i'i$j

l,'' 'l
"i
:li,ri',:)ili
ffi
lt
,i
it
ii

,ii..'i'
il. :.'.1,:
Ourmodernr"uortd
euer-exponding
is hordto pindou-rn.
ueotthof interconnecting
lt is f [Leduith compLexitg
[ogers.
cnd cn
Weoreexperiencing on erc
of fl"ux
defined bg chonge, hgbridisotion ondexplorotion. Thefruitsof
centuries of experience orebeingremixed u-rith innouotion onddigitoLisotion.
These oreexciting gelconfusing times. ThereoLm of design,Likemongother
disciplines, isnou-rchottenged on increosing
to ful.fit numberof roles:to keep
up r-r.rith
neu moterioLs ond technotogies; to fociLitote interfocesu-tithour
increosing technologicol dependence; to helpmoketheLrtortd o betterond
t),1,,1 ptoce,
'1,1, moresustoinoble getbolonce thct someholu thedemcndfor the
u.tith
,i:.,,, trophies of conspicuous consumption ondcn dnquenchobte desire for
:il i:,:
nouettg. Addedto thisburdenof responsibiLitg is lhefoclthotthediscipl"ine
it:l"ti'
itseLfhosbecome o hugefieldr,uithno ctecrlydeflned boundories.

Design is troditioncLtg
oboutuuorking to frndsolutionscnd ochieue gooLs
u-rithin
o setof [imitotionsor restrictions
usuoltgdictoted by moterio[s,
monufocturing techniques,price,function ondoesthetics.Buttodogmony
designers do notsimptgdetiuer products,thegdesignprocesses, interfcces
ondsgstems, Luorking threeondeuenfourdimensions.
in tu.ro, Whiteforsome
ther-r-rorkptoce
mogbeotmostentiretg in theuirtuoIreolmof cclcuLotions
andCADprogrommes, othersoreto befoundin theirLrtorkshops, onkle-deep
in u-roodshouings, formingondshoping objects by hond- muchosother
croftspeople houedonefor thousonds of georsbeforethem.Stittother
designers mokeobjects thoi oppeorlo houeno function ot ott,or
intentionoLtg creotesetf-referring
shelches of ideosthct seemto soluenothing
onogo noLunere.
M' LimitedEdition iscbouldesigners u-rho
mokefurniture objectsoutside of the
induslrioI
monufocturing sgstem. ALthough someempLog thesomecriterio,
toolscnd moterioLs osthoserequired to produce monghundreds or
thousondsof copies thisbookisoboutindiuiduots
of on object, tuorking on
theperipheries of thotsgstem, ondther-uorh of thoseurhohouechosen lo
stepoutsideit completelg. Mongof thedesigners in thisbookthinkof
themselues osexplorers, testingtheboundories of moterioLs,process ond
medium. Forthem,theproductotmosb seems to beon ofterthought or odded
extro.Thesedesigners orecommilted to experimentotion; to exptoring notjust
thenctureondformsof u-rhot thegproduce but olsothesgstems u.tithin
uhichlhegorecommissioned, creoled,receiued, dispLcged,opproised ond

lb)#i :ryt
TordBoontje. TheFig Leof
Hond-pointed
bron6e
enomeLled
tree,hond-dUed
copperteoues,lost uox costpotinoted
onduouensiLk,hcnd-formedtrocerU
used.ThereisoLsoo grouingbondof golterists,
orenurturing
prototgpes
ondencouroging
or Limited
theseexperiments
potronscnd curotors

Thegcrehelpingto crecteneLU
editions.
u.tho
in theformof one-offs,
connections
supportstructure,trompeI'oeiIbock
:Meto betureendesign ondthemorket, betureenproductondobject, betueen
u sG o o b industrgondideos: chonging ottitudesondchottenging structures.

7
I:r
I!
t Eitherconsciouslg or unconscioustg, theseindiuiduoLs oreoskingsomebig Pobto Reinoso ' Spoghetli BAte
c o t l e r U :C o r p e n t e r sW o r k s h o pG o t t e r ! l

I: questions. Whotisdesign?
WhotoretheroLes
Whotdoesit meonto coL[oneself
of objects ondproducts?
o designer?
lf designisto prouide somonU
o P o b t o R e i n o s oS l u d i o

P o b | ' oR € i n o s o . s p o g h e b t iB o l . t o d eb € n c h
soLutions, urhere doesit houeto go to ftndneuJonsuleTs, to extendbegond o P o b l o R e i n o s oS t u d i o

I) ilsetfondtheboundories
negotiobLe
of itsoLrrn
fordesignoso discipLine,
[imitotions? Whichconstrcints
ondLlhichorenon-negotiobte?
orenou.t
lt is hord
to f,ndonsr,ueis- especio[Lg theuergissues
u-rhen inuotued orein sucho
( noscent stogeofchongethotu.re hcuenoteuendeueloped on oppropriate
uocobu[org u-rhich
u.rith ihem.Mongof thedesigners
to discuss I spoketo
Llritingthisbookfoundit hordto put nomesor cotegories
u-rhitsb to tuhot
thegu-rere doingondhou-r thegu-rerer,uorking. Weneedtheperspectiue of
timeondtheLuxurg of o hindsightthoi tle do not gethoue.Whotu-te condo,
houeuer, is Lookct potterns ondchoose exomptes ondindiuiduo[s ulhoseem
to beLooking ot,euotuoting ondproducing objects in o different u.-tog.

LimitedEdition iso hightgsetectiue opinionpoLL on thestcteof furniture

designot theborders of industrg ondoulsideof it. In ouerfortyinteruieus
designers,
u.rith monu[octurers, go|'Lerists,
ouctioneers ondcribics, I houe
oltempted to siftondorronge someof theirthoughts ondcomments into
brocdgroupsondorecsthotseemto represent somepotterns or poroLLe[s. lt
mogbeo[d-foshioned to do so,but I hcueoLsotriedto breokdoLlnthisneu
uorld of explorotiue designobjects intocotegories. It is noto toxonomu bU
onumeons- thestgLes, formsondmclerioLs orefor toodiuerse for lhot- but
rotherc loosecotegorisotion occording to intenton theportof thedesigner,
curotoror potron,osurellos theuogsin u-thich lhegorecolloboroting u-tith
oneonolher. Cotegories - houreuer LoosethegmoUbe- do tendio oid
discussionondcommunicotion. Neuertheless, thisbookisbg no meons
comprehensiue. I uloutdbethefrrstto cdmitthotthissurueg is Limited in its
scopeondthereoreotheruoices thotolsodeserue to beheord.Mgoim hos
beento giueo briefinsightintothedo65ting creotiue orrogof t-uork out there
ond,I hope,to encouroge furtherdiscourse rotherthonjumpto premoture or
dogmotic conclusions. lf I houesucceeded, LimitedEdition isnotjust o book
cboutbecutifuL things,but hopefutlg prouides foodfor thoughtosuetL.
\

Theremog ue[[ beobjectsthot springfuLl"gformedfrom theheodsof their

creotors,
but os o rulethedesignprocessis o longond poinstohing
poth fiLl.ed
uith sketches,modets, moterio[s
studiescnd technicottriols.Wheno design
leouesthepoge,or thecomputerscreen, ond becomes soLidond three-
dimensionol,it enterstherec[mof theprototgpe.

Asitsnomesuggests, theprototgpe istheflrstof itskind:o LitH.e

roughond
imperfectperhops, but theflrstcteorexompl.e of its tgpenonetheLes;.The
implicotionis thot therer-ui|-[
bemoreto foLLou.r. Theprototgpeis troditionol.Lg
the phose or momenlbelueenconcept ondseries for industriol-
designers.ltis
u-rhotAugustinSbottde Mortinuil.l"e ,the
from Big-gomecoil.s moteri;lisotion
of on ideo'.Euerything elselhot foLlou.rsconbecoLl-ed reflnement
or
compromise - depending on hou gour.uont to lookot it.Al.though the
momentin uhicho successfu[ prolotgpe iscompleted ccnbeonextremetg
excitingonefor thedesigner, it reotlgisjusto stogein thedesignprocess, 6s
themodeliseitherimproued uponor costcside.

Althoughprototgpes tendto behcndmcde or indiuiduoLl"u

mochined, ond
focused tou.rcrds testing structure,formor moteriots roth6rthonochieuing
perfection, thegcresometimes [nishedto sucho highdegreethct thegco-utd
possfor completed objectsin theirou_rn right.Fromo coLLector's pointoi uieLu,
thismokescertoinprototUpes of ulett-knoLDn ond rothercommonobjecis
bothuoluobte ondhighLg desiroble.WeoreoLLfomil"ior uith thefirsltubuLor
steel.
Wossitu choirflrom1925bUMorcelBreueror the firsteuersol.idpLostic
contileuered choirfrom1960bgVerner ponton. Thegu..rerebothhighLg
innouotiue, noi to soyreuotulionorg, designs o[ theirdog,ondbothuint into
successflul mossproduction. Youconbugc neu pontonitockoblechoirnou
for oround200euros,ond theWossitg isstitl-ruideLg ouoiloblefromo number
o[ monufocturers. Butu.rhotif theflrsteuerprotolgpeof thecontiteuered choir
- or Breuer's Luorkshop ottempt- uere lo comeinlo gourpossession?
frrst
Thegu-routd represent momentsot u-rhich theirdesigners frrstbreothedlife
intoideoslhct r-uere to becomemojormitestones in tu_rentieth-centurg
design.
ThegLuoutdbeutterl-yunique,ond if themorketfor suchobjectsuere hotj
r-uhich -
it isthesedogs thentheyuroutdbe(ondore)u.rorth o fortune.Buging
Br?-gome . Metol.Work
Aluminium prototUpe o designer s prolotgpe isoboutoriginotitg, not perfection,sogsLondon-bosed
designer 'For
RotfScchs. thecollector
OECAL it is uergspeciot becouieit hos
P h o t oF: L o r i oJno U e something thotheknou.rs isthemotherof o futurething.'
ilt \
t1
'!i
li
ilt l
I
"tl
tl
fl
ilt l
III
.rt

ilt l
tl= l
II Thehigh-end collectors'
osinuestment
furniture
morkeihoscometo uieu prototgpes
opportunities.Thegenjogc stotu-s
of series SotU€ndro
O A L e L iS
PokhoLd . 8.M.HorseChoir
e ro i u e n d rPoo k h o t d

il
on o poruith
hondmode or one-offpieces. Whereos thisphenomenon begonin theuintoge
tl section of tu-rentieth-centurgdesignoso u_rog of coLl.ecting pieces
ipeciol. th"ot
uereportofo series

..J
rl or mossproduction ero,thetendencg hosnoulsprecdto
contempo-rorg prototgpes fromestoblished or euengoungdesigners. Thereis
someconfusion, houeuer, osto themeoning of theterm proto[ype, in this
respect.Ontheonehond,thereoreproductor furniture designeisLuhostiLL
urorkuerumuchuiihin theindustrioI sgstem ondtheirprototgpes the
fuLfiL
tl troditionoI roleof teslingondcommunicoting chonges uithin-theOesign
process
tl of c product.Yetotherscreoteprototgpes thot orecloserto skeiches,
zl moquettes
concept
or piecesofscuLpture
thonongformof product.
thothouefci moreto do uliththecrectiue.
Andthereoresomedesiqners urhodo
both:Amsterdom-bosed Solgendro pokhoL6, for exompte, d"esignspiecesfor
seriesproduction for theLikesof Mogis,CorUnumondCoppetini, but heolso
conducts hisou-rn experiments uith moteriols ondprocesses thotconresuLt in
- LikehisB.M.HorseChoirondCeromic
r..uorks Choirs - thotthenhndtheir
uog ontothegoLlerg morkei.Thesg oreuhot hecolts,sludio projects,,
ond
theuconinuoluemonggeorsof reseorch. HisHorseChoirlooksomeseuen
georsto perfect, ondinuolued numerous scotemodets ond3DCADdesigns.
But,hesoUs, it isonl.gtheflrstpiecemodeto scoLe in the,reo[molerioL_-l"ike
thebron6e lostucx costingprocess in thecoseof theHorseChoir,, thotheis
prepored to coL[o'prototgpe'.

Germon designer Konstontin Grcicolsoconsiders himselffrrstondforemosi

on industrioLdesigner. Heoftenu_rorks uilh extremelg high-tech moterioLs
ondprocesses to engineer neu_rformsintended to endup osgood,functionot,
cffordobLeproducts in thetrodition of tu_rentieth-centurgGermon industriot
designihot orosefromBouhous, ULmondtheDeutsche Werhbund. Once
ogoin, prolotgpes in thissense oresimplgon essentioL portof the
deuelopment process tou-rordmossproduction. As pierreKer.ter,
directorol the
Suuissdesigncotlege ECAL, putsit:A prototgpe iso siepin thedesignprocess.
It constopthere,but if it doesit meonsthotit hosfoil"ed. In orderto be
successfut,
o prototgpe hosto beiol"Loued bg industrlol-
deuelopment or
muttipleeditions.'In thecontext of thissgstem, Ketlerisright,butGrcicis
urelLoLUorethotdesignischonging - ondu.rithit, lheroLe-oftheprototgpe.
TheuroUs in u.rhichhehosdocumented onddispl"oged hisproducts in ricent
georsindicote o preoccupotion uith process cnd experimentotion thotputs
theprolotgpe -
on o pedestotrotherthontheproduct.
 A pertinent exomple hereuouLdbeGrcic's neurMYTO choirfor PLonk, u-rhich
is lheIrst sing[ebLock, o[L-pLostic conliLeuered choiron themcrketsince
Ponbon's 1960creotion. Thechoirison impressiue pieceof designengineering
modepossible thcnksto o neu-r plosticdeueLoped bg thechemicoL giontBASF
ondintense cotLoborotion betueendesigner, moterio[s monufccturer,
producer, toolmoker ondmochine buiLders. Whenit ulos[ounched uith its
oun shor-u, poroLteL to the2008SoLone del MobiLe in Mitcn,theemphosis
uos notsomuchon thefinotproductoson theprototgpes andthepTocesses
inuoLued in itsdeuelopment. Rours ofdifferenl prototgpes morkingthepoth
o f t h ec h o i r 'csr e o i i oune r ed i s p L o g iendo n i n d u s t r i oLLo o k i negn u i r o n m e n t
siiuoted in o goLlerg spoce. TheuholethingLUas stogedsopreciselu thot it
bordered on on ort instoLLction. Theprototgpes in thisinstonce uerelhefoccL
pointof theinstotlotion andceLebroted osbecutifuL objects in theirolunright,
euenthoughhhegu-rere notusobleoschoirs.

