Anti-Design and Radical Design

Designers were rejecting the rational principles of the modern movement and promoted individual creativity and expression. Its precursors were modernism and surrealism such as:

this example by Carlo Mollino’s “Andrea armchair” for Zanotta, 1944. It is kind of emulating a car seat or an airline seat. This is because in Mollino’s design the legs are similar to the rail supporting the seat in a car and has supports on the sides to capsule the person seated. The difference is that in Mollino’s design, the support is situated at head level for support if one sleeps in the chair. 

This period was very popular in Italy and designers such as Claes Oldenburg were producing Soft sculpture such for example:

Claes Oldenburg, "Soft Toilet" (1966).

The thing why designers were producing such ridiculous things was that they had pretty much exhausted themselves.

Claes Oldenburg, "French Fries and Ketchup" (1963)

Claes Oldenburg, "Giant BLT (Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich)" (1963)

Sacco was designed by Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini, Franco Teadoro for Zanotta in 1968 for Zanotta. This was the era which was characterized by the hippy movement and the idea of apartment sharing, thus this “non-chair” was ideal for said circumstances. On creating this the designers launched the term of a “good bourgeois taste”. This design was lightweight, informal and had a nomadic design which was why it was popular with the young generation. It was also inspired by Claes Oldenburg’s soft sculptures. 

Alessandro Mendini’s Kandissi Sofa for studio Alchimia, 1978. It was a point in time where designers could no longer create innovative things and were falling back on past things and transforming them into “new”. It was paradoxical, unique, isolated, complete and self denied objects. It mocked the distinction between fine art and design. 

This Kandissi Sofa was, as hinted in the name, looking back at Kandinski’s abstract paintings and transforming it into a 3D sculpture, which in this case is a sofa. Here I found Wassily Kandinsky’s Black and Violet abstract painting from 1923 which I found is very similar to the sofa. 

The same thing goes for Alessandro Mendini Wassily Chair for Studio Alchimia, 1978-1983. This chair was part of the “Oggetti Senza Tempo” collection in 1983. It is almost identical to the Wassily Chair by Marcel Breuer but Mendini added a camouflage pattern over it. 

The Anti -Design with its liberation from formality and simplicity evolved into an international style. It is very important that one does not confuse it with Frank Lloyed Wright’s, Walter Gropius’ etc International Style. 

Archistardesign. 2012. Ardea Armchair - homage to Carlo Mollino – Zanotta [online] Available at:  http://www.archistardesign.com/armchair_ardea_zanotta.html  [Accessed on 13^th December 2013]

Robert Ayers. May 2009. “No one with the least interest in the art of the last 50 years should miss this – Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen at the Whitney”.  [online] Available at:  http://www.askyfilledwithshootingstars.com/wordpress/?p=836  [Accessed on 13^th December 2013]

Sacco. 1968. Zanotta - Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini, Franco Teadoro. [online] Available at:  http://www.design-museum.de/en/collection/100-masterpieces/detailseiten/sacco-gatti-paolini-teodoro.html  [Accessed on 13^th December 2013]

Designophy. 2001. Kandissi [online] Available at:  http://www.designophy.com/designpedia/article.php?UIN=1000000105&sec=product  [Accessed on 13^th December 2013]