For Art+Auction’s design issue, six international tastemakers—Marcel Wanders, Lukas Machnik, Juan Garcia Mosqueda, Gina Diez Barroso, Etel Carmona, and Julie Hillman—share their takes on where the design market is headed.Marcel WandersA Dutch dreamer from the small town of Boxtel, Wanders graduated from the School of the Arts Arnhem in 1988. Since then he has worked prolifically, inventing and reinventing objects and interiors for many international clients, including Louis Vuitton, Maison & Objet, and Hyatt Hotels. His pieces have been acquired by institutions such as Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum and New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Today Wanders presides over an eponymous design studio in Amsterdam that uses unexpected materials and innovative techniques.A Humanist Renaissance“I believe we have closed the doors on modernism and passed the period of postmodernism. We are now entering a contemporary renaissance of humanism, understanding that man is more than his brain, and rationalism cannot provide answers to the largest challenges we face. Even though our culture has moved on, design has decided to gently roll back into its comfortable modern position. It’s perhaps only in the outskirts of the culture of design that real problems are solved. What we need for the cultural development of objects is a more mature, complete, and holistic design philosophy. We will see a return to the poetic and the hopeful, the truly human and romantic. But regardless of what is around the corner, for me, both professionally and privately, the need to express myself more completely and the desire to recognize myself in the things I do are the main priorities right now.”LUKAS MACHNIKThe Krakow-born, London-educated, Chicago- and Paris-based Machnik is known for a spare yet opulent aesthetic that has attracted an international commercial and residential clientele. In addition to interior spaces, he has designed many pieces with which to fill them, some in collaboration with other visionaries such as Rick Owens, Michèle Lamy, and Steven Haulenbeek. Exhibited in Chicago, Paris, and New York, Machnik’s work also includes sculptures, paintings, photography, and limited-edition custom furniture.Quality, Craftsmanship, and Planned Obsolescence“Design is having an awakening now comparable to that of fashion in the 1990s. But this comes at a cost, as designers are encouraged to sacrifice quality in order to mass-produce objects. One disturbing trend is that the increasing disparity in wealth has resulted in more and more ultra-high-end, rarefied luxury items being tailor-made for the 1 percent. We must pay more attention to making good design sustainable and affordable for the rest of the world, I hope not at the cost of quality. Planned obsolescence is the worst thing about contemporary design. I also think people have been seduced by digital production. For example, many schools’ photography departments don’t have darkrooms anymore, and the rapidity and ease of 3-D printing discourages students from learning artisanal sculpture techniques. As a designer, it’s my responsibility to champion these older, traditional techniques. Otherwise, in a couple of generations they could be lost forever.Having a home base in an industrial zone in Chicago has been great, as we are in close proximity to the skilled craftsmen and facilities that are crucial in realizing our designs. Our gallery in Paris affords us an opportunity to contextualize our aesthetic and to reach an international audience. We have noticed quite a difference in terms of the preferences of our clientele, mainly in terms of scale. Americans tend to prefer monumental designs, while the European clients tend to go for smaller items.”JUAN GARCIA MOSQUEDAMosqueda is the founder of Chamber, an art and design gallery located in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood. A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Argentine honed his visual acumen under the tutelage of visionary merchandisers Murray Moss and Franklin Getchell of the design emporium Moss, and later Moss Bureau. Mosqueda coordinated the exhibition “Industrial Revolution 2.0: How the Material World Will Newly Materialise” at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2011.On Collectors Gaining a Tighter Focus“Prior to the 2008 financial crisis, there was a high level of speculation in the realm of design, inducing absurd prices in the secondary market, which created an unsustainable market that almost collapsed when the crisis exploded. After that debacle, a substantial number of people who had bought and flipped works retreated from the fray, leaving a core of collectors who were buying for the right reasons. As a result, we now find ourselves in a relatively small, conservative design market but one that has grown and feels healthy again. Given that we live in a saturated contemporary art market, it will only be a matter of time until people gravitate toward design.”GINA DIEZ BARROSOEntrepreneur, philanthropist, collector, and educator Diez Barroso brings her design practice into everything she does. Since founding the design and architecture firm Grupo Diarq in 1990, she has worked on numerous projects throughout Mexico. In 2004 she started Centro, the country’s leading design college. With 2,500 students now enrolled, the school moved into a state-of-the-art Enrique Norten–designed campus in Mexico City last year, where it is expected to cultivate the country’s next generation of designers, architects, and artists.A Regional Market On the Rise“Mexico’s design market has gone through an enormous evolution, and now there is a real culture of design within the region. Three important factors have contributed to making our design distinct: first, the strong, contemporary education that is offered in Mexico’s leading art and design schools; second, the richness of Mexico’s culture; and third, the variety of unique materials that exist throughout the Mexican Republic.While a decade ago, Mexican designers were more interested in creating traditional pieces, today they are far more focused on innovation. We are seeing a proliferation of design studios in the country, and Mexican designers are being exhibited in international museums and galleries with work that is just as contemporary as the designs coming out of the United States, Europe, or Asia.”ETEL CARMONABringing together Brazil’s design history and abundant natural resources with a commitment to the environment, Carmona is changing the face of design in the country. Her company, Etel Interiores, has been a pioneer of sustainability in the field, planting and maintaining trees in the Amazon forests from which her furniture and lamps are made—even the tiniest bits of raw material are used for small items like bowls, boxes, and vases. Her pieces, both original designs and reworkings of modernist classics, are sold throughout the world, and are available through Espasso in New York and Architonic in Zurich.On Markets and Sustainability“Designers play a crucial role in sustainability and we must make it a priority when we design new things.I founded a company called Aver Amazonia with people living in Acre, a state in the Amazon forest, to promote the use of certified woods. We’ve launched a magazine and a movement called the Jewels of the Forest. The accessories produced in Acre are based on the leftovers of the forest—branches and roots.I believe pieces should be lean, functional, and beautiful, but always different and unexpected. I find inspiration in the constructive aspects and traditional techniques of wood craftsmanship like dovetailing and marquetry.”JULIE HILLMANFollowing her graduation from Parsons School of Design, Hillman worked as a fashion designer for a decade before launching her interior design firm, encouraged by friends and clients who were impressed by her keen eye for textiles, finishes, fixtures, accessories, and objects. A fan of French decorative arts and midcentury design, she seamlessly mixes the elegant with the offbeat. Her goal: to combine clean lines with interesting materials to create warmth in residential spaces. “I want my interiors to be subtle to the eye while being unexpected and beautiful,” she says. “I tend to use fewer pieces than most would expect in any given space to keep the focus on form. Each individual piece must stand on its own as well as merge aesthetically with others to create a fluid room.” Hillman scouts emerging design on her travels and supports young practitioners with notable commissions, creating opportunities for experimentation and enhancing designer value.A Balanced Perspective“My clients—who are largely New York–based—view both art and design as important investments. They want to live with beautiful and inspiring pieces, but track the secondary market and want to see successful auction results after investing in significant pieces. The heightened exposure to the art market has allowed people to become more conscious of decorative arts and design. The relative values of the most important designers are still a fraction of the price of art. I believe there is a tremendous upside if you collect extraordinary pieces by established designers. The secondary market for works by exceptional contemporary designers will continue to grow as well. People innately love to collect and own beautiful things. I believe this basic desire coupled with the rising prices of art and design will cause the market to continue to grow and expand.”
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