Fantasy is an indispensable artistic ingredient (Chapter 2)

Fantasy is an indispensable artistic ingredient in the design process. Add it in precise measure, stir it up with technological, ergonomical, material requirements, and serve. Fantasy is that indispensable spice required for superior functionality. The designer will concoct a dream about how to populate a space with objects that all are eager to tell a story: sometimes they cry out for attention, when alone they will dominate the space. But they are usually smart enough to blend in with the rest awaiting the opportunity to be of service. Objects that are as emotional, symbolic, poetic as they are functional. And with that very element of surprise that distinguish good design from bad, that integrity of ideas and execution that translates purpose into form.

Imagine if it would be just technological necessities that dictate how things look? If only the functional requirements would reign, without any fantasy at hand. Then we would be stuck with the lowly common denominators and nothing more. The true designer is on one hand an artist exploring fantasies that give shape to dreams, but on the other hand transforming these poetic forms into pragmatic usable objects for all of us. Design then as a service to mankind that adds values beyond the mere functional. An anthropological quest that makes the world more manageable and legible. All in all how we relate to technology, how we create cultural interfaces that connect us with the past, the present, peeking into the future. It is all about how broad a meaning we give to the word function. Not the machine aesthetic of Bauhaus, the bland reductionism of minimalism, or the extravagances of maximalism, but exploring everything that affect us and can inspire to better solutions. Fantasy adds that narrative dimension beyond cold technical functionality. Or as Charles Eames exclaimed, asked if he designed for pleasure or function: ‘Who ever said pleasure wasn’t functional?’