{"id":83831,"date":"2021-02-19T11:18:15","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T10:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni-weimar.de\/projekte\/criticalecologymatters\/?page_id=83831"},"modified":"2021-03-18T08:20:19","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T07:20:19","slug":"six-questions-on-tomas-maldonado","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.uni-weimar.de\/projekte\/criticalecologymatters\/six-questions-on-tomas-maldonado\/","title":{"rendered":"Six questions on Toma\u0301s Maldonado"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row row_height_percent=&#8221;85&#8243; override_padding=&#8221;yes&#8221; h_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; top_padding=&#8221;4&#8243; bottom_padding=&#8221;4&#8243; back_color=&#8221;color-wayh&#8221; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; front_end_with_slider=&#8221;true&#8221;][vc_column column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; position_vertical=&#8221;bottom&#8221; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; style=&#8221;dark&#8221; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; shift_x=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y_down=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; medium_width=&#8221;0&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;0&#8243; zoom_width=&#8221;0&#8243; zoom_height=&#8221;0&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243;][uncode_slider slider_interval=&#8221;5000&#8243; slider_navspeed=&#8221;400&#8243; slider_loop=&#8221;yes&#8221; slider_hide_arrows=&#8221;yes&#8221; slider_dot_position=&#8221;left&#8221; slider_dot_width=&#8221;limit&#8221; slider_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; h_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; slider_dot_align=&#8221;left&#8221;][vc_row_inner row_inner_height_percent=&#8221;0&#8243; back_color=&#8221;color-xsdn&#8221; back_image=&#8221;83914&#8243; back_repeat=&#8221;no-repeat&#8221; back_attachment=&#8221;scroll&#8221; back_position=&#8221;center center&#8221; kburns=&#8221;zoom&#8221; overlay_color=&#8221;color-wayh&#8221; overlay_alpha=&#8221;80&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;4&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; limit_content=&#8221;yes&#8221; front_end_with_slider=&#8221;true&#8221;][vc_column_inner column_width_use_pixel=&#8221;yes&#8221; position_horizontal=&#8221;left&#8221; position_vertical=&#8221;bottom&#8221; gutter_size=&#8221;2&#8243; style=&#8221;dark&#8221; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; shift_x=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y_down=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; medium_width=&#8221;0&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;0&#8243; css_animation=&#8221;right-t-left&#8221; animation_delay=&#8221;600&#8243; zoom_width=&#8221;0&#8243; zoom_height=&#8221;0&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243; column_width_pixel=&#8221;830&#8243;][vc_custom_heading heading_semantic=&#8221;h1&#8243; text_size=&#8221;&#8221; text_weight=&#8221;200&#8243; subheading=&#8221;A series of interviews conducted by Guido Campi&#8221;]Six questions on Toma\u0301s Maldonado[\/vc_custom_heading][vc_empty_space empty_h=&#8221;1&#8243;][vc_separator][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/uncode_slider][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_height_percent=&#8221;50&#8243; override_padding=&#8221;yes&#8221; h_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; top_padding=&#8221;3&#8243; bottom_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;4&#8243; column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; el_class=&#8221;inverted-device-order&#8221; row_name=&#8221;daniela&#8221;][vc_column column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; position_vertical=&#8221;middle&#8221; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; shift_x=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y_down=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; medium_width=&#8221;0&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;0&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3>Daniela Lucena<\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Daniela Lucena is an Argentinian sociologist who teaches at the University of Buenos Aires. Her book Contaminaci\u00f3n art\u00edstica: vanguardia concreta, comunismo y peronismo en los a\u00f1os 40 (Artistic contamination: concrete avant-garde, communism and peronism in the 1940s), published in 2015, is based on her doctoral dissertation. In it she analyses the radical aesthetic-political program of Concrete Art, led by Tom\u00e1s Maldonado, and its links to the political context of those times. She currently works at the intersection of politics, bodies, fashion, and counterculture.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=&#8221;83958&#8243; media_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_height_percent=&#8221;50&#8243; override_padding=&#8221;yes&#8221; h_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; top_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; bottom_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;4&#8243; column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; el_class=&#8221;inverted-device-order&#8221; row_name=&#8221;joaquin&#8221; shape_dividers=&#8221;&#8221;][vc_column column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; position_vertical=&#8221;middle&#8221; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; shift_x=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y_down=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; medium_width=&#8221;0&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;0&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3>Joaqu\u00edn Medina Warmburg<\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><i>Joaqu\u00edn Medina Warmburg <\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is Professor <\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of Architectural and Building History<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at the Karlsruher Institut f\u00fcr Technologie. He had taught and researched at different institutions, among others, the University of Navarra (Spain) the Princeton University (USA), and the Torcuato Di Tella University in Buenos Aires (Argentina), where he was in charge of the DAAD-Gropius chair. His work is focused on the history of Architecture and Urbanism of the 19<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and 20<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> centuries and its internationalization processes, where the technical and environmental questions are of big relevance. In this sense, he has been dedicated in the past years to Maldonado`s work and his notion of environmental design. In Princeton, he conducted a seminar based on the archives of Maldonado`s seminars at that university between 1967 and 1970, which would later become the book \u201cDesign, Nature, &amp; Revolution\u201d.