RENOWNED French designer Philippe Starck says he is fed up with his job and plans to retire in two years.

“I was a producer of materiality and I am ashamed of this fact,” Mr Starck told German weekly newspaper Die Zeit.

“Everything I designed was unnecessary.

“I will definitely give up in two years’ time. I want to do something else, but I don’t know what yet. I want to find a new way of expressing myself … design is a dreadful form of expression.”

Starck, who is known for his interior design of hotels and Eurostar trains and mass consumption objects ranging from chairs to tooth brushes and lemon juice squeezers, went on to say that he believed that design on the whole was dead.

“In future there will be no more designers. The designers of the future will be the personal coach, the gym trainer, the diet consultant,” he said.

Mr Starck said the only objects that he still felt attached to were “a pillow perhaps and a good mattress”.

But the thing one needs most, he added, was the “ability to love”.

source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23444685-401,00.html

Such a great and famous designer, at the end peak of his career said that EVERYTHING he designed was unnecessary and he’s ashame of his purpose in life. Until now, “What’s the use of a great designed and famous building while people are dying at the other side of earth” this phase truly struck me. In addition to the message on Sunday night, I come to understand a little why I thought why I don’t see myself as a famous architect in the end of my life. I always thought my designs would carry me far in my career, but after reading that I have second thoughts. Maybe now my focus in architecture will shift, I might even know what I want to achieve as an architect in the future.

Now, i’ll treat minimalism as a gift. Simply cause it’s quite practical in terms of building cost. heh

The last phrase of the article struck me the most. The one thing he needed the most was the ability to love. I was thinking, ability to love what? love the people around him? love life? being loved? Life seems unfulfillable to him cause he can’t love. I could imagine such a designer, such perfectionist wouldn’t have time or space, endless hours all by himself merely designing, losing the ability to show affection due to his philosophy in life. Now, if only he’ll find Christ.

For a person who admires and seek after good designs like myself, this article has changed my mind a bit. People will come to realize, at the end of all the fancy design, there’s nothing.