RUM

RUM-Experimentell design

RUM · Portraits & interviews · 2 pages

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05 2013

the magazine about architecture, interior design and design

Star in Trondheim ... outside the system

Metropolis of the future

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE / DESIGN OUTSIDE THE SYSTEM

ALEXANDER LERVIK

0@zero.se

HEAT. The lamp

— "DESIGN HAS AN ABILITY TO MOVE BEHIND ENEMY LINES"

design. Art, on the other hand, is easier to explain away as different or strange. By classifying my works as design, completely different questions are raised, and therefore there is value in not classifying them as art, says Danielsson. That more and broader platforms are needed for the design field is clear. All designers RUM spoke with agree that these must be built from below, at grassroots level. Because the disciplinary field of experimental design is not so established, no existing institutions will understand the genre at this stage, and therefore will not dare to invest either. At the same time, Danielsson testifies to how several degree projects at Konstfack that questioned the designer's role, process, or results were opposed on the grounds of "not being design projects." But experiments belong at society's forefront, and that is where designers really can make a difference by constantly questioning the norm and pushing the boundaries. — If you have a strong question that you want to pursue and it takes a shape or is otherwise disruptive, you can actually change an entire society if you do it the right way, says Pettersson. And Lervik agrees that experiments are valuable, even if they are difficult to concretize or see the value in immediately. — My various experiments have cost me a lot over the years, but I am convinced that it will pay off in the end. I am also convinced that if I had not done it, I would not have reached the same point. So it certainly is profitable to allow oneself to let go of the reins, he says.

AHEAD OF HIS TIME. Lervik was the first to apply glass mass onto a blown form. A collaboration with Kosta Boda.

1 26 RUM 405

English translation of the original article. Text read from the scanned original; small transcription errors may occur.