In a period as feverish and complex as ever before, where everything seems to happen at once due to the speed of communication, when we are interconnected in every moment by an omnipresent web; a period that is crowded, or rather overcrowded, by events, commitments and initiatives, all of them important and impossible to miss, Area dedicates an issue to relax, to the need to include and appreciate objects and projects that help us to identify, in the midst of all our daily activities, desirable and necessary pauses. It is a matter of a kind of praise of slowness, of reflection, of quiet, of a lifestyle that succeeds, if not to oppose, at least to limit the damages of the stress, the indigestion of fast food, the crammed agendas that are slowly destroying our existence and our happiness.
An exploration of the contemporary production reveals many instruments or gadgets that are ideated, designed and made in order to facilitate the distension of the body and the mind, to aid wellness, play, amusement. And it may probably be a good idea to focus, during the intense days of the Furniture Salon of Milan, our attention to those designers, products and companies that help us to make our existence – which the present-day situation is steering towards objectively unbearable rhythms and habits – less exhausting. In many cases it is a matter of objects vaunting a very long tradition, as the couch, the sofa, the chaise longue, and in others of technologically advanced objects as the new whirlpool baths equipped with lamps for chromo-therapy, sophisticated workout equipment for the care of the body, pocket-size digital devices for listening to music or participating in virtual games (from the (from the Ipod to the playstation), and in yet others of very simple and by now outdated amusements as Frisbees or yo-yos, mementos of a time when mechanic and manual toys forced our fantasy to dialogue with the simple rules of physics. However, the success of remakes, from the Fiat 500 to the new model of the mythical Vespa, the Piaggio PX, suggest that the current imagery seeks refuge in the memory of trips to the country, of walks, as opportunities to get away from the difficult compression of the present. Without any pretence to be scientific, but with an equally useful intention to inspire reflections and ideas for new designs, the editors of the magazine have examined the 1000 objects collected in the volumes of Phaidon Design Classics, choosing the 100 whose characteristics reflected the prioritizing of the need for recreation, relax and amusement that we were looking for. It is only a matter of 10% of the total and, if we consider that owning an object does not necessary imply its continuous use or exploitation, this means that the percentage of attention we dedicate to ourselves is quite reduced, arriving at very low percentages that may be insufficient to allow those quality standards that may make the difference in an advanced society.
001. Moleskine, 1850 circa 002-003. Folding chair, 1850 004-005. Brian Gamlin, dartboard, 1896 006. Josef Hoffmann, Kubus armchair, 1910 007. Chester sofa, 1912 008. Pedro Flores, Yo-yo, 1923 009. Fritz Hahne, Newspaper hanging, 1924 010. Marcel Breuer, Wassily Chair, 1925 011. Martini glass, 1925 012. Marianne Brandt, Tea set, 1925-26 013. Eileen Gray, Daybed, 1925 014. Le Corbusier, Jeanneret, Perriand, LC4 Chaise long, 1928 015. Le Corbusier, Jeanneret, Perriand, LC1 basculant chair 016. Le Corbusier, Jeanneret, Perriand, LC2 Gran Confort, 1928 017. René Herbst, Sandows chair, 1928 018. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona chair, 1929 019. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Brno chair, 1929-30 020. Frau design team, Vanity Fair armchair, 1930 021. Kaare Klint, Propeller stool, 1930 022. Alvar Aalto, 41 Paimio armchair, 1931-32 023. Mogens Koch, MK Chair, 132 024. Marcel Breuer, Chaise Long, 1933 025. Alfonso Bialetti, Moka Express, 1933
