Shall we talk about design too?
I recorded this video in the German room of the I London Design Biennale. Sitting in that dark and warm space with a virtual fire made by Konstantin Grcic and Olivia Herms transported me to a delightful state of mind.
While attending the London design week in September of this year, I went to the London Design Biennale as well as two trade fairs, where I saw many projects from around the world. What I took from the experience that I think maybe worth sharing were questions about Brazil’s role in design and in this type of event. Unfortunately, I did not write about it right away and in the meantime I lost my notes but, hopefully, I still have something interesting to say.
The Design Biennale, at Sommerset House, had the theme “Utopia by Design” and was organized by country. That’s always an exciting approach, but inevitably a little schizophrenic because each country’s curator ends up doing whatever they want and it does not add up to a cohesive show. There were thirty-seven countries in it (Brazil was not one of them; the only representative of South America was Chile, and it presented a reinterpretation of a design from 1973). In short, most propositions were conceptual and did not deal specifically with an object but with a way of seeing the world, which appears to be a critical role more commonly (and previously) associated with architecture and art.
The London Design Fair was in this super cool place called Old Truman Brewery. It was very sales-oriented and featured small artisan brands with many up and comers. There were studio and brand booths as well as institutional ones from countries outside the UK that brought what they considered representative of their nation’s design (among which were Italy, all Scandinavian countries, China, India, and some others – again no Brazil and, in this case, no Latin America). Materially, I saw a lot of wood, metal, and natural fabrics. Lines were minimal and light. In this fair, it became clear that Brazil owes nothing in terms of quality and is actually comparable to the best in the show. I did not see anything terribly new, but interesting well-made and tasteful products. Both the fair itself and the objects suggested intimate domesticity.
The 100% Design Fair, on the other hand, was a very traditional event in this enormous place called Olympia. It was very industry-oriented and had everything: residential and commercial furniture, bathroom and kitchenware, flooring and covering, tech gear… The fair also had a mix of brands and institutional booths, once again with China and Italy, but also Slovenia, Argentina (the only South American country), and others. It included objects in mixed media and intense colors. A modernist approach could be seen in commercial furniture, while the rest was more about historical revivals, regionalism, and what may be loosely called “trends.” There was also a separate luxury sector, which leads me to believe that the rest of the objects in the fair were affordable by comparison.
I am saying all of this because the whole thing left me very uneasy: if Brazilian design is good, if what we have to offer is different and exciting, WHY ARE WE NOT THERE? Why is it that private ventures and, more importantly, Brazil’s industrial and economic planners are not interested in having the country in these spaces? If we are in a crisis and need to stimulate production, if we are cheap to export, why is this not considered a valid strategy?
The saddest part is that it seems that if there was any interest, Brazilian design would benefit so much from this exchange. Exposing our products more broadly would inevitably lead to an improvement of quality on a larger scale, making good design more accessible, and a design culture could thus be constructed.
Alas, I have no answers, but it is a debate that needs to happen.
Here are the links to the fairs:
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