A propos'ort', thereison increosing

numberof outorkic designer-produceTs or
'crectors'uJho hcuestudios ondLuorkshops uherethegbothdesignond
produce theiroun uork in smoLL quontities.TheghouenotcompLetelu
diuorced themselues fromthedemocrotic design system,uuhose primorggool
S t u d i oH o u s e n. C r o o n e rl o m p s is to designmongproducts
Pfoloi!lpes foreuergone, but rotheroppeorto beprcctising
i i S i ! d l oH o ! s e n on updcteof thepre-industrioL mindset thotdoesnol sepcrote theIne crts
P l r o l oD: o f i e lS c h ! [ a e fromtheoppliedcrts.RoLfScchs:'lfsomebodg iso crdoteur,
thegconbeon
K o n s L o n tG i nr c i c ' l \ 4 Y T O
choir ortistor o furnituredesignerbecouseeuergthing thegdo hoso creoiiue
D e u e l o p m em n lo d e l so n d m o u l d ospect...I feelcloserto thesoulofon ortistthono designer, becouse I trg to
C t € n l B A S F/ P l o n k
( - rK 0 n s l 0 n t lG
n f c l cl n d u s l r i 0 lD e s i g n
deuelop neLlideosu-rhich somebodU elsemightpickup on [cterondlurninto
mossproduction pieces.'This
neLUgenerotion of designer-producersishightU
K o n s t o n t iG
n r c i c . S L o c k e dM Y T O c h o i r s
C L€ f t : B A S F/ P l o n k conscious of theprototgpe'sduoLroleos botho desirobLe objectondon
industrioI Augustin 'When
O K o n s t o f tn G f c l cl n d L r s l r i oDLe s l g n templote. ScottdeMortinuiLLe scgs: ue uork for
gaLleriessuchosKreoin Poris, ue mokeobjects thotore"prototgpes".
Sometimes ue useuhot ue'ueLeorned fromthcrtto mokeindustrioI
products. TheWoodWorktompfor KreofolLoued bg theMetoIWorkedition
(seepoge30)iso goodexompte. TheoriginoL WoodWorkLUOs o reoLLU doring
objectmcdeof superlightbcLso ruood.lt hodto behondcrofted. The
industrioI uersionusestheuisuoL Longuoge LUe deuetoped fromtheIrst
uersion, ondbhesomeprincipLes, butisodopledto lorge-scoLe production.'

35
 :
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& .N ,g
ThegoungBerlindesigner duoStudioHcusen tokethiscommercioL roleof S o r o h u o n G o m e r e n. 8 i g D i p p e r
M e c h o n i c o lp e r f o r m o n c ei n s l c l l o L i o nm o k i n g u o x c h o n d e l i e r s
theproiotgpeo stepfurtheronduseit to courtneLlclients:'The prototgpe is O Sorohucn Gomeren
thecoreetement of oururork.lt iso sbotement.WebeLieue thotdesignersore
Ourproducts
idecgenerotors. oreideosin theshopeofprototypes. In orderto
getnoticedue needto communicote ourideosof trodefoirs,exhibitionsond
in themedio.
Thisrequires o constont output,becouse ontgthoseu-rith the
bestideosgetdocumented in thecompetition forottention.'ForStudio
Housen,theprototgpe isexpression ondmorketing tooLin one,oLthough its
origincL
functionremoins thesome,nomelg:'the modeluponu-rhich o [oter
'
oncLogue series
conbebosed

PrototUpesin thisroLebecome o meonsbg u-rhich process

therotherstou-rer of
productdeuelopment
industricL conkeeppoceuith o uorld hungrgfor
noueltgondinnouotion. TheUoreo uehicle forocquiringmedicpresence
throughr,uhichsmoLter independent designersgoincrilicoLondinduslrg
ottention.
Thismogbefollouedbg controcis u..rith
monufocturers or
commissions bg gotleriesto deuelop lheideofurther-beit os mossproduct
or Limited-edition
series.
Bothoptionsu-riL[bringFndncioL inputr-uith
uhich
thedesigners conInonceiheirnextroundofideos. Thereoredistinct
simitorities
hereuith thefoshion industrg,
uhereflcshion designersproduce
neLU - essentioLLg
coLlections prototgpesu-rornbg models - ot specif,c
seosonoLeuents eochgeor.
 .
1..'. 1.jt"i- ir.-.- rr," j ::':Nr
{.j,tlrJal'r",l J

Goingbockto Grcic's tocticof exhibitingbothprototgpes cnd process to

touncho product: theprototgpes hereoLsoprouide o norrotiueelemenlthot
helpsmorkettheMYTO choir.Thistechnique isbecoming increosing[g
preuoLent omongstdesigners; othernotobleexompLes includeRononond
EruonBourouLtec, StefonDie5ondPiekeBergmons. Thisformof disptog
giueslhechoiro storg,o historg, ondstrongLg connects thenomesof the
designer-producer ondmoterioL monufocturer to theproductotongtheuoy.
In todog'smuLtimedio enuironment u.re
oresurrounded bUsomonguisuoL
stimuLiond'things'to bug,thotincreosingLy refrned strotegiesorerequiredto 'i

,ry
'We
fendoff o grouingLeuel of consumer iotigue. don'thcueo greot
retotionshiponUmoreuith u-rhot ue bug,'sogs Dutchdesigner Sorohuon
'People
Gomeren. oretookingintoulogsof giuingneu-r uotueto lheproducts
theybugondto creoleo retotionship u-rith
them.Oneof theuogsis lo be
oLloreof lheu-roy it ismode.'As pcrtof theLondon-bosed portnership Studio ,l
r{,
GLithero,uonGomeren's products cnd prototgpes orecreoted on-sitein
goLleriesondexhibition spoces. Sheintroduces o temporoL aspectto her \,;ri
designd.bg usingthedesignprocess osspeclocle lo disploguhot shecotts
her'experiments'.WithherBigDipper(seepoge36),forexomp[e, uon
Gomeren exhibitso [orgemochine thotdipsintricotelgshoped Luick
constructions intouox to creotecondLes shcpedLikecondelobros, in uhot is
essenticLtgo kineticperformonce. Theresulting objects orenotstricttg
prototgpes but thegorerough,slightl"g unflnished-Looking ond- despite
- essentiottu 'Thot's
beingmochine-mode unique. uhereprototgpe ond
experimentolion comerec[Ly c[ose,'exptoins
uonGomeren.'With theBig
Dipperthereiso doublespotlight: oneon theendproductondoneon the
process.WilhoutthetimeLine thegcon'texist.'

RoLfSochsLuelcomes 'lt
thisneLr.r
norroliueelement in design. isexocttg
u-rhot
peopLeurontondexoctlgn-rhoi
l'mtrgingto do...to bringdepthio theobject,
o senseof communitgperhops,
o senseof historu, ouroufromthecleon,just
puretgfunclionot, E tU L t i m Go r i l o. H u m p
object.'He
euenodds:'We houeto go muchfurther; ute're P r o l o L U p€etsE x p € r i m e nel xs h i b i l i o n
2 ,0 0 7
notcourogeousenoughof themoment.' C L i € nLt :oC a s oE n c e n d i dMo ,a d r i d
G o L L e rTUh:€A f o mG a l l € r U
O S h i r oK t o s m e r
Addingnorroiiue to thedesignprocess isnotonLgoboutennuiondhord
morketingptous.BUunderstonding il GittoGschuendtner . Shuttlecock Chond€l.ier
urhere something comesfromondhou-r
P r o l o L U p€elsE x p e r i m e net xs h i b i L i o2n0, 0 7
is mode,consumers creempou..reredto tokeresponsibiLity
for their G o t t e r uT:h eA f o mc o L l e r U
consumption.lf Uouoreunhoppg Luiththestorg,Upuconchoose notto bug O S h i r oK t o s m e r
theproduct.Ontheolherhond,if gouLikethestoryUoumouchoose to bug k B e U. S . L . A . K .
S l u d i oM o k h i n e
theproductbecouse of it.Thepurchosingdecisionno Longer
hcsto bemode P r o t o L U p€e,sE x p e r i m e net xs h i b i i i o n
2 ,0 0 7
giuestheproductsophisticotion,'scgs G o I L e rTUh: eA r q mG o L L e r U
on oesthetic
criteriocLone.'This Scott O S h i r oK t o s m e r
deMortinui[[e.'lt's
o bit Likeorgonicfood:gouorereodgto occeptfl.ou-rs
becousegouknou uheretheproductcomesfrom.Youeuen[ikeit more
beccuseoFtheseftou-rs.'
 'w'

,*

In ourincreosinglg stondordised gLobot uitloge- urhere o shopping mottin

Aucktond conLookremorkobtg simiLor to o shopping motLin Copenhogen,
Duboior SeuiLLe, urhere ureotl keepourbookson BiLtg sheLues ondulotchTV
fromKLippon sofcs o touchof hondmode indiuiduoLitg isstcrtingto become
r o t h epr r e c i o uosg o i nT. e r mssu c ho s ' b e s p o k e ' , ' t i mei tdei tdi o n ' , ' u n i q u e ' o n d
'hondmode'designote o neu kindof Luxurg, urhere uoLue goesbegond
expensiue moterio[s ondo particuLor componU Logo. Consumers oLso
increosingLg u-ront products u-ritho storg.TheUujontto knou-t LUho mode
u-rhot thegorebuging,hor-u modecnd u-thot
it u..ros moteriots or resouTces
'People products
urereusedin theprocess. oregettingtiredof moss-produced
thotoL[Lookthesomeondthoteuergbodg elsehosgot osu-teLt,'sog Liso
WiddnondAnnolrinarchos fromWISDesign.'Where orethesouIondheortin
thesethings? WhereoretheindiuiduoLitg ondthehistorg?'

Thisdesire forodditionoL'contenb'in theformof norrotiue seems lo beo

grouingphenomenon thotisbeginning to tronscendfoshion. Norrotiue con
comeosperformonce or documentotion, or beinherent theobject
u-tithin
itself.A sense of indiuiduotitgondhislorgconcomefromthepotinoof on
objectthoi isold onduretl-Luorn, or themorksondtrocesof themoker's
hondsondtoolson something neu-r.lt doesnot necessori[U houeto stortout
unique, bui it conbecome sobg ocquiring o hislorgof itsoun.'Weore
surrounded bg mon-mode objects,'sogsdesigner Sotgendrc PokhoL€.'Theg
shou[dfeetLikecomponions ondhoueo personotitg ondsomekindof
Morlino Gomper .
'100
choirs in 100 DoUs exhibition', 2007 emotionoI ottochmenb.' In thecoseof o hondmode pieceof furniture for
1 0 0u n i q u ee x o m p l e sm o d e f r o m r e - o p p r o p r i o l e df o u n d a n d excmpLe, theimplicotion is thotif themokerhcsput time,effortondperhops
donol€d c h o i r so I o i I l ! p es
Gatler!N : ilu[ar
euenLoue intothemokingof it, thentheLoter ounerr-uilLgetsomeof thot
O A n g u sM i l L bockfromthepiece, osuetl osinuesting hisor herou-tn inputintoit.

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It couldbethotu-re oreseeking somekindofcuLturcL connection ogoin.Being

portof o throLr-rou-rog
societgthothosoLsodeuetoped throughcomputer use
intoo mogpiecuLture - indiscriminoteLg
opproprioting, hgbridising
ond
sompting - mightmeonthotue feelLeftu-rith nothingto hotdon to.Objects
uith stories cre[ikeheirtooms;theggiueuso sense of timebegond ourselues
ondourptocein theordero[ things. Therecent rnterestin hgbridised
objects
modefromold furniture or oLdformscut up ondremixed Likeo Mobgsong
refl,ects
thismogpieoititude, ondo desire for morecuLturoL contentthotgoes
beuondnostoLgio.'Hondmode objects,'
sogsUKfurniture designerMottheu-r
Hilton,'ore crtisoncL.
Fromlhehondondtheheort,thegoredoun to eorth,
themostbosicofoLtobjects. Thegoremodetheu-rog lheghouebeenfor
miLLennic.'

Butbeforeu-re putone-offs on o pedestot, ureneedto remember thotunique

or hondmode objects comprisejust c tingfroctionof thereotmof design.
Mossproduction isstitLessentioI fortheneeds of mosspopuLctions, ondmost
designers sliLLuork in thisoreo.An importont deuelopment, houeuer, iso
groLlingelement of choice. Justosconsumers condecide uhetherto spend
theirmonegon o cheopsetof chcirsfromonemonufccturer, on expensiue set
fromonother, commission themfromon indiuiduoL moker, or bugthem
second-hond, designers orenotLimited to houingto choose betuleen urorking
exclusiuelg in CADprogrommes for themossmorketor chiselling outeuerg
neurpieceuith theirou-rn honds. Stephen Burksiso producidesigner LUeLL
knou-rn for hishigh-uoLume u..rorku-rith componies suchosCoppetlini ondBeB
I t c L i og,e th ec o n s i d eur sn i q u o
e n dt l h o bh et e r m s ' o r t i s o n o t ' p r o d u c t i o n s ,
otongu-rith crofttroditions, to beon inuoLuobte portof hiscreotiue outputond
deuelopment.'l thinkin thisuergpLurotistic designmoment, lhereisroomfor
euergtgpeof expression. In uorkingmorebg hondureorereminded of the
connection betureen thehond,theegeondtheimoginotion. | [rmtg betieue
thottheclosergougetto thereoLitg of themoterioLs ondtheprocesses of
production, thebettergoucondesignfor them.'

