21_21 DESIGN SIGHT

The spaces we inhabit are full of human-made forms.
Fine examples are few, yet every outstanding piece will be the crystallization of a long hinterland. It will be the accumulation of time, and the condensation of thought. For this reason, we pass down superlative designs across ages and cultures, and they acquire special auras.

This exhibition introduces six people whom we bring together under the name of "Design Maestros." Each surprised people in many counties. Each possessed a power to propel society forwards, imparting a deep fascination that last until today. While showing their projects, we also reveal the philosophies hidden behind the surfaces.

The Maestros presented here are from Germany, Italy and Switzerland, and they did not belong to a single trend. Each had their own driving forces and notions, but with them, each beat a unique path in Post-war Europe, earning the shared status of design maestros.

It is this common creative axis that justifies bringing them together, despite their individual methods and lifestyles.

None of the Maestros regarded "form" as subservient to commerce. They embedded a humanistic core in each project, extending this to an embrace of the environment. The six called their activities "Gestalter" and "Entwerfer" in German, or "progettista" in Italian, which in English mean "conceiver," or "designer," that is, "a person who undertakes a project." The terms indicate how each Maestros considered their design acts to be wholistic, integrated endeavors.
While showing the projects, the exhibition also sees these works as guidelines. We view them, but also listen to them as powerful statements.

Intelligence lies waiting to be discovered, lurking in what look like mere everyday things. Once we realize this, now, in our chaotic age, the question becomes, "How can we take matters forward?"

Noriko Kawakami, Kaoru Tashiro