And the future is... a raging, bloody battle between the Bauhaus minimalists and the Lovegrove Organicists.
Ross Lovegrove is adamant that the only direction relevant design will be heading, in the future, is his way. The way of the organic form. Referring and deferring to the superiority of nature over man's imagination and ingenuity, as the sovereign designer. He has postulated a theory / view that good design is spare design, entirely stripped of all unnecessary elements, outside of the organic form. If they do not have an organic expression then, according to his precepts, they are (must be) redundant. Certainly the organic form, for the most part, is spectacular and by definition has a unity and "oneness" that designers seek. However, to maintain this position without leaving any space for other opinions leads, I think, to the de-democratising of design. In the same way as the wholehearted, unremitting embrace of Bauhaus' hard edge minimalism has lead to a kind of minimalist meltdown/overload. Everywhere and everything is minimal. Culminating in, I think, an unspoken but acknowledged presumption in the design world (particularly in Architecture) that, if it's not minimal then some how it's poor design. In my opinion not true of course. However, I have a feeling that there may be a similar result if we allow the singular rise of the "organic only" credo. We must ensure all voices are heard in the future debate about design supremacy.
I look forward to the forthcoming battle between, what I imagine will be seen as the "old school, fuddy-duddy" Minimalists vs New kids on the block Organicists. It will be interesting to see who sides with who in the future debate.
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