WISDesign produce one-off

objects in orderto exhibitondiLLustroteiheir
stgte.'When mokingtheseobjects u-re
don'treoLtghoueto consider the
Limitotionsof mossproduction. Weorequitefreein ourdesignprocess. Wecon
deuelop theitemsinloobjecls thotcouLd besuitoblefor theproduction [ine
toter.'Choosing uhetherto mokeo pieceosc one-offi Limitededition, or series
of thousonds is notof primorgconcern for mongdesigners. Theprocess ond
themoterioLs rotherthontheproduc[.
oreoI interest, ForexompLe, Stephen
BurksrecentLg tookon interesiin reuisitinguorioustechniquesfor recgcling
pcperondgtossthotendedup oso neLU commerciollg producedseries cotled Mox Lomb . NonocrusLo[[ine
c o p p e rs t o o t
CoppeltiniLoue(seepoge57l. Theprocess storted
offoso motericLs E d i t i o no f 1
O Max Lomi)
experiment ondendedupcs o product - nottheotheru.rcg oround. Hedidnot
M o x L o m b . L o d u c r o s ss o n d s l o n ec h o i r
setout to mokeiobLes onduoses forCoppe[Lini;heuontedto findo r-uog of Ed iion of 1
re-usingthestocksoI oLdmogo5ines in hisstudio. O Mcx Lomb
 MoxLomb. BrontePoLUChoir
piece
Unique Monycontempororg designers seemto thinkof themselues osexplorers,
fromo series
of 10
@f.4ox
Lomb testingtheboundories of mcteriots,process ondmedium. Theproductotmost
,?' seems to beon ofterthoughl or cn oddedextro.'you needto beo moterioL
MorLomb. Pol.H bronle+ uhite uersrons
Choir,
.'\ Edit'on
of20 scientist,'sogs
designer GorethNeoL.'you needto experiment ondbe
OMoxLomb comptetetg interested
f in hor.umoteriotsuork. Thengouotsoneedto be
obsessed uith thequol-itgof thef,nishin orderto gel o productthotreoLLg
ir,,, sporkLes ondLooks lheporl.Sogouhoueto hcueo bit of thecroftsmon in gou
',fi1$;iT ondo bit of thedesigner in gouosLUeLl".'
Withtheirone-offexperiments, soire
designers oreconstontlg pushing theenuetope. ThismoUor moUnot resu[tin
neu or odoptedtechniques ondmoteriots Indingtheiru.rog intothemoss
morket. 'Churning
out thesomeobjeclouerondouerogoinis notof interest
to me,'sogs designerMoxLomb.'lgetpteosure fromtheuergexperimentoI
stogeof deuetop-ingproducts onduork.I mightendup producingjust oneor
tuo exompLes oion objectondthenl'mon to lhenextproject.'

In thefurniture uorld,therehoueotu..rcgs beendesigners or crtisonsu_rho

choose to creoteonddeuetop theiroun indiuiduoL p-ieces
on o smot[scote,
oftenspurning themoinslreom anduJorking to commission or setting
directto
the.customer. lt is theu.rogfurnitureusedto bemode.lf you neededo neu
toblegourrlentto the[oco[corpenter or cobinetmoker,[otd him u_rhotuou
u.rontedondhemodeUouone.youconsti[|" do thesometodoy.Thediffirence
is,thonksto communicotions technotogg Uouconchoose fromtensoi
thousonds of '[o-coL'designers to mokeUourneL,pieceof furnilureif gouu_rish.
Jhi: 19, kindof ouoil.obiLitg, poireduith increosed consumer desirefor
indiuiduotitg,hosopened up u-rhote
neuJoreosofopportunitg notjusifor
croftspeoptebut designers os u-rett:
especiol"l"g
for thoser-uhoconsider
designingcndmokingto beportof oneondthesomeoctiuitg. Thus,
consumers seeking furnitureproducts thotoredifferent,uniqueor specioL con
frndtike-mind_ed designers fromotLouerthegLobe obleto moheobjects for
themthol ful.frL lheserequirements. Thonksto ther-uoq themorketis
structured,one-offs ondtheirmokers oremoreoccessibte thoneuerbefore.

69
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A porodox existsbetueeno desire fornoueltgcnd innouotion on theone C h o r L i eD o u i d s o n. B l o c k - L i g h t

A l ! m n l u m f o i l , s l o i n t e s ss t e e la n d c o t o u r e dl i g h t i n g g e t s ;
hond,ondo desire forsustoinobiLitg ondquoLibg on theother.lt isc closh i n d i u i d u a l t i lh . r n d m o d eb ! l C h o r t i €D o u l d s o n
betu.Jeen ropidturnouer ondstou-r uotues. Sinceuremouedfromo'honds-on' () Tob! Sunrnrershit[
s o c i e ttgo o ' t i m ei sm o n e g ' s o c i et thge,c o n s e n shuos sb e e nt h o th o n d m o d e C h o r l i e D o u i d s o n. C r u n h C h o i r
products tokeioo Longto mokeondcoterto toofeu to beo uotidoLternotiue A l u m l n i u m f o i t , p o t l l e u r e i h o n cl o o m o n d M D F ;
to mossproduction.'One-off produclion isdefinitetg timeconsuming,'sogs one of o poir
( OT o b ! S u n r o r c r s k i l t
Mottheu-r HiLton,'but it doesn't necessoriLy houeto beinemcient. In foctit con
beuergefficient. I thinkil isgenerotlg r-uorth surrounding gourseL[ u-rith
higher-quotitg goodsthontouer.Thelesser-quotitg thingseitherureorout,or
theirchormu.leors oLUoU.'For Sotgendro PokhcLri, sustoinobi[itg hosLess to
do u.rith reducing ecotogicoL footprinls cnd moreto do u-rith greotdesignond
quotitgbosedon on opprooch uhereo LotoI timeis inuested in getting
something right.'For methemostsustoinoble productistheoneLlhichLosts
longer, uhichbecomes o portof cuLturot historg. BgthotI meonc product
thct reotLg mokessense ondhossuchsigniIconce for peopLe thottheg
cherish it ondmogbeheepit fortherestof theirliues- forgenerotions euen
- i f i t i su e r gg o o d . '

Foro productto LoslLonger, it needs betterquoLitg in design, moierio[s ond

crcftsmonship. Ouerthecourse oI theLotetLr-rentieth centurg, theu-rord'croft'
cometo besomething of c dirtgu-rord in designcircles. lt smocked of omoteur
dobbting cnd hobbgproctitioners turningoutclumsghcnd-throu-rn potscrnd
mocrom6 pLonthotders. Croftu-ros reduced to c kindof occupotionoI theropg
proctised bg mongondmostered bg feu.Butnouionebeginsto heorthe
termusedin o for morepositiue sense.'UntiL recenttg,'soUs designer/
crcftsmon KhoiLieu,'design hosoLu-rogs euoked theideoof mossproduction,
soongthingossocioted u-rith theu-rord "croft"uuos nol opp[icobte to the
designconsciousness.'Since theborders begonshiftingbehLueen discip[ines
ondopprooches, crofthcsbeenoccepted bcckintothedesignprocess
olongside oLLtheindustrioL techniques, bothotdondneu.r, suchosuocuum
moutding, CNCmiLLing ondstereo Lithogrophg. ln on erou-rhere ongthing
goesin thepursuitof theneurondthedifferent, nothingis nou considered to
beincongruous. Al lhebeginning of my coreer,'sogs Dutchdesigner Richord
Hutten, 'uhen
ue Irst shou-red oururorku-rith Droogdesign, it u.ros considered
to houe"toomuchcroft"ondnot besuitobLe for mossproduction. This
d i s o d u o n t ohgoest u r n e di n t oo n o d u o n t o goeu e rt h eg e o r s . '
 E-

GordPeteron. E[eclric Choir orenot tokingsome

C l e n t :D f D o u i dD o r e n b o u m
Bgbringing croftbockintotheiruork,thesedesigners
ill Elo ne Brodie kindof ideoList pcth.Thereis no hintof rejection
or Luddite of technoLogg in
W I SD e s i g n. D € c o d e sc h e s to f d r o u e r s
r-uhotthegoredoing.Onihecontrorg, mochinesondcomputers oreessentioL
O S t u d i oC A bul notnecessoriLg
useduhereoneurouLd expectthem.WhenGcrelhNeoL
(seepoge74)modehisIrst Annetobte,hedesigned it on thecomputer but
builtondcut theu-rho[e
thingout bg hondon o benchsou-r, beccuse hecouLd
notoffordto pcg forCNCmiLLing. Throughtheprocess of mckingit bg hond,
occidentsoccurred ondbitsof theuood brokeoff.Thisinspired him in the
mokingof thenextpiece, theGeorge 3 consoLetoble.Thistimehecoutd
offordtheCNCmiLLing, mecntthct oLLthegrooues
u-rhich ondslotsurere
precision-cut
bg computer, but hestitLdidoLLthefrncLobrosion onderosion
bg hondu-ritho moLteb
ondchiseL.

Sr"uitchingfromhondto mochine u-rhen mcking[imitededitions or one-offs

roretgmecnsthct theproducts getcheoper, beccuse thequontitgis not there
to offsetthecosts. NeoL's Irsi meihodLt-tos time-consuming ondlherefore
expensiue in [obourterms,butthesecond methodisjustosexpensiue, if not
moTe so,beccuse lhesetup costsforthemcchines creso high.Pieces
resulting from bothprocesses oreequoLLg uoLucbLe in hisuieu.ToquoteMox
'CertoinLg
Lombogoin: there'so strongmorketfor uniqueor customised
objects,euenif theg're produced bg o mochine. One-off objectsthotore
industrioL[g produced but tLueoked in c u-rogthotmokesthemuniquecrestiL[
goingto beuergexpensiue, becouse gou'repogingforcn ideoor o concept
ondfortheprogr0mme thothodto ber-uritten uhichoLLou-rseochoneto be
tr-ueokedsLightlg.lt'soLmost [ikegou'repcgingfor lhelicence.'

73
 !
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GorethNeol.. G€orgechestof drouers

Duringthecourse of hispostgroduote educotion of theRogolCoLtege oi Art O o k ;e d i l i o no f 2 5
in London, MoxLombturnedou-rog fromdesigning for mossproduction O J i mC h o m p i o n
becouse hefettheurosnotobLeto design commerciottg uiobteproducts. He KhoiLieu . Portio
decided to go bockto Leorning thebosics, stortingu-rith theuerutroditionol O GronHl oncock
industrioI process of sondcostingto mokeo neu.r series of meloIfurniture. KhoiLieu . LinenfoLd
Insteod of hondingouertheproduction to c foctorg, Lamburentto o beoch O G r c n lH o n c o c k
o n dt r i e di L o u ih i m s e L f . ' W hI ef or ei t e d
o l u n i u e r s iot gr i g i n o t l y , ' eh xep [ o i n s , ' i s
lhot I Lr-ros designing functiononddesigning objects thotsoLdfunclionin
cleueruoys.Butuhen it cometo theoctuoL monufocture ondsetlingI uent
urrongbecouse I uosn'tdesigning objects thotcoutdbemodeuerg
successfuLlg.'So hedecided to sfcrtleorning oL[oboutmoterioLs ond
processes Irst,ondontgthento designobjects oroundthem.'Thot istheonLy
reoLLr-rog to designondproduce objects thotgouoreuttimotetg goingto be
obLeto mokeondsetL,'he odds.In su-ritching fromo theorg-Led opprooch to o
croftondhonds-on opprooch, Lomb's moueisexempLorg of o shiruin the
modernproductdesignporodigm. Hebgpossed expensiue toolingcnd
monufocturing [imitotions, creoted o uniquepieceof furniture, goueit
norrotiue bg documenting theprocess, cnd modeit u.rork commercioLl"g. His
foiLings oson industrioI designer houeproued to behisstrengihs oso
designer/moker. Hehosfoundhisproductondhismorketondprouedthol
lessconmostdefrnitel.g bemore.Lomb's gotlerg, theJohnson Troding
GoLterg, recentlg soldo setoi hisBron5e Po[gchoirs(seepage69)ot the2008
Design Miomi/BoseL for $25,000 o piece.

Admittedtg,MoxLomb's success storuuitl nothcppento euergdesigner/

mokerout there- ondhisstrolegg isbg no meonsuniqueeither. Butit iso
rothergoodexompLe thotitlustrotes ueL[thefl.exibitity
of thecontemporcrg
designpoth.Croft,skiLL,
culture,process,moteriots,toolsond
communicotions technotogg ostlell osmonufocturing technologycono[Lbe
mixedondremixed in on extroordinorg uorietg
of ulogs.ThereiscLsoon
increosingLg
design-cuore cnd criticolmcrketout there,u-rith
bugers getting
tiredofbeingdictotedio bg on old industriotlg
driuensgstem ihot hosbeen
supersededbg o neu reoLitg.
 NeulUJoUS of ulorkingmeon:neurcategories of products,
neurLUaUS of
sellingthem,ondneu u-rordsu-rith
u.rhich
to toLkoboullhem.lt isgeneroLLg
occepted thotthereisc grou:ingbrcnchofdesignthoi generotes smc[l
numbers of time ondcost-intensiue
objects, primorU
u-rhose purpose isnot
necessoriLg Wheiher
functionoL. thiskindof designis'neur'initsetf,u-rhether
it
representso mouement, o foshionfodor,in somecoses,o tgpeof ort,issiiLLo
motlerof debote.

AlexondP e ro U n d e i, r e c t oorf d e s i g on t P h i t l i pdseP u r Ug C o m p o nogu c t i o n

house, isgenerotlg crediled Llithcoiningthecontempororg useof theterm
' D e s i gAnr t ' b o c k
i n1 9 9 9 .u ' l s e dt h et e r m i n o l o gbgo c ko t t h et u r no f l h e
mitlennium to creoteo prouocotiue ondinteresting concept for peopleto
discuss onddebote,'he sogs.'ltu-ros uerginteresting to Lookof hou-r design
o n do r t o n do r c h i t e c t uureer ef u s i n g o n dm e l d i n ign t o[ h i so n eL o n g u o goen d
borriers Luere beingbrokendoun,[inesuerebeingblurred.' Houleuer, uhot
seems to houebeeno reosonobLe ottemptto puto nometo thistgpeof
furniture design, sothotbugers ondselters kneu u-rhat thegu-rere toLking
obout,endedup cousing sucho stinkomongstortists, designers, got|.erists,
coLtectors ond,mostnotobLg, themedio,thotPcgnepubLicLg retrocted the
termin eorLU 2008.

TheissuepeopLe houeu-riththeexpression'Design Art'seems to houeLess to

o do Luiththequestion
o commercioL[g
of Lr-rhot
is'ort'onduhot is'design',
driueninterest
ondmoreto do ulith
in giuingkudosto thedesigner produced
furnituremcrketbg opproprioiing lt islruethotouerthepost
theu-rord'ort'.
decode or socontempororg designobjects houebegunto oppeorin contexts
preuiousLg reserued
forort:in goLteries,of ort ouctions,of ort foirs,on
pedesto[s ondin uhitespoces. Butsinceort itselfsuruiues ondthriues omidst
thedirtgmochinotions o[ commerce u,ithoutopporentLg Losing itscredibititg,
it ishordto seeuhot otLthefussisobout.

