And now, after Favaretto & Partners, the German designer Michael Geldmacher is with us, taking us across the border to express his very personal insight on the Design-Covid theme.
With his creation of the award-winning Toro chair for B—Line, and then of Fin, Park and Abra, respectively shelf, chair and coffee table paired with Eva Paster in the Neuland duo, their design is an on-going expression of changes in values and in systems, but however always merging with contemporaneity. And it is also a search for features that lead to new aesthetic expressions even in times of emergency such as these, during which adaptability is imposed not only by a change in lifestyle but also by surroundings that assume alternative connotations.
This is why Geldmacher remains faithful to, and continues with his idea of design, even in difficult times, as he himself explains in the following interview.
How does Covid influence your work and life?
I always try to find something positive in every situation, even though in this case, with such a serious pandemic and so many victims, it is proving to be really difficult.
When the first lockdown in Germany was declared and the economic indices plummeted, I interrogated myself on the economic system in which we live, considering the collapse that occurred when people resorted to buying just the basic necessities.
All this penalises our profession. Respirators, masks and personal protective equipment were being purchased primarily. Nursing staff and doctors became the real heroes, certainly not designers smiling out from the front pages of Design magazines.
Vanity in times of crisis becomes superfluous, but depression is also useless!
With regard to consumption and my profession, I have always had my own convictions. I have never wanted to be a trendy furniture designer.
I have always wanted to maintain my independent style and not submit to the dictates of the economy in the name of growth.
Covid has not changed my approach, it has probably reinforced it even further.
What does this mean in terms of relationships with companies?
I wouldn’t know, I hope that even the companies understand that the fast pace of the “Salone del Mobile”, held each year, has generated a forced and unhealthy development of specious innovations and unfinished products. I think they are participating in a contest where the rules are not of their making.
I am convinced that this would now be the ideal time for reflecting on their values and on the identity of companies, with a more sustainable future in mind.
We must all remember that we work in the most beautiful sector in the world and that, especially in times of crisis, there is always need for something beautiful around us!
