A designer’s beliefs often affect his or her approach. Only when they keep to their own unique design approach, does the individual character, style and design language remain.
Konstantin Grcic, a widely recognised product designer based in Munich, once said, “We approach a product like a piece of architecture, where volume and shape are strongly determined by the arrangement of the inner technical components, user ergonomics and specific features.”
It is essential to understand the fundamental elements especially when designing a day-to-day product or furniture piece. The market is flush with excitement, so how to make a design stand out from the crowd? Should this question emerge right at the beginning before the product is born?
Instead of initially creating something out of the ordinary, something radical, Grcic simply refines and further refines the basic, questioning whether any of the already existing parts still has room for further improvement. The end result is something minimal, and quite extraordinary. Chair One designed in 2002, became a design classic ever since its birth. Through exploring what is possible, Grcic tested a material, which was not commonly used at that time for a dining chair. The result of working with die-cast aluminum was simply unexpected. His rational approach resulted in a new ideal for chair structures. Chair One remains the only chair where negative space is more present than the real form.
In 2013, his ideas continued. Traffic was introduced, a series of furniture items where wires floating in space form the structure of the only upholstery series of Magis. Its unique construction method allowed numerous possibilities.
Grcic’s approach, his method, and his theory remains. It is not surprising that his products have received many prestigious design awards. For me, Grcic represents modern minimalism. His movement relies heavily on the functional aspects of his products. What could be more important than sticking to what he originally believed in?
