On the Chinese market, a cell phone generation lasts all of six
months. Technically, after six months the phone still works, but style
wise it is obsolete and replaced. A cell phone is the customary (and
expensive) gift from a teenage boy to his girlfriend. Worn on a string
around the neck and therefore close to the heart, the phone signifies
a strong and valuable attachment. However, why are some Chinese
teenage girls wearing several cell phones of the latest generation
around the neck?
From another part of the world: For a couple of decades, the kitchen
has been the biggest and most important room in a Danish house. This
is now changing so that the bathroom is getting bigger, more luxurious
and inviting. Why is this? Is the average family spending more time in
the bathroom than in the kitchen? Moreover, what happened to the
workshop and the garage, which both almost disappeared in the same
period?
I think the answer to both questions lies in the changing role of
gender in relation to what Thorstein Veblen called conspicuous
consumption, but this answer only brings more questions. E.g., what is
the relation between design or architecture and the traditional male
role as provider versus the traditional female role of homemaker? If
the six-month cell phone is a fashion statement, does it matter if it
works as a communication device? If such questions appear a little
naïve, then what about the underlying question of the role of the
designer in relation to our ever-increasing wealth. Is good design a
question of style? What is the role of the designer in a world of
fashion statements? And does his or her gender matter?
Best,
Charlie
--
Charlie Breindahl
External lecturer, University of Copenhagen + IT University of Copenhagen
Editor, Artifact, http://www.informaworld.com/artifact
"For the modern Don Quixote, the windmills have been preprogrammed to
turn into knights"
- Janet H. Murray
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