Those who push the boundaries, scary kids The world of design. Philippe Starck is a designer who challenges categorization. But each of his more than 10,000 projects captures the sense of conviviality and essential passion for design that characterizes the man. Whether an independent project or a collaboration with a brand, Starck’s aesthetic is one of his minimalism and democratic approach combined with an irreverence that borders on humor. At nearly 75 years old, he continues to challenge design norms, as evidenced by his latest collaboration with interior design brand Kartell for Milan Design Week 2024. A collaboration that began 25 years ago with the transparent La Marie Chair, the predecessor to his iconic chair. ghost chair
This year, the brand’s exhibition at Milano Salone was held under the following titles: Urban Horizonsasked visitors to reflect on Milan’s evolution as a center of design and creativity, given the idea of innovation that is part of the Kartel’s ideology. Among Starck’s brand designs, the HHH (Her Highest Highness) chair, Cara armchair, and lighting design were exhibited.
Kartell also announced two new series with Starck at this year’s Design Fair. Mattel’s collaboration with Barbie commemorates his 65th anniversary of the iconic doll, which reimagines Kartell’s five chairs in a human-sized series, and more collectible dolls for Barbie to decorate her dream home. size version. A sequel to the AI furniture series by a French designer. AI family. For his AI collection this year, Starck, with the help of artificial intelligence, designed a console manufactured using illy Iperespresso capsules. This reflects Kartell and Illy’s commitment to sustainable design. Both series attest to Starck’s aesthetic while pushing it forward.
In a conversation with STIR at Fiera Milano, Starck spoke about the essence of his design practice, which was brought to light through his collaboration with Mattel. We can create intelligent products, but without a dash of humor or poetry, there will be no connection between us and materiality. Humor is everywhere, but you have to find it or create it. ”
This humor and whimsy is perhaps exemplified by Kartell’s collection of Barbie Pink (PMS 219) chairs, which debuted this year. According to the interior design brand, these include AI, Venice, Louis Ghost, Masters and Ero/S designs recreated in recycled plastic. This collaboration appears to stem from Mattel’s marketing campaign to reimagine classic dolls while selling new merchandise. This campaign started with the release of. barbie Movies released last year offer consumers an escapist world of pure Barbiecore. And the best fit for this collection is the Ghost chair, Starck’s iconic design made of polycarbonate and one of his best-selling chairs in the world. The color is, of course, Barbie pink, and it seems like it was always part of Barbie’s property.
The collaboration with Mattel also included Starck’s first chair, designed using prototype generative design software developed by Autodesk. It was released in 2019 and took two years to complete. Regarding design, Starck said in an exclusive interview with STIR that in order for humans to evolve, we need to work with AI and all the services it can provide. As he understood, that would lead to more intelligent design. “I think AI is the only tool that can restore balance to the world,” he said in an interview.
If he was convinced then that today’s designers would disappear and be replaced by coaches of AI tools, Kartel’s new design would still be based on Starck’s design language: sleek, smart, fully functional. It is interesting to note how they inherit the traces of being These pieces are sustainably made using as little material and energy as possible, but their minimalist design not only embodies the typical Kartel spirit of innovation and aesthetics. It shows Starck’s design sensibilities. Therefore, although they are not usually designed solely by human hands, they betray their humanity. This clearly shows Starck’s concerns about AI and its intuitive powers, as he later points out.
Alongside the first-generation AI chair designed five years ago, we exhibited the AI Lounge design, AI ORI, a new chair designed using origami folding techniques, and illy AI Console. Each exhibits the unique language of the other, coming together in a perfect combination of functionality and beauty.
AI seems much more advanced than when Starck first started working on it, but as he says, it’s still not capable of generating creative inspiration. Humor hasn’t been added yet. Still, its power is growing stronger day by day. Now, AI can help generate designs customized to your specific needs. They can be created in the blink of an eye, reducing the workload of already busy designers. You can also replicate the designer’s signature look, such as Zaha Hadid’s parametric forms. With more and more designers working on generative design, it might be time to consider how to use it. You can give them full autonomy or, as Starck said, become a coach while mining their intelligence. The question then remains: how do we mine that intelligence, and for what purposes? If AI catches up to our capabilities soon, we should be able to train it well.
Finally, Starck talks about how human intelligence should leverage AI: Now this machine is a million times smarter than we are. But the spark of madness to create something is not there yet.that’s why [the designer’s] Your job is to have inspiration, ideas, and intuition and say to AI, “Please help me.” And it will work very well. ” After all, as he goes on to say, AI is not yet human.