For professionals in the world of décor and design, January is traditionally a moment of many trade fair appointments. With a special focus on decorating: complements, objects, fabrics, wallpapers. But it is also the month of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, one of the most important worldwide showcases in this field.
Ruben Modigliani, Editor-In-Chief – Photo © Valentina Sommariva
These are key events for sectors that are quite distant from each other. But that distance is shrinking today. We are realizing, in fact, that there can be points of contact capable of opening up new prospects. The technological framework of a space – for living, hospitality or work – is now increasingly formulated not just for functional purposes, but also in its aesthetic dimension. And all this pertains to the world of design.
In such a scenario, the art of creating furnishings and spaces has more new tools available. And greater potential. It becomes more complex, because it begins to engage with different professional roles, some of which never even existed. But it also becomes more complete.
The dialogue between these two worlds is one of mutual interpenetration, as in the philosophical concept of Yin and Yang, where opposing forces are connected to each other. Design influences the form of technology, not just in the object that contains it but also in the user interface, a field that is now parallel that that of industrial design. And technology influences design – just consider how the arrival of laptop computers and tablets has changed the way we utilize sofas and armchairs.
In the very near future, the form-function dichotomy will most probably have radically different values with respect to those of one century ago, during the rise of Modernism – a legacy of thinking that is still valid today, in many of its aspects. The future starts now, and it’s exciting to be here.
