Renowned French designer Philippe Starck says he is fed up with his job and plans to retire in two years, in an interview published in a German weekly on Thursday.
I bet he's been in psychotherapy for years by the sound of it. The guy's a genius, and he's uncomfortable with that fact I think and so the classical ideal of the ascetic rears its head. He's just a miserable person.
PP - both of course. He wouldn't be where he is if he wasn't. By all accounts he's eccentric but I buy it - not that he'll retire - that's just journalist taking things out of context.
Starck's been around since I was a small kid and only now am I starting to see him as more than the guy who did the "flaming turd" in Tokyo and my useless toothbrush. The guy's a kid with a big heart - if there is some sign that he's willing to challenge the idea of design and our perception of the designer then I'm all for it. He's unpredictable and not afraid to state the banal and use the L-word.
My Juicy Salif is one of the most perfectly designed objects in the world, in my mind.
I can understand his sentiments, in a way; I have been feeling the consumption level is just too, too high lately. He has spent his life creating objects and a perceived lifestyle that breeds mad desire for more. Maybe we would all follow if he became an ascetic? Or is it better (yes) to do fewer, more seriously designed objects?
PR, just good old marketing strategy...designers do not know what else NEW to do nowadays anyway but each one wants to be the most original...let them start to pick trash..
He sounds like a boy calling wolf. If he has had this epiphany that he is aiding to worldwide consumerism and is ashamed of himself, why wait two years before retiring?
Perhaps, he has ongoing contracts that require another two years of service? But wouldn't it be terribly foolish to go on record and say publicly that he is over design, job?
but it's the provocation that's interesting in itself - albeit perhaps waisted on the cynical archinect community.
don't believe everything you read - or take it so literally...i say humbly.
is there a full anglo version of the interview somewhere?
Now, that's one star designer who is not afraid of repenting. Good for him and hope that optimism will return to him for whatever he plans to do next, including design.
Starchitects, are you brave and conscientious enough to do the same?
did that in 80's and basically mostly forgotten since.
there is this short memory in the furniture and the design world, since all became integrated with fashion. but there is no grandeur of fashion world in it.
in the runway, there is no comparing interior designer to let's say jean paul gaultier or versaci or something.
architects are different because people respect architects since buildings, they think are nobel, which they can be.
people like starck have done most of their stuff already and it must be boring as hell to do another chic interior or hotel or fork and knife after all, and not have the glamor of the devil wears prada sort of scene.
there is this starck flipper in my neighborhood and i look at it, my dogs poo in front of it, i clean it up and keep walking. it is not that much different than the house next to it.
i have seen couple of his early coffee shops in paris and few hotels in new york and in los angeles. he is playful and fun but that stuff is little bit seasonal and gets old pretty fast.
so, i do try to understand his dissatisfaction and like to see him follow up with his decision asap. but he should make a meaningful speech or something when he says goodby.
This is pretty silly... the fact of the matter is that we DO need some things in order to live -- and those things need to be designed, and should be designed well. So he shouldn't give up design, he should give up designing useless things. sheesh. certainly a master of grandstanding... anyone else go to his show at the pompidou a few years back? pretty spectacular.
Excellent point mantaray. IMO the Juicy Salif is a design that can't be improved - so he can decline ever designing another juicer, but work that same magic on other utilitarian objects.
a.i wish more designers were PR geniuses - we all should strive to make good design be viewed as an asset.
b.mantaray's point is dead on.
c.design is an uphill battle...we all know that...quitting does nothing
I don't know about that, John. It would be a marketing genius for sure, but probably get the short end of the stick on the short and fat genes. At least it would have thick hair.
Mar 31, 08 7:54 pm ·
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22 Comments
awesome
good riddance
Watch his TED talk for the beginning of the end 'd'sign iz shiet'
I bet he's been in psychotherapy for years by the sound of it. The guy's a genius, and he's uncomfortable with that fact I think and so the classical ideal of the ascetic rears its head. He's just a miserable person.
Marketing genius or design genius?
exactly.
PP - both of course. He wouldn't be where he is if he wasn't. By all accounts he's eccentric but I buy it - not that he'll retire - that's just journalist taking things out of context.
Starck's been around since I was a small kid and only now am I starting to see him as more than the guy who did the "flaming turd" in Tokyo and my useless toothbrush. The guy's a kid with a big heart - if there is some sign that he's willing to challenge the idea of design and our perception of the designer then I'm all for it. He's unpredictable and not afraid to state the banal and use the L-word.
I agree that he's both. He's the Jay-Z of design.
My Juicy Salif is one of the most perfectly designed objects in the world, in my mind.
I can understand his sentiments, in a way; I have been feeling the consumption level is just too, too high lately. He has spent his life creating objects and a perceived lifestyle that breeds mad desire for more. Maybe we would all follow if he became an ascetic? Or is it better (yes) to do fewer, more seriously designed objects?
you think he is going to go all Johannes Itten -ish on the world?
PR, just good old marketing strategy...designers do not know what else NEW to do nowadays anyway but each one wants to be the most original...let them start to pick trash..
He sounds like a boy calling wolf. If he has had this epiphany that he is aiding to worldwide consumerism and is ashamed of himself, why wait two years before retiring?
Perhaps, he has ongoing contracts that require another two years of service? But wouldn't it be terribly foolish to go on record and say publicly that he is over design, job?
but it's the provocation that's interesting in itself - albeit perhaps waisted on the cynical archinect community.
don't believe everything you read - or take it so literally...i say humbly.
is there a full anglo version of the interview somewhere?
this reminds me of 50 cent's claim to retire if kanye west's album outsold his.
Now, that's one star designer who is not afraid of repenting. Good for him and hope that optimism will return to him for whatever he plans to do next, including design.
Starchitects, are you brave and conscientious enough to do the same?
did that in 80's and basically mostly forgotten since.
there is this short memory in the furniture and the design world, since all became integrated with fashion. but there is no grandeur of fashion world in it.
in the runway, there is no comparing interior designer to let's say jean paul gaultier or versaci or something.
architects are different because people respect architects since buildings, they think are nobel, which they can be.
people like starck have done most of their stuff already and it must be boring as hell to do another chic interior or hotel or fork and knife after all, and not have the glamor of the devil wears prada sort of scene.
there is this starck flipper in my neighborhood and i look at it, my dogs poo in front of it, i clean it up and keep walking. it is not that much different than the house next to it.
i have seen couple of his early coffee shops in paris and few hotels in new york and in los angeles. he is playful and fun but that stuff is little bit seasonal and gets old pretty fast.
so, i do try to understand his dissatisfaction and like to see him follow up with his decision asap. but he should make a meaningful speech or something when he says goodby.
This is pretty silly... the fact of the matter is that we DO need some things in order to live -- and those things need to be designed, and should be designed well. So he shouldn't give up design, he should give up designing useless things. sheesh. certainly a master of grandstanding... anyone else go to his show at the pompidou a few years back? pretty spectacular.
Excellent point mantaray. IMO the Juicy Salif is a design that can't be improved - so he can decline ever designing another juicer, but work that same magic on other utilitarian objects.
It's disappointing that such a prominent figure in the design world has such a narrow view of what design is. I'd love to hear Charles Eames' retort.
a.i wish more designers were PR geniuses - we all should strive to make good design be viewed as an asset.
b.mantaray's point is dead on.
c.design is an uphill battle...we all know that...quitting does nothing
stark and libeskind should have a baby.
I don't know about that, John. It would be a marketing genius for sure, but probably get the short end of the stick on the short and fat genes. At least it would have thick hair.
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