Leonardo da Vinci is credited with saying, “Art lives from constraints and dies from freedom.”
This seems to be self-evidently true, the most interesting design thinking often emerges from difficult situations where the designer’s freedom is constrained by circumstance. I would like to offer Lukas Brunner as a particularly pointful example of this. (more…)
The Brompton folding bike, I believe, is one of the most exceptional and life-enhancing products made in Britain. It is also a complete denial of all the basic assumptions we make about industry today as it is hand-made, expensive, timeless but completely modern and selling like hot cakes even during the recession. Hardly any other bikes are made in the UK, Asian manufacturers seem to have dominated the market because they offer good products for an unbeatable price, but Brompton is a great international success.
Braun SK55, the arrival of mainstream modernism in consumer product design.
Recently, thanks to the kindness of Michael Hohl, I acquired a wonderful Braun SK55 radiogram from the early 1960s. This is the direct descendent of the Braun SK4, Snow White’s Coffin, one of the completely original products designed by Dieter Rams that transformed Braun’s brand in the late 1950s. It’s remarkable that things like this were being made even before transistors took over the market to allow the design freedom behind today’s compact robust electronic products.
Here it is (or one just like it)
A life-enhancing bath for people with profound disabilities
Chris Rust's Blog 