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=&#8221;84152&#8243; media_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_height_percent=&#8221;50&#8243; override_padding=&#8221;yes&#8221; h_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; top_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; bottom_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;4&#8243; column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; el_class=&#8221;inverted-device-order&#8221; row_name=&#8221;alejandro&#8221; shape_dividers=&#8221;&#8221;][vc_column column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; position_vertical=&#8221;middle&#8221; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; shift_x=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y_down=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; medium_width=&#8221;0&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;0&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3>Alejandro Crispiani<\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Alejandro Crispiani is tenured professor of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urban Studies of the Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00f3lica de Chile. His research is focused on history and criticism of contemporary design and architecture. His book Objetos para transformar el mundo: Trayectorias del Arte Concreto Invenci\u00f3n (Santiago and Buenos Aires, 2011) is based on his doctoral dissertation. In it, he critically examines the influence of Concrete Art on the fields of design, presenting a history of practices that differ from the hegemonic cultural production in Latin America.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=&#8221;84031&#8243; media_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_height_percent=&#8221;50&#8243; override_padding=&#8221;yes&#8221; h_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; top_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; bottom_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;4&#8243; column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; el_class=&#8221;inverted-device-order&#8221; row_name=&#8221;gui&#8221;][vc_column column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; position_vertical=&#8221;middle&#8221; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; shift_x=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y_down=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; medium_width=&#8221;0&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;0&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3>Gui Bonsiepe<\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gui Bonsiepe is a designer, professor, and author in the field of design. He studied at the Ulm School of Design, where he taught from 1961 to 1968. He was appointed full-time lecturer and head of the Product Design Department in 1966 until 1968 when almost the total number of the members of the HfG resigned in protest against the conditions imposed by the local government for continuing to receive financial support in the future. <\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After that, his work in Chile and other Latin American countries has been of great impact on the disciplinary field of design in the region and worldwide. In the last decades, he has taught interface design in different programs at the K\u00f6ln International School of Design and at the Rio de Janeiro State University, among others.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<b>You translated Design, Nature &amp; Revolution and witnessed, as Tom\u00e1s Maldonado\u00b4s friend and collaborator, the gestation of his ideas about environmental design. Why do you think a book like this is still relevant today to help us think critically about the environment?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was one of the first books putting design explicitly into relation with environmental issues. It maintains its relevance though obviously the range of issues has increased. And a lot of new publications have been produced. But in substance it is a fundamental book &#8211; i.e., a classic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"rmwr-wrapper\" \n             data-id=\"rmwr-69e05a838fa68\"\n             data-mode=\"normal\"\n             data-animation=\"fade\"\n             data-duration=\"300\"\n             data-smooth-scroll=\"true\"\n             data-scroll-offset=\"0\">\n            <button \n                type=\"button\"\n                class=\"read-link\" \n                id=\"readlinkrmwr-69e05a838fa68\"\n                data-open-text=\"Read More\"\n                data-close-text=\"Read Less\"\n                aria-expanded=\"false\"\n                aria-controls=\"readrmwr-69e05a838fa68\"\n                aria-label=\"Read More\"\n            >\n                <span class=\"rmwr-text\">Read More<\/span>\n            <\/button>\n            <div \n                class=\"read_div\" \n                id=\"readrmwr-69e05a838fa68\"\n                aria-hidden=\"true\"\n                data-animation=\"fade\"\n                data-duration=\"300\"\n                style=\"display: none;\"\n            >\n                <b>Having had the experience of working in South America, what do you think it meant for Maldonado\u00b4s work to come from a \u201cperipheral\u201d country and how do you think this impacted his understanding of certain problems?