The history of design

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Can design ever be ‘timeless’ ?  Can designers ever work outside the constraints of their moment in history to create objects which defy the unpredictable currents of fashion and taste ?

Anything that is made reveals the beliefs, fears, hopes and preoccupations of the people who made it. The designer invests objects with meaning so that they might be interpreted by consumers. It’s a discourse.

Where does Ferrari sit in the history of design ?

In one reading, design gives aesthetic value to ordinary objects.  At the same time, throughout the last century, designers aimed to democratise luxury. Of course, there is little ordinary or democratic about Ferrari.  And that is how it should be.  A Ferrari must be exceptional. But Ferrari is also the most superlative example of how a car can become an object of enduring beauty.

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