V-ZUG Inspirations Magazine - Magazine - Page 10
KONSTANTIN GRCIC
We live in an era of rapid change. At the same time, we feel
threatened by multiple crises. What role can designers play
in today’s overwhelming world? Designers are not gods. We
cannot save the world or even change the world for the better.
However, working alongside other experts, we can creatively
translate analysis and decisions into practice. We naturally
have a certain authority in this process, which gives us a
strong voice. In a world of complex problems, we must be the
ones to uphold principles. There are no clear-cut solutions, but
we can try to steer things in the right direction.
Speaking of principles, what would be principles of
responsible design you apply? Responsibility is the right
term. I think responsibility starts with questioning any project,
asking ourselves, “Do we need this?” The key principle is to be
as efficient and smart as possible with resources, including
materials, energy and human resources. That sounds kind of
obvious. However, enforcing these principles throughout the
design process is not always easy due to the complexity of specific projects. We must consider many factors and compromise
is inevitable. Evaluating these compromises and finding the
right balance has become part of our job.
Since the founding of your studio, how has your perspective on the role of a designer evolved? What has happened
in the last 35 years is more than just evolution. The transition
from analogue drawing to digital modelling has made data an
interface. I can now share my data not only with companies or
engineers, but also directly with manufacturing. As designers
we have been empowered, but the expectations are extremely
high: we are responsible for coming up with a strategy, a concept, the design, the engineering data, the visualisation and
communication. And while we enjoy the privilege of these
powers, we lose serendipity. I see a real danger of losing this
other side of creativity: the side that is neither efficient nor
professional, but which allows for chance, intuition and poetry.
All the intangibles. The slowness of certain processes helped
us to think outside the box and make discoveries along the way.
Let’s take model-making as an example: now we simply send
data from our computer to a 3D printer, and then three hours
later, we have the model and we’re happy. I remember when
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KONSTANTIN GRCIC
Konstantin Grcic is a Berlin-based
designer renowned for a rigorous,
industrial aesthetic and a culture-conscious approach. With
over three decades of experience,
he has collaborated with leading
brands from the furniture industry
and recently launched his own
brand, 25KG. Grcic regularly
curates and designs exhibitions.
we used to build models by hand – it took about three hours.
During that time something would happen. A kind of friction
and feedback between my mind and hands and I’d find myself
thinking, “This feels more complicated than I thought. Let’s
do it differently.”
Don’t you build paper models anymore? Given how streamlined our processes have become, I sometimes actively
encourage it. We have to find gaps in order to do it. We mustn’t
allow efficiency and speed to overrule the softer aspects
of creativity.
How important are new technologies? New technologies
have always been a driving force. I’m generally interested in
them, but I am not an early adopter. Whenever we have access
to new technologies, it’s fascinating to work with them, but it
doesn’t mean good design can’t be achieved with basic means.
Simplicity is an important quality. Simplicity in the sense
of achieving a lot with very little. It’s something that I still
strongly believe in.
How do you identify what’s essential when you receive a
brief? The first important step in the process is to identify
what is essential. Asking ourselves, “Is there real urgency?”
And, like I said before, the answer might not be enough to
justify pursuing the project in the first place. It is a way of
understanding and analysing the entire context and conditions of a project. What is it? Who are we doing it with and for
whom? Can the work lead to something meaningful? If the
answer is yes, this gives the project real momentum.
What are the strengths of industrial production? Working
with industry enables a much deeper exploration of a project.
The time span is longer, the teams are bigger and the range
of skills and expertise is broader. The development phase
allows time to experiment, make mistakes and learn. You can
rework a project over and over. I think this is how my brain
works. I don’t come up with the right solution immediately.
Originally, I was trained as a craftsman. In that role, you more
or less have to get things right the first time. However, I prefer the slower, more winding process of trying things out and
