How much complexity does simplicity need? And what remains when design is radically reduced? Chapter XII sheds light on the tension between formal reduction and functional precision—and asks where the actual potential of simplicity lies. As always, Chapter spans a wide range of different fields of contemporary design: from interior to automotive design, from yacht design to architecture and watchmaking to art.
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Extensive reports, portraits and essays address, among other things, the question of how contemporary designers master the balancing act between the reduction of the visible and simultaneous accessibility—between creative clarity and hidden complexity; between what we perceive as simple and what it really is. Because what is conceived and advertised as aesthetic reduction often turns out to be mere creative vanity. Because simplicity is not a simple question of leaving things out or making them disappear.
Chapter author Lutz Fügener describes it in his article for this issue as a kind of paradox of our everyday lives: »What is sold as simplification, we often have to buy with increased complexity.« The supposed reduction and promise of simplicity all too often fails in practice—although in this day and age of rapidly advancing technical complexity, it would be more necessary than ever to make technologically sophisticated products in particular appear as clear as possible so that users retain the impression that they have everything under control.
Andreas K. Vetter also approaches this multi-layered issue from a similar perspective: in his essay »Artefakt«, in which he sheds light on historical, artistic and philosophical aspects of »omission«, he shows that reduction does not necessarily lead to lightness. What disappears creates gaps—not only functional, but also cultural, sometimes even emotional ones. Simplification demands our attention anew—and sometimes what remains requires more confrontation than what has been removed.
However, we also draw particular attention to another level of simplicity: design that we experience as successful simplicity is often the result of highly complex systems that are active in the background but intelligently integrated. It is an »art of making things disappear«: technology is concealed until it no longer seems to be there—and this is precisely what makes the feeling of elegance and lightness possible in the first place.
The world of superyachts demonstrates this game very impressively: in the article »Leise Wellen schlagen« (»Quietly making waves«), Chapter author Sarah Wetzlmayr shows the effort that goes into creating visual silence on modern luxury yachts. Doors that blend silently into wall panels, motors that are barely audible, operating elements that dissolve into material surfaces—everything blends into an orchestrated silence. Yet beneath the elegant surfaces and visual lightness lies a highly complex technosphere. Felix Kilbertus, CCO of Pininfarina (and recently a very interesting interviewee in our podcast Chapter Talks) in our interview: for him, the somewhat archaic Italian term »sprezzatura« best describes the idea of that effortless grace—the art of making something difficult look easy or maintaining a nonchalant demeanor when carrying out complex tasks.
The situation is similar in the world of haute horlogerie, where external minimalism and technical complexity are not mutually exclusive. The simply designed watch that appears quietly on the wrist often conceals a highly complicated inner life. Minimalism and maximalism are therefore by no means mutually exclusive in watchmaking, even if the former is currently celebrating a comeback in terms of design, as our author Max Montre attests.
For this issue’s cover story, we have been able to engage a personality whose influence on the understanding of design reduction and contemporary luxury can hardly be overestimated: Jil Sander. As a German pioneer of a minimalist understanding of luxury and an icon of creative reduction, Sander’s work continues to shape the international discourse on reduction, materiality and the beauty of simplicity—far beyond fashion. »Simplicity«, as became clear in the conversation between Chapter Creative Director Dzenana Mujadzic and Jil Sander, is not an aesthetic concept based on a replicable formula, but for her it’s the result of an ever-changing creative courage and the conviction that the essential does not need to be explained—but proves itself in use.
The current issue is available at bookstores and magazine retailers across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and can also be ordered directly from our ONLINE STORE. As always, CHAPTER is also stocked by selected partners in the luxury hospitality sector, airport lounges, galleries and showrooms.
