Image above: a compilation of the publications (clockwise from the top): Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age by Kurt Beyer, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England. Comme Des Garçons, Fashion Memoir by France Grand, Thames and Hudson, London, WC1B 3QP. Charlotte Perriand, Cassina CP (mini catalog: art direction by Byung Soo Zocchi, photo Santi Caleca, Federico Cedrone, Tomasso Sartori, Nicola Zocchi )
www.cassina.com , www.iccollection.cassina.com
Women Designers in the USA 1900-2000, Diversity and Difference, by Pat Kirkham ed., BGC Yale.
Brilliant mathematician and computer scientist, admiral Grace Murray Hopper ( best known as “Amazing Grace” , one of her many nicknames due to her accomplishments)- said she could still remember December 7, 1941, the day of the Pearl Harbor bombing announcement. A decade that scores one of the highest rates in PHD female graduates in the USA- no wonder because of the fact that the male, active population was in the war. Women very quickly emerged to high ranks as professionals, not without a struggle, but for the simple reason that there was nobody else to do the job- “male” or not.
College professor in her beginnings, naval officer, inventor, computer programmer, business executive, convention organizer, spokeswoman/ PR and wife- there was a “pirate” in the Admiral: an unceasing fire of creativity. In the amazing book by Kurt Beyer, a must-read for every Hypermedia architect , Multimedia designer or IT Engineer -the story of Grace and the evolution of computing architecture and independent programming languages during post-war America, resembles today’s crisis in many ways.
The invention, design, construction, operation and application of personal computers against the odds of the times – to facilitate data mastering, manipulation and processing, in times that research in the laboratory was far more expensive that today, certifies the need to repeat history. THEN is again NOW- at a state of emergency (deflation, poverty, war) ,we experience again the absolute necessity to support research in computation innovative technologies.
They are many anecdotes spread by the senior historians of the Parisian design scene at the early 20th century -about Charlotte’s Perriand “recruitment day” back in 1927 at Le Corbusier’s architectural studio…It is said that the response of Le Corbusier ,”Vous allez broder des coussins ailleurs , on fait pas ça ici” (:You try to go and find somewhere else to embroider cushions, we don’t do that here), made the young interior designer to run outside in tears, dropping a roll of sketches the ones Le Corbusier’s partner, Pierre Jeanneret picked and opened to see…running behind her to lose her around the corner eventually, and finding her again later as an exhibitor at the Paris Salon d’Automne….In the Cassina Charlotte Perriand mini catalog- the Italian manufacture who is in charge of reproducing CP signature furniture – is mentioned this year:
“…and so Charlotte Perriand becomes a cornerstone in the reformation project promoted by the architect, adding a distinct dimension of innovative humaneness to the often cold rationalism of Le Corbusier.” Perriand designed all the furniture for the civilian apartments of the monumental Cité Radieuse, Le Corbusier colossal residential unit in Marseille and along that she created modern everyday living comfort for the city population, after the huge post-war influx of the masses to the urban centers. ….Wondering how her huge sense of people's need to feel better at home- with home furniture, could enhance solutions for current urban crisis with new large populations encrusting to the existing social map….A role-model of a designer , and a talented woman anxious to help. That may be a/the solution to the/a problem.
She declared a dislike to feminism, ambition, fame, anti-establishment, high heals. She is characterized as enigmatic , iconoclast, visionary, shy, ideas generator. Her first show in Paris in the 70’s created quite a stir, and gained a tag back then as the “Hiroshima Chic” collection . Last year she attended the show of Russian “enfant terrible” Gocha Rubchinskiy, one of the designers you can find in the Dover Street Market concept fashion store- a rare appearance. The truth is that Rei Kawakubo is a self-driven vehicle with an inexplicable energy source , that fuels an almost unearthly ability to question nobody but her self- a fact that leads her to new creative paths allover again. It is immense to create garments that do not remind of anything or anybody else but they have your personal stigma, after all these years. It is immense times like these, where the industry is facing a multiple crisis of credibility, financing, work ethics, environmental repercussions and humanitarian call for action- to continue to be the REI of the Star Wars of Fashion AND the Mad Max of it- all in one package. To follow immediately…
Claire McCardell revolutionized ready-made female “casual-smart wear” (actually the term was invented for her in “The American Look, 2 May 1955: 85). While many contemporary fashion designers are focusing on one element, preoccupied with the question of style- McCardell combined in perfect harmony the worker, the mother, the princess, the athlete, the pioneer and the super-heroine – in her dress designs. Polymorphic or multitask clothing is NOT a mash-up, nor a mix-n-match - but a garment with flowing, transparent functionalities , ready to answer the challenges of a woman’s demanding life…Claire knew that and she passed it on to the next generations- her fashion being more topical and popular than ever…
Happy XX design reading +thinking…
A4D-D4A?-))
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