Required Group Field Study 1 : Illums Bolighus

Select one of the classic/historical works of product design seen on the filed study today that you are familiar with. Select a new/contemporary work that you are seeing for the first time within the same genre. Compare and contrast the 2 in a critical reflection.

Arne Jacobsen is arguably Denmark’s most respected and recognizable designer. His Egg and Swan Chairs that debuted at the SAS Royal Hotel have become landmarks in Danish design. What made helped make these chairs so famous was their unique shape. Smooth and curvy, Jacobsen’s chairs pushed the way designers and consumers viewed the experience furniture can have on the body. But as we know all too well, one good design leads to another, and pretty soon your idea becomes someone else’s creation. Sadly, we’ve witnessed the manipulation and distortion of Jacobsen’s 1958 masterpiece by Spanish designer, Patricia Urquiola.

Jacobsen's Swan Chair

[http://arquidocs.wordpress.com/2009/10/]

Born shortly after the Swan Chair's creation, Urquiola began her career as a lecturer but soon started working as a designer herself. With plenty of pieces to her name, I came across BLOOMY while touring Illums Bolighus in Copenhagen. Although descriptions of the piece pay no homage to Jacobsen’s Swan Chair, its form suggests otherwise.

Bloomy

[http://bestchairsdesign.blogspot.com/2008/05/patricia-urquiola-bloomy-armchair.html]

Suppose to “symbolize the stages of the life of a flower, from budding to full maturity,” the piece comes in a variety of bright fun colors and textiles. Bloomy also take shape in a couch-like form and is accompanied by a small side table. Together the set tries to create its own identity, but there is no hiding that Urquiola has clearly drawn inspiration from the Danish classic.

Bloomy Couch

[http://www.bonluxat.com/a/Patricia_Urquiola_Bloomy_Seating_Collection.html]

I understand this happens all the time. Old pieces are given new life in a current designer’s reinterpretation of the furniture. However, what I find discomforting is how Urquiola finds no shame in ignoring the form’s creator. Additionally she goes on to describe the piece as if it were her own original idea. What’s so wrong with admitting the form of your chair grew from inspiration by someone else’s? I would be the first to admit Patricia Urquiola’s Bloomy collection is very beautiful and quite sculptural, but to give her full credit for the design would have Jacobsen rolling over in his grave.

So this leaves me with the question: When is it OK to reinvent someone else’s creation? When you give them credit? When you enhance their original intentions? Designing pieces that mimic others walks a very fine line between genius and copy. At this point, I would call Bloomy a copy.