A DESIGN STYLE FOR THE INFORMATION AGE
by Lisa Kimball


The first thing I noticed was the fabric: crazy bright designs
in clashing colors splashed across the pages of trendy
magazines. Then I saw a picture of Michele de Lucchi's "Lido"
sofa which combines lacquered wood, metal, and fabric in a toy-
like combination of shapes and colors. I noticed an ice bucket.
That in itself got my attention, since ice buckets are rarely
something you notice one way or another. It was a *great*
looking box with blazing color and innovative handles. I started
noticing more and more objects and furniture and fabric which
looked... *different*. Something about design was changing...

It's sometimes hard to tell when a new genre of DESIGN is going
to make a significant difference. Is the "new look" a passing
fad or will it become associated with the consciousness of a
generation, an epoch, or "period" to be studied in the future?

Since 1981, a new approach to style has been emerging from
Milan, Italy. I think it is one of the most significant *human*
developments of the "information age" because it represents the
DESIGN response to many aspects of our current culture and
consciousness. I also *love* it!

It's called.......

>>>>> MEMPHIS <<<<<

Yes, MEMPHIS. I'm not kidding.

The name itself reflects some of the qualities of the designs
themselves by combining a large dose of whimsy with thoughtful
overtones. It was inspired by Dylan's "Stuck outside of Mobile
with the Memphis blues again" which was playing on the radio
when plans for a new design collaboration were hatched. In
retrospect, the idea of combining the "high" culture of the
ancient capital of Egypt with the "low" culture of Elvis
Presley's birthplace seems appropriate since the juxtaposition
of contrasting elements is a key characteristic of the Memphis
style.

Memphis is a drastic change from the Modern and Post-Modern
designs, which have pretty much defined the "look" of our
contemporary culture for several decades. Memphis is new (and
sometimes crazy looking) shapes, wild use of color, clashing
patterns, and the combination of previously never-combined
materials. Memphis designers are known for what we now call
"intermedia synergy" in that they often participate in
performance events and political activities-- something
previously outside the Italian norm.

In a book on Memphis design by Richard Horn (Simon & Schuster,
1986), a quote by Memphis designer Andrea Branzi describes the
aims of the design movement which became Memphis (my comments
about possible information age parallels in parentheses):

1. Putting behind the myth of the "unity" of a project
and concentrating on a free discontinuity of parts
with respect to the whole. (The proliferation of PC
based technology.)

2. The search for a new linguistic "expressive" quality
as a possible solution to the enigma of design and as
a possible new meaning. (The invention of new language
idioms for use online and the use of computer
metaphors for cognitive experience.)

3. Recycling all possible idioms now in circulation
within the experience of our lives. (New applications
of technology to familiar forms, e.g. support groups,
publishing, associations.)

4. Recuperating decoration and color as signs of freedom
and nobility of creative invention. (The reintegration
of graphics with text made possible by the Macintosh
and related technology.)

5. Going beyond ergonomic limits and concentrating on an
affective relationship between man and his things.
(Invention of porting, blinking, and other innovations
to transcend current technical limitations.)

There are a number of other parallels between aspects of Memphis
school design and some of the implications we have thought about
for the information age.

* Memphis designers would describe their work as moving
toward a NON-HIERARCHICAL use of material and design
subjects e.g. the mixture of costly wood with plastic
laminate and colored lights or the design of a zany
sideboard for the living room which was previously the
most "serious" room in the house.

* Memphis designers create "metaphors" for contemporary
life. According to architectural critic Richard Horn,
"Their busy patterns, myriad colors, and combinations
of unlikely elements mirror the hyperactivity, variety
and unpredictability of the GLOBAL VILLAGE in this
ELECTRONIC AGE." Memphis designer George J. Sowden
says, "The decorative belongs to the electronic world
just as the functional belonged to the machine."

Some have described Memphis design as "dizzying" and unsettling.
This approach to design could thus be considered less "lasting"
than others. According to one of the founders, this is very
appropriate. Ettore Sottsass comments: "If a society plans
obsolescence, the only possible enduring design is one that
deals with that obsolescence, a design that comes to terms with
it, maybe accelerating it, maybe confronting it, maybe ironizing
it, maybe getting along with it..."

This comment made me think of some of our online discussions
about the translation of conferences to the print medium. They
always seem to lose something in the more "enduring" medium;
their real power is in the experience of the rolling present.

Memphis design reflects a lot of the paradoxes we've identified
in computer networking. For one thing, it has remained elitist
because the products are labor intensive and have not been
designed for mass production. In a sense, Memphis is a protest
against mass culture in a way which may be similar to our
concerns about television and other media. Looking at and
thinking about Memphis design requires processing huge amounts
of information inherent in the patterns, the shapes, the
materials, and the new design ideas. One could easily experience
the design equivalent of information overload yet, at the same
time, it can be addictively intriguing to imagine new
combinations. Its look is somewhat "strange" to eyes used to
more traditional design, and the thinking behind it is somewhat
revolutionary. Memphis design is, therefore, a *challenge* to
our way of looking at design, and acceptance could be slow.
There is definitely a leading edge design and consumer group who
has embraced it though, and there is increasing evidence of the
influence of the Memphis "look" on less innovative products.

Could Memphis be the design for the information age? It's fun to
wonder about whether future historians will identify the
parallel developments of Memphis design and computer technology
as part of the evolution of our future culture. Hmmmmmmm......

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Author's note: Lisa Kimball has been busy "Memphisizing" the
living room office at Metasystems Design Group, Inc., the home
of the Meta Network.