Design Miami, the annual design-art fair being held in Miami Beach through Dec. 5, has named the German industrial designer Konstantin Grcic designer of the year. The selection of Mr. Grcic (pronounced GER-chich) was a surprise to many. While previously winners — including Zaha Hadid, Fernando and Humberto Campana, and Maarten Baas — have created sculptural objects that make provocative statements and veer closer to art, Mr. Grcic is known for his rigorous focus on logic, utility and simplicity
His work is much more functional than the “designers” who usually get these kinds of awards. I imagine Design Miami being populated with the type of characters in that art-collector SNL sketch…
The rich and super-rich revolve in art and design circles that we ‘normal’ Industrial Designers can hardly understand, let alone occupy. Personally, I think you have to have been born wealthy, and decided to ‘become’ an artist or designer, to be recognized by this capricious crowd. Then you’ll be more concerned about making the Society pages of the local glossy rag, instead of contributing insights to this forum.
Agreed! I personally also really enjoy his work. And yes, of course he has a strong functional approach.
“Function” does not only apply to transportation, hand tools and cell phones.
Also, make no mistake, the kind of studio he is running is not a money machine. For a long time it was very difficult to turn a profit for him as much of the early work is royalty based and not commissions and fees, which consultancies operate on.
The Milan style of design might look glamorous, but if you as a designer want to get rich, look elsewhere.
I admire his consistency and ability to create his own design language. The Mayday lamp is a fantastic example of ID.
On the other hand, I fear for some of his work, that it might not stand the test of time.