A r g u i n tgh ep o i n it n t h eo t h e d
r i r e c t i obngs o g i n g
t h o to d d i n gl h eu o r dA r t '
cfter'Design' somehou-r negotes theuclueor meoning of designissLightlg
moreinteresting. Butiheideothotdesignshou[dhoueo primoryutilitcricn
responsibiLitU, ondthotu-rithout thisfunctionoL ro[eit isdiminished ond
therefore bodin someuog, iso rotherdoted ondutopicnmid-tu-renlieth
centurguieur. ThereoIdifficuttg criticshoueu-rith thelerm'Design Arb'isthot
coLlectors oreottrocted to lhisneu-r kindof design somuchthotthegore
prepored to spenduerg[orgesumsof monegon it. Prices orecLimbing ond
t h em o r k eilsg r o u i n gu, h i c hm u s tm e o nt h o t ' D e s i gAnr t ' i si m p o r t o nBt .u ti s
it importont Likeo piecebg,sog,MorcelDuchomp or NeoRouch? Doesit push
FtedriksoS n tollord . KingBonkormchoirond stoot
boundories or express the5eitgeist? Orisit importont oso stotussgmboL Like
E d i lo n o f 8 , 2 o r i s l ' s p r o o f s c n d 2 p r o t o l ! p € s o DomienHirstdot pointing or o Ferrcri? Andisthereo difference ongmore?
G o t l e . ! lD: o u i d G l l l G a l t e r e s Thereisos muchbodondouerpriced designoroundosthereis bodond
O D o u i dG i i t G o t l e r i e s
P h o t oT: h o m o s B r o u n ouerpriced ort.WhocoTes, cs Lonqosit sells?

111
 A U o L os e r o f o t U( A q u o C r e o t i o n s ). S t o n d B U
C e r t o i n L tgh e r ei s n o t h i n gn e u ro b o u t e d i t i o nf u r n i t u r ef o r t h o s eu . - r hcoc n G 0 t t f rU :A q u o G o l l . rl l
'Rich
o f f o r di t . p e o p l eh o u e o L u o g sb o u g h f e x t r o o r d i n o r go n d [ i m i t e d - t ) A l l ) iS c r o f o l U
q u o n t i t g f u r n i t u r et h o t u . - r odsi f f e r e n tf r o m u h o I e u e r g b o d ge l s ec o u L dh o u e , ' M o o r t e n B o o s ' P l . o s t i cc h o i r i n W o o d
s o g sB r i t i s hd e s i g n eTr o mD i x o n . ' W h e t h e t hr o t r - u o tsh e b i g d e c o r o t o rosf t h e C 0 rL J . (el l r r ; e d i t i o f o l 5 0
1 9 3 0 sL U o r k i n fBo r M o h o r o j o h so, r e u e n[ h e M o d e r n i s t sL i k eL eC o r b u s i e ri ,n G 0 l l e r l l :C o D i r o s t sG o l t . r f l
( ) C o r )I r d s t s G o L l c r
ll
t h e e n d t h e g u e r e m o k i n g r o r e t h i n g sf o r r i c h p e o p L eP. e r n e t t eP e r r i o n dt,h e
d o u g h t e ro f C h o r l o t t eP e r r i o n dt,o l d m e t h e g o n L gs o L dc r o u n d t u e n t g - [ u e o f
t h e u e r g f o m o u s [ 8 3 0 6 L eC o r b u s i e rc] h o i s e sL o n g u e sb e f o r et h e e u o r S . othose
u . r e rteh e k i n do I q u o n t i t i e tsh o t e u e nl h e m o s ti c o n i cs, u p p o s e d Lmgo s s
p r o d u c e dp r o d u c l sr u e r eb e i n gm o d e i n t h e n . ' T h e A m e r i c o nd e s i g n e r
'There
J o h o n n oG r o u . - r u n doegr r e e s : h o s o t u r o g sb e e nL i m i t e de d i t i o nd e s i g n .
A r c h i t e c t so f t h e p o s t m o d e c h o i r so n d s o f o so n d t o b l e sf o r t h e i r h o u s e sL. o o k
o f H o f f m o n nP , r o u u 6W , r i g h tL , o o sP , ontiL , eC o r b u s i eorn d s o o n . S i xc h o i r s
[ o r o p r i u o t eh o m e i s L i m i t e de d i t i o nd e s i g n s, o o r e t u e n i g - f r u ed e s k sf o r o n
o f f i c e s, o i t ' s n o t h i n gn e u - r . '

I n t e r h s o f c o l l e c t i n g t, h e r eo r e g o L l e r i s tus r h oh o u e b e e ns h o u - r i nogn d s e l l i n g
d e s i g nf o r d e c o d e sA. p i o n e e r i n gc o L l e c t oirs L o n d o n ' sD o u i dG i L LI .n 1 9 8 / h e
o p e n e dh i s f r r s tg o L L e r tgh o t ' c o m f o r t o b l gb l u r s t h e b o u n d o r i e sb e t u e e n
o p p l i e do n d F n eo r t s ' T . h e r eo, [ o n gL r i t ho r t o b j e c t sh, e s t o r t e ds h o u i n g
f u r n i t u r eb g p e o p l eL i k eC h o r l o t l eP e r r i c n do n d J e o nP r o u u € b, e f o r eq u i c k L g
m o u i n g o n t o e x h i b i te o r l g p i e c e sb g T o m D i x o n ,M o r c N e L U s oonn d R o nA r o d .
G i l Lh o s n o p r o b L e mu i t h t h e d e s i g n / o r [c o m p c r i s o n H . e L i k e n st h e P r i n c e
l m p e r i o Lc h o i r ,d e s i g n e db g M o t t i o B o n e t t ic n d E L i g o b e tG h o r o u s t ei n 1 9 8 5 ,t o
c G o u g u i np o i n t i n g . 'cl L r e o d gs o r uc t t h i sp o i n to c r o s s o u ebre t u e e no r t o n d
d e s i g nu i t h t h i sp i e c e , ' h seo g s .

G o i n gf u r t h e rb o c k t o o u e r o n e h u n d r e dU e o r so g o , i t i s o l s o u - r o r t h
r e m e m b e r i n gt h o t t h e L o t en i n e t e e n t hc e n l u r gA r t s o n d C r o f t sm o u e m e n t
u u o so L Lo b o u tc h o L L e n g i n i ngd u s t r i om L o r e so n d c e L e b r o f i nt hg e d e s i g n e r
c r o f t s m o n .l t u - r o so L s oo r e o c t i o nt o V i c t o r i o ne c L e c t i c i s o mn d o n ' o n g t h i n g
g o e s ' o t t i t u d teo s t g L eos n d f o r m s A . l t h o u g hs o m e L l h ottr o d i l i o n o L iisnt i t s
p r i n c i p L e st h, e m o u e m e n ts l i L Lr e j e c t e dh i s t o r i c i s mo n d g e n e r o t e ds m o L L
q u o n [ i t i e so f f u r n i [ u r ep i e c e st h o t u r e r ei n n o u o l i u eo n d e x p e r i m e n t o [m , cde
f r o m I n e m o t e r i o L sb o i h b g h o n d o n d m o c h i n e ,t h o l o n L gl h e [ u c k g f e u c o u L d
o f f o r d .T h e t r - u e n l i e t h - c e n t ubr rgo d i t i o no f d e s i g n e r - p r o d u c ef udr n i t u r eo b j e c t s
t h c t h o u e rs o m e L l h e r ec L o n gt h e e d g eo f o r t , c r q f t ,i n d u s t r uo n d f u n c t i o n o [ i t g
s t r e t c h e sf r o m t h e t o i I e n d o f A r t s o n d C r o f t st h r o u g hM o d e r n i s mt o t h e
ItoLion g r o u pM e m p h i si n t h e 1 9 8 0 so n d l h e D u t c hg r o u pD r o o gD e s i g ni n t h e
1 9 9 0 sr, i g h fu p l o t h e p r e s e ndbo g .W h o t t h e go L Lh o u ei n c o m m o ni s o s e n s e
of expLorctioo n n d e x p e r i m e n t oiLn n o u o l i o nt h o l c h o l L e n g epsr e c o n c e i u e d
f o r m so n d m o t e r i o Li sn d e s i g n .
)

Withtheincreosing uolumecnd uolueof theorl morket,thisfurniture

somehou-r sl"ippedintotheroteof beingon ort occessorg of [rst, ond then
ocquired o morkelin itsou-rn right.Perhops it is nou.r timeforcriticslo iolk
oboutmorethonjust thepricetogondu-rhether u.reshoutdcoL[ii'ort'ornot.
An oppropriote terminologg if u.reoreto discussuhot is
is essentiol
hoppening to design - ondgetue oresti[[troppedin o doteduocobu[orU.
WouoCorpenter,
'One
Direcloro[ Cutture ondContent for theDesign Miomi/Bosel
foir,ogrees: of thebiggestchol.l.enges focingdesignprocticetodogis the
problemof semontics. Welockconsensus on themeoning ondconnototions
of theu-rordsu-re
useto cotegorise underthe umbrelloof "design".
u-rork On the
onehondthisiso goodprobtemto houe,becouse it resuttsfrom the
tremendous pro[iferotion
of opprooches, loo[s,techniques, theoreticoI
foundotions, morketploces cnd oppticotions fordesignthinkingouoi[oble fo
todoU's designers.Ontheolherhondit generotes con[usion thot hompers
discourse.'

A termthot is increosing[g usedto couerneurond experimentol designu:ork

is'Limiied-Edition Theuord'edition'comes
Design'. fromorl.lt originol-tg
meonto restricted numberof impressionstokenfromtheprintedsurfoce
u-rhen mokingo printof on imoge.Artislstendto mokeone-offs, but if
something proues popu[crthegmogmokeon editionof it. Photogrophs tend
[o bein editions too,osdo,on occosion,sculpturoLpieces.In orderouoid
froodingthe morketond to mointoinuolue,editionsorelimitedtroditionoLl-g
to ongthingbetu.reen turoondonethousond. Eochissigned,numbered ond
dctedbg thecrlist:o[[ uolue-enhoncing meosures. Thesmollerthenumberof
theedition,themoreuoluobtethepiecesore,becouse thegorecloserlo being
XYZo€sign'Fok€
S€ries
of 20one-offs unique. Thus,bg cotl.ing neu designobjects'LimitedEdition'ueore
GotterU:
Conlrosls
GollerU ctossiflging osstrongLy
themin on ort conlexijust cs uhenue co[Lthem
OConLrostsGotLerU 'DesignArt'.lf
u.reuontedto stogctoserio thedesignospect,theexperimentol
Photo: Houe
lutiondeHoulectocque
notureof theurorkondperhops uestigesof functionr-uithout
ottempting to
TomDixon' CU29Choir ossignuctue,thenperhops'Protolgpe Design'or'ExperimentoL Design'u;ou[d
EdiLion
of8
O TomDixonStudio flt better- but thosenomesdon'tsoundneorlgosotturingor exclusiue.

115
 \

f
-^ -{
,t,., -r

I, ' . 4':"
1\
it, /

Corpenter oduocotes usingtheterm'Limited-Edition Design'becouse, she

exploins, it'represents progress tou-rords cloritgbg denotingongbgpeof
design objectproduced outside of theindustrioL sgstem, encompcising the
relotiuelg smoLL portionof designu_rork thotexpLores experimentoL,
nol-get-moss-produceobLe processes, or reuisits
croftor hondprocesses, or
incorporctes roreondunusuoL moterioLs'. Thistermf,tsueLLLr_rith
the
mojoritgofuork represented in thisbook,but ureneedlo guordogoinstusing
it too brocdtg. As o defrnition, thesuggestion of LimitedEditionisctose,'scgs
LibbgSellers, o goLlerlst ondformercurotorof London's DesignMuseum. She
usesit to describe theIeld sheurorksin:'Giuing goungdesigners o plotform
to shourneu urork'osr-uell ostheuork of moreestobLished bignome
designers. Butsheolsocddsthotit u_rouLd be'comptetelg inoppropriote'to
usethisdefrnition uintogepieces fromtheLikes ofJeonprouudcnd ALuor
AoLto, 'becouse for
thegu-rere not mcdeosdesignort of thetimebut forschooLs
ondhospitoLs or uhoteuer'. CLeorLU, on introspectiueexpLorotionof the
E m m o n u eBl o b t e d. D i g i t c h o n d e l " i e r
moterio[itg ondprocess of theobjectitselfhosio plogo rotein Limited-
E dl l o no l 7 o n d 1 o r t i s L ' sp r o o f editiondesign. lt setsitseLfoportfromu..rork thotisprimoriLgsite-or
O M .S u e r r l n g
functlon-speci frc.
EmmonuetBobled . Digit VioLet
E d i l l oonf 7 a n d 1 o r L i s l ' sp r o o f SellersisoLsouergcoutious
O -1.Klm
oboutLcbelling
in generot.Nomesondcotegories
mcUencouroge debote,
but thegconoLsobedomcging. Shecitestheterm
E m m o n u eBLo b t e d. D i g i t N o . 5 'Duboi
E di i o no f 7 o n d 1 a f L i s l ' sp r o o f
Chic'coinedbg DcuidCorlsonof DouldDesign in SLr_reden.'Comments
O R .M o r o s s i Likethcl mokemeuergonxious,'soUsSetLers.'Thegcreotethebondu.logon
Lour€nlMossotoux ' HolLouchoir
ondthehgpeu-rhich coutduniortunctelgLeodto thedounfoLtof themorket.I
GotterU:
Via thinkthotis Llhgmostof usfeeL
oLr-rkuord
cbouttrgingto put o LcbeIon it,
OFlliouxeFillloux becouse it meonssomonUthingsto so monUdifferenl peopte.'

