"Industrial Design is the art form of the 21st century" - Ross Lovegrove.
Lovegrove suggests a somewhat primitive and unwavering human instinct which allows us to continually relate to and adore natural forms. Using an example of Leonardo Da Vinci's representation of water, Lovegrove states that design requires observation and curiosity towards natural commodities. With an air of confidence and evident disdain for consumerist design - "blobism", Lovegrove expresses his opinions about how design must adopt a form that is derived from and closely related to nature. The Ty Nant water bottle is a result of this. Lovegrove disregarded manufacturing limitations in his initial design, and instead allowed his pure, uninfluenced impression of water dictate the form. His belief that form touches peoples soul and emotion resulted in the bottle that is considered a seductor, elevating peoples impression of water. Fearing failure after first handling the empty bottle, Lovegrove reiterates how the unison between the bottle and the water inside is crucial for the overall impression.
Lovegrove admits that he disregards direction in his design, while allowing instinct to take its place. Surrounded by skeletons, images of extreme close-up cellular structures and the famous stair set inspired by James Watson's DNA model, Lovegrove is seemingly the bridging medium between natural products of evolution and objects of design. Infatuated by evolution and natures growth patterns, Lovegrove comments on how natural things are in the purest form. The expression 'fat-free' refers to his approach to the aesthetics of design, where he tries to eliminate all extraneous elements. "Minimal structure - maximum beauty". These ideas can be seen in the Go Chair and the Moroso Chair, which fuse the key functionality elements of the chair, and raw elements of form inspired by the bones and cellular structure in organisms.
Lovegrove questions why our impression of motor cars is so. Why is the aesthetic design of cars subject to a criteria? And why do we continually manufacture saloon cars that rarely deviate dramatically from what we consider to be correct and 'normal'? A desire to make cars less complicated and to take on a far more organic form is evident as he showcases one design that is not dissimilar to a drop of water. Its distant relationship to the conventional form of an automobile dismisses it as novelty at first, however the sheer beauty and minimalist organic form emerges and we can't help but to ask ourselves why we choose to complicate things when we should be drawing inspiration from what has always been there. Emphasis on the importance of form and not function is shown as the design challenges what we consider to be right about automobiles by doubling as a streetlamp when not in use.
Lovegrove devotes the entirety of his practice to communicating the beauty of nature through the medium of our everyday products. He successfully takes what we expect from objects we interact with, and expresses them in a form that suggests they are products of the most beautiful and everlong commodity in the world - nature.
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