At Salone del Mobile 2008, Vitra introduced three new concepts by British designer Jasper Morrison, a man known for his minimalist and rational approach to design. Besides the Place Sofa and the Monopod, covered in dark-brown leather, the manufacturer displayed Morrison’s Super Normal plastic-and-wood Basel Chair as well.
Jasper Morrison and Japanese colleague Naoto Fukasawa first showed Super Normal designs (furniture without frills) two years ago in Tokyo, causing no less than a sensation. The debut was accompanied by a book (Super Normal: Sensations of the Ordinary) that Morrison has called ‘a perfect summary of what design should be, now more than ever’. The designer’s message is that the Super Normal object has emerged from a long tradition of evolutionary advancement, that it is not attempting to break with the history of form but rather trying to summarize it, and that it recognizes its place within the ‘community of things’.
Frame: What kind of reaction did you receive to the Super Normal exhibitions?
Jasper Morrison: Feedback aimed at the exhibitions in Tokyo and Milan has been very different, probably because of the different ways of presentation. The premiere at the Axis Gallery was a success because it didn’t take place within the marathon of a fair but gave the designs an opportunity to stand alone. Whereas the show in Milan floundered a bit in the mass of exhibitions that fill the programme organized by the Salone del Mobile. Apart from that, however, the general public seemed to like the presentation. Sadly, we had few reactions to Super Normal from the design world. Some of our colleagues responded quite negatively and were offended by our decision not to show their designs. I’d hoped that Fukasawa’s and my initiative would generate a discussion among design professionals – a debate on the role of design in today’s world. But I’m not surprised that it hasn’t. Design has become more fragmented over the past few years, and many of our colleagues are more interested in themselves than they are in design as a subject. Super Normal raises questions about the purpose of design, and that’s a sticky issue.
Frame: How will Super Normal affect your future work?
JM: Fukasawa and I made a couple of changes in the existing Super Normal exhibition for the ICFF in New York, and we continue to enjoy discussing the subject but other than that there are no joint projects coming up. Super Normal will continue to play a decisive part in my work and in my thinking, however, because I believe Super Normal is what design should be, today, more than ever. The Basel Chair for Vitra is for me a step towards a more realistic design which considers the visual environment as well as the material one. I have designed plastic chairs and chosen colours for them like so many other designers, and seeing them littering the sidewalks I have become profoundly ashamed of my work and the profession as a whole. That’s visual-pollution design, a phenomenon that’s much too common nowadays, and I think it’s time we designers accepted responsibility for the appearance of the man-made environment. Super Normal looks for other qualities than the purely visual and formalistic ones. Thanks to the explosion of media coverage, much of today’s design is eye candy, looking for its place on the page of glossy magazines rather than solving any problems or addressing the bigger picture of what makes a successful design in the long term.
Frame: How do you feel about the current limited-edition hype?
JM: I used to think limited editions were something to do with the devil, but I’m not as strict about that as I used to be. In fact I have started to enjoy contradictions in my work as a way of keeping it fresh. Limited editions like the Cork Chair for Vitra, allow me the freedom to create without the restrictions imposed by mass production. I see limited editions as important playgrounds for fresh ideas, some of which can evolve into mass-produced articles. The Monopod for example, which is included in the Vitra Home collection, is based on the Cork Chair that I did for Vitra Edition. The basic form is the same, but the material has been adapted to fit the requirements of mass production.
Frame: How ‘experimental’ can the limited edition Cork Chair be if it’s so easy to transform into an industrial product?
JM: The Cork Chair isn’t the only limited-edition piece I went on to develop for mass production. I also did the Carrara Table Series for Galerie Kreo, which Cappellini later produced in solid oak. This type of progression is part of my justification for doing limited editions. It leads designers to solutions they wouldn’t have discovered in any other way. The unfortunate aspect of a limited edition is that the design is available only to the privileged few who have the money to buy it. So why not do a manufactured piece that can be enjoyed at a lower price? The history of furniture design reveals plenty of examples of pieces that were initially done in a very special way and later developed for manufacturing and a wider distribution. If you feel that time is an issue, consider that it’s been more than a year since the conception of the Cork Chair. And another year is sure to pass before the leather-upholstered model is available in shops. A further point of interest is the number of ridiculous standards imposed on contract furniture. While developing the Cork Chair into a contract piece, we had to add 8 kg to its base and increase the footprint to satisfy standards set by idiots in Brussels to prevent other idiots from falling off chairs. And that’s just one example of the kind of constraint we designers have to put up with!
Frame: So you don’t think that design made for big bucks contradicts the concept of Super Normal?
JM: Design is one of the few visual disciplines burdened with so many constraints. Consider art, architecture, fashion and graphics – at certain creative levels have to deal with fewer constraints than those imposed on product design. Constraints can be inspiring and even helpful, but sometimes an object is not as good as it might have been had the work not been limited to a certain material or a certain process prescribed by economic or technical considerations. I can’t see that it’s a bad thing for designers to have the same freedom of expression as those in other creative disciplines.
Frame: Established & Sons is showing a sequel of your Crate Series. What’s the idea behind these pieces?
JM: In designing the first piece of the series – The Crate, which was inspired by an old wine crate – I was surprised by the controversy. It was interesting to see the various reactions to this wooden box – everything from total rejection and remarks about how cynical it was to real excitement. Bear in mind that the same year people were getting upset about my practical idea of using a wine box as a bedside table, other designers were teaming up with fashion designers to come up with chairs that can wear clothes! I decided to continue the series by adding a few pieces every year to make it one of the largest series of furniture in existence, partly to be annoying and partly because I am interested in the way to arrive at practical solutions which make good atmosphere. It may sound old-fashioned but I am still very inspired by the idea of the project, designing and developing objects which will have a positive effect on the atmosphere of their surroundings.
Frame: What’s happening next, other than more Crate furniture?
JM: We continue to work for our exiting clients like Vitra (stacking chairs and office systems), Flos, Cappellini, Alessi (new tableware) Magis, and also for companies like Samsung and Muji. Other projects involve urban design, like the design of a village square and a piazza in Turin. We are working for Swiss watch company Rado on a new watch, which is an exciting project.
Frame: What do you see happening to design in the next couple of years?
JM: Design seems like a teenager to me: loud, in-your-face, attention-seeking, kind of quirky, immature. Manufacturers are throwing ill-considered designs on the market like crazy. We hope that showing Super Normal will speed up the maturation process, reveal the substance and encourage people to respect good design. I think an understanding of the essence of design is well on its way. In Paris, for example, I’ve been watching as cafés lose their designer looks in favour of something more atmospheric and natural. I mean, who really enjoys sitting in a design café?
Jasper's Portrait
This text was originally published in the magazine FRAME.
Words: Kristina Raderschad
Photos: Andrew Meredith & vitra