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I would question the term \u201cperipheral&#8221; though I have used it frequently &#8211; and in some contexts still use it. During and after the Second World War Europe was exhausted. In contrast the critical reflection about modernity and the avantgarde had continued in their own e.g., in various Latin American countries like Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Mexico. Maldonado brought back to the destroyed Germany a renewed and more developed version of reflections about art and design. Thus, it would be recommendable to put the complementary notions Centre\/Periphery not only into question but to reveal the inherent limitations of a euro-American vision of the project of modernity. Seen from Latin America, Europe was the Periphery after WWII until it started to recover slowly in the 1960. The cultural debate in Germany has been unable to acknowledge this fact and the fundamental role of Maldonado in the country where he spent 13 years (Germany). The history of the avantgarde has to be written again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maldonado took up the chance at the HfG Ulm to expand concretely the renewed modernity under conditions that were not given at that moment in Argentina. Elsewhere I wrote: The HfG Ulm was in Germany, but fortunately not a German school.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>You were part as a student and as a professor at the Hochschule fu\u0308r Gestaltung Ulm, a political and cultural utopian project that became reality. You also were later part of the utopian Cybersyn project in Chile, which integrated design, economy, politics, and the environment. What do you think the relevance of utopia is nowadays?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I consider the notion of utopia a fundamental or a core component of any design activity and design teaching. For these reasons I take a skeptical position towards the variety of approaches known under the label \u201epostmodernism&#8221;. We should not forget that we are living in a period of counter-enlightenment that has been proclaiming the end of utopia non-stop for decades. These postmodern adventures are slowly showing an effect: a deep general crisis and disorientation. The demonization of reason leads to hopelessness and resignation, or cynicism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>In the current context of a global pandemic crisis, do you think there is a possibility of seeing positive aspects or potential in this situation? How can this be an advantage for rethinking design?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">From what I have answered before you can see that it is not a question of finding or not finding positive aspects of this crisis. Design always is challenged by unforeseen events. I agree with you that design has to be rethought &#8211; especially given the observed totalitarian\/authoritarian tendencies to undermine democratic institutions.<\/span>            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n        [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_height_percent=&#8221;50&#8243; override_padding=&#8221;yes&#8221; h_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; top_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; bottom_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;4&#8243; column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; el_class=&#8221;inverted-device-order&#8221; row_name=&#8221;raimonda&#8221;][vc_column column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; position_vertical=&#8221;middle&#8221; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; shift_x=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y_down=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; medium_width=&#8221;0&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;0&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3>Raimonda Riccini<\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Raimonda Riccini, PhD in Industrial design, is full professor at the IUAV University of Venice. She is deputy director of the Doctoral School in Architecture, City, and Design at IUAV, and is involved in several design institutions, coordinating editorial and curatorial projects. Her research focuses on the theory of technological innovation and the history of design and digital culture, among others. She edited the volume of Maldonado&#8217;s writings on the Bauhaus, (Feltrinelli, Milan 2019), and is currently in charge with Luca Guerrini of the PhD seminar &#8220;L\u2019eredit\u00e0 di Tom\u00e1s Maldonado&#8221; (The legacy of Tom\u00e1s Maldonado) at the Politecnico di Milano.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>You described Maldonado as an <\/b><b><i>intellectual-technician<\/i><\/b><b>, an <\/b><b><i>\u201cintellectual grumbler\u201d<\/i><\/b><b>, a <\/b><b><i>master of images<\/i><\/b><b>, a <\/b><b><i>theorist of industrial design<\/i><\/b><b>, a <\/b><b><i>theorist of modernity <\/i><\/b><b>and <\/b><b><i>philosopher of technology, <\/i><\/b><b>and a <\/b><b><i>narrator<\/i>. If you had to choose, which one of these would be your \u201cfavorite Maldonado\u201d and why?<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whenever I talk about Maldonado, I am struck by how difficult it is to define him. He has been labelled in various ways, but each one either goes too far or not far enough in describing him. These definitions (for example, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">designer<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">theorist<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) never correspond with <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Maldonado works as a designer or <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> he posits a theory. In other words, Maldonado conforms to labels <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sui generis<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, making use of the indeterminate areas of each role and works on the boundaries where it is easy to shift from one to another. Yet he always does so with absolute mastery of the skills and knowledge that also allow him to interpret the roles from a central position, setting himself on an equal footing with his counterparts, whether they be designers or theorists.