026. Kaare Klint, Deck Hair, 1933 027. Wallace Merle Byam, Airstream Clipper, 1936 028. Bruno Mathsson, Lounge Chair 36 model, 1936 029. Giuseppe Teragni, Sant‘Elia Chair, 1936 030. Sylvan N. Goldman, Trolley, 1937 031. Ferrari-Hardoy, Kurchan, Bonet, Butterfly chair, 1938 032. Flaminio Bertoni, Citroën 2 CV, 1939 033. Eero Saarinen, Charles Eames, Organic chair, 1940 034. Sixten Sason, Electrolux vacuum cleaner, 1943 035. Corradino D‘Ascanio, Vespa 98, 1945 036. Max Gort-Barten, Dualit Vario toaster, 1946 037. Gio Ponti, La cornuta modello 47, 1947 038. Charles Eames, La Chaise, 1948 039. Solex design team, Vélo Solex, 1948 040. Franco Albini, Margherita chair, 1950 041. Charles & Ray Eames, Iron Thread chair, 1951 042. Arne Jacobsen, Cigno chair, 1958 043. Luigi Caccia Dominioni, P4 Catilina Grande chair, 1958 044. Aquilino Cosani, Pon pon, 1960 045. Hans Wegner, Ox armchair, 1960 046. Isamu Kenmochi, Rattan chair, 1961 047. Poul Volther, EJ Corona chair, 1961 048. Marco Zanuso, Richard Sapper, Doney 14 TV, 1962 049. Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Arco lamp, 1962 050. Charles & Ray Eames, Tandem Sling chair, 1962
051. Afra & Tobia Scarpa, Jucker lamp, 1963 052. EKC Research Division, Kodak Instamatic, 1963 053. Larry Stevenson, Skateboard Makaha, 1963 054. George Nelson, Sling sofa, 1964 055. Marco Zanuso, Richard Sapper, Algol TV, 1964 056. Gino Valle, Cifra 3 table watch, 1965 057. Marco Zanuso, Richard Sapper, TS 502 radio, 1965 058. Paul Kjaerholm, PK24 chaise longue, 1965 059. Vico Magistretti, Eclisse lamp, 1965 060. Henry Dreyfuss, Polaroid Swinger, 1965 061. Sammy Miller, Francisco Xavier Bultó, Bultaco Sherpa, 1965 062. Cesare Leonardi, Franca Stagi, Dondolo chair, 1965-67 063. Marco Zanuso, Richard Sapper, Grillo phone, 1966 064. Warren Platner, Platner chair, 1966 065. Pierre Paulin, Tongue chair, 1967 066. De Pas, D‘Urbino, Lomazzi, Scolari, Blow chair, 1967 067. Gatti, Paolini, Teodoro, Sacco chair, 1968 068. Alan Fletcher, Clam ash tray, 1968 069. Sergio Mazza, Toga chair, 1968 070. Livio Castiglioni, Gianfranco Frattini, Boalum lamp, 1969 071. Joe Colombo, Tubo chair, 1969 072. Archizoom Associates, Mies chair, 1969 073. Marco Zanuso, Richard Sapper, Brionvega Black ST/201 TV, 1969 074. Gaetano Pesce, UP series, 1969 075. De Pas, D‘Urbino Lomazzi, Joe chair, 1970
076. Henry Dreyfuss, Plaroid SX-70, 1972 077. Michel Ducaroy, Togo sofa, 1973 078. Toshiyuki Kita, Wink chaise longue, 1980 079. Aldo Rossi, Conica coffee pot, 1980-82 080. Philips/Sony design team, Compact Disc, 1982 081. Richard Sapper, Kettle 9091, 1983 082. Michael, Graves, Kettle 9093, 1985 083. Marc Newson, Chaise Lockheed Lounge, 1986 084. Gaetano Pesce, I Feltri chair, 1987 085. March Newson, Embryo chair, 1988 086. Marc Newson, Wood chair, 1988 087. Frank O. Gehry, Check chair, 1989-1992 088. Aldo Rossi, Cupola cofee pot, 1990 089. Jasper Morrison, Three Sofa de Lux, 1991 090. Maarten van Severen, LC95A, 1993-95 091. Smart Design Team, Smart City- Coupé, 1994 092. Philippe Starck, Aprilia 6.5 motorbike, 1995 093. Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Spring chaise longue, 2000 094. Jonathan Ive, Mp3 iPod, 2001 095. Sedgway Design Team, Human transporter, 2001 096. Maarten van Severen, MVS chaise long, 2002 097. Henry Kloss, Tom DeVesto, PAL radio, 2002 098. David Lewis, Beolab 5 speaker, 2003 099. Apple Design Team, iMac G5 Computer, 2004 100. Apple Design Team, iPhone, 2007
