apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Ugh. I wish these guys would get over themselves. In two years time, I will quit my career as a writer. The writers of the future will be monkeys.

good. hurry up phillipe! hate your work!

i wholeheartedly agree with him. he should be ashamed of his design career : )

It sounds like a forced confession from the Cultural Revolution. Is someone making him go off and do manual labor at a Kansas farm for a few years? Maybe they should...

at the TED conference...Philippe basically cops to the same position- that he has "nothing to show" - and there's
"too much things"....."toliet brush,toothbrush, toliet seat"

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/197

it's WELL worth listening to- he's a very engaging & comical speaker - say what you will about him and how he works/what he designs - for me- we need MORE Philippe Starks- to "push the edge of the envelope" and challenge our preconceptions about product.

what's wrong with these people?

Here's a quarter, Philippe.

Starck's toilet brush head snapped off in our toilet's pipes causing $$$ worth of plumbing repair.

lol That's 'cause he went into product design. Yes, most products will end up in a landfill, but I bet that as soon as he retires he won't live in a cardboard box. He'll probably live in some kind of designer home. (Hopefully he won't use inflatable furniture which is definitely pure trash) The only problem I see with design being wasteful is when someone pays $20,000 on a chair, and even then it's great, since that much wealth goes from a rich idiot to someone who at least worked somewhat for it. I call it "post-middle-life crisis" and yes, we're all here for absolutely no reason; the faster one comes to terms with it, the less chances one goes and says stupidities in a magazine. Then again, that'd mean less posts in AT. lol

Oh, gag.

Easy for him to say now that he's made his fortune.

His only shame should be charging $450 for a plastic chair, and fooling people into buying them. His toilets, on the other hand, are incredible!

Thank your for your contribution to design.....you may exit stage left....we'll call....really.....NEXT!

I'm going through a similar crisis. I work at an advertising agency and I'm having a tough time with the fact that most of the stuff we produce ends up in the trash or ruining landscapes with huge billboards. I need to figure out what I want to do with my life...again. UGH!

What a schmuck.

I can understand where he is coming from. It's sounds like he's had a crisis of conscience because he mass produces products, and mass consumption is destroying our earth. We all know this, right?

I don't think there's anything wrong with his admission. At least he's being honest with himself.

He's right, we don't need all of this stuff.

Two years!
Why not tomorrow?!
He can over-design an awful lot of junk (toilet brushes!) in two years.

why doesn't he turn his talent for design to projects like design for the other 90%. you can put creativity to good use to benefit a lot of people as opposed to making pretty little items.

I am really irritated by all this puritanical commentary. Starck's best work is about fantasy and the future, like the wonderful ballroom at the Hudson Hotel. I don't think the good experiences I have had with his design are waste. But technically, yes, he has created a lot of consumption and waste. Still...

Gee whizzes.
Yup, a "puritanical forced confession".
Here's another quarter.

My nephew loved his yellow StarckCar when he was a little guy, and my niece uses it too now.

http://www.slate.com/id/2068213/slideshow/2068213/fs/0/entry/2068216

I would have bought one anyway - so why not one that was well designed?

Less talking and more action, Philippe. Why not donate the many millions of dollars you have earned creating this "waste" to a worthy organization devoted to improving the environment and reducing landfill use.

Why wait two years. He's right of course, much "design" in not nessecary. There is absolutly way to much stuff in the world and the navel gazing we committ to just the right "such and such" for our homes is a sin when you think of the living conditions of the majority of humans. Having said that, I do like my stuff and I like my stuff to be pretty (IE pleasing to the eye, not froo-froo) and I try to buy stuff I need that is also beautiful.

This guy, however, is a dink. If he feels so strongly he should go. Go. Now.

Stark is obviously a talented man and he is clearly creating a new challenge for himself.
I admire him for coming out, admitting how he feels, and forcing himself to change.
Harry, on the other hand, gave a great, great response which was a whole lot easier to do and a whole lot more fun to read.

Envy? Jealousy? Tough crowd.

Everybody kind of needs to believe that what they do matters, and helps the world a little bit. Having people pay a lot of money for what you do sometimes gives you that feeling.

When people say things like he said it makes me wonder if they've taken conflicting medications and/or forgot to not go to happy hour immediately after taking them.

But then again, it could be a completely honest re-assessing of how his work may affect the world negatively? Personally, I think that quitting wouldn't be the answer, but perhaps approaching his work differently might be less of a cop-out.

I mean, I think the Louis Ghost Chair (that's his, right?) is really handsome, but it IS plastic, and once you have one of those and you get it all scratched up, it's probably NOT good-looking at all, but just another piece of crap that would end up at Fresh-Kills-du-jour.

If he "applied himself" as they say, he could probably come up with incredibly eco-friendly products, but perhaps he's just too spoiled?

I think there's something kind of disrespectful about what he said, because it's like he's insulting the people who admired and supported his work.

Curtis,
Amen, amen. Especially that last sentence.

There's something extremely ungenuine about this.