117
Thedesigners mckinglheseLimited-edition pieces oresurprisingtU unonimous L o u r e n l M o s s q [ o u x. V o n i t U t i d UX L
G o l l e r U :T o o t s G o l e r i e
oboutu-rhot creoting in thisoreomeonsfromtheirpointof uieur: freedom. As O Morc Domoge
on industrioL designer,'scgs MorcNeulson,'l Llorkto briefs,butin thecoseof
Frongois Brument ond Ammer E[oueini . Choir #71
mg Limited-ediiion urorksI houenone,so I concreotemUoulnporometers. I E d i l i o no f 3
ccnLetmg imoginotion runfreecnd express mUenthusiosm formoterioLs, O V e r o n i q u eH u U g u e
processes ondlechniques - buton mg terms.'Tom Dixon, on equoLlU
experienced ondestobtished designer,echoes hissentiments.'When I storted
off,'hesogs,'lr-uosn't thinking of mg uork osl'imited ediiion.lt Lt-tos
[imited
bg the'foctthotit u-rcs mcdeu-rith foundobjects, soit uos impossibte to moke
thesomepiecelu-rice. I u-rosLimited bg circumsionce, reot[g.'Dixon Loteruent
on to urorkuergsuccessfuLtg in thereo[moi industrioL design, buthos
grosped theopportunitg thotthisneu-r interesl
in Limitededitions hoscreoted.
'l of themorketchonging to do exociluurhotI
thinkl'uetokenfuL[oduontoge
urosbefore, but in o stighttgmoreottroctiue LUoU. l'musingit ossomeuhere I
ccnexperimenI rotherbhonlrgingto mokeeuergthing uork fromc
commerce lt giuesUouo spoceto bemuchmoredoringif youtike.'
uieu-r.

Designers fromtheDrooggenerotion toLknotonLU aboutexperiment, but

obouttheorgondreseorch HeLLo
osu-rell. Jongerius cotlshertimited-edition
pieces'studg coses'.Forherthegoreneulidecsbhothoueno ctientin mind,
no morketondno industrioI reslriclions.'l
houebeenmokingtheseself-
inilictedprojectsrightfromthestort,'she sous,'portLU becouse I didn'thoue
ongclienisot thebeginning ondolsobecouse uriththesestudgobjects gou
buitdup o Librorg of ideosthotUouconuseLolerfor reoIcLients.'Jongerius is
'just
at poinsto pointout thotsheisnotinterested in mckingstupidthingsfor
themoneg'. Shethoughttu..rice, forexompLe, uhenVitrooskedherto moke
something for lheir2007cotlection entitled'Vitro oskedthem:"Whg
Edition'.'l
shouLd I do Limitededilionsfor gouu-rhen youoreoLreodg mUctientondure
mckeniceproducts together ongLlcg? "'SheresoLued theissuebg mokingc
coLlectionofstronge oblecls coLted'office
on u-rheels pets'thotoreo studg
oboutthenotureof Vitrooso componU ondu..rhot hhegmoke:officesgslems
cnd officechoirs.'l'm lrgingto pushtheboundories of mg profession,'
concludes Jongerius,'ond mg profession is mokingfunctionol pieces foro
morket.l'mtrgingto comeup u.rith neu ideosfor thismochinerg, to seorch
foro neuu gromm0rin mg freLd.'
JurgenBeU, anotherDutchdesigner, compores uhot is hoppening ot the
momentuith designto o phosein Dutchorchitecture in the1980s: Architects
hodthisgreotmomentof euoluing u-rhen thegcoutdhordlgbuiLd cngthing.
c poperorchitecture
Thisrt,tos periodu.rhere crchitectsr"uroleo Lotond
deueLoped incredibte
modeL-moking. Koo[hoos u-ros
mokingoL[thesemodeLs
thotuerequiteobstroct, expressions - oLmost [ikeort.I thinkdesignolso
needsthisperiod. Notthol uueshoutdn't bemckingthings,butin thesense of
flndingo u-rogto deuetop itscourse. Weneedgooddebote. Limited edition
giuesgoutheopportunitg to dosomelhing lhot otheruise gou'dneuerhoue
thechonceto do.Thereis moremoneuto bespent, soUouconinuestigote o
Lotmore,ondI thinkthol isc uerggoodrecsonto do it. Butuithin theuog
gour-uork,gouoLsohoueresponsibiLities: tou-rcrdsgourseLf onduheregou
stond,forinstonce. Aso sludio,ue do timitededitions ondspendo lot of
moneuon them.Someprojects oreunderpoid, someoreouerpoid. Wedo
thesethingsbeccuse it mokesit possibLe to deuetop on ocodemic r,uog of
u.rorkinguithino studio.'Both BeUondJongerius uieu[imited-edition design
os pcrl ofo muchbiggerpicture. lt represents products ondideosfromthe
reseorch deportmenls of theirstudios - reoLprolotgpe design - but isneuer
thebe-oL[ ondend-otL of theirprofessions.

A thirdDutchdesigner, o Uoungstorof thescene MoortenBoos,onLgmokes

l-imited-edition pieces. Butthis,hesogs,isbecouse heiso honds-on designer/
producer ondtherefore hospurelgprocticoL reosons.'l
don'tsetout to moke
onglhingcs Limited edition.I knou thotisu-rhot somedesigners do,but I
don'tbelieue in it. Mg thingsoreexpensiue to mokeondI don'lhoueenough
peopl"e to mokeo hundred copies,
so I Limitthembecouse I hcueno other
choice... Limited editions, theuog thot I seethem,orethingsgoupul o tot of
emortintoondreoLtg uont to mokethebestout of.lf I feLtI coutdnotodd
something to r-r-rhot
is thereoLreodg, thenI u.routdmogbegetsickof it.With
euerything I mokeI think,"thisshouLd reoLLg bein theLlorLdbecouse l betieue
in il".I feeLo reoLLg deepessence [sic]to do it.'

Ofcourse lhereoredesigners, deoLers ondcomponies out thereproducing

[imited-editionobjects Luiththeexclusiue oimof coshing in on o foshion.The
ideoof doingo goLd-pl.oted uersion of someuJetl-knourn or innouctiue object
ondmokingjusteightcopies to selldirecttgot ouctionisu.ridespreod, ond
lhereoreplentyof indiuiduoLs uith [orgeu-rotletsurhooreprepored to bug
them.At uorst,os LibbUSe[Lers feors,thegoredestroging themorket,butot
bestthegoreencouroging theinjection ofcopitotinloo phoseofconceptuoL Fredrikson Stoltord. Rubb€rlobLe
Edilioo n f 8 ,2 o r t i s t ' sp r o o f so n d2 p r o t o L U p e s
explorotionin thedesignuorl"d. Withor u-rilhout thebod-tcste bling,thereore GotterU Dro u i dG i t tc a L l e r i e s
enoughdesigners inuotued in thisexplorotion to beobleto sogthct uhot r,ue O D o u i dG i LGLolteries
oreuitnessing is for morethonjust o trend.'ltis noto foshion,'sogs P h o t oG
: c r e l hH o c k e r
designer
Phil.ip
Michcet Wolfson, 'but G r 0 u u n d e.r A n g e cL o r n e cr o b i n € t
o moretoctileouioreness of hor,uu..re
operote in Johonno
M i r r o rM
, o c o s s ouro o d ,g l o s so n d[ u o r e s c e nLti g h ie; d i L i oont 4
thespcceoroundus.lt isportof this3Dou-rokening thotis becoming o more GaLlefU G :o l t € r i R
o oberioG i u s L i €n ,i P o r i n e r s
predominant sUmboL of contempororg societg.' O N e u b o u i eSnL u d i o
JohonnoGrouunder . Troue Euenfromo monufocturer's pointof uieu.r,[imited-edition
designconbe
W c l l - m o u n l ecdo n s o l e ;e d l l o n o f 4
Liberctingondregeneroting - in smoLL doses.'To chcngethecriterioconleod
G0tlerU G:o l l e r i oR o b € r t oG i u s l i n is P o r f n e r s
O N e u b o u l eS nt u d i o to interestingresuLts,'
sogsRotfFehtboum, CEOof Vitro.'ln theusuoIdesign
l.lortinoGomper . Corner Totem
process Uouuork uith mongconstroints: price,functions,ecoLogg,
Edilionof 12 ergonomics etc.Theseconstrcints orenothingto comploin obout;Fnding
Gatt€rU N :i l u f o r
solutionsfor themisin theuergnctureof design. Houeuer, constroints
often
O M o r t i n oG o m p e r
censor neurideos.Bgetimincting moslof them,editionLlorkcontrigger
MortinoGomper . Sit Tog€ther B€nch
Edlion of 12
something surprising
ond,Lr-rith
o tot of effortond[uck,something beoutifuL
G o t l e r !T: h eA r o m G o t l e r ! ond,u-riih
euenmore[uck,something lhot |.oter
Leodsto c neu cpprooch to
0 A n n eH o r d U on euerudoU probLem.'

Limited-edition designreoLtg doesmeonsomonUthingsto so monUdifferent

peopLe. lt isno uronderthotdebotehosbeenstou in comingondthot
consensus ishordto ochieue.
ouerdefinitions Forsomeit isdesign; forothers,
it'sort.lt isbobhserious reseorch ondcreotiue expression; it is inuestment,
bothconcepluoI ondfinoncioL;ondot itsuorstit is trophies ondfoshion,
pricetogsondstotussgmbols. ldeoLtg,
oson experimentoI ondexplorotorg
formthotis portof o biggerpicture, timitededitionu..ritL
endup
demonstroting itsgreotest
uo[ue. AsJurgenBeUsoopttuputsit:'Whengou
u-rontto progress, goushouLd deuelop in otLf,elds,on ot[ Leuels, in euergthing
There's creotiue deueLopment, technogrcphic deuetopment ondthere's socioI
behcuiour deuetopment ondsocioIintetligence. I hhinkit'simportontto gror"u
in otLof them,becouse LuiththemcuLture gror-us,ondcuLture is thehighest
n r l F n r m f h n f r r r ph n r r p '

"t23
 Touordtheendof thetLrrentieth if goutooko rotl-coL[
centurg, of top
producer'nomes'in -
designfurniture Uourtistuloutdgiel-dmosttgltoLicns
ncmes[ikeMoroso, CcppetLini,FLos,Edro,Mogis,Alessi,
Zonotto - cnd theg
u-rou[d
o[t bemonufccturers. Butjusto feu georsintotheneu mitlennium,
ue crebeginning picture.
to seeo rctherdifferent ThemosttoLked-obout
ot theroref,ed
furniture endof thedesignmorketiscomingfromquite
different
sources:Friedmon Bendo, Johnson TrodingGoLterg ondMossin NeLrr
York,Controstsin Shonghoi, KreoondToolsGoterie in Porisorejustsomeof
lheneu nomesto drop.These orenotindustrioL producers,bul o hcndful- of
gotterists,
collectorsondshopouners.Theirproducts oreege-cofching
timitededitions,
collections ondone-offs commissioned fromo smot[
setection
of designers ond,occosionot[9,orchilects.AtthoughthescoLe of
theiroutputissotingthotthegenercI pubticis unLikeLgeuento experience -
[etoLoneourn- oneof theseitemsin reoL[ife,imogesof thepieces ond
proILesof thedesigners flL[on euer-expondinguo[umeof design-centric
mediopubLicotions refl"ecting
o uogeuristicphenomenon dubbeddesign
porn'insomequorters.

Therehosbeeno shiftin responsibititg forencourqging o certcinkindof

innouotion in design. TherehosoLsobeeno shiftin pubLic interest
obout
conbempororg designobjects ondo hugeshiftin themorketfor them.
Monufocturers, it seems, oreno longercol.Ling theshotsuhenit comeslo
experimentotion. lt ison iniernotionot design-gol-[eristeliiethotcrenou-r the
neu potrons of progress. Oneof theseneu potrons, MurrouMoss,opened his
flrstshopin Neu Yorkin 1994oson'industriol designstore'. Whenhestorted,
heusedto troueloroundonduisitmonutocturers of lrodetoirssuchosthe
ScLone delMobi[ein Milonor theAmbiente in Fronhfurt lo orderneuu
products directtg. At thetime,he'hodno directdiologue, otherthonsocio[,
u.riththedesigners', herecoLLs. Despiteoutbreoks of independent designer/
producer octiuitU in the1980sond1990s, themoinu..rog for goungdesigners
ulonlingto getoheodu-ros
'l
stitlto secureo commission fromo producer. At
thefoirs,sousMoss, usedlo meeio[[ thesedesigners drogging oroundlheir
portfoliosondhopingto pitchtheirideosto o monufocturer, becouseof
course nolhingcoutdeuerbereotised uithoutmokingo deoLu..rith them-
thotuloshoulUoudidit.'Sothestondord sustem inuotued designerstoitoring
theirportfoLioprojects toLlords theindustrioL sgstem, ondmonufccturers
lokingtherisksbg inuesting in reseorch ondbeoringlhebruntof
deueLopment ondproduction costs.Foro designer, thechonces of being
commissioned bg o monufocturer oresmo[t,ondforo monufocturer theneed
[or riskminimisotion is high.

Mosssensed o highLeuel"of frustrotioncmongdesigners oroundthistime.

'This
sgslemuos not ihebestsgsiem,'he sous.li u-ros
thisfrustroiion,
in his
uieu-r,
thothetpedtrigger'omomentof conuersion or confl-uence',
urhensome
designers,restrictedbg o l-ockoi occess to monufociurers, begonexpLoring
ideoson theirournin theirsludiosu-rith no intention of fuLtgresoluingthemin
o monufociuring sense.'These ideosuloutdbetheequiuolenl of,l-et's
sog,
sketches,or frst experiments creoted in o [oborotorg. Thegcrecrlicutoted but
not fuLLgresolued, becouse thegdon'tneedto be;theirpurpose issotelgto
stotlord . Pondorochondetier
Fredrikson inuestigoteon ideo.Theyorenot likeo uocuumcleoner, thegdon'tneedto do
0re-0fr
GolterU:
Suorouski crUsfoIPotoc€
onglhing.'Moss uos foscinoted bg lhisneu Luork ondbegonto keeptobson
OSuorouskiCrUsLol P0toceCoLLection it euenthoughit urosnotgetconsidered sellobte.
b V i n c e nDt u b o u r g . N o p o L € o no T r o t i n e t t e
E l l i o no f B
G 0 L t e fC U or r p e I t c r! W o r h s h o pG o l L ( r ! ]
DidierKr5entouski,
houing o s i m i L oi m
r-uho founded hisproducer goLlerg Kreoin 1999,reports
r p r e s s i toonM o s s 'ost t h et i m e . ' U n tl ihLen i n e l i e s ,
i . )C o f p e n t € rW
s o r h s l l o pC o l L e r ! l designers thotuereLikeortists, urhoneedto mokeexlreme pieces, usedto go
o n dm o k et h e mu - r i tthh el t o l i o nf u r n i t u rceo m p o n i e s , s' hoeg s , ' b ut ht e nt h e
A l e l . i eVro n L i e s h o u t. B o d C t u b C h o i r
:rii onol 20 morketgoto bit tougherond[these componies] couLd notbetheresecrch
CN[[erU C o r p e n t r r! W o rh s h o pG o t l e r! ] Loborctories thotthegu-rere before... Thereoreo Lotof morke[ing restroints
C i f p e n t e r sW o rk \ l r o p G o l t e r ! l
inuoLued in uorkingu-rith bigmonufccturers. Designers needed to r-uork uilh
morefreedom someuhere.' SoKr5entouski decided to sluitchfromjust
collecting crt onddesignto beingo producer goLterisL, or potron.Hegothered
o smcLL stobteof innouotiue designers together, suchcs Roncng Erujon
Bourou[Lec, NootoFukosouro, MortinS5ekelg, HeLLo Jongerius, Pierre Chorpin
ondJosper Morrison uho cLLshored, in hisuieu.-r,'gero compromise in lheuog
t h e gu u o r kH' .ef o c i L i l o t tehdep r o d u c t i oonf e x p e r i m e n lLoiLm, i t eedd i I i o n
pieces ondcoLlections thol hethenshou-red in hisgoLLerg spoceLikeort
objects. Kr5entouski sogshetjmitedthepieces to editions of oroundtrue[ue
*\ ('Like o scuLpture or o photogroph') beccuse, oson ort coLlector, thotr-uos c
sgstem heurosusedto.Thedesigns Llereoftenuergexpensiue. time-
-€?t/ consuming onddifficuLt to mcke,sothereu-rere InoncicL conslroints osLUeLL.
B u to L t h o u ghhei so f p o i n st o p o i n o b u tb h c t h e r eu u o ns om o r k e t i n g
incentiue behindlimitingtheeditions of lhe neLU pieces, oso coftector heuos
urellor-uore of hou muchmoredesirobLe on objectbecomes uhenit isoLmost
unique.

