A question of simplicity
I have always loved minimalist design. It has a beauty about its simple forms and clear lines that appeal to me. I came across this bin design by Grace Youngeun Lee and I liked it so much I began to visualize where I would put her design in my own home. That’s when I began to run into trouble. I live in your average apartment with the standard features, two bedroom, kitchen / living room combo, bathroom. Even though I thought the design was beautiful, I could not think of one place I could put such a distinctive item. It hadn’t really occurred to me before, that all the minimalistic items I love so much would struggle to work in your average home. The qualities that make the design striking cause it to sit uneasily in a mainstream context. Its clean aesthetics clash with your standard mass-produced product.
Does this mean a minimalist design can only work when surrounded by other minimalist products? Or the opposite, a lack of other products and just shear, clean space that allows it to be appreciated for its aesthetic beauty? If this is the case, where is the line drawn for its range of influence? Is the only true home of a minimal piece a modern residence, where clean lines and crisp aesthetics were at the front of the architects mind?
Perhaps the piece is intended to sit in contrast with the relative chaos of mass production? That this contrast serves to highlight its simple beauty.
I guess until I can figure out where to put my beloved Grace Youngeun Lee bin, I’ll just have to stick with my mass produced swing top. Function over form anyway, right?
February 8th, 2010 at 1:48 am
Minimalist style is impossible to achieve in these apartments. This style is dependant on the use of a limited palette of materials that must contrast and so emphasise each others natural qualities and textures. This must be present in the architecture as the minimalist style can’t be achieved with interior decoration alone. The materials must be high quality and installed with precision as any imperfections will really show up in this style. Minimalism is an uncompromising, all or nothing style that looks deceptively simple, but is often difficult to “get right”.
This type of construction to which you refer, and which prevailed over the last decade, was designed to be cheap and fast to build, with parsimonious allocation of living space – the minimum possible to provide the greatest return in a frenzied property market. There was often a disconnect between the architect, property developer/builder, and end user when it comes to defining the style, with little real collaboration between them. Where this did exist, it amounted to not much more than giving the prospective buyer a choice between magnolia or white, or if they wanted to varnish the floorboards!
Most recent apartments and houses use panelled doors, profiled trims, PVC and other bog standard materials, all thrown together with little attention to detail. These houses and apartments always have a traditional/contemporary feel to them because of the layout and choice of structural building materials – which limit the style possibilities for the end user.
The minimalist style is, even in theory, totally at odds with the general attitude to building in Ireland over the last few decades.
As for the “piece (being) intended to sit in contrast with the relative chaos of mass production? That this contrast serves to highlight its simple beauty.”
I think that the comparison will only highlight, rather depressingly, that we are conditioned to surround ourselves with so much mass-produced crap.
Enjoy your Grace Youngeun Lee bin, and I hope it fits in with everything else …
Maybe you could give it a coat of magnolia? (:P
Anthony