>abitare (italy) 07.03
Prototypes, rather than YOUNG DESIGNERS as it used to be, is the title of this roll-call of things seen in the “Satellite” section (taking Milan’s “SaloneSatellite” young-talent exhibition as the paradigm) at Paris, Cologne, Milan and New York furniture shows. The idea of “youth” didn’t seem the right way of describing the present situation. Apart from the designs featured here and just a few others, “young” designers decided to exhibit their pieces as “old” products, adopting a mannered style which, frankly, has already seen its day. To be honest, as we toured the isles flanked by stands showcasing young designer products, we expected to see less politeness, less formality, and more anger, more originality, more desire to change the world (to paraphrase the title of Karim Rahid’s expensive book on Karim Rashid, a negative model for much recent “instant design”). So enjoy the armed assaults on mainstream design that follow. They open up new avenues, perhaps with only an embryonic hint of promise at the end, but they’re autonomous and original and that’s what counts.
– Marco Romanelli
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