167
 ,I il

@
ir I
IL
"M;;@/dWw
,,I

J u r q e n B e u . P u r o m i d so f M o h k u m
Kr5entoLlski comefromo flneort co[Lector's bockground' Murrog ,r,il ' e " g m e n t . ; t o e - L P s ' l J e rh o n o r a ' : b o l ' o r o o d
Whereos "oiot
Hloi,,iort."6out in retoit,but reoLised theimportonce of iheort contextfor c r 0 l e s ;e d i L i o no f 7
S [ o r e :M o s s N e u Y o r k / L o s A n g e L e s
quiteeorlgon Hetookcore-to Locote hisshopon
tf-r.i.t., ni.at of'sketches' O Moss
ouont-glrde ori districtof SoHoin Ner-u York'
Greene Streelin Ineexpenslue, '! l u r g e n B e U ' P U r o m i d so f M o h k u m
pr*."ti.g ,.rk isnol neutro[,'he sogs betieue thotretoiting ondthe E d i I i o no f 7
iso uergtheotiicoL gesture lt is mg job to consider the S L o r eM : o s s N e u Y o r k/ L o sA n g e l e s
oresentoli"on o[ obiecfs
trg fo oriicuLote it"os cteorlg ond LoudLg os I con So I put it in o O MoSS
;;;;.;; io
tullho pre-exisiing defrned chorocter' in o porticu[or citg'in o A l e x o n d e ru o n s l o b b e ' P U r o m i d so f M o k k u m
neiqhbourhood t0rl on of /
situotion, pointedtg juxtoposed u-riLhother objects or things
l.iloin pf-lUti.oL - s i o r e : M o s s N e 0 Y o r k/ L o sA n g e t e s
o certoin coritioLted tempercture' u'rith c certoin kind of
i,-ro..rtoinroomr-uith O Moss

m u s i cp L o g i n g . . . '
heLloscommissioning - from
Mossfoundthotbecouse theneu designu-rork
uounqEuroDeon deslgners suchcs StudioJob, Maorten Boos' CLoudg
i;;;;il";"d rrra eol,nqe- urosuerudifferentin intentfromuork ocquired
iheieu.,oso nee-d lo segregote it frombheresiof the
frori monufociurers,
int.iiottproducts in hisshop.HeLherefore opened o neu spocenextdoorLo
frisoriginotpremises.'Customers hodto lecueMoss'theshop'go oui intothe
the spoce next dooru'rhich uos coLLed "Gotlerg"" he
streei 6nd re-enter
thoi phgsicoL chonge is uhct peopLe needed lo understond
.rpLolnt,'onO
o diiJeient thinggoingon'SometimeLo,ier' Mossknocked o
|h;aah;;.r-uos 'Gotlerg'out
betr-ueen tnetiuospcces, tooktheu-rord of lhe
hotein theu-ro[[
uindoLr-r onclmodetheu-rho[e ihingMossAfterthreegeors'people didn'i
lheg didn'i neecl io be toLd thot this is "go[Lerg"' or
neeAtfreroodsigns,
;'rtuAt';rotnue"rsus ind-uslriol production Theghodcometo understond
industriot ondstudio, conbeneflL fromcLose comporrson
tfrotailerentu.rorks,
in speoh to eoch other, iltuminote eoch other ond oppeor more
ond ioci
presented thoi u-rog This duol- opprooch to creoling Luork
inf.t.tiingu-rhen
moreondmorec6miortobl-e u-rith todogisurhoL ismost
ih;l;;i;.;;t;re
.r.ittj,iO"rt ihismoment; it isthebreokdouln of theoLd"guiLd" sgstem'
is
tf-rEr. no point ond noLhing lo be goined bg se-gregoting o designer's
onJ
industrioL clesign opproocn ;rom"fris stuJioruorktn [oct'thereis muchto be
[eorned fromseeing themlogether"
Zoho Hodid. DuneLight Beuond SoHo,thisison ideothoto totof peopte orestiL[gettingusedto.
G o l L eD
r Uo:0 i dG i l tG o l L e r i e s
OD o u iGd i l tG o l l e r i e s It hcsbecome cleorthoto duoIsustemhosdeueloped in design,uhere
Pholo: Sl.iuko Guen6el. designersstiL[continue to creoteondrefneproducis for monufociuring
AtetierVon Lieshout. PrickLomp componies, butoreotsofreeto mckeLimited-edition pieces thotoreshourn
Edilionol 20 cnd sotdprimoritg in goLleries.
Onefeoture thol theLimited-edition sgstem
G0tterU:Corp€nlers Workshop cqllerU
OC o r p e n t eWr so r k s h oG
potl.erU
hosbroughtu,rithit fromtheindustricI sgstemison understcnding of the
needforgoodbronding u-rhenesioblishingo neu morket.'The "Design Art"
Atel.ier VonLieshout. FomitULomp
Edition ol 10
morketisot Leost,if not more,bronddriuenthcntheindustrioLised morket,'
G o l l e rC
Uo: r p e n l eWr so r k s h oG
po t t e r U sogsNickCompton, feotureseditorof Wollpcper mcgo5ine, ulhohosbeen
O C o r p e n t €Wr so r k s h ocpo t L e r U deuetopments in thisfieldforsometime.A uerushortListof keg
fottou-ring
nomes, suchos Neurson, Arod,Dixon,Boos,HodidondJongerius, represents
thetop'tobets'ond commcnds thetopprices.Thisisbecouse'the designort
gotlerists
onddeoters oreoftentrgingto ottroctneophgte collectors
or orb
collectors
lookingto moueintodesignbecouse it is moreoccessible, both
economicoLtg ondinteltectuo[Lg, thonconceptuol ondcontempororg ort',
Compton exptoins.'Brcnd nomedesigners eosetheseneu colectorsintothe
morketondestobtish instonttrust.'

Whotlimited-edition designhosopproprioted fromtheort uorld - opcrl

fromitscustomers - isitssustem.Noton[goretheproducts, or tlorks,
exhibited
in goLleriesonddeolton lheori morhet,lhegoreotso
commissioned in o corefutlycontrolted
monnerby c grouingnumberof
producer-goLteries
osurelt.'We modeourFrsteditionobjectsbUGehru, Pesce,
Arod,Kuromoto ondolhersmorethontuentgyeorsogo,'soys Rotf
Fehlboum, CEOof theGermon 'Houreuer,
Vitro.
componU
furniture of that
timethereucs no morketto speokof.Themorketdeueloped uhendesignin
generoIbecome collectoble forthepeopleuho orebugingort.Thotiso
phenomenon of theLosttengeors.'Non-rthotthemorketis there,production
isincreosing.

17L
zoho Hodid . Dune Toble Aso monufocturer Vitroison exception to theruLeoboutdesignedition
E dl i 0 no f 8 , 2 o r t i s l ' sp r o o l s o n d 2 p r o l o i U p e s
G o l L e r !D: o u i dG l l G o l I e r i e s
producers, but it is unLikeLy to stogthotLroyfor[ong.lt ishordto betieue thot
O D o u i dG i l l G o i l e r i e s monufocturers oregoingto possup theopportunities foro neu.r morketonce
P h o l oS: l i u k oG u e n S e t it shou-rs
signsof beingestobtished enough, or themediocoueroge for
ZohoHodid . Dune Formotions ege-cotching experiments for bhotmotter.Butfor nou-r, goLteries suchos
Editioo n [ 8 , 2 o r t i s f ' sp r o o f s o n d 2 p r o l o i U p e s
Controsts, LibbySeLlers, Corpenters Workshop,.Johnson Trcding ondthe
G o l l e r UD: o u i dG i l t G o t t e r i e s
O MichoeX l uereb Designer's GotLerg in CoLogne, forexomp[e, oreLeoding theuog bg
NigetCootes . Trust Tobte ond Choirs
commissioning editions fromestobLished nomesond/orgoungunknou..rns.
E d i t i o no f 8 , 2 o r t i s f ' sp r o o f s o n d 2 p r o l o f U p e s Theproduction costsinuo[ued oreueruhigh,ondthereiso certoindegree oI
G o l t € r ! :D o u i dG i l t G o t t e r i e s pioneering spiritond[noncioIriskinuoLued. Perhops thisis u-rhyso manU
O D o u i dG i l t G o l t e r i e s
P h o t oG : o r e t hH o c k e r
protogonists preferto to[koboutexperimentotion rotherthonproIts.'For us,
editionsdo notrepresent o signifrcont
business,'sogs Fehtboum,'it is
'l
experimentotion.' Or: seemgselfoso potronin c muLtidisciptinorg ulog,'
sogsPeorL Lom,ou..rner 'l
of Controsls golLerg. don'tc[u-rcgs thinkobout
Ijust louedesign.' AndDidierKr5entou-rski 'The
budgets; of Kreo: goLlerg iso
kindof reseorch [oborotorg.'

Kr5entou-rskicoLLs hisstobLe of oroundtendesigners o'fomiLg'ond toLksto

themo[LoLmosl doitgon thephone. Hescgsheneuerreotlgknou.rs hor.r.r
mcngpieces oregoingto bemodeeochgeor,becouse uhenhisdesigners do
something it is'tooduonce designtheoreticoLLg or procticoL[g', notto moke
'l'm
oiecesfor themorket: notinterested in thotof oLt.'Another Americcn
goLterist,
PouL Johnson, oLsoreueoLso driueto pushboundories ondeuen
mokehistorg: An otmosphere of experimentotion is thebestuog to describe
u-rhot
ureoredoing.'The produced
u-rork bg hisnetuorkof goungdesigners is
'not peopLe
ioiLored to themorket', hesous.'Some ruiltLikeit cnd someuriLL
hoteil. Weoreo[u-rogs opento uorkingon projects thothouenotbeendone
beforeondhcueo strongintrinsic ucLuein thehistoricoL contexts of design.'
 Xouier Lust. BtoblV It iscleorthotthesegotlerists understond themselues to beoperoting uerg
E d iot no f 1 8
G o t l e rCU0: r p e n i eW
r so r k s h oG
po t t e r ! muchin theroleoi potronsin theclossiccI sense, octiuelg deuoting
OC o r p e n t eWr so r k s h oGp o t l e r U themse[ues to furthering
thedeuetopment of design - tiketroditionoL ort
ShiJionmin . Coffeetoble/ stoot potronsbeforethem.Thegchoose corefuttg ondu.rork ctoselg uith their
E d l t i o nI I p l u s2 a f l i s f ' sp r o o f s designers, but houltheguork together depends uponthedgnomicof ihe
Go[erG U :o b r i e lAl em m o n n/ / D e s i g n e rc' o
sIterU indiuiduol relotionship, 'lt
0 GabrieA ltem m an n/ / D e s i g n e rG' so t l e r U
sousMoss. somelimes hoppens thot l'LL
siton the
fl-oorof o hotelroomuJithsomebodu for threedoUS ondue'L[justtolkobout
zohoHodid. Bel.u
E d iot no f 1 2
ideos. In thecoseof urorking u-rith
MoortenBoos,l'dsogue houeo uerg
b c l o c h L eR O V lD- r o J e c t 5
G oei ' UK: € 1 n S strongdioLogue.' (Forexomp[e:Mossfundedcnd selected therongeof cLossic
O K e n nSUc h o c h t Re rO V E Projects itemsburnedbg Boosin hisdebutSmokeseries.) 'ln
furniture thecoseof
StudioJobit'smorelikeo longconuersotion, fotloued bg onother long
I conuersotion, ondthenmogbeo UeorBoesbg ondue meetfor breokfost
t someuhere ondthegpresent o futtgreotised setof drouings- no diotogue
\ encouroged.'ln theprojects
somesituotions, oreful.Lg Inoncedbg the
\ goLteries, urhoeuenhelpuith findingondselecting croftsmen ond
I componies
entiretg
to corruout theexecution
on commission
uork,u-rhich
of thepieces; in others,
ondtheortisthosthefuLtburdenof reoLising
thegotlergthenexhibits, promotes ondhopefutlg
theu-rork

setls.
is
the

Becouse, pctronsor not,thebottomLineis:thisisbusiness - bigbusiness.