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">        <div class=\"rmwr-wrapper\" \n             data-id=\"rmwr-69e05a838fdc5\"\n             data-mode=\"normal\"\n             data-animation=\"fade\"\n             data-duration=\"300\"\n             data-smooth-scroll=\"true\"\n             data-scroll-offset=\"0\">\n            <button \n                type=\"button\"\n                class=\"read-link\" \n                id=\"readlinkrmwr-69e05a838fdc5\"\n                data-open-text=\"Read More\"\n                data-close-text=\"Read Less\"\n                aria-expanded=\"false\"\n                aria-controls=\"readrmwr-69e05a838fdc5\"\n                aria-label=\"Read More\"\n            >\n                <span class=\"rmwr-text\">Read More<\/span>\n            <\/button>\n            <div \n                class=\"read_div\" \n                id=\"readrmwr-69e05a838fdc5\"\n                aria-hidden=\"true\"\n                data-animation=\"fade\"\n                data-duration=\"300\"\n                style=\"display: none;\"\n            >\n                <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It could be said that Maldonado was a specialist in many fields, but in each one he would always strive to go beyond its confines. In an interview with Hans Obrist published by Feltrinelli in 2010, Maldonado complains that \u201cour society is an implacable \u2018labelling\u2019 factory\u201d \u2013 reminding us that taking a multidisciplinary approach was a constant factor in his long intellectual journey. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This approach was propelled by his enthusiasm for finding convergences and connections between his activities and his other \u2013 either closely related or, at times, completely distinct \u2013 fields of interest. Surely what allowed him to cover the roles of intellectual-technician, \u2018intellectual grumbler\u2019, master of images, theorist of industrial design, theorist of modernity and philosopher of technology was precisely this \u2018transversality\u2019: the incredible ability to bring together different disciplines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It seems to me that the most appropriate definition of Maldonado, as he himself suggests in the same interview with Obrist, is that of a globetrotter whose curiosity leads him to travel and establish links between the places he visits. If I had to say today what my personal preference is, I would opt for Maldonado the storyteller. Although we can no longer hear his voice recounting stories and anecdotes with the tones of a South American narrator, his essays are, at the end of the day, the amazing tales of his wanderings as a tireless traveler.<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b>In Design, Nature, &amp; Revolution, Maldonado mapped the utopian experiences of the late sixties and early seventies. His own big utopia was <\/b><b><i>the dialectical integration of culture and technology, in which the latter is not seen as an instrument, but as part of the former<\/i><\/b><b>. What do you think the relevance of utopia in design is nowadays?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maldonado\u2019s approach to life was always characterized by a utopian component. His active participation in avant-garde movements as a young Argentine artist was clearly permeated by a strong utopian impulse. Although with different nuances and in more attenuated forms, this utopian spirit is also present in the later stages of his life: his commitment to tackling environmental issues in the 1970s, and his strong defence of rationality and the \u2018project of modernity\u2019 against the attacks of postmodern thought.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We can also find it in his unshakable faith in the educational and cultural purpose of teaching younger generations. I believe that this attitude, which \u2013 despite everything \u2013 he maintained until the end, arose from his faith in the values of the emancipation of people and society, and to the Marxian values that imply a practice and an ideology of change. Maldonado himself repeatedly referred to<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">his interest in Russian Constructivism, not just as an artistic practice, but for its aspiration to \u2018change the world\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, we can see that design \u2013 from its development in the early twentieth century to the present day \u2013 has largely lost its initial utopian thrust. It has been downsized by the advent of the \u2018digital revolution\u2019, which in the last ten years has become the contemporary \u2018master narrative\u2019, as Lyotard would put it. Our attention for the future is now focused predominantly on networks, interfaces and artificial intelligence, while tangible objects \u2013 and with them \u2018traditional\u2019 design \u2013 have lost their central role in our daily material culture, now dominated by the immense buzz of the digital.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Despite his faith in technology, Maldonado also realized that this new situation would put incalculable power in the hands of tech giants and was deeply concerned about the consequences that this could have on future generations, specifically its impact on the various forms of memory, identity, social interaction, culture, and knowledge, to which he dedicated his last, beautiful book, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Memory and Knowledge<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Memoria e conoscenza<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Feltrinelli 2005).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>Can you speculate on what Maldonado would say about design facing the current pandemic crisis?