The 2018 film Rams directed by Gary Hustwit is a biographical documentary film about the legendary designer Dieter Rams.  The film made me really respect Rams’ career as it was clear that no one has made such a big impact on the field of product design.

The aesthetic of Rams’ designs is iconic and consistently in keeping with his 10 principals of good design.  He believes that things that are there to do a job should not draw attention but instead should blend into its scenery.  This comes from Rams’ belief that nature should be prioritised above all else so objects should be designed so that they don’t interfere with this. Although I really like this aesthetic, I think that an environment filled with these products could potentially feel quite clinical.  There is so much culture and human experience that is shown through art and design and my thought is that Rams’ ideal world may neglect the importance of this as well as the joy that some people find from this. Saying this I do recognise that there is a huge amount of bad and unnecessary design that we could do without.

Something that caught my attention is Ram’s opinions on urban environments and his recognition of how important the environment we put ourselves in is to our mental well being.  In a speech given by Rams in New York in 1976, he mentions how  people living in anonymous concrete blocks are more prone to depression and poses the question of what impact pylons, skyscrapers, car parks and street lighting actually have on us.  Improving these unpleasant features of our landscape is something that I want to explore in my research topic of urban planning for the future.

 

 

Sources:

https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/dieter-rams-speech
https://www.wallpaper.com/art/dieter-rams-documentary-film-gary-hustwit