In odditionto lhegoLterist potrons, thereison interesting ner-ubreedof

componU becoming inuotued in lhedesignedilionscene. Untike
monufccturers, thesecomponies orenotnecessoriLg interested in
experimenfing in theinterests of lotermossproduction, or simptgfurthering
thedeuetopment oi designof on intelLectuoI Leuel. Forthemtheeditions
themselues oreproducts, ondifcngthing, it is thenotureof their
monufccture thottokesprioritg, otongside o desire to brooden o particutor
nichein theirmorketor enhonce thecompong's brondidentitg. Oneof the
frrsiondbestknou..rn of theseistheAustrion LeodcrgstoL compong
Suorouski. Bockin 1989, Suorouski commissioned o rongeof [imited-edition
crgstoLobjects fromiheltotiondesigners Atessondro Mendini, EltoreSottscss
ondStefono Ricci.Sincethen,thecomponU hoscontinued to commission
cnd exhibitincreosingtg spectocuLor designobjectcotlections ond
instoLLolionsof foirsondeuents suchot theSotone delMobiLe, imm Cologne
ondArt Micmi.Forexcmple, itssixthCrgstolPoloce Cottection, shounin
MiLon in 2008,feotured urorksbUFront,StudioJob,Fredrikson Stottord,
Morcus Tremonto ondTokujin Yoshioko, to nomebul o ieLu. Suorouski's
procloimed oim uith theseottention-grobbing pieces isto'pushthe
boundcries of crgstoIondcreotecontemporory interpretotions of tighting,
furnitureonddesign'-ondlheeditions orecertoinLg spectocutor. Bg
combining o u.-te[[-oduisedchoice of designers u-rithinspired morketing, the
componU hosmonoged to tronsform itsimogeu.,rith theuhote[imited-
editionohenomenon: euenMossstocksSLlorouski.
 Anobher compong thotunderstonds theuotueof mixingjust lherightomount
of high-profl"e,
innouotiue designersondorchitects- suchosZohcHodid,
Josper Morrison or AmcndoLeuete - uith o meticuLoustgptonnedbronding
ogendoisEstobtished g Sons. Thisfurniture designondmonufocturing
componu uros[ounched in 2004bgAlosdhoir formerpublisher
WiL[is, of
Wotlpoper mogo6ine, ondAngodPouL, CEOof theCoporoGroup, o steelports
monufocturer, Luiththecmbitious oimof reuito[ising
[onguishingshiL[
sectors
fromtheBritishoutomotiue industrg by producinghigh[gcroftedfurniture
designed bg (initicLtg
British)
designers. AtthoughthegoLsoproduce'uotume
production'furniture objecls,Estobl-ishede Sonsu-rosquickto deuelopond
hgpetheirtimited-edition ronges u-rith
smoL[numbers pieces
of highlg-priced
speciflcoU-goimedof theouctionor museum morket.Thecomponu
understonds thecommercioL pofentioIof thisemergingneu designtonguoge
uretl,ondknou-rs thotimogeiseuergthing.'The [ounchof thebrondondthe
pressulehouechosen to urorkurithhcuebeenspecificotlg torgeted,'soid
Wil.tis
in o recentinteruieuru-rith
hiddenor[London.co.uk.'Therehosbeenno
uostoge;it hosotl beenuergfocused'-[eodinglo o componuu-rith o'uerg
Fernondo
ondHumbertoCompono. Sushilll choir concise ondcteormessoge'.
Edition
of35
5tore:
MossNeuYork/ LosAngetes
Ol\4oss Estobtished g Sonsoreon inlerestingblendof monufocturer, bronding
Tord . Petib
Boonlje Jordinbench
ogencgondgotlergu-rith o porticuLcrtg
British[ouch.PorctLeL to theLuxurious
Ediiionofl0 elegonce of theAroundtheCorner spotioL exptorotions bg AmondoLeuete,
Storer
MossNeuYorh/ LosAngeLes ondHodid's Aquotobles, thegolsoproduce conceptuoL ondprouocotiue
Olvloss
piecessuchosJosperMorrison's someurhot Duchompion Crote:on
Dutch
Mosters
exhibition
2008 opporenttg simpleuoodenboxbosedon o urinecrotethotcreoted o stormof
Store:
MossNeuYork - of thesortusuolLg
0 14oss criticoldiscussion reserued for ort - u..rhen
it uos Irst
shourn. In 2007thecomponU presentedo'non-se[ting'exhibition uheretheg
Boos. Wind
Moort€n 'uo[ume
Edition
of8 shouedtheiroctuo[ production'
coLlection remode cs one-offs in
Store:
Moss NeuYork/ LosAnge[es Corroro morbteondmounted on six-metre-high tuhiteplinths.Theenlire
0[4oss purpose 'Design
of theshotrujosfo prouoke deboteouerthe Art'issuebg
Stollord' Bergere
Fredrihson 'reoppointing
choirs functioncIdesigns,
iconicin theirutititg,osoputentobjects'.
Edltion
of8,2 ortisl'sproofsond2 proiolUp€s
GotLerU:
Douid GltLGolteries Prouoking debote generotes discourse,
cnd ifeuerybodg istoLking oboutUou,
0 Douid
GittGotleries Uoutendto sellmoreproducts.

It7
Portof thereuenue Estobl.ished d sons
flromthesoLeof Eslobl.isheder Sons'limited-ediliori
"4"exhibition oueruieu,MiLon2008
piecesot oucbion
ondetseuhere getsptoughed bockintofurtherleseorch O M i k eG o L d e r u o l e r
for otherproducts.
lt isquiteon interesting
controst in oltitudeto thotof
zoho Hodid. soorm chond€tier
/ Aquotobte
DidierK6etou-rski,
but bothuLtimotel-g ochieue thesomeresu[tbecouse componU:Estobtish€de, Sons
thereiso morkelout lhere,interestedin uhot theyoredoing,thotthegboth O Rol.ond
Holbe
hal narf fn aonornlo

Yetcnotheruorionto[ theneu editionproducers iso compong co[Led Meto.

Lounched in 2008ot theSolonedel-Mobil.e by theBritishontiquedeoler
'combine techniques ond
MoLl"ett,
itsoim islo thebestof eighteenth-centurg
moterio[suith tLuentg-flrst-century design'.Mol.l-ett
tookon Louise-Anne
Comeou cnd Geoffreg Mongeof AteLier ld6e(uhosectientsinctude
Suorouski,DesignMiomi/Baset, ECALond LVMH)os creotiuedirectors to
selecto groupof designers lhot inctuded BorberOsgerbg, MototiCrosset
ondTordBoontje, ond theninuitedthemto o uorkshopto beinspiredbg the
rcngeof ski[[s,ioo|.sond moleriotsouoi[obteto theeighteenth-centurg
decorotiue orts.Molletthosunporolleted occessto on internotionol
collectionoi someof thebestspeciolist ontiquesrestorers in ihe urorld.The
ideourosto turn theskil"l"sof thesecroftspeople bocktouord production,
ondreuiue lhetrodition o[ finefurniture usingonlgtroditionol ondprecious
moteriols,but u.ritho contempororu |-onguogeo[ form.Theresulting pieces
oresurprisinglg uoried:luo03 (seepoge205),o [or.utobteby Asgmptote
modeof etched,slumpedgtossondo rediscouered typeof Russion steel
from1780,hoson unmistokoblg compuier-generoted form,getTord
Boontje's LArmoire(seepoges208-9),o ueneercobinelmodefromrore
tropiccIhcrduoods,compteteLuithhiddendrouersondsecretlocks,is so
mutontorgonic, it iookslikeArt Nouueou on ocid.

Bg torgetingthisporticulorniche,Mol-Lett is not on[gcleuertycopitolising

on its contoctsuith ouerlu.rohundredond flfig mostercroftspeople
uorlduide ond ils clientboseof decorotiue ort collectors,
but otsomokingo
strongbid for o returnto process ond croftin designbg del.iberotetg
pre-industrioI 'We
choosing moterioLsondtechniques. uontedto houeo
connection betu-reentheeighteenthcenturg ondthemodern,'soys Giles
Hulchinson-Smith, monoging directorof bothMo[[eltondMeto,hnd thot
link is,of course,theuorkshop'.Thepieces in theco[tectionorel"imitedbg
lhe notureof theirproductionprocess ond bg theroritgof themoteriols,
'We
rctherthonbg design, sousHutchinson-Smiih.mokeosmonuos ure
con,but thot'snot monu.Weoreeuenmorelimitedbg theobscuritg of the
moteriolond thedifficul"tg of mokingihe objectond themou[ds.For
exomple, ue onlghoueenoughripptedoshortdFue-thousond-geor-o[d bog
ock to mokethreeWotese, Wolesdesks, ondontgmodeenoughingotsof
Pohtong[o neortgextinctseuenteenth-centurg Chinese metoIoLtogu-titho
goldondsituerpotinothotneuertornishes] to moheoroundtLuentg-flue of
MotoliCrosset's uolueof theMetoproductsis bosedin the
lonterns.'The
quotitgof thecroftsmonship ondtheuolueof themoterio[s, osue[[ osthe
indiuiduol-iigof lhe pieces
ondthenomesof theirdesigners.
 I

So
:r.'e##ffi[fs3*tff
*xfu
Lo
ft3jfil':rff
t1i!}:"',r[:,lf
nedervrui[ .i"fi. r,.# :|.Xl[_%tfi jl,i;13-p1.,tr,.
.
I
" fromthepreuiousgeor),'J;
tuentg-nine
percent
!|;BBB t

-rh
moredesrgn-Literote
onddes
iridicotes
o huge rncreose
in o I
specrocle e.,,,,_;;;;ij;t,:;:$ffiil?',f
il"j,ir%H'ffii;
:?1il1,,,
to desrgn
beingon occessible.ctternoUr.
io ori,.opoO'te"oi
purnisfring
on
equol-Lu
richpotette
of content,
norrotiue
onorristor,ici
co'ntext.,Design
iso
CorpmtersWorkshopGo[[erU . Exhibition
v e f u eD
: e s i g nM i o m l / B o s e tJ, u n e
I D e s i gM n iomt/Bosel
20Og
ouerureu 53;Jffi j-f,i;,TilJ#l;:n::n5iil",.,
;l'l,k:x,,,,,,?[,,::.;1[i
oremogbemoreintereitedin
P h o t o : . l o mH
e so r r i s
Lroyfor ihemto mokeunusucIlol..p! tnonproouct. iJiiiJn, or. o uerygood
objecrs";;;.i;;i; iol itllrn.ir.Li.nt,or.
Studioi\4okhinke BeU . Cteoning_BeoutU_Cobinet pe.opLe^r.ulg
houeon crt opprooch
b 0 t t eUf :t o n t r o s l sG o l t e r u to destgnlt
ffirn iii, greorthct thismorket
exists.
0 C o n t r o s tGs o [ e r ! Ontheotherhond,nor
ffi iil ii,,5 o"o'''deiisn,isoriueond
; ff;lilli,i l,ft?lfillflf;00,"
 Ledbg Solheby's ondPhitLips de Purge Compony, internotionolouction
housesbegonhol.ding dedicoteddesignobjectsolesin the[ote1990sond
houeplogedo kegrolein shoping thener-u LimitedEdition / DesignArt
morket.Theginitiottyconcentroted on uintogetu.rentieth-centurgfurnilure
piecestogetheru.ritho hondfutof prototgpes,editionsond one-offsfiromthe
- nou fomitior- ronksof estoblisheddesigners suchos RonArod,Ross
Louegroue, MorcNeusonondtheorchitect ZohoHodid.Bu!os theuintoge
piecesgot rorerond moreexpensiue, ond interestin experimenfoI
contempororg pieces remoinedkeen,thenumberoIcontemporory design
beingput up for solebegonto increose.
r.uorks Riskieru.rorlcsotsostortedto
oppeorfromyoungerdesigners, someof ihemfreshfromcoltegeond uith
hordl.gong trockrecord, cousingripplesof disopprouol fromthe more
conseruoiiue cornersof lhe morket.

There
oresignsofbigchonges
ofootinthemosttrdditlonot,
estob|ishment
ondcLiqueg u,rortdof theouctionroom.Not ontgis designnourbeingdeott
likecrt ond- for moreinterestingl.g - beingboughibg ort collectors, but
ouctionhouses orebeginning to openup ondbecome moreuser-friendtg,
uhich isottroctingo tr.rhote neu generotion of cosh-rich
collectorsr.r-rith
contempororu tostes. T.hepiecesthot someoi thesedesigners houebeen
producingfor georshouenot otteredmuch,sogsdesigner TomDixon.'Whott
chonged is ihot iheort morkethosbecome interested.'Theort morkethos
beenbutlishfor o Luhile ond pricesoreoccording|-g ostronomicol,but thereis
olsoo feeting
5eitgeist
morerisks,
of soturotion
isnotodequotetg
ondo sense
expressed
thegconbemoreconceptuoI
thottheneu mitlennium's
bg frneort olone.'Designers
creotiue
oretoking
ondthinkmoreortisticot[y,'sogs
I
Shonghoi-bosed gol"lerist
PeorlLom,uho deolsin bothcontempororg fineorl
onddesign. Audiences orelookingol thesetgpesof uork differentl.y.Theg
oren'tjust pieces of furniture,
butortr-uorksthotconolsobefunctionol.'

l^C Cottecting contempororg

notosrestricted
or limited-edilion
bg troditionotboundories
designisstil.lin itsinfoncgondis
ondexctusiue territories os the

frlnu)
estobtished ort morket.Thismeonsthotit ismoreoccessibte to bugers, ond
thereis moreroomfor innouotionin termsof hor-u ond ulhUpiecesoretroded
'The
osuetl oscommissioned. col[ectors fordesignorechonging,'sogs
'Theinfl.ux
Richord Wright,flounder of theWrightouctionhousein Chicogo. o[
ort colleclorsoctiuel-gbugingison importont

LL'"
shift,bothin theiru.ritlingness
bospendbutolsoin Luhotthotsignifies: designostheexpression of the
collector,notjustquietflurniture thotrecedes intotheroom.'Giles
Hutchinson-Smith, o director of theBritishfrneontiquefurniture firmMottet
I
I
onditsneu conlempororg designoffshoot Melo,ogrees, ondoddsthot t
design cotlecting hoso lot to do ruithpersonoI bronding.'Colleciors louethe
ideoof beingobleto mixcontempororu urithtrodiiionol becouse it hoson
cmo5ingtg chiclookoboulit. Noton[Udoesit LookLiketheyoreeducoied ond
cuLtured in thepost,but educoted ondculturedin thefutureos r-ue[t, ond
Shigeru
thott o reoLtg importontmessoge... Al.l-
col,l.ecting,
fromtheoncientGreeks io
Bon. PTH-02PoperTeo House
G 0 l l e rPUh: i L t i p
d seP u r Ue C o m p o n U
Lo, ndon thetuentg-firstceniurg,isobouttheimogeof thecoltectors ond u.rhoi
O P h i L t idpesP u r Ue C o m p o n U peopte thinkoboutthem.'

22s
 W.

