Jasper Morrison: take a seat!

Jasper Morrison’s plain and functional elegance is on show at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Simple, functional and rational objects imbued with a sober and discreet elegance constitute Jasper Morrison’s trademark. “Uselessism,” as the London designer explained to Domus a few years ago, “is a suitable term to describe an approach to design or architecture which seems to ignore the fundamental goal of being useful.” Instead, a successful object is a subtle exercise in equilibrium, between aesthetics and function, between attention to materials used and their combination, and between the experience derived from their use and the effect on their surroundings. This balance is consistently present in the designs by Morrison, an acute observer of everyday objects who in 2006 organised the exhibition “Super Normal” with Naoto Fukasawa at the Milan Triennale, placing anonymous objects on the same level as designer ones. He has designed a tram for the city of Hanover, a television for Sony and a camera for Canon. But right from the start he has been fascinated by a very ordinary kind of object, the chair. It was the chair that launched his career: the Thinking Man’s Chair, with a tubular steel frame and steel strip seat and back, made for Cappellini in 1986, followed by the folding chairs for Vitra, the refectory chair for the La Tourette Convent by Le Corbusier, up to the latest one in 2008, the Crate Chair for Established & Sons. For this reason, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, from 6 March to 24 May, is presenting a reinterpretation of design through a selection of 21 of his chairs, designed in different years. They are all lined up alongside one another so that visitors can try them out. Because, explains Morrison, “We need to keep the appreciation for something useful alive or we may lose touch with reality.” Elena Sommariva

Jasper Morrison’s plain and functional elegance is on show at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

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Jasper Morrison: take a seat!

Jasper Morrison’s plain and functional elegance is on show at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Technology meets aesthetics, with Cordivari

The Bathroom becomes an oasis of well-being with Laufen

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