Radical Design

Radical design spanned from the late 1960s until late 1970s. Its main centre of activity was in Italy, namely Milan, Florence and Turin, during a time of social transformation. It was concerned with avant-garde design and was strongly opposed to 'Good Design'. Radical Designers mainly worked with paper and printed media rather than affect buildings and environments. Radical Design left its mark on avant-garde design activity. Superarchitettura in Italy was the trigger to the Radical Period.

Radical design covered general designs in architecture. The actual art movement was also known as anti-design.  This movement focused on vibrant colours, and size disorientation, for example extra large chairs that make you look small. Its main objective was to change the way you think and see an object. This design movement worked against the perfectionists of Modernism. The Italian designers of the Radical period revolted against the whole concept of design for the sake of greed.

Ettore Sottsass Junior was one of the main spokesmen of this design movement. The Anti-designers wished to create unique objects, but their designs were primarily functional not beautiful. Unlike their predecessors, who had the idea of objects being permanent, the Radical Designers believed that objects should be temporary and could be replaced by new and more functional objects, thus resulting in commercialism and more prophets. Again, rebelling against their predecessors who generally used blacks and whites, the anti-designers experimented with a palette of colours decorations and materials.

Carlton cabinet  for Memphis by Ettore Sottsass

Inspired by a cactus plant

El tornillo que te falta. 2012. Ettore Sottsass. [ONLINE] Available at: http://eltornilloquetefalta.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/ettore-sottsass/. [Accessed 26 January 14].

Another rebellion against modernism was the contrary of 'form follows function', they experimented with the distortion of scale. The Anti-design period produced anti-design studios namely 'Superstudio', 'Archizoom', 'Studio Alchymia' and 'Memphis'. Memphis produced its own design period and it was founded in 1981.

The Art History Archive. 2011. Anti-Design. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/antidesign/. [Accessed 26 January 14].