H o n iR o s h i d ' R o i
B l a c h e p o x Us i e r e o tl h o g r 0 p h U ;e d i t i o r ro f 2 5
W i t hs om o n gm u L t i m i L L i o noorl o r eusn dt h o tt h e r eo T ee u e nd e d i c o t el rdo d e G a l l e r U : ' A l m o s p h e r i c s ' c x h i b i f i oPn h; L l i p sd e P u r! 4 C o m p o n U ,N e u Y o r k
shouscolering to theirLiquid ossets, stondord Luxurg stotussgmboLs suchcs l O P l r i l l i p sd e P ! r U e C o r n p o n ! l
c o r sg, o c h t o s n dh c n d b o ghso u eb e c o moeL m o scto m m o n p L olct ies.n o u f o r R o n A r o d . A [ L e rS p r i n g
morefoshionobLe to oddpolishlo thepersoncL identitgLuitho house(or F i r s l o [ 3 o r l l s L ' sp r o o i s
houses) in o co[Lection of contempororg one-offs ondLimited- G o t l e r US : o l h e b ! ' s 2 0 l h C e n t u r UD e 5 i g I
furnished o S o [ h e b U ' s2 0 l h C e n l u r ! D e s t n
editionpieces lo motchtheort cnd thecrchitecture.'Some of thesecoLlectors
orenoteduccrted in thehistorgof design or simpLg notinterested,'sogs
W r i g h t . ' T h ei sr oe L L u o og d
s r i u et o d os o m e t h i nnge u . ' B u g i ndge s i g insn o
Longe j ur s tf o ro n i n s i d ecrl i q u e
o f i n f o r m eeds t o b L i s h meenntth u s i o sbt su,t
forongoneuho concffordit.ThismoUoLsoexpLoin uhg contemporcrg
designobjects beingsoldot ouctlonoreincreosingLg presented in c retoiL
contexlrotherthonthetroditionoL historicoL or coLlector's formot.When
Richord Wrightfounded hisouctionhousetogether uith hisruifein 2000,
t h e gr e u o L u t i o n itsheedi n d u s t rbgg p u b L i s h ibnego u t i f u LdLegs i g n e d ,
mogo5ine-stgLe glossgcotoLogues for theirsoLes, pockeduith ueLL-shot
c o L o ui m r o g eos f t h ei n d i u i d u L cLo t sl t. b r o u g htth eb u g i n ge x p e r i e nccl eo s e r
to theshopping experience ond,in sodoing,pouedtheuog foro more
user-frlendLg tgpeof ouction.
 l

MorcNeuson. Nicketchoir
Ediiioo nf10
U a: g o s i oG
G o t L e rG notLerU
dePurUet Compong
PhiLl"ips houeodopted o simitoropprooch lo Wright,ond
O M o r cN e u s o nG ; o g o s i oG
notLer! houeonLine cotoLogues pocked uith attroctiue imogesosurelloscleor
M o r cN € u s o n. c o r b o nF i b r ec h o i r instruclions osto houJtheouctionprocess urorks. Theghoueolsotokenthe
E d i L i oonf 2 5 0 preuieu-r
experience out of theobscure storeroom-tike olmosphere cnd intoon
GolterU Gro g o s i oGnaLielU oirgmodernspoceuiiththeirneuJbuiLding ot Hor-uick Plocein London. Here
O M o r cN e u s o nG ; o g o s i oGn o l l € r U
theghostsellingexhibitions too,of uorksfromdesigners includingHcni
MorcNeuson. Bl.ochHoLetobl"e Roshid,Morcus Tremonto, RoLfSochsondVitro.Theotmosphere hereis more
c o r b o nF b r e
! :h i t t l pdseP u r Ue C o m p o n !N
G 0 t l . e rP , e uY 0 r k thotof o contempororg gotlergor o smortconcept storethonon old EngLish
O P h i L l i pdse P u r Us C o m p o n U ouctionestobtishment.'l don'tseeourselues osjusto housefor mouing
productondobjecls clongthroughthemorketp[oce,'sogs Phitlips'Design
DirectorAlexonder PoUne.'l seeusosprooctiuetg Looking; creotingond
curoting ouctions thotorestimuloting ondshoruing thebestof thebestin
cultingedgecontempororg Thotmeonsgoingout ond
designculture.
seorching for lherightpieces thotmokesense, ondnotjustsittingbockcnd
for themto comein.'Follouring
u-roiting thetroditionoL formutoof simpLy
cotoLoguing ondsellinggoodsondchotteLs is no longeroppropriote for
todoy'smcrkel,cultureondclients, Pognebelieues.'We houeto crecteond
present u-rorksin o u-rog
thotstimutotes ondengoges thecoltector'smind.'

Sothecleor-cut diuisionsbeiueenouclionhouses ondgoLteries

orestorting
to fode.Thetrodition houing(oftenexctusiue)
of golleries ogreements uith
ortistsondbeingtheprimorgsclesouttetfor theiruorks,u-thiLst
thehigh-end
ouctionhouses concerned themseLuesu-rith
thesecondorg morket
(represenlingoLUners'consignmentsondreselling pieces
fromcollections or
stock)isno Longertherute.Auctionhouses orenoLiJto befoundcotloboroting
goLteries
u-rith ondeuen,in somecoses,
on setlingexhibitions bgpossing the
gotlergol-togelher bg ortistsonddesigners
cnd sellingu.rorks directtg.
Auctions orelronsoctionot,go[[eries Richord
orereLotionoL,'soUS Wright.'The
primorgmorketisbestserued bg gotleries,
thesecondorg morketbg
ouctions,butouctions orebridgingthotgopondoctingosgoLleries.'Wright
sogsthisison cppropriote luhenuorkingu-rith
strctegg moterioLthol does
nothoueon estobtished uoLue:suchosthegoung[imited-edilion morket.
229
H o n i R o s h i d ' L q C h o n d e L i e rd e P u r Uo n d B o l d o q u i nd e P u r U
E d i t i o no f 5 o n d e d i L i o no f 5 p t u s 3 p r o i o t U p e sr e s p e c l i u e I U
cotterB:'Aimospherics'exhibilion P;h i t l i p sd e P u r Us C o m p o n U ,N e u Y o r k
Thereseemto betuo keyreosons for thisremixing oI rolesin retotionto the
O P h i t l i p sd e P u r Us C o m p o n U designmorket. TheFrstis theexcitement surrounding [imited-ediliondesign,
Fernondo ond Humberto compono ' Priued Oco chondelier from the crUstol uhichhoscreoted o K[ondike-stgLe otmosphere osbugersondsellers c[ike
Pol.oceCol.tection seekto coshin on thesteeppricerises. Thesecond is thotdesigners often
L r r q u € : r o f o c ^ d S u o o u s k rc r J s t o l s houeo toto[Lg differentkindof relctionship r-uithgolleries hhonortistsdo.
G o t l e r u iP h i t l i p sd e P u r U€ , C o m p o n ! , N e u Y o r k
O Ph llipsde Pur! e ComponU Designers do nottendto houeexclusiue retotionships u-rilh
ongof their
clients,
becouse of thebroodrongeoi fretds in uhichtheguork.Forexcmpte,
thegmoghouemoss-production controcts forc setof cutlerguith one
monufocturer, o coffeetobLerongeuith onother, designo site-specifrc hotet
or c houseforc priuote
interior ctient,ondthendo o Limited-edition collection
foron exhibition uith o goLterg.Designers tendto besetf-emptoged entities
urhoorenot (get)embedded in thenetuorkof ogenlsondsustemregutotions
lhot conbothprotect ondhomperof thesometime.'Thot's theuog
designersuork,'sogs Sothebg's Director ofTulentieth Centurg Design,Jomes
Zemoitis.'Theg oremuchmoreuiLtingto thinkoutsidetheboxLuhen it comes
to morketing themseLues, urhereos I thinkgourtgpicoL contempororg ortisl
signsup u-riththeIrst goLteristthotshou.rs o serious interest in himor her,ond
thenloterchooses thegotterythol isgoingto giuethebestdect.Whcteuer
goLLerutheuoreuith, it'smuchmoreexctusiue. In mUexperience gouu-ritl
not
seetodog's contemporcrg ort stcrs- Lr-rith
theexception of DomienHirst-
urorkingdirectlguuithon ouctionhouse.'
 *
$
a

MothiosBengtsson . sticechoirs
Forthedesigners, theoduontoges of theiruork beinghondLed ondLooked ot E o r t up r o L o L u pi en so l u m i n i u m
o n du o o d
in on ort coniextorecLeor, 'Museums gotLeries G o t t e r uP: h i t t i pdse P u r U€ , C o m p o n U
N,e u Y o r k
sousTomDixon. ond oremuch O P h i l t i p s
de P u r U€ ,C o m p o n U
beiterforexptoining ideos...
Youhoueo cctotogue, gouhoueo tol of ulhite
spoceoroundlheobject, ondconexptoin theprocessondtheconceptuol
underpinning thotgoujust con'tin o design
of thepiecein o u..rog shopor o
retoiLshopor o trodefoir.Sothere's spoceto totkoboutideos, isgreol.'
u..rhich

Themoredesignistotkedoboutin thiscontext, themoreuotuob[e it seems bo

become. MorcNeuson's 1985Limited-edi[ion (tenpieces) Lockheed Lounge is
nou considered to beoneof thekeg,iconicdesign objects of itstimethothos
tronscended thereotmsof functionol. furnitureentirely.Oneexomple uos
soldbUChristie's in 2000for $105,000. JustsixUeors loter,theprototupe soLd
forclmost$1mitlionot ouctionu-rith Sothebg's onduos [otersoldogoin
priuolelgforon estimoted $2.5mil.|"ion.
YetonotherLockheed Lounge Llent
for $1.5mitlionof Chrislie'sogoinin 2002Prices Likethese- ondthereore
similorexomples forpieces fromthe[ihesof Arod,Hodid,DixonondCo.- do
noljustindicote thotthemorketishot:thegshoulthoi contempororg societg
nourconsiders greotdesignto bejustos uoLid, signiflcontondimportonl os
greotort,u.rhichison interesting deuetopment. Thedesigner Morcus
Tremonto, r-Lrho
alsoLlorksoso consuttont for Phitlipsde PurUe Compcng,
pointsout thot,oLthough thereiso hondfutof designers consistenttg moking
heod[ines uith topprices, thereoreotherLess-pubLicised soLes thotorejustos
tel-ting.'The
interestis there,it unfortunotelg
doesn't mokeforosmuch
neusuorthgdioLogue urhenu.re se[L
something fromDunne€, RobUfor
fzo,OOO or f10,000,for exompLe.' Dunne€, RobUoretuo Britishdesigners
mokinghighl.g conceptuoL designobjects, u.rhichoreorguobtg ct themore
difficuLt
endof themorket,but theirsoft-togformotHuggoble Atomic
Mushrooms oresetlingurellfororoundf2,OO0 o piece,scgsTremonto.

232
Wol.fson Design. Gotdbox
O W o t f s oD
n esign
Neuertheless,thegold-rush otmosphere in themorketdoes- ondu-rilL
woLFson Design' Gol.dbox continueto - produce The'ongthing
cosuoLties. goes'ottiludemokesfor
O W o t f s oD
n eslgn
innouotionondinteresting deueLopments, butconolsocouseinstobi[ity.
WoLfson Design. cenoodesk A[so,becouse thesecondorg morketforcontempororU designhosgetlo be
E d i t l oonf 1 0
GotterU P :o t r i c h
B r i t i eFi i n €A r t propertgdefined, thereiso bigriskof.judgement erroro[[ round.'lthinkthot
'There's
O M o x i mN l l o u thedesignmorketis in forsomebumps,' sogsJomesZemoitis. u..rog
toomuchproductout there,thereareuroutoomongexperiments thotgo
oLr,tru
on theouctionmorket, ondthere's toomuchpressure for moterioLsto
bedeueloped, sotonsof mislokes cremode.'Ourimoge-bcsed societyu-rith
itsocceteroted ottentionsponisoLsoproneto ottention-deflcit problems ond
cono[LtooeosiLg mistoke noueltuforquo[ity.Thereiso Lotof tlork on the
morketfromdesigners no prouentrockrecordin thisfletd.Neuerthetess,
u.rilh
Zemoitisbelieues thotlheinterestin contempororg designis hereto stog-
ondforgoodreoson.'l thinkthotthereisenoughdepth,enoughgreotthings
hoppening, thol euenif theeconomg forces o sloudounin themorket,
coupled u-rith
boddecisions beingmcdeby ouctionhouses uith o heouygtut
of moterioL,thelongtermisgoingto beuerg,uergheoLthy.'

In o 2008NeurYorkTimesorticle, thedesigncriticAliceRoulsthorn stoted

thot'design ort iso commercioI phenomenon, noto cuLturoL one'.In some
respectssheisobsotutelg right,if gouconsider thetermto beo fcshionLcbel
or bronding uehicle. Butlhot u-routd beignoringtheuergreoLrotethot
contemporcrg design of thiskindisfutflLting. lf lheroteof ortistsis to refl-ect
theirsocietgonditsissues ondheLpbringner-u insights intothenotureof thot
socieig,oneuoutdhoueto sogthol designisin someuogsshoringthoi roLe
forourero.'Limited-edition furniture isoboutpersonotisction, ondspeoks to
thecolteclor'sondtheindiuiduoL's needfor uniqueness,' sousMorcus
Tremonto. Wehcuetoomongchoices, ondmongof themoretheurongkind
of choice.
Euerg dogue orebeingtrickedintofeeLing thot theproducts u-re
Liueuith oreindiuiduc|.Ly progrcmmed io fri ouruniqueneeds, urhenure
knou.rfuLLuetl thotmiLtions of othersoun exoctlgthesomeproducts ond
'Whot
houeexoctlgthesomerongeof choices. u.rcsoncedefrned bg its
mission ondpurpose of production, itsformondfunction, is beingredefrned
becouse oi theuog it isconsumed ondcoltected,'sogsjournc[ist Nick
Compton. Design isundergoing o renoissonce: it noulhosto IL[ neu roLes
thotbringoesthetic content, norrotiue ondc sense ofidentitgto thejoded
consumer, osueL[osprouiding opportunities foroLternotiue expression cnd
experimentotion for thedesigner. Thisiso mondote thotgoesuog begond
morketsond pricetogs.Perhcps in luenlg or thirbgUeorsuleurill bp-oblp-Lo
lookbockonddecide uhethertheuholethingu-rosjust o de[oged, decodent,
outbursb,
fln-de-sidcte or thebeginning of o neLu ero.

235