<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The answer to this question is easy. For many years (decades, in fact) Maldonado was disillusioned with contemporary design, at least in regard to what he saw more and more often at the Salone del Mobile and at the Fuorisalone in Milan, and to what was being circulated by the design media, as well as \u2013 to his great disappointment \u2013 what was being taught in many universities. He believed that the only worthwhile form of design was related to technical-scientific developments: design with a pioneering spirit dedicated to improving the well-being, health and safety of people, society, and the environment. Exactly the type of design we need in the current pandemic situation. So, once again, he was right.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>You have known and been close to Maldonado for over forty years. He was well known for his ability to tell stories. Can we finish this interview with an anecdote about him?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rather than a single anecdote, I would like to describe an aspect of everyday life in his home-studio in via Manzoni in Milan. Maldonado had a sacred respect for the lunch break. In any situation, even before an important deadline, everyone had to stop at one o\u2019clock and take a complete break from whatever they were working on. Lunchtime was dedicated entirely to relaxed conversation, to discussing the most disparate topics, whether it was current affairs or chatting about the family. However, at the centre of all this was the preparation of large dishes of spaghetti that he cooked himself. He would use 500 grams of pasta for three people, but if there was only one extra person, he would cook a whole kilo! Immense portions, worthy of his physique. As soon as the pasta was ready, he would call us impatiently to sit around his kitchen table. I have vivid memories of these moments that were typical of a traditional Italian lunch, in which the pleasure of food was mixed with the pleasure of a never-banal conversation, and which was often also very funny thanks to Maldonado\u2019s proverbial storytelling skills.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_height_percent=&#8221;50&#8243; override_padding=&#8221;yes&#8221; h_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; top_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; bottom_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;4&#8243; column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; el_class=&#8221;inverted-device-order&#8221; row_name=&#8221;medardo&#8221;][vc_column column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; position_vertical=&#8221;middle&#8221; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; shift_x=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y_down=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; medium_width=&#8221;0&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;0&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3>Medardo Chiapponi<\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Medardo Chiapponi is professor of industrial design at the Universit\u00e0 Iuav di Venezia, where he was dean of the Faculty of Design and Arts from 2008 to 2012. He has taught at the Polytechnic of Milano, at the Hochschule f\u00fcr Gestaltung in Schw\u00e4bisch Gm\u00fcnd and at the Polytechnic of Turin. He has published monographs and essays in Italy and abroad, such as Ambiente: gestione e strategia, Milano 1997, and Cultura sociale del prodotto. Nuove frontiere per il disegno industriale, Milano 1999.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>How did you meet Tom\u00e1s Maldonado?<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I met Tom\u00e1s Maldonado when I was an engineering student at the University of Bologna. I had read &#8220;Design, Nature &amp; Revolution&#8221; and it had fascinated me. I saw that he was a professor in the faculty of humanities in my University, at the DAMS degree course he had just founded together with Umberto Eco and several other eminent colleagues. I used all the possibilities offered by university regulations and I attended two of his courses and did my degree thesis with him. It was not at all usual for an engineering student to do her\/his thesis with a professor of humanities, but doing it changed my life. After graduating, I started working with him, I followed him when he moved to the Milan Polytechnic and he became, as well as a master, also a friend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">        <div class=\"rmwr-wrapper\" \n             data-id=\"rmwr-69e05a838ff66\"\n             data-mode=\"normal\"\n             data-animation=\"fade\"\n             data-duration=\"300\"\n             data-smooth-scroll=\"true\"\n             data-scroll-offset=\"0\">\n            <button \n                type=\"button\"\n                class=\"read-link\" \n                id=\"readlinkrmwr-69e05a838ff66\"\n                data-open-text=\"Read More\"\n                data-close-text=\"Read Less\"\n                aria-expanded=\"false\"\n                aria-controls=\"readrmwr-69e05a838ff66\"\n                aria-label=\"Read More\"\n            >\n                <span class=\"rmwr-text\">Read More<\/span>\n            <\/button>\n            <div \n                class=\"read_div\" \n                id=\"readrmwr-69e05a838ff66\"\n                aria-hidden=\"true\"\n                data-animation=\"fade\"\n                data-duration=\"300\"\n                style=\"display: none;\"\n            >\n                <b>\u201cDesign, Nature, &amp; Revolution\u201d was published for the first time more than fifty years ago, foreseeing a degradation of the environment that still remains a big concern. Why do you think such a book is relevant nowadays?<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I believe that \u201cDesign, Nature &amp; Revolution\u201d is still relevant today for several reasons. The first is that that book was not only a very early and very strong denunciation of the environmental degradation. In addition to other equally early complaints it adds confidence in design as a tool to address that degradation. Another fundamental point, in my opinion, is the connection between the state of the environment and the state of society, a connection that is also expressed with the distinction between nature and the environment. This is why the Italian title and subtitle \u201cThe design hope. Environment and society\u201d seem more convincing to me. Then there are individual environmental problems such as the enormous growth of the &#8220;waste population&#8221; which today are even more evident.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>It seems that you continue Maldonado\u00b4s task in searching for a <\/b><b><i>praxeology of the project<\/i><\/b><b>. How did Maldonado influence your work?<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">To say that Maldonado has influenced my work is both too much and too little. It is too much because Maldonado was, not only for me, a generous master who encouraged his disciples to develop their own critical sense and their own independent ability to judge. It is too little because, with his writings and his activities, he indicated to me the need to consider all aspects in the praxeology of the project, from the social, to the economic and political ones, to the technological ones, to the environmental ones. This also made me choose to deal for many years with medical design, in which all these aspects are present in the highest degree and which had been at the center of Maldonado&#8217;s interest already in his Ulmian period.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>What are the most complex challenges for designers by taking the environment into consideration?<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The most relevant challenges for designers who want to take the environment into account derive from the complexity of the environmental system. A system in which anthropic components regarding the sociosphere and technosphere and non-anthropic components regarding the biosphere and geosphere coexist and at times are mutually competing. Another difficulty arises from the intertwining of problems that affect the macro-environment, the meso-environment and the micro-environment. To give just one example about it, the reduction of the protective layer of atmospheric ozone, the so-called hole in the ozone, that is a problem of the macro-environment, is due to the use of CFCs in several sectors including the production of cold that affects our ways of life, the objects of our daily life, that is the microenvironment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>In the afore-mentioned book, Maldonado critically maps the utopian experiences of the late sixties and early seventies. What do you think the relevance of utopia in design is nowadays?<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maldonado dedicates not secondary attention to the theme of utopia in &#8220;Design, Nature, &amp; Revolution&#8221;. Indeed, it would be more correct to speak of utopias in the plural because it refers to different types of utopia, deals with old and new utopians, distinguishes between positive and negative utopias, reasons for social and technological utopias. To me it seems interesting his definition of utopia understood as \u201cdesigning without doing, a design whose fundamental purpose is not immediate realization\u201d. This type of utopia, which does not presuppose an immediate realization of a project, but does not even exclude it in the future, can also be relevant today as it can offer ideas and visions capable of looking beyond everyday life that can be implemented later.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>\u201cDesign, Nature, &amp; Revolution\u201d offers, according to Maldonado, no prescriptions for a better environmental design and planning, but it rather points out the \u201cerrors to be avoided\u201d. What gives you hope in contemporary times and what do you think should be avoided?<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maldonado&#8217;s design hope is not a naive optimism. It is critical trust in the role of the project and the refusal of a passive pessimism that leads to abdication of any form of action and intervention on reality. I feel I share this position even in these difficult times. Moreover, times have never been easy.<br \/>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n        <br \/>\n<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row row_height_percent=&#8221;85&#8243; override_padding=&#8221;yes&#8221; h_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; top_padding=&#8221;4&#8243; bottom_padding=&#8221;4&#8243; back_color=&#8221;color-wayh&#8221; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; front_end_with_slider=&#8221;true&#8221;][vc_column column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; position_vertical=&#8221;bottom&#8221; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; style=&#8221;dark&#8221; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; shift_x=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-83831","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uni-weimar.de\/projekte\/criticalecologymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/83831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uni-weimar.de\/projekte\/criticalecologymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uni-weimar.de\/projekte\/criticalecologymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uni-weimar.de\/projekte\/criticalecologymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uni-weimar.de\/projekte\/criticalecologymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83831"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/www.uni-weimar.de\/projekte\/criticalecologymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/83831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84179,"href":"https:\/\/www.uni-weimar.de\/projekte\/criticalecologymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/83831\/revisions\/84179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uni-weimar.de\/projekte\/criticalecologymatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}