maruni at milan design week 2007

where is design going?a snapshot report on the milan design week 2007

we had a difficult time choosing the images for this year’s showcase.whilst designboom aim to provide our readers with an accurate account of the contemporary design scene, each year we are lead to question thesensibility of the projects we have seen. the designboom team have been in the ‘design business’ over 20 years, and with this ‘maker’experience it is sometimes difficult for us to report objectively. inour opinion, the design practise is always a matter of perspective and based on therecognition of need, ‘real need’! the problem is that most needs are ephemeral and that’s why most designs are ephemeral. design dependslargely on constraints, and these usually include ethics. design is a method of action – to see if if people’s interest go beyond the surfaceof things. ‘good’ design, like anything ‘good’, is a manifestation of the capacity of the human spirit to transcend its limitations. it enrichesits maker (through the experience of making) and its viewer/user (who, interacts to what it has to say). where is the attempt of culturalparticipation within the practise of design today?