbage.“

The demand for more sustainable design predates the credit crunch (particularly with retailers demanding packaging reductions and other sustainability targets from their supply chain), but recession and the recent energy price spike place the issue front and centre. As Bayley says:

“Times of constraint have historically stimulated architecture and design. The profession of consultant designer began in America’s Great Depression when a team of cheerful opportunists led by Raymond Loewy, Henry Dreyfuss and Norman Bel Geddes persuaded consumers that life would not be complete without a streamlined, chrome wastebin, so America designed itself out of recession and back into consumerised prosperity.“

Starck and Conran were interviewed as part of the launch for their new commercial venture, mydeco, an aggregator and social network for people interested in interior design.