The Man Who Loved Chairs

I love the idea of slowness. It took thousands of years to come to the conclusion that we think of as a chair. Vitra moves fast in comparison to that, but I do think that every object has a natural evolutionary pace. If Charles Eames had said, "We have to finish it fast fast fast!" his chairs wouldn't be relevant a half-century later. I believe in getting things right. In our industry, you can't force something if you want it to be good. It has to become. Every object is a being with a soul. Our work is to find that soul. Sometimes we can't manage to find it, and we have to abandon the project or try again. We're not worried about being first to market, because what we do is unique by its very nature. Good design is relevant for decades; a year matters little on that scale.

What is Vitra's design philosophy?

Design isn't an abstraction -- it's a direct manifestation of your philosophy and your attitude. That's why people want to see the Web page and look around the office when they are thinking about joining a company. They may not be able to articulate exactly what they learn by doing their investigation, but they still learn important things. And they think, "I fit here," or they think, "I don't fit here." Design speaks volumes about a company's culture. It tells you if a company is egalitarian or if it's hierarchical, if it's easygoing or if it's uptight.

How a company chooses to translate its values into design is enormously important. Now, design can certainly lie. You can always hire a professional liar -- a designer to choose your image. But that doesn't work in the long run, because ultimately, the lie will be discovered. You'll be unmasked by the reality of who you are professionally and personally. People will say, "The company tried to give a certain impression, but obviously that's not what they're really about."

Good design is an honest expression of the true values of an organization or an artist. We think of our modular-office system as a palette that companies can use to express themselves and their values.

If good design is an honest expression, then what is great design?

Great design has something important to say. It communicates an epochal ideal. Great design is an icon of the time, an expression of sincerity and authenticity. It is a metaphor for an attitude; it communicates a spirit. That's why the chairs that were designed by Charles and Ray Eames still enchant people today. Great design has a strong signature, but it never draws attention to itself. If it says that it's "designer," then it's a fraud: the designer lamp, the designer hotel, the designer belt. Great design is always conceptually new -- and it's new forever. You can look at a well-designed object again and again, even if it was designed 50 years ago, and it still resonates with you.

And bad design?

You can always tell that something is poorly designed if it is paired with big promises. The bigger the promises, the worse the design. Think of a car advertisement that shows a sexy girl walking down the road who looks longingly at some unappealing guy driving by. You know that you're being sold a lousy car if the manufacturers have to use such an incredible lie to get you to buy it.

Your company makes a chair as personal as a "personal" computer. What is the nature of the relationship between a well-designed product and the person who uses it?

When I was a teenager, I served as an interpreter between Charles Eames and my father. Charles used to talk about the "guest-host relationship." You, as a designer or a salesperson, are the host, and your customer is your guest. You have to think about how your guest will perceive whatever you're offering him. You don't try to please your guest because you want to sell him something. You try to please him because he's your guest. You serve him because you respect him.

That is the Eames alternative to marketing. If you're marketing something, it means that you're thinking in terms of abstract groups -- young people, or women, or Europeans. You inevitably miss the point that way. Your salesmanship turns into sloganeering and lies. I don't understand marketing, and I don't want to understand it. I want to delight people. Charles Eames admired Buckminster Fuller, and Eames would often ask, "What would Bucky say about this design?" That's the trick: to see whatever you offer through the eyes of someone you admire.

If good design is an expression of values, what about the company behind that